Disc golf has been stopped at the Columbia Water Park following disagreements between golfers and Marion County officials over maintenance.
District 2 Supervisor Terry Broome, whose district includes the Water Park, said the problem is not with disc golf itself but with some of the players.
“There are established rules for everyone to follow,” he said.
Currently signs posted at the course say no disc golf is to be played, and the subject is to be discussed at the Board of Supervisors meeting on Monday, according to Broome.
Disc golf, sometimes called Frisbee golf, involves throwing a disc at a target. The Board of Supervisors approved the Water Park course in 2011. A grant from the Pearl River Basin Development District built the front nine holes, and a donation from Mack Grubbs funded the back nine.
Tony Bass, the designer of the course and a founding member of the Hattiesburg Disc Golf Association, said he has had issues with county officials for some time.
Recently in preparation of a now-canceled tournament, Bass said he went to the Water Park to trim limbs and clean up the areas of the course that are in a wooded area. Bass said the maintenance of the limbs has been something the county has been unwilling to do and that they set the limbs to the side to be picked up by the county. Bass said he was informed they had one week to clean up the limbs or the county was going to pull the holes.
On Friday, Bass said he was at the course with Scott Smith and one other man when they exchanged words with Broome.
Broome declined to comment regarding Bass.
Smith, who is retired, said he comes to play disc golf in Columbia twice a month and always eats at a restaurant here. Smith said he “does not want the course to go away.”
Pastor Drew Dearman of Abundant Grace Church in Petal said he played the course the weekend of May 17 and May 18 and came back May 25. After completing 11 holes, he said he was approached by a county worker, Glen Pierce, who told him and his group they had to leave. Dearman said he told Pierce that he had the right to play, and if they had to leave the police would have to tell him. By the time he and his group completed the next hole, city police officers arrived and told them they had to leave and if they did not leave they would be arrested, according to Dearman. After discussion with the police officers, Dearman said he and his group left.
Broome, when asked about the incident involving the officers, the players had removed the signs, crumbled them up and threw the signs into the garbage and that was why they were asked to leave.
Dearman said there was a note on the barn door near hole one saying not to play, but he said there was nothing stating it was official or from the Board of Supervisors.
Pictured Above: A sign on a disc golf target at the Columbia Water Park reads “Absolutely no disc golfing until further notice.” | Photo by Susan Amundson
