Michael Solis plays Taylor Lake Village's new disc golf course at Saturday's grand opening tournament. Photo by Jenny Montgomery.Responding to concerns about disc golf players littering and urinating in the neighborhood where Taylor Lake Village opened a course last month, the city will remove three holes near homes and put together a committee to look into problems rising from the course's popularity.
The 18-hole course in Taylor Lake Village Park -- take a virtual tour here -- has been a huge hit with disc golf players. At today's grand opening tournament, the parking lot was packed, and players were excited to have a new place to compete.
"It's a beautiful course," said tournament contender Michael Solis, a Friendswood chemical salesman who's played at many of the 20 courses in the Houston area. "They keep it well-groomed."
Mayor Natalie O’Neill has heard both praise and complaints.
“It’s been such a phenomenal success that it has in fact become problematic,” O'Neill said.
Among the complaints: Disc golf players are leaving beer cans and other trash on the course.
Since the opening of the course, the city has added more trash cans, O'Neill said, but Solis and other players were looking for more this weekend.
As for the beer cans, the consumption of alcohol is legal in Taylor Lake Village Park, but a person cannot be publicly intoxicated. While alcohol's not allowed at Houston parks or at the sport's sanctioned tournaments, players say drinking's allowed at many parks without causing problems.
"We don't come to the golf course to drink beer," said tournament player Brad Wells, a Kemah landscaper. "We can do that at home."
Another complaint from neighbors: Discs have ended up in backyards, and at least two people have been hit by them, but neither one was seriously injured. The three holes to be removed were from the course’s back-nine near the subdivisions of Timber Cove and Lake Country.
Tournament player Michael Ynfante, a Santa Fe construction supervisor who's another frequent player at disc tournaments, said a fence would solve the problem.
"A lot of amateurs are going to throw into people's yards," he said. "That's why you put up a fence."
To address concerns about urination on private property, the city's opened a second restroom and ordered signs that will direct people to the restrooms. The city will also consider instituting hours of operation at the park.
Players say most of their kind are well-behaved people just having some fun, contributing to the local economy. Ynfante picked up coffee and a muffin just down the street on his way to the tournament, and Solis grabbed breakfast at a nearby Jack in the Box. Both businesses are in Seabrook rather than tiny Taylor Lake Village, and many players planned to meet for lunch at Boondoggle, a tournament sponsor in nearby El Lago.
For her part, the mayor isn't worried but says a committee is forming to recommend changes to make the course to be more of a community facility.
“Let’s put things in perspective. People gripe about everything.” she said. “This is not to say these aren’t valid things, which is why we’re having a meeting and trying to find out what all the true issues are and making sure we’re resolving any issues that are for real.”
IF YOU WANT TO HAVE A SAY
Anyone can join the ad hoc committee, which will have its inaugural meeting sometime this month. Interested residents should call 281-326-2843.
Jenny Montgomery contributed to this report.
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Comments
Article mistakes claims as facts.
I've been involved with the TLV Course since it's design phase and I wanted to comment to clear up some issues with this article. There have been more claims and accusations flying around about the course than frisbees of late and this article contains a number of mistakes.
1. Disc golfers have been keeping the park clean. When the trash cans were initially overflowing it was disc golfers who went out and bagged up the overflow. Area disc golfers notified the city that more trash cans were needed and offered to donate 20 blue plastic barrel trash cans to the city.
2. There have been no calls or complaints to the Lakeview Police about the course or the behavior of disc golfers. No calls about drinking, public urination, loud noises or any other issue.
3. The claim that two joggers were hit by discs while jogging on the course is curious. Seabrook's Miramar Disc Golf Course has six of nine holes running along a jogging path and in 5 years since the course opened there has not been a single reported injury to a jogger.
4. The person in the photo is Jake Walsdorf of Galveston not Michael Solis.
5. The three holes removed are on the front nine, not the back nine.
What's is it with golf players and alcohol consumptions. I've
What's is it with golf players and alcohol consumptions. I've read similar articles before and I feel like I am missing something. Is there an alcohol tradition in golf playing? I doubt it but I need to ask.
Caroll, California drug treatment
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