New Golf Course in Forsyth County
by Richard Johnston
January 1st, 2003

Aerial view of Central Park from the north at 2000' AGL

North-side Atlanta is soon to be the home of a new championship level course. The course is located at Central Park in Cumming, just north of the city. This course features an interesting mix of holes on rolling terrain with many long open shots. The baskets are not in the ground yet, but the course is staked out with flags on the tees and aluminum polls marking the pin position making it playable now for practice rounds. I had the opportunity to play the course last week and it is quite a contrast to Sequoyah's often tightly wooded shots.

This course is the result of much hard work and persistence by local golfers Jason Dowling and Melinda Umphenour who also designed the course. I had spoken with Jason and Melinda last year about a possible course in this new park, now it is reality due to their continued and professional presentation of disc golf's potential to Forsyth County. Having gone through this process myself in Cherokee County, I know how difficult and sometimes discouraging this can be.

The shortest hole is 210', longest 460'. OB comes into play on a couple of holes but for the most part the holes are fairly open. The front 9 distance is 2700', back 9 is 2510', making the total course length 5210'. This place is huge,  much of the park's land is undeveloped. Two 18 hole courses are possible here, with the next 9 holes already designed. They are in place off hole 12, becoming 12/A - 12/I with an estimated 2570' length being a challenge for both big and small arms alike. The baskets are here as well, just waiting for final approval from the park's department before planting them. Jason is not sure if they ordered Mach 3 or 5s, the basket and poll are virtually the same and we could not find the chains. Jason is trying to get the baskets in and ready for a "World's Biggest" in May at Central Park.

Much deserved attention is given to our local pros who work hard to improve their games. Often little attention goes to those who also invest much of their time/money to promote/design new courses, making disc golf possible for everyone.  I can think of 7 or 8 locals who have done this over the years, perhaps they deserve their own wing in Atlanta's Disc Golf Hall of Fame. Please thank Jason and Melinda when you see them on the course, let them know their hard work is appreciated. Feel free to contact them at 770-889-8630 for a guided tour of all the possibilities!

COURSE MAP

DIRECTIONS: GA 400 north to Keith Bridge Rd. (Exit 17), Turn left at end of offramp (west). Park entrance is ½ mile on left.  Continue in the park until fork in road with picnic table at top of hill. Park in parking lot behind picnic table. Hole 1 is across road.

 New Sequoyah Tee-Signs
by Richard Johnston            

January 1st, 2003

New tee signs have been designed and are being installed on the course. The signs were drawn by Steve Smith and Richard Johnston with Steve Smith donating the materiels for the signs. The signs indicate multiple pin position/distances and the sponsor whose donation helped buy the course baskets.

Sequoyah Park Wide Open 2002 Tournament Results
December 15th, 2002

A cold morning greeted the competitors as they warmed up for the tournament. 51 players were present for the second annual Sequoyah Wide Open on December 15th,2002. A brisk wind was blowing for the first round then slackened a bit in the afternoon. The tourney TDs, John Chapman and Richard Johnston hosted the field of 30 open, 6 masters, 2 women, and 13 am players to 2 rounds of "survivor" golf. Thanks to all that showed up. This years purse was better than ever thanks to the generosity of local golfers. Don Austin contributed $190 to the open purse and $60 to the masters. Greg Campell contributed $100 to the open purse. CTPs were also sponsored by John Burpee, Ryan Renz, Greg Guttenger, Speedy and Brad Hammock. Also thanks to IFO/Speedy for use of leader board and Jim Warner for printing the scorecards and leader board cards. Thanks also to Steve Smith for helping run the tourney.

