Author: jack@malago.co.uk

This chapter started with a little email from the council on the 26th July 2022, it read: “We have discussed the Disc Golf course, and have decided to remove the course. It will be removed in early September, after the summer holidays, and we will keep the baskets and mats etc in the wood yard for you to collect.”

Up until this point, our relationship with the council had been reasonable, but sometimes there were tensions, at times due to failings on our side. On receiving this email I was quietly devastated but accepted that it was time to give up.

However, the Bristol Disc Golf community, although small was rapidly growing. We pulled together, knowing the immense value of what we were about to lose. Here’s a quick run down of who did what – it’s really been a team effort:

Paul ‘Larry’ Larkin, Wayne Davey and Alan Sweetman stepped up to the daunting roles of Chairman, Treasurer and Secretary of the newly formed Bristol Disc Golf Club – a not for profit organisation with the specific goal of keeping a course available in Bristol. Filling out the committee were Dan Green, Paul Waite, Duncan Fraser and myself.

Duncan Fraser set up a petition that got over 1,400 signatures over the course of a few days. Reading some of the testimonies people wrote provided a lot of inspiration for what followed.

The Bristol Post waded in with an article that was more critical of the council than we would have liked, but they were followed by the local BBC and Bristol24/7, all of which  added pressure.

Finally the council wanted to talk! They set up a meeting between ourselves, Councillor Ellie King, and the Ashton Court Estate management. We were incredibly lucky in having Ellie there, as not only is she a Councillor, but she’s very invested in the role of city parks in improving the mental health of the people of Bristol – this played right into our wheelhouse – many of the testimonies on the petition were about exactly this.

Our second stroke of luck was that we had a secret weapon: Dan Green. Not only does Dan works on environmental issues for Wessex Water, he’s also incredibly good to have on your side in a meeting. We had a small clue when he started sending out agendas before the meeting. Not only did he turn up in a suit and tie, he then took over and absolutely nailed it, leaving us all speechless (which was probably a good thing). Councillor King was duly impressed, and the Estate management agreed to tow the line. Not only could the course stay (with certain conditions), but we were allowed to expand!

The conditions were that we moved certain baskets away from veteran trees, and paid an annual fee of £1,000. Since this agreement, the Estate have been true to their word, and helped us every step of the way.

🥏 Pleased that, after working with Yeti Disc Golf Club, @BristolCouncil have agreed a way for them to stay at @Ashton_Court_!

🌳 Updates to the course design will prevent damage to trees + disturbance to wildlife, protecting the surrounding Site of Special Scientific Interest pic.twitter.com/rSvGoMIUZX

— Marvin Rees (@MarvinJRees) December 22, 2022

Our next big breakthrough was a gofundme campaign set up by Jonny Dick. This has raised an incredible £2,870 so far (and still collecting) – allowing us to purchase 10 ‘nearly new’ baskets from Mat Cutler, as well as tee matts, postcrete, bolts and all the other things needed to install them. Special thanks to Evan Allen, Fran Johnson, WhaleSac and Druid City who each stumped up a princely sum to sponsor a basket.

We got lucky again when the Clarke brothers joined the community, not only do they have landscaping skills, but they somehow sourced 18 rubber matts, saving us approximately £360!

Our final name checks go to Ben March, Ben Seaman and Dan Shelton, who did a lot of work designing and playing the new holes, getting them fine tuned to a point where we could install them, and Rob Firey for his gentle tinkering and maintenance on the course.

Lastly,  we had two coursework days, both of which saw a dozen club members turning up to actually dig the holes and carry things around. It was hard work – but totally worth it.

On the 15th July 2023, almost a year after the email that started this crazy adventure, we planted the final new baskets. For a short time, we actually have 20 permanent baskets installed – although two will have to be removed at some point. It’s an end to this chapter of a course that was initially installed in 2009, and I just hope that the next chapter is just as successful but maybe a bit less stressful!

This has all been made possible by the incredible generosity of our players and other members of the community who have consistently stumped up cash for nothing in return to keep us going in this journey. We cannot thank them enough and are excited about the next steps for the expanding Bristol Disc Golf community.

Future plans include installing some of our old baskets in a course suitable for young people in Bristol – giving something back, and investing in the next generation of Disc Golfers.

The money was spent as follows:
10 new baskets @ £240 each: £2,400
Tee pad mats £209
Postcrete, spray-paint, bolts, etc £96
Total spent £2,705

This leaves £135 which we plan to spend on postcrete etc for setting up the new baskets

This is a huge step forward for us. We’ve purchased the baskets (at an excellent price) and sprayed them grey in accordance with the councils ‘low impact’ requirements, and they’re in my backyard awaiting installation.

This will mean that the gofundme campaign funded an incredible 10 new baskets! Not only that, but for a brief period we should have an unbelievable 20 baskets on the course – unbelievable because this time last year we thought the course was going to be pulled out. What a difference a bit of community spirit can achieve!

However, although we have the go ahead from the council to install the baskets, we’re going to wait for a few months.

We didn’t take this decision lightly, as we’re very keen to get the new holes in, but there are two good reasons to delay:

1. We’re having a heat wave and the ground is very hard.
2. Smyth Meadow is literally an unmown meadow during the summer, with the tall grasses reaching 4 or 5 feet high in some places. Rather than install the holes and then have them unplayable, we’re going to wait until late summer, then beat them in over the winter.

We’re aware that these holes might become unplayable in future summers, that’s something we’ll have to live with.

Thanks to a successful petition to keep the cause in Ashton Court, the council actually gave us permission to expand the course!

In May 2023, with the help of club member Jonny Dick, we launched a gofundme campaign to fund the installation of 6 new baskets in Smyth Meadow.

It’s been hugely successful, and we raised enough money to not only set up the six new holes, but also replace a few of the original baskets, which were made in somebody’s garage in the early 80s and are a bit tired to say the least.

Special thanks to donors whalesac.com and fanatic.co.uk as well as a lot of generous individuals.

The estate set April as the deadline by which we had to move four critical baskets to protect veteran trees. Last Sunday we got a team of club members and replaced those baskets with some of our new ones and also installed a few rubber mat tees.

To comply with the SSSI status of the park, the estate asked us to tone down the bright yellow bands on the baskets, so we sprayed them matt grey, but with a little Banksy inspired stencil work we branded them with our Yeti club name! We love them.

We still need the council to agree the exact placement of the six new baskets in Smyth Field.

The estate has not finalised the placement of the new holes yet, but we’re hopeful that will happen soon. Our club membership has grown from a dozen or so to over sixty over the last few years, and it seems to be snowballing. I’m continuously meeting new players, and a recurring theme is that they have found an immense mental health benefit from Disc Golf – some people that have never enjoyed outdoor activities are now completely hooked and loving it.

We’re building a small but very dedicated community, and for your part in that we are very thankful.

Jack