Are you passionate about outdoor recreation and community engagement? Do you want to see more opportunities for FHSU students, staff, alumni, and community members to stay active and connect with nature? Join us in advocating for the installation of an 18-hole disc golf course at Fort Hays State University!

The construction of a disc golf course at Fort Hays State University represents a strategic investment in enhancing campus life, fostering community engagement, supporting student activities, and a commitment to improving environmental conditions along Big Creek.

Community surveys conducted on campus, in the broader community of Hays, and across Ellis County as a whole have identified a need for the expansion of recreational opportunities and facilities. By leveraging underutilized space and connecting it to the broader campus, a disc golf course offers accessible outdoor recreation for students and community members alike.

Disc golf is widely accessible to players of all ages, physical abilities, and socioeconomic backgrounds - adding to its appeal as a cost-effective opportunity for recreation and exercise. Few recreational facilities offer a cost-benefit ratio as favorable as disc golf's. A single 18-hole disc golf course can accommodate 100 or more people at one time, typically costing less than $10,000 to install. Compare this to a tennis or pickleball court - costing $20,000 or more and serving fewer than 10 people at a time. 

Ultimately, the proposed disc golf course not only enriches the student experience but also strengthens ties between FHSU and the broader community, positioning the university for continued success and growth.

 

A Quick History Lesson:

Though often unsung, FHSU’s disc golf history began over 40 years ago, and has ultimately contributed a great deal to Kansas disc golf as a whole. 

In the late 70’s - before the first “golf disc” was patented - local Hays disc golfers created an object course on Fort Hays State University's Campus. Players included Ron Rice, Karen Elder, Les Dreiling and Deb Ewy; most were students at the university. At the time, FHSU's security officers opposed the activity because they felt the student disc golfers were damaging the grass.

Eventually, the group had to relocate to continue playing. With the help of the Hays Parks Department, in 1983 they designed and built the Frontier Park “Flyin’ Bison” Disc Golf Course. Today, it is the oldest original course design in the state of Kansas, playing host to the longest-running PDGA tournament in the state. The Flyin’ Bison have grown from a group of four disc golfers on FHSU’s campus to a family of thousands of disc golfers spanning coast-to-coast; all while the original course design has stood the test of time.

In recent years, the growing popularity of collegiate disc golf has given rise to the FHSU Disc Golf Club. Students at Fort Hays have long enjoyed disc golf as a hobby, and now, the FHSUDGC offers students with a club-affiliated opportunity to socialize and recreate on the disc golf course. Students looking for a competitive environment also have the opportunity represent their alma mater in the National Collegiate Disc Golf Tour. In their short time as an official student organization, the Club has been successful in introducing dozens of students to the game of disc golf, and finished 8th out of hundreds of schools in the 2022 National Championships. However, the main obstacles in their pursuit are awareness and accessibility. A disc golf course on campus would provide the club with the means to introduce a much larger portion of the student body to the sport and its many benefits while also serving as a training grounds for the competitive team.

Disc golf’s “return” to the FHSU campus has long been a topic of interest among local players, With an ever-growing pool of players and a steady flow of student disc golfers, Hays’s disc golf scene is growing faster than ever before. Frontier Park can no longer sustain such heavy usage all on its own (our conservative estimate - over 10,000 rounds played in 2023 alone). 

The recent explosion in disc golf’s popularity among students and local Hayzites makes this the perfect time to capitalize on Hays’s rich disc golf history.

In early 2024, the FHSU Disc Golf Club partnered with the Flyin’ Bison Disc Golf Club to produce a detailed proposal requesting the construction of an 18-hole disc golf course on FHSU’s campus. Unfortunately, FHSU leadership tabled the proposal for “another time” due to concerns regarding maintenance needs. The disc golf community believes these concerns are unfounded based on the realities of the proposed course design and negligible compared to the benefits a disc golf course would contribute to FHSU's campus atmosphere.

 

View the full proposal here:

FHSU Disc Golf Proposal - Feb. 2024

 

Let's Recap the Proposal's Main Points:

• Enhancing Campus Character: The installation of an 18-hole disc golf course adds to the overall appeal of FHSU, attracting prospective students and contributing to a vibrant campus atmosphere. The proposed course also addresses the identified gap in recreational opportunities on campus while activating natural greenspaces currently underutilized by campus activities - natural scenery that would be enjoyed by disc golfers and non-disc golfers alike.
• Environmental Benefits: The installation of the course will help facilitate the removal of invasive species and litter - promoting the growth of native flora and enhancing the ecological balance of our campus environment.
• Promoting Physical and Mental Health:  Regular participation in disc golf has been shown to improve both physical fitness and mental well-being, benefiting the entire campus community.
• Providing Space for Student Clubs and Teams: The course would serve as a dedicated training ground for FHSU's disc golf club and team, fostering teamwork and camaraderie among students.
• Minimal Maintenance Needs: Contrary to concerns voiced by FHSU Leadership, the maintenance requirements of disc golf courses are low, with much of the land already mowed regularly and the wooded areas requiring minimal upkeep.

With this petition, we hope to demonstrate the widespread enthusiasm for this project and urge FHSU Leadership to work with the disc golf community in pursuing this project.

Please identify your status as an FHSU student, staff member, alumni, community member, or tourist should you decide to sign this petition.

Let's make our voices heard and work towards creating a more vibrant and active campus environment for everyone. Sign the petition today and help us bring an exciting new amenity to FHSU!