Streeter Park disc golf course nearly complete

The town of Aurora may soon be able to add one more item to its long list of amenities – “Disc golf tournament site.” That’s because the community is getting a second disc golf course in addition to the one at Refshauge Park, and the new course will have a special practice facility, which is akin to a driving range in conventional golf. According to the man behind the project, because of the practice facility, the new 9-hole course along Lincoln Creek in Streeter Park could become the site of regional disc golf tournaments in the future.  
Former Aurora coffee shop owner, Harry Eckerson has lived in Liberty, Mo., near Kansas City for the past five years, but this summer he’s been spending lots of time camping out back in his old stomping grounds. That’s because the new disc golf course is Eckerson’s labor of love and gift to the community where he grew up and raised his family.
Eckerson has been playing disc golf for the last two years and looks forward to sharing his love for the sport with Aurorans.  
“The reason I play basically is I enjoy getting outdoors,” Eckerson said. “I like being in the parks and a lot of these areas we play in are kind of more on the wilderness side, so to speak. And I have a nice conversation with my playing partner, and that’s very therapeutic for me and him as well. I don’t really get too focused on the score, but it’s the experience of being out there outdoors.” 
“Here in Nebraska I can’t think of any courses that have any practice facilities on them,” Eckerson said. “There’s a course in Nebraska City that’s got a lot of positive reviews, but it doesn’t have a practice facility, and that’s just one part of this course. But the nice thing was the city had the room out there and they have the soccer field complex there already. So people are used to going out there and they have a concession stand there. And it sets up really well to have tournaments out there. I think when they put the big ballpark facility out there the idea was to attract people to visit and have tournaments there. So we’re trying to kind of emulate that same program with the disc golf so they have that capacity to do that out there.”
“They’ll be able to have long throw contests,” Eckerson said, regarding the practice facility located at the north end of the park near the ballfields. “We have the baskets out there set at 150, 300 and 450 feet and the guys that throw long, they’ll try to hit that 450, so it kind of gives them a barometer of how far they can throw out there. And I think that would be a real bonus for the course out there, having that ability to come out there and see how long you can throw.”
Eckerson said as a senior his longest disc throw runs about 200 feet, however, younger athletes can regularly throw as far as 450 feet. 
“Our course is not what they call a long facility; you’re confined with the space you have,” Eckerson clarified. “It’s called a ‘short technical course.’ And the challenge is to create challenges with the shots out there and still keep it on the fun side. And I think the challenge out there is keeping your discs out of Lincoln Creek, because Lincoln Creek is kind of the feature of that whole course that comes into play on most of the holes. So there’s a risk/reward on all the shots approaching the basket. So that becomes a challenge for even some of the better players that will come here and play.”
Eckerson said he has invited to disc golf pros to play the course to evaluate how difficult it will be. He reports one player who usually plays under par, came in at even par. 
“So I figure it’s probably a challenge,” Eckerson said. “I played it about 11 over. On this little course I play back home, I usually get about half bogeys and half pars, so this is a little tougher than that course. They’re gonna cuss. It’s going to be a love/hate relationship with Lincoln Creek, but we want to kind of establish more of the love side, meaning we’d like to have the players come out and play and respect the creek. And maybe if they lose a disc in there they’ll pick up some trash, because, you know, anytime they have the little floods that go through there, a lot of trash gets in the creek and I know the city parks department is really short-handed. And if we can get the disc golf community to help in keeping the creek cleaned up they’ll keep that place beautiful out there. So we want to kind of instill that attitude out there.” 
“Most of the disc golfers are pretty good about that because they generally play on courses that are free because they’re in city parks,” Eckerson continued, “and that’s the beauty of disc golf. It’s very affordable for families to play. And I think that’s one of the reasons that it’s growing. My other theory is that I think it’s growing like pickleball because you can play with your grandkids. That’s my own theory. It’s a senior citizen thing, and it’s the baby boomers that are moving into these recreational sports right now. So the trend is growth in disc golf and pickleball right now.” 
Earlier this year Eckerson approached the city council about adding a second course at Streeter Park at no charge to the city. Eckerson says about half the financing for the course is coming from foundation grants in Aurora and the other half from private and business donations. 
“Each basket out there is sponsored by somebody, whether it’s a business or individual or whoever,” Eckerson said. “So they will sponsor the basket and each  hole will have a theme that relates to Aurora.”
One of the themed holes Eckerson is most excited about is goal No. 5, which he refers to as the “Mount Rushmore Hole.” He calls it that because he believes it is so unique that anyone who plays the course will want to have their picture taken by it. Dubbed the “Deep Well” hole, the basket will be under a vintage center pivot irrigation tower. It pays tribute to the 225 foot deep well sunk in the Hamilton County by F. E. Edgerton in 1931 – one of the deepest in the area – and the irrigation that helped Nebraska farmers survive the Dust Bowl drought of the 1930s. The Reinke brand tower is expected to be installed this week by Carlson Irrigation of Shickley and features vintage metal wheels. It will be placed just east of the picnic shelter nearest the ballfieds and will be the longest hole of the course, almost as long as a center pivot, according to Eckerson. 
Eckerson was working with volunteers to pour concrete tee pads in the park last week. Each pad will be at least 5 feet by 12 feet in size (which is according to professional Disc Golf Association rules) and will feature a sign listing the name of the hole and distance to the basket as well as other information. All but one of the baskets have been placed already.
By that schedule the course should be completed and ready to play by the time of a special dedication ceremony planned for Sunday, Sept. 3 at the park. 
“We’re inviting everybody to come out at 2 o’clock in afternoon,” Eckerson said. “We’re going to have music and a food truck out there, and we’re going to have a big party to celebrate.”