LITH might get disc golf course

A disc golf course might come to Lake in the Hills by next summer, courtesy of the Lake in the Hills Rotary Club.

The club wants to develop a 9-hole course on the newly renamed Linda K. Fischer Park at 5962 Grafton Farm Drive, said club president-elect and board member Tim Serritella. The course would cost about $24,000, so Seritella is hoping for great weather at next weekend’s Rockin’ Ribfest in Lake in the Hills, which serves as the club’s main fundraiser.

“This is going to be one of our major community projects,” Serittella said. “It’s a nice way to give back something to be healthy in the community. People can walk around; you don’t have to be a marathon runner to do this.”

The village is supportive of the initiative, said Lake in the Hills Parks and Recreation Director Trudy Wakeman. The 9-acre park was renamed in early June in honor of a longtime resident and active member of the community who passed away in 2010, she said. It currently holds a shelter for raising birds, a remnant of the old Kreutzer farmstead, and 20 community garden plots open to residents for a $20 fee, she said. Long-term plans include a sledding hill on the property, she said.

Disc golf is a great activity for children and adults alike, said Rotary Club member Tom Snodden, of Marengo, who started playing last year when his 24-year-old son introduced him to the sport.

Disc golf is played following the principles of golf, but with flying discs. Each player generally carries three discs — a driver, a midrange and a putter (they get progressively smaller — and courses are either 9 or 18 holes, Snodden said. The objective is to throw the disc into a big basket at the end of each hole.

“It’s a huge growing sport right now,” Snodden said, adding that he took his 10-year-old daughter to a course that opened recently in Marengo. Other nearby disc golf courses are in Crystal Lake, St. Charles and West Dundee.

“At Walmart you can get a three-disc set for $20 to $25,” he said. “You can spend more, but you can start very inexpensive, and most of the courses don’t charge.” The Lake in the Hills course also would be free, he said.

Snodden, the owner of Tom’s Crosstown Service Center in Crystal Lake, said he is planning to sponsor one of the holes in the new course. The Rotary Club hopes more local businesses will do the same, Serritella said.

For details about the Lake in the Hills Rotary Club, including suggestions for local community projects, visit the club’s webiste at clubrunner.ca/portal/home.aspx?cid=2386.