Disc golf provides much needed exercise, outdoor time, and social interaction for those who play it. Having a disc golf course on or near campus will provide students, staff, and community members with a healthy outdoor activity available year long. 

The city of Manhattan is a fantastic setting for the game of disc golf. The natural beauty of the Flint Hills combined with the nearby scenery of Tuttle Creek Reservoir, the Kansas and Big Blue Rivers, and the Kanza Tallgrass Prairie give Manhattan a large variety of beautiful sites to choose from. As of 2021, there is only one disc golf course within city limits - located at Warner Park. Others exist on state and county parks outside of town.

The Manhattan Kansas Disc golf community includes over 1,000 players. This number includes the approximately 100 members currently belonging to the Little Apple Disc Golf Club, the 215 and counting members of the Disc Golf at Kansas State student organization, and the many tourists and alumni who visit Manhattan to watch KSU games, visit campus, play disc golf tournaments, and more. There are also many local citizens who play disc golf recreationally without participating in these organizations and events.

According to data gathered by UDisc, disc golf courses in and around Manhattan have seen a 600% increase in traffic since Spring 2020. This is a direct result of the explosion of disc golf's popularity during and following the pandemic. 

Currently, there are 60 holes of disc golf available to students and locals within a 15 minute drive of campus. These 60 holes are what are generally referred to as being "in town", even though only nine of them are within city limits. Based on these numbers, there is one hole of disc golf "in town" for every 15 players, conservatively. 

These numbers have real-life implications. Among avid disc golfers, it is well-known that visiting a course on a nice day - even on a weekday - often means the course will be crowded, causing longer waits and potentially unsafe conditions. 

Adding an additional disc golf course in Manhattan's city limits is essential to making this activity easily accessible to citizens. With disc golf rapidly growing in popularity nation-wide, the already large Manhattan scene is guaranteed to continue to grow. In order to do so smoothly, we need more courses.

Disc Golf at Kansas State, an independent student organization, is proposing that a course be designed and built on-campus at Kansas State University. Specifically, we are proposing that the wooded area bordering Manhattan Avenue north of the Center for Child Development be used. This land seems to be currently unused, and is accessible to students on and off campus while safely avoiding major pedestrian traffic.

Please sign this petition if you believe in this cause and would like to see a professionally-designed disc golf course on campus.