Dalton is opening what it claims is the first permanent downtown disc golf course in the nation -- a project driven in part by a disc manufacturer who came to the city to grow his business and the sport itself in Northwest Georgia.
Called The Par 2 Trail, Dalton's new course features eight par 2 basket-like holes in locations like Burr Park; the Dalton Green, the greenspace adjacent to the county Courthouse parking deck; and the Old Freight Depot on South Depot Street.
"I think it's a huge deal because it will bring a different market downtown," Candace Eaton, executive director of the Downtown Dalton Development Authority, said in a news release. "As they walk the course, they'll see local businesses downtown or stop and eat lunch or dinner, or maybe grab a beer or shop."
Will Schusterick, general sales manager with Prodigy Disc Golf, was part of the effort to build the downtown disc golf course.
Prodigy is a manufacturer of discs, bags and baskets. The company moved to nearby Dawnville at the end of 2018, Schusterick said. In business for more than a decade, he said the company was growing and looking for a new hometown with enough warehouse space and growth potential for the sport.
"We chose Dalton because the disc golf community wasn't quite established," Schusterick said in a phone interview. "And we were looking for a place where we could grow with the city and the county and development groups with disc golf and be able to host events and do things that we're doing now."
Schusterick said Prodigy has helped establish disc golf courses in Whitfield County's Westside Park, Edwards Park and at a few local golf courses. The company has also helped establish several courses in the nearby communities like Calhoun and Trion. Other nearby Georgia counties have expressed interest in opening disc golf courses, too, he said.
"It's only growing, it's not really slowing down any time soon," Schusterick said.
Because the new course is in a city, he said a shorter course was designed to avoid longer shots that could interfere with traffic or pedestrians. The shorter course is mainly for team building and coordination with other events to encourage shopping and dining downtown.
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Mauricio Lino, a Dalton resident, was throwing on the new course Friday. He said throwing discs in the city felt great.
"It's a different environment because most disc golf courses are on a golf course, at a park or in the woods somewhere," Lino said. "So it's just a weird, but cool environment."
The people are mainly why Lino said he likes disc golf. After about two years of playing, he said he likes how everybody who plays the sport is welcoming. Skill level isn't a barrier either, Lino said. Disc golfers will invite someone to play whether they're good at the sport or still learning.
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Margaret Thigpen, Dalton's director of tourism, was part of the group of local leaders and organizations who helped the project become a reality.
"To have the permanent par 2 disc golf downtown, (Schusterick) can shape tournaments around it, and we can shape all kinds of different events around it, if you will, from pub crawls and team building -- it's really got a lot of uses for any and all, all age groups," Thigpen said in a news release.
Discs are on sale at the Convention & Visitors Bureau at the Old Freight Depot, 305 S. Depot St.
A ribbon-cutting for the course will be at 3 p.m. Friday at the Old Freight Depot. The inaugural tournament is Saturday. With the $15 entry fee, players will receive a limited-edition disc, a disc golf bingo card, a Prodigy mini disc marker and a holiday passport.
The first 50 registered received coupons for downtown Dalton businesses.
Register online at Discgolfscene.com or in person on Saturday at the Dalton Area Convention & Visitors Bureau. Tee times are from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. As of Thursday afternoon, 68 players were registered.
The disc tournament is part of the 24th annual Dalton Open House, a gathering featuring live music, shops decorated for the holidays and photographs with Santa Claus.
Ribbon-cutting for The Par 2 Trail
When: 3 p.m. Friday.
Where: Old Freight Depot, 305 S. Depot St. Dalton, Ga.
Contact Andrew Wilkins at awilkins@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6659. Follow him on Twitter @tweetatwilkins.