OPEN Division

Pos  Name             Round1 Round2 Total  Cash
1st  Brad Hammock         47     45    92  $288
2nd  Rand                 48     51    99  $175
3rd  Phil Arthur          52     49   101  $122
4th  John Burpee          51     52   103  $92
5th  Chim Chim            52     52   104  $73
6th  Robbie Sassoon       52     53   105T Split $108
6th  Ryan Renz            53     52   105T Split $108
8th  Will Cralle          51     55   106T Split $83
8th  Scott Renz           50     56   106T Split $83
10th Johnathan (Rookie)   53     54   107  $35
     Jeff Bryk            51     57   108
     Nate Barner          55     53   108
     Greg Campell         55     55   110
     Jeff Hinton          55     55   110
     Wes                  56     54   110
     Ben Mayben           50     62   112
     Carlos               58     54   112
     Flo                  58     55   113
     Andy Conway          57     56   113
     Jeff Sivils          60     53   113
     Sponge Bob           56     58   113
     Josh Henley          57     60   117
     John Chapman         60     57   117
     Paul Trent           60     59   119
     Blake Garner         65     54   119
     Jersey John          63     59   122
     Steve Renz           64     58   122
     Greg Guttenger       65     --   ---

Masters Division

Pos  Name             Round1 Round2 Total  Cash
1st  Dennis Ogle (local)  57     49   106  $105
2nd  Don Austin           54     54   108  $65
3rd  Richard Lindsey      57     55   112  $40
4th  Woody                56     57   113
5th  Richard Johnston     61     55   116
6th  Nabber               58     59   117

Amateur Division

Pos  Name             Round1 Round2 Total  Cash(Discs)
1st  Mike Eldrige         57     57   114T  $60
1st  Daniel May           61     53   114T  $35
3rd  Kevin Mealer         60     56   116   $20
4th  Randy Tedder         60     58   118
5th  Mark Dunn            60     60   120
6th  Micah                59     62   121
7th  Ott                  57     65   122
8th  Dave Altfeld         62     60   122
9th  Justin Drage         67     57   124
10th Pete Charlton        62     64   126
11th Jeff Norman          69     54   128
12th Don Randazzo         67     63   130
13th Q Mayben             76     74   150

Women Division

Pos  Name             Round1 Round2 Total  Cash(Discs)
1st  Courtney             62     64   126   $50
2nd  Janice               81     --   ---

CTPs

2     Nathan                    12    Andy
3     Robbie Sassoon      13    Nate
5     Burpee                    15    Courtney
8     Ben                         16    Flo
9     Don Austin              18    Ryan Renz
10   Rand

Ace fund - Q Mayben in throw-off    $73

Biello Park Update

August 10th, 2002

Biello Park is still the future location of a discgolf course in Cherokee County. The photo above is from a recent fly-over by Richard Johnston. The access road is now open and park facilities are under construction. Unfortunately progress is slow and from the look above the park is heavily wooded. We still do not have a definative answer on whether this park will be suitable for a discgolf course. The park land is to the left of the dirt road in the photograph - yes where all the trees are.

The consensus is not to put in another heavily wooded tight course so we shall see how this turns out. Stay tuned for future updates.

Course Improvements Continue

August 26th, 2002

A permanent hole 17 is now in place. The new tee is up the path from old hole 17 on the way to hole 18. The dashed area of the soccer field parking lot where trail comes out is the new tee, the basket is up on the hill (nearly invisible) to the left of the scoreboard near the ballfield. All asphalt and center grass island is of out of bounds..

We have had a cleanup round of golf, cleaned up much of the trash particularly around hole 3's bench. We have enlarged the bench area and relocated one of the trash cans there. Please use the trash can and keep the course clean. Your cooperation is appreciated.

Many thanks to those who have helped maintain the course - in particular thanks to Richard Johnston, Don Austin, John Chapman, Steve Smith, and Steve Brown for your support.

Doubles Course Record Set

A new doubles course record was set during Monday night doubles on August 5th, 2002. Phil Arthur and newcomer Chris Truax paired up to shoot a -16 with all holes in the long position. The only holes they did not birdie was hole 10 and 16! Great shooting guys.

Also during August 26th doubles, the ace fund was claimed by Richard Johnston with a blind ace on hole 8 for a $87 win.

Please feel free to contact us with additional info or comments.

Richard Johnston ra_johnston@yahoo.com           770-345-7180

Don Austin          DonNetman2@aol.com

Cherokee Recreation & Parks Dept           770-924-7768       Web Page