Otis School District recently completed the installation of a disc golf course on the school property at 518 Dungan Street in Otis, CO. The course features nine challenging holes which wind their way around the entire property, utilizing many of the outdoor landscape attributes.
The 2,273 ft. course, named Otis Bulldog Disc Golf Course, is all par three holes, all of which are clearly marked and easy to find. Cement tee pads, informative tee signs, and competition grade baskets makes for great gameplay for any level player. Subtle touches like a complete map on every tee sign as well as a QR code that conveys a digital map to your smart phone, and arrows in the bottom of the basket pointing the way to the next tee back make navigation a breeze.
The course has a unique feature in that it has two ‘modes’ of play which dictate the level of difficulty. These modes are called BullPup and BullDog, which harken the Otis Schools’ mascot, and define the amount of Out of Bounds areas which are active during the round. BullPup is the easier route, BullDog being more difficult. Even more competitive players will find the BullDog ‘mode’ to be challenging.
The course was designed by Erik Tribelhorn after a request from Athletic Director Bonnie Kuntz.
“We had access to some grant money to utilize toward outdoor activities for the kids,” Kuntz said. “Disc golf seemed to be a great option.”
Tribelhorn took a couple weeks early in 2020 to study the property and came back to Kuntz with a preliminary design plan and a budget.
“For a school of this size, there were some interesting options for some appealing hole layouts. And being able to fit nine holes onto the property was such a bonus,” said Tribelhorn.
Tribelhorn, a local resident of Yuma whose children attend school in Otis, discovered the sport about five years ago.
“I accidentally purchased some disc golf discs at an industrial auction in Denver about 12 years ago. They sat in my garage for a few years until one weekend, we loaded up the family and headed to Fort Morgan. I was sure that those baskets you can see in the park from the interstate had something to do with these discs and we were going to find out. Once we got there, we tried to figure out where to start playing the course. After a half hour of frustration, we were set to leave when I saw a guy coming out of the wooded area next to the park with a backpack. Maybe he knows something, I told my family. The man turned out to be Basil Molina, the Fort Morgan city employee responsible for the upkeep of the two disc golf courses in town. Basil took the time to show us where the starting hole was, the basic rules of how to play, some tips on how to throw, and played the first nine holes with us. He even gave us a couple discs to add to our collection. Had we not seen Basil, this sport might still be invisible to us.”
Since then Tribelhorn, his wife Shawna, and their three kids (to a lesser extent) have really “gotten into the sport”.
“That’s a bit of an understatement”, says Shawna, “I’d classify it as an obsession.”
A few months after that first discovery in Fort Morgan, the Tribelhorns played their first tournament, a three round, two-day mixed doubles event at the Optimist course in Ft. Morgan. They didn’t even show up for the third round on Sunday.
“It was humbling”, says Tribelhorn, “we were sunburned and worn out and… in last place. Not our proudest moment.”
Since then, the Tribelhorns have played in courses all around the country, become members in the Professional Disc Golf Association, competed in many tournaments and leagues, even set up a 20-hole course on their property south of Yuma.
“So yeah, we’re obsessed”, quips Tribelhorn. “I’ve been athletic all my life. I love the feeling of accomplishment that sports bring when performed correctly. The rush you might get from a home run or strike out in baseball, a three pointer in basketball, or a touchdown pass in football; that feeling is just as powerful after an accurate drive or a long putt in disc golf. Plus, the whole sport can be a physics experiment if desired. There are countless variations of disc designs and plastic types, all of which perform differently based on how you throw them, wind direction and speed, elevation, how ‘worn in’ the disc is, and more. It’s a cerebral game. You have to think on every shot.”
Tribelhorn has made significant strides in disc golf in the last few years. In 2019, late in the season, he set a goal to qualify for the PDGA Amateur World Championships, an invitation only, worldwide week-long event held the following July in Orlando, Florida. Playing in multiple leagues and tournaments up until the last week of the year to gain enough points to qualify, he finally obtained the required amount and secured his invitation. Additionally, because of the level of his player rating at the end of the year, he was invited to the United States Disc Golf Amateur Championships in Michigan.
“That was an unexpected bonus,” he said, “the spring and summer of 2020 was shaping up to be a very competitive disc golf season.”
However, due to COVID-19, both events were cancelled in addition to the biggest National Tour tournament in the world in Kansas that they were signed up for in April.
“My goals were put on hold as many tournaments were cancelled as the PDGA was determining how to hold events and comply with the new guidelines.”
In the meantime, the details for the Otis course were solidified, the holes were designed and tested, construction details ironed out, and the result is a facility that can be used for years and years to come.
The Otis Bulldog Disc Golf Course is open to the public during non-school daylight hours. A typical nine-hole round with two players takes about 40 minutes and is about a ¾ mile walk.
The course is listed in the ubiquitous smartphone app, UDisc, which disc golf players around the world use to locate courses, keep score for casual and tournament rounds, and even measure their throws. UDisc can be found at the Google Play store for Android phones or the App Store for iPhones.
Disc golf is an excellent outdoor activity, and can be played in all seasons and in many communities around the nation. Disc golf is played much like golf. Instead of a ball and clubs, though, players use a flying disc or Frisbee®. The sport was formalized in the 1970s and shares with golf the object of completing each hole in the fewest strokes (or, in the case of disc golf, fewest throws). A golf disc is thrown from a tee area to a target, which is the “hole.” The hole can be one of a number of disc golf targets; the most common is an elevated metal basket. As a player progresses down the fairway, he or she must make each consecutive throw from the spot where the previous throw landed. The trees, shrubs, and terrain changes located in and around the fairways provide challenging obstacles for the golfer. Finally, the “putt” lands in the basket and the hole is completed. Disc golf has a very low cost of entry, with discs ranging from $9 to $20 each (starter sets feature three discs and cost about $30). The sport is gaining popularity around the world. There are over 8,000 courses in the United States, most of which are free to play.
The Otis Bulldog Disc Golf Course was made possible through a number of sponsors who donated money for the construction. Their names are featured at the top of the tee signs. The nine sponsors were TBK Bank, Otis Telegraph, Five Rivers Yuma Feedlot, Wandering K Farms (Chad and Tenae Klinzman), Bank of Colorado, Sito, Ison Oil Company, Kookie Fairy (Kylee Ballah), and Agri-Inject.
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