ARD says new playing fields at Regional Park will have minimal impact on disc golf course

Auburn's disc golfing population will gladly pick up trash and pull weeds in between chucking brightly colored discs into the tree-dense areas of Regional Park in North Auburn.There's a pride and love for the course many grew up playing on as one of the first in Northern California.So when the group read an April 12 Auburn Journal sports story about the Auburn Recreation District's ideas for putting new football and soccer fields in the open grass area of the course, they were understandably concerned - maybe a bit prematurely."After the article ran, a bunch of people came up to me and said, 'They're going to pull the course!' 'They're going to pull the course!'" said Richard Poplin, Auburn Disc Golf Club president. "(Auburn Recreation District Administrator) Alain (Grenier) called me and said they would not pull the whole course, really only some of our holes, and it wouldn't be too big of a deal." The ARD board of directors has given staff direction to look into putting fields in a 300-foot by 600-foot area north of the park's pond.Since the plans are conceptual, Grenier said he's not sure exactly how many or even if holes would be affected on the course. "The possibilities are just so far out there," he said. The district would not want to dramatically change or move the course that is the busiest free-use recreational facility the district provides, Grenier said.The throwers may actually gain a course on the 24-acre expansion site the district purchased last year, he said, as there has been talk of using the tree-dense, sloping area for disc golf."It's small for what most people want, which is a good tournament size course," Poplin said of a new site. "But a nine-hole might be good for an alternate course. It can get pretty busy out there."A group of several disc golfers who hit the course Monday said they try to play two or three times a week."They don't realize how popular this has become," said Kenny Cucuk, of Auburn. "They just can't take any holes away."In his 13 years of throwing, Cucuk has noticed an increase in use. The users have expanded the course to include four positions to tee from for each basket and minimize disc golfers playing into each other.Throwers donate their time to the park's upkeep, whether it is landscaping, litter removal or creating alternative pin placements for the baskets golfers aim for when going after the elusive hole in one. ARD purchased new baskets for the course several years ago."We're doing the park a favor. We pick up the trash everyone else leaves," said disc golfer Chris Hickman, 25. "We're not going to be the scapegoat for the park."The course was installed in 1979 making it one of the first in Northern California, and the club formed soon after in the mid-'80s, Poplin said.The club holds a yearly tournament, weekly best-shot doubles nights and a glow-in-the-dark disc Halloween event."It's free," said, Gary Danielson, who started playing with his step dad and has kept with it for around 10 years. "The only thing you need is a disc. Locals all come out and have fun."Although the course is not being threatened now, Poplin would like to see it there always."We love our course and want to keep it there," he said. "We're working to expand what we have now with more pin locations and make what we have better. You wouldn't play The Ridge for 20 years and then tear it down because you want something new. You'd want to keep it there."The Journal's Michelle Miller can be reached at michellem@goldcountrymedia.com.