Dear Disc Disciples,
The vote by the Supervisors of Santa Clara County is in and we're on our way to establishing the Coyote Creek Disc Golf Course at Hellyer Park in San Jose! Tom Schot has been the guiding force behind the effort to get this site going. Three years and countless meetings and we're on the verge of seeing the course open in November. When you step up to the first tee you can say, "Thank you, Tom, and thank you, sponsors."
This is the first official communication of the Silicon Valley Disc Golf Club. The Club has been born out of necessity to have an entity develop and maintain the course. The County of Santa Clara Park and Recreation Department will be issuing an annual use permit to the Club that allows us the privilege to use the land designated for the course. It is the Club's responsibility to find the necessary funds to buy and maintain the equipment needed. The Club must also provide insurance annually.
We're receiving initial financial assistance from the DeLaveaga Disc Golf Club in Santa Cruz via a loan for our insurance and funds needed to clear and prepare the site for play. Ed Headrick of the Disc Golf Association has agreed to supply the baskets (Mach Ill) and signs with a stipulation that calls for sponsorship funds being prioritized and dedicated to paying off the equipment.
Sponsorship will take the form of having the sponsor's name appear on the tee sign for a particular hole as well as having the sponsor's name listed on a sign located by the start of the course. The cost for sponsoring a hole is $500.00 with an annual renewal of $100.00. We gladly welcome any other ideas you have. for generating sponsorship funds. So far we have two confirmed sponsors: Helm of Sun Valley Sporting Goods and Santa Clara Valley Mortgage. You can get a great selection of golf discs at Helm's two stores in San Jose.
We expect a tremendous amount of play on the course as the site can be seen by thousands of motorists every day. The location is at the Hellyer exit off U.S. Highway 101. There's a parking lot on the west side of Highway 101 that's to be used as the starting point. Proceed to the south end of the lot that's on the east side of Cottonwood Lake. You'll find picnic tables and restrooms and drinking water at the start of the course. During the summer at all times and on non-summer weekends the County of Santa Clara charges for vehicle entrance to the parking lot. Per vehicle charge is $4.00 and this is a great reason to car pool. The Club makes no money whatsoever on this parking fee.
The course will have 9 holes on either side of Highway 101. The first phase will consist of holes 1 & 2 and holes 10 through 18. Because the course is in the flood plain of Coyote Creek and there will be 2 creek crossings, holes 3 through 9 will be seasonal and they will not be put into play until mid-April. By mid-October holes 3 through 9 will be removed. The Club must also come up with the resources to build and maintain two bridges that will cross Coyote Creek. The County will allow us to store on their facilities the bridges and holes 3 through 9 during the off season.
We want to organize a work crew for the weekend of November 22-23. If you or someone you know has a tractor with brush hog please inform us as soon as possible We will compensate with money and or sponsorship designation. Automatic hole diggers would be ideal, but, we'll take shovels and rakes and elbow grease. Most of the work to be done is eradicating weeds, minor brush clearing, hole digging and concrete pouring.
The initial membership application has been amended to give us more information about you. Enclosed you'll find a partially completed form that you can fill out in detail so we can get a shirt size and other information. Thanks for being a Charter Member and supporting the growth of disc golf.
The Club is seeking members who would like to serve on the Board of Directors. Playing disc golf is the focus of the Club. However, there will be no playing if we can't get some people to help organize and sustain the bureaucratic end of the deal. I've had 5 years experience in directing a Frisbee Association: newsletters, memberships charitable events and tournaments. I designed and installed disc golf courses about 20 years ago in Minnesota and the Midwest and I'm excited to be involved with the development of disc golf in the Santa Clara Valley. Please note that you need not have experience in the organizational end of things to become a Board Member, only the desire to help with the non-playing part.
I look forward to hearing from you now and in the future. Hopefully, we'll see you in November and many more times. Throw it accurately and not very often.
Best Regards,
Jim Challas
P.S. We need a logo!
