First Steps

• Have a club Board of Directors meeting to determine a timeline.
• Discuss who is the appropriate park staff member to contact.
• Contact your local park authorities.
• Thank park authorities for their efforts and support of disc golf.
• Discuss current situation of local parks and local courses.
• Discuss park’s timeline on opening course(s).
• Discuss how club and club members can volunteer to assist park staff on necessary tasks.
  • “What can we do to help get the course open and be safe to play?"

Scheduling and Getting the Word Out

• Discuss with park representative(s) the club’s desire to help ensure that the course will be safe once it opens to the public.
• Work with park officials to pick the most appropriate day(s) to have course workday(s).
• Discuss with parks department opportunities for individual and/or small groups of volunteers to work on their own.
• Create and post a workday flyer on the course kiosk and/or on the first tee sign, create a Facebook event page, invite and share with club members, call and/or text club members and local players, and/or contact local organizations (Chamber of Commerce, for example) to assist in publicizing your course opening and ongoing clean-up efforts.

Supplies Needed

• Assess the needs of the course, then prepare an inventory of the tools needed to complete the tasks at hand.
• Garbage bags/recycling bag/bin.
• Work gloves.
• Rakes, shovels, trimmers, pole saw, digging bar, level, other hand tools as needed.
• Water and snacks for workers (individual bottles and packages to eliminate any shared use of containers).

Staffing

• Invite your most experienced and most trusted workers.
• Create small groups.
• Consider establishing a “Team Captain” to assign volunteers to specific duties and to ensure safe work habits. This should either be a club representative or a park representative.
• Assign experienced/trusted people to lead small groups.
• Consider what tasks make sense for particular groups of volunteers.
• Consider community service hours workers that may be available.

Safety

• Create an online safety meeting video and/or instructions for volunteers to review prior to gathering.
• Reference the existence of the online safety meeting and instructions. Ensure that all volunteers have reviewed the online materials.
• If volunteers are allowed to use power tools, chainsaws, etc., be sure to assign these duties only to those who have experience and are aware of dangers.
• Advise volunteers to take precautions for possible poison ivy, ticks/bugs, and heat.

Basic Course Maintenance Needs

• Prior to a scheduled workday, set up a time to inspect the course with parks department personnel or with permission.
• Work with the park to identify what type of work is acceptable for individuals and what types of work require park supervision.
• Discuss with parks department opportunities for individual and/or small groups of volunteers to work on their own.
• Determine what can be done by volunteers.
• Offer assistance to the parks department.

Installation of Targets (if applicable)

• Discuss with a park representative if this is a task for the club or for park staff.
• If it is the responsibility of the park, offer assistance.
• If the park staff wants the club to assist in this task, discuss logistics and equipment that will be needed. Consider if locks will need to be needed? Will a vehicle be needed for transport? Can the course be navigated by vehicle without damage to property? Can service roads be used?
• Tools needed: Level, tool to remove debris from in-ground sleeves, locks and keys, etc.

Litter Removal

• Good job for new people.
• Need to provide heavy-duty bags, recycling bags, gloves and “trash picker tools.”
• Provide a central place for garbage bags to be collected and instruct volunteers to do so safely.
• Provide recycling bags/bins to collect recyclable items and instruct volunteers to do so safely.

Vandalism Remediation (if applicable)

• Survey damage with park staff.
• Assess the situation and plan remediation accordingly.

How can we make these efforts, fun, productive and a “win-win” for clubs, courses, parks and disc golf in general?

• “Work in the morning and play in the afternoon” if allowed by park staff.
• Be sure to have ample water and snacks for all volunteers and park staff.
• Hold a contest and reward people who pick up the most litter.
• Volunteer appreciation awards, club members donate excess discs.
• Consider contacting local newspapers to report on your course opening activities/events.