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During my junior year of college (2011), I had the great opportunity to study abroad in Ulm, Germany for one year. When I arrived, I found out that the closest disc golf course was a 45-minute drive away, and not accessible via public transportation, so I was naturally very saddened about this.
I told my friends and family that it’d be the greatest thing ever if I could get the city of Ulm to install a course in one of their parks, but they laughed at me and said there was no way because the government in Germany is very stubborn and hesitant to try new things.
Well, I didn’t give up and emailed one of the city council members and met with her to discuss the idea of getting a course. Not surprisingly, she had no idea what disc golf was, so I had to start completely from scratch. She was inspired by how passionate I was as a 20-year old student and set me up with a meeting with the director of parks and recreation the following month. During the weeks leading up to the meeting, I miraculously found another disc golf lover in the city of Ulm, whose basket I borrowed during the meeting to demonstrate what disc golf was. The director was very hesitant to the idea and scared it would be a big flop. However, with every concern he voiced, I reassured him and tried to convince him otherwise.
Cost? Small compared to anything else the park installed. Vandalism? The baskets are really sturdy. People getting hurt? Very, very rarely happens because disc golfers are careful and considerate. Would it catch on? It’s one of the fastest growing sports in the world. USA has over 4,000 courses! This type of conversation went on for a while.
For months and months I begged the city to just give it a shot, and eventually they agreed! In December of 2012, a 9-hole course was installed in the Wiley Park in Ulm and in October 2013, the first tournament was held. And it was completely filled and was a huge hit!
To this day, I consider this one of my biggest accomplishments and contributions to the sport I’ve come to love.
In the event that I do win the basket, I would want it to be installed at the course in Germany. Maybe as a practice basket or 10th hole.
Here is the link to the course I’ve been describing: http://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.php?id=5974
I told my friends and family that it’d be the greatest thing ever if I could get the city of Ulm to install a course in one of their parks, but they laughed at me and said there was no way because the government in Germany is very stubborn and hesitant to try new things.
Well, I didn’t give up and emailed one of the city council members and met with her to discuss the idea of getting a course. Not surprisingly, she had no idea what disc golf was, so I had to start completely from scratch. She was inspired by how passionate I was as a 20-year old student and set me up with a meeting with the director of parks and recreation the following month. During the weeks leading up to the meeting, I miraculously found another disc golf lover in the city of Ulm, whose basket I borrowed during the meeting to demonstrate what disc golf was. The director was very hesitant to the idea and scared it would be a big flop. However, with every concern he voiced, I reassured him and tried to convince him otherwise.
Cost? Small compared to anything else the park installed. Vandalism? The baskets are really sturdy. People getting hurt? Very, very rarely happens because disc golfers are careful and considerate. Would it catch on? It’s one of the fastest growing sports in the world. USA has over 4,000 courses! This type of conversation went on for a while.
For months and months I begged the city to just give it a shot, and eventually they agreed! In December of 2012, a 9-hole course was installed in the Wiley Park in Ulm and in October 2013, the first tournament was held. And it was completely filled and was a huge hit!
To this day, I consider this one of my biggest accomplishments and contributions to the sport I’ve come to love.
In the event that I do win the basket, I would want it to be installed at the course in Germany. Maybe as a practice basket or 10th hole.
Here is the link to the course I’ve been describing: http://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.php?id=5974
