Amador County – Employees of the Amador County Recreation Agency recently picked up a loan for the second season in a row from Kirkwood Mountain Resort. Not in the form of money or lift tickets. Instead, ACRA for the second straight season has borrowed Kirkwood’s Innova Discatcher disc golf baskets, and will be working in the near future on setting the 19 baskets in place at Mollie Joyce Park in Pine Grove. On Wednesday, ACRA program coordinators Adam Lindsey and Matt Nestor worked with volunteers to mark out the pin placements for the flying disc golf course. Nestor and Lindsey have gathered funds aimed at creating a permanent disc golf course at Molly Joyce Park, and Merzlak Signs owner Kam Merzlak is sponsoring tee sign maps for the 18-hole disc golf course. Part of creating the permanent course is fastening steel sleeves in the ground, in which to mount the disc golf baskets, which are heavy wire baskets lined with steel chains, which catch the disc. The games are scored like golf, with the lower the score, the better. The course was designed and laid out by El Dorado County professional disc golf pioneer Charlie Callahan, and local players, including Ione pro master Ray Birch, and amateurs Paul Dalmau of Pine Grove and Brandon Wedge of Sutter Creek. Nestor said the next step for the project is to give a budget to ACRA Executive Director Tracy Towner-Yep to auger holes in which to plant the basket sleeves. ACRA’s goal with the project is to build the county’s first permanent, year-round disc golf course with professionally sanctioned baskets. Nestor, Lindsey, and local players plan to host tournaments to raise money to build out the permanent course, including purchasing new baskets. Molly Joyce Park Superintendent Pete Staple, also of ACRA, and the group mapped out the layout of the course Wednesday, in the effort to put in the basket holders. Hand crews from the Pine Grove fire camp helped clear part of the park of weeks and will be working this burn season on helping clear fairways for the course. The work will help with fire hazards at the park, which was deeded to ACRA by Fred Joyce on February 5th, 2008, on condition that the park be maintained for public recreation use. The baskets on loan from Kirkwood are built to specifications sanctioned by the Professional Disc Golf Association. Kirkwood loaned the basket to ACRA last year, in an attempt to have a permanent, year-round disc golf course at the Kennedy Mine, but problems led to its removal. The baskets will be used at Molly Joyce Park until ski season ends at Kirkwood. For information, call ACRA at 223-6373. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.