Plotting a course for frisbee flying fun

Friday, July 16, 2010
A graduate of South Putnam High School, Dylan Hayes got the idea to build Soaring Eagle Frisbee Golf Course, a nine-hole frisbee golf course on the grounds of Central Elementary School and South Putnam High School. He built it as part of an Eagle Scout project in 2009.

GREENCASTLE -- When it came time for Dylan Hayes to construct his Eagle Scout project in the spring of 2009, he had a chance to not only build something to serve his community, but also something he could enjoy personally.

Hayes chose to make his project a nine-hole disc golf course on the grounds of Central Elementary School and South Putnam High School.

"I like the sport and I noticed there weren't many courses around," Hayes said.

At the time of the course's construction, there was not yet one at Big Walnut Sports Park.

With that, he saw a chance for his interests of scouting, which he had done since he was 11, and disc golf to intersect. He got his start playing at Brazil's Forest Park and in Avon.

Soaring Eagle Frisbee Golf Course, as he named it, starts behind Central then winds its way around the school and toward the front of the high school property. It ends with two holes between the high school tennis courts and U.S. 40.

Eagle Scout Dylan Hayes completes a hole of frisbee golf at the Soaring Eagle Frisbee Golf Course he created for a project. Hayes is part of Reelsville Troop 91.

Hayes said word is slowly getting out about the course. While he hasn't officially posted any information about it online, some of his fellow players at Forest Park have referred people to it. The school has also fielded calls about the course.

"The school got lots of calls, and they had to refer people to me," Hayes said. "I see a few people playing on it as I pass the school."

While the physical work of building the course took Hayes and Reelsville Troop 91 about two weeks, the planning phase was much longer. Besides playing other courses to get ideas, he also had to get school approval.

After getting the approval of the principal and vice principal at Central, he had to twice appear before the South Putnam School Board.

Because much of the course centers around the elementary school, Hayes said he chose to make the course shorter than a number of the others on which he's played. The holes range in length from 120 feet to 390 feet.

"I wanted to make sure it would be used," Hayes said.

However, he felt the need to add some difficulty, so he tried to stay close to things, with holes No. 4, 6 and 7 all hugging tree lines.

"I was looking for some obstacles, so a lot of it is near the edges of things," Hayes said.

Obstacles also come from the natural elevation changes on the property around the school. A four-year cross country runner at South Putnam, Hayes knows the land one which his course is built all too well.

"I knew exactly what it was like to go up and down the hill," he said with a laugh.

A graduate of South Putnam in May, Hayes is bound for Ball State University, where he plans to study computer science.

Comments
View 3 comments
Note: The nature of the Internet makes it impractical for our staff to review every comment. Please note that those who post comments on this website may do so using a screen name, which may or may not reflect a website user's actual name. Readers should be careful not to assign comments to real people who may have names similar to screen names. Refrain from obscenity in your comments, and to keep discussions civil, don't say anything in a way your grandmother would be ashamed to read.
  • What a great Eagle Scout project. Best of luck at BSU. Go Cards!

    -- Posted by GuyFawkes1105 on Fri, Jul 16, 2010, at 1:56 PM
  • great job- a real accomplishment!

    -- Posted by talkymom3 on Fri, Jul 16, 2010, at 8:06 PM
  • I look foward to playing this course. Congrats on the awesome project!

    -- Posted by Hungry&Fat on Sat, Jul 17, 2010, at 8:58 AM
Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration: