The ElevateUT Disc Golf Podcast

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In this episode of the Elevate Utah Disc Golf Podcast, host Nick Jennings is joined by co-hosts Dustin, Sean, and Scott, along with special guest Weston Ringger. The team discusses the recent developments and history of the Art Dye disc golf course in Utah. They delve into the origins of the course, which was initially developed to deter paintballers and airsofters, and how it has evolved over the years with contributions from local disc golfers. The conversation highlights the challenges faced in maintaining and improving the course, including interactions with city officials and the efforts of dedicated volunteers.

The episode also covers the recent redesign and improvements made to the Art Dye course, funded partially by local grants and the tireless work of the disc golf community. The hosts and guest share personal anecdotes and favorite holes, reflecting on the unique character and challenges of the course. Despite the frustrations and obstacles encountered, the episode emphasizes the passion and commitment of the local disc golf community in preserving and enhancing this beloved course. The discussion concludes with a call to action for listeners to engage with their local officials to support disc golf initiatives.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8scX2jo5U4&t=2s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uuu2PgkHgLM&t=2s

[00:00:27] Nick Jennings:

Welcome to the Elevate Utah Disc Golf Podcast. I'm Nick Jennings, joined as always by Dustin.  

[00:00:33] Sean Kelley:

Sean.  

[00:00:33] Nick Jennings:

I'm Scott. And today, we have a very special guest with us. We have Weston Ringer, who's gonna be joining us a little bit. How are you doing today, Weston? Good. Thanks, guys, for having me. Yeah. Glad to have you on.   But before we get into that, how's everybody's I feel like it's been forever since we recorded.  

[00:00:48] Scott Belchak:

Yeah. For a couple months, Ben. Yeah. Last one we did was was Beam Creek with Dan. Yeah. And I just listened to it, actually.   And I've I remember I I didn't actually remember saying this on the podcast, but,   I had just   said that I had sent Ben a text message saying, hey. Let's put put Beam Creek into the rotation   for Salt Lake Open. And then Salt Lake Open was just this last weekend, and Yeah. Beam Creek was played for its first tournament. So that was kind of interesting to see that just all shape shape out. Yeah. That's really kinda cool. Kinda see the the origin and then the the finished product. Finished  

[00:01:23] Sean Kelley:

product. Without without any spoilers, how'd the tournament go?  

[00:01:25] Scott Belchak:

I mean, spoilers. More spoilers. I don't care. Yeah. I mean, it's a b tier. Yeah. We we can we can spoil it.   I don't remember.   No. I I I I I do. It it was a pretty exciting finish coming down the stretch.   There's this Tennessee boy that's been in Utah taking everybody's money for the last, like, month and a half. And, yeah, he he lit it up down at, Patriot Classic, and, he was no exception. And and he pushed, Ryan Bain right to the finish, but,   Bain on made a pretty clutch putt on hole 17   to to seal him out by a stroke and at out of Creekside, and and   he took his first win. So that's that was fun to see. He's   he's an absolute unit. That that dude can throw that disc.  

That's awesome.  

[00:02:13] Nick Jennings:

I feel like there's been a lot of good, like, close tournaments in MPO this year   locally.  

[00:02:21] Scott Belchak:

Like, couple good finishes. Yeah. I haven't really been paying attention that much,   to it. But,   you know, partly because I've been on vacation and and,   you know, I'm definitely excited to see how the the rest of of the tournaments,   shape up. But,   you know, tournaments aren't necessarily my my main focus. You know, it's definitely more of about the the venues   that can host the tournaments.   So, you know, when these tournaments come around, I'm really more interested in how did they play. Like, where was the drama.   Right? Like, what can we do to to to adjust these things so that the drama is is higher at certain at certain times and stuff. What about you, Sean? What have you been working on?  



[00:03:02] Sean Kelley:

Let's see here. We've been working down at The Wonder.   So, yeah, basically,   the last few days, we just started   a a little face lift down at the Wonder Course. We're gonna be, moving a few things around.   But, yeah, at this point, we've, we kinda gone down there. We got a solid group of volunteers that are coming down, and we are basically just,   mowing down, making new paths, gonna cut out some new fairways, new tee pads.  

[00:03:31] Scott Belchak:

Pretty exciting stuff going on down at the Wonder right now. Yeah. A lot a lot of questions we hear are are, what are the surface tee pads gonna be made out of? Surface tee pads will be cement.  

[00:03:42] Sean Kelley:

Great. They're gonna be five by tens.   We're gonna have some raised tee pads. Five foot by 10 foot? Yeah. Five foot wide, 10 foot long. Wow. I like that. Big yeah. Yeah. Medium boys. Yeah.   You know, not necessarily up to the pro level, but they're, they're working their way there. But no. For,   yeah. So basically, we're cutting in some new some new greens.   There'll be a new starting hole. We're gonna have a a new practice area.   We actually implementing,   an ADA hole at this course.   So,   yeah, the there will be some slight changes,   over the next coming months, and we apologize if, some of the few holes are unplayable.  

But, I I assure you, basically, when it's all done, hopefully, all the new changes will be, you know, will be taken, you know, with excitement.   But we have,   yeah, there'll be   some   all all in all, there's three new holes.   We're changing. We're breaking up hole four.   We're giving the option well, there will be   what is currently hole four will be broken up into two holes.   But, four tournaments, we will be able to play   the hole four and the long. It'll now become a par five, I do believe.   But, yeah, there'll be new hole four, a lot of new a lot of new, a new flow to the course. We're gonna try to keep ourselves away from the campers and the campground,   give them their space. But   all in all, they're, it should be a little bit more of a friendly friendlier course for beginners   and, other players, but there will be some some tight technical holes.  

Yeah. I think the layout layout's pretty strong. It flows a lot better.   You know, hole one's gonna be a nice big bomber for everyone.   Like I said, hole hole two,  

[00:05:32] Scott Belchak:

will be a little bit shorter hole. But for the most part, it's still your still your main drive off the current tee pad there. There'll be a new tee box for Hole 3, which will play the basket long. Yeah. It's it's really hard to describe it. Like, we're It's gotta be We're talking to Weston before we recorded and going through these changes, and you just see his eyes kind of glaze over. You know? It's like, it might the the same thing happens with my mind when when I ask for directions anywhere, you know, and they're like, oh, you go here, then you turn there. So it's like as soon as they open their mouth, my brain shuts off. So I think it's one of those things that I I think you're just gonna have to wait till we're done. Come on up and enjoy it and see. And if you want more information about,   that project, episode two is our is our, wonder,   conversation where we go over how this grant funding was achieved,   how it all funneled into the nonprofit, and then how the nonprofit then can be enabled to, enact change in our public spaces. So if you, if you wanna learn more about that,  

[00:06:27] Sean Kelley:

maybe go check that out. But we're all very excited for the changes up there, and and and so is the state park. No. I'm I'm expecting a lot of good feedback from it. I think some of the some of the new little features we're gonna add into it will make it exciting.   You know, for the most part, most holes will play   the same.   But like I said, just a there's a few added bonuses that we're gonna be thing. New new new signage, like I said, all new tee pads,  

[00:06:54] Nick Jennings:

and then we're just we're creating everything to, you know, to basically enhance the experience down there. Yeah. That's awesome. Yeah. Yeah. So I just look back at the record. It was episode three. Okay. Let me go check that one out. Episode three.   But, we'll have to do a follow-up episode when everything gets done. And I might suggest having an Elevate Utah podcast   group go up and play the course together before we do that Yep. Episode so we can have it fresh on our mind. Or maybe we should rent the cabin and and and podcast in the cabin. That's a fantastic  

[00:07:27] Scott Belchak:

Or or the yurt. We'll do it in the yurt. And, speaking of of those cabins and the yurt,   registration for WonderFall will open at the August.   We're gonna be doing our chili cook off again, and,   I'm coming for you, Eric. Registration goes goes pretty quick, so make sure you get on get on that. And and we will be offering discounts for those who bring Chili's,   into the tournament. It'll be a pretty nice discount, so, make sure you do that. What about you, Dustin? What's been going on in in your life these last last two months? Just a lot of family stuff.  

[00:07:56] Sean Kelley:

Playing disc golf. I played Nick's tournament.   Draper owned it. It was fantastic.  

[00:08:01] Nick Jennings:

Good. I'm glad you you liked it. Yeah.  

[00:08:04] Sean Kelley:

It was Draper's first tournament there. Right? It was. Nice. Yeah. The inaugural Draper Open  

[00:08:09] Nick Jennings:

at Riverbottoms.   Yeah. So I that's kinda what I've been up to. I ran my first tournament as, like, the the official technically, I was the assistant TD because somebody at Draper City had to be the the TD,   for their legal reasons.   But outside of coordinating a couple of things like it was mostly me and under the direction of Scott. He gave me a lot of, like, hey, this maybe think about this. And then I would go do,  

[00:08:35] Scott Belchak:

the things. So it was a lot of fun.  

[00:08:38] Nick Jennings:

I kind of feel a little bit crazy   running   a b tier   for my first tournament.   But it was awesome. I think it turned out great.  

[00:08:48] Scott Belchak:

Yeah. Well and and my guidance was always like, hey, Nick. Have you thought of this before I even looked to see if you had? And then you're like, yeah. Of course. I updated that last night. You know? So it's like, you were always thinking about the things that I had already thought about or the you know? It's like you you didn't you don't need much guidance. You're you're you're you're a natural. So it was it was awesome to to see you do that. And and I'm excited for you to,   to help me out at the at at WonderFall Yeah. And take continually take more of these things off of off of my plate, which I'm very stoked for.  

[00:09:20] Nick Jennings:

Yeah. I had a blast doing it, and would gladly do it again. I even got my wife out there. She helped with check-in   Nice. And, like, player pack item stuff.   And she actually said she had a good time Yeah. As well. So it was fun to to get her out of the house a little bit. Well, she's been volunteering too. I mean, she was down there helping clean up that course. We were ripping around. Yep. She definitely murdered some thistle. Murdered thistle. Mhmm. Yeah. She's got a she's got a thing for rosettes. Doesn't like   them. Who really does though?  



[00:09:53] Scott Belchak:

Well, any anything else before we dive in? No. No. I'm really curious about this story because it's because it it feels like the the story of Art Dye is is a   it it feels like it's a really long story,   that had a lot of people involved,   in a place that that was   I don't know. It was like  

[00:10:12] Nick Jennings:

it's an interesting story, and I and I'm excited to hear it. Yeah. Yeah. So that kind of tells us what we're talking about tonight. We've got Weston Ringer on to talk about   art dye, and kind of the history there with both I believe Scott was saying that you had some stories about the initial build of our guy as well as kind of some of the redesign that happened just this last year. Yeah. So there's been a lot of redesigns, a lot of iterations.  

[00:10:38] Weston Ringger:

When Scott asked me a few days ago just about coming on the podcast, I made a few phone calls to some of the old   disc golfers, and I got a lot of information.   So when I start going through it, feel free to stop me and  

[00:10:52] Nick Jennings:

have me expand on some questions. So Yeah. That's great. I'm excited to hear   it. So kinda where did where did Art and I get started? Like, what year was it? So in 02/2003,  

[00:11:04] Weston Ringger:

Doug Smith,   he is retired now, but he used to work on, x-ray machines.   And he met this guy named,   was it Tom Marshall? And he was a he was an old guy, and he just liked to throw discs at trees. And he worked at the American Fork Hospital.   And, yeah, he knew Doug Smith was a big disc golfer, you know, involved in Creekside and just establishing disc golf in Utah.   So he   the the Tom   got with city saying, hey. Can we get a course here? So we met with Doug Smith and then team Utah   to actually get the course, like, designed and, like, kinda walk through started happening in about 02/2003.  

[00:11:47] Scott Belchak:

When did team Utah start?  

[00:11:49] Weston Ringger:

I did not ask him that. Probably the eighties,   I mean, probably when Creekside was around. Right. What what is team Utah?   Team Utah's   kind of old club   with Doug Smith. Just disc golf anywhere,  

[00:12:04] Scott Belchak:

everywhere, all the time. It says motto. Yeah. A lot of pop up courses that that happen out there.   Like, Big Glade is is one of those courses, and Little Egypt,   is a course that they pop up.   Just yeah. It's it's   yeah. It's basically Doug Smith. Yeah. Just all these are just all the ground root guys trying to get things done way back way back then. Yeah. They they got a really cool logo though. Yeah. And and and Doug always has these Doug bucks that he puts in. And and and, you you win Doug bucks when you go play a tournament, which which lets you get some merchandise. But then,   he he also sponsors a lot of our our tournaments with a lot of his his, revenue that he gets from running those things. And and, he's been doing it for a long time. Yeah. It's just some old school grassroots  

[00:12:52] Weston Ringger:

unsanctioned disc golf. It's Yeah. It's all pretty fun.  

[00:12:56] Scott Belchak:

So Doug and this and this guy get involved and and, this guy goes to the city and asks, hey, let's get let's let's get a course in into this old dump. Yes. Because because even before that, I mean, the the the reason this place is called Art Dye is because it it it was it it was a a parcel of land that was Willed.   Willed to the city by a farmer named Art  

[00:13:18] Weston Ringger:

Dye. Yeah. And then from then,   you know, and he gave it to the city and then it was supposed to be a park and that was in the wells. Like, this is parkland. So with all the   dumping and city stuff going on there, I don't think it's quite cohesive, but that's for another   discussion.  

[00:13:38] Scott Belchak:

So so these disc golfers saw, like, a straight up dump, and they're just like, okay. This is where we this is where we need to be. We need to be throwing this You need to be in the woods. Dumps.  

[00:13:48] Weston Ringger:

Yeah. Well, I mean, they're they're typically are, like, old cars and stuff. Yeah. There's still remnants of Yeah. Dumps to say. Well, I feel like some of that dump is from the the hospital above it. People there's just this hill and, I mean,  

[00:14:02] Nick Jennings:

you know Find your next hypodermic needle at heart.  

[00:14:05] Scott Belchak:

Well, and there's also that Out of sight, out of mind. There's that there's that water tower there too, which is which which is an old water   tower.   Irrigation for the farm. Right? So yeah. It's it's  

[00:14:17] Nick Jennings:

a it's got a lot of history in that place, you know? Yeah. I didn't know I hadn't been around that long, honestly. 2003 is a long time. Yeah. So, I mean, I was I played air soft there in about 02/2004.  

[00:14:30] Weston Ringger:

I was going through those same woods.   But, you know, when I found disc golf later, somebody brought me back there. I'm like, oh, there's a disc golf course here. I I played here all the time,   which is pretty fun. But   so yeah. And, let's see. Like, 2004   is when they, like, ran a, like, a pop up. So they cleared a few fairways and   just used the natural   fairways just to,   you know, make their design. And pretty much from their initial design, there's   the flow's changed a bunch, but I bet half the holes are still original from that first, very first design, which is pretty cool.   There is some great holes out there. Oh, man. Now they're fun. There's a lot of fun ones. Pretty tight lines on some of them. I mean, even with it all being cleaned up now, like, it's still challenging. You can still eat your lunch. That's for sure. Absolutely. And it has.  



[00:15:23] Nick Jennings:

Check my scores on that.  

[00:15:25] Scott Belchak:

But I'm but I'm sure back then when you when when when you were playing it, the the the fairways were basically just holes in the trees that you just punch something through. Right? Like, there there there wasn't a lot of fairway.  

[00:15:38] Weston Ringger:

You have no idea. It was crazy. I mean, I started in   I probably played there in 2010   for my first time. Uh-huh.   And it it was thick. There was standing water. Like, there was old, like, irrigation still flooding in standing water, like,   always there.   So I think they did something to mitigate that. But Yeah. They stopped the water. It was a swamp. It was a dump. It was stick piles. Yeah. I played it in 2015  

[00:16:06] Scott Belchak:

for my first time. Oh, okay.   Just visiting from Minnesota, I was like, let's go play this one. I think I played I think I played the whole course, but I wasn't too happy about it.  

[00:16:17] Sean Kelley:

No. Like even even finding hole one was a was a challenge. I mean, it was always like a hidden gem, you know. Right. Yeah. A local is a lover or hate it. Right. And now most people love it. Yeah. Yeah. It's definitely come a long way. I mean, I I think I played for the first time there in 2023.  

[00:16:31] Nick Jennings:

Oh, really? Yeah. Which is when I started disc golfing. Oh, okay. It was in June 2023.  

[00:16:36] Sean Kelley:

And it like, even in the two years that I've been playing there, it's night and day difference of what it looked like. Yeah. And we'll get to that. It's kind of nerve About a half an hour. The first time I played it, it had a very, like, locals only feel. Yeah. Like, it just, like, oh, man. Like, some some group of guys made this and it's like, I'm gonna be throwing discs and they're gonna be up the top of that hill, like, throwing rocks. Be like, get out here. Locals only. Locals only. You know, I just have that vibe where I'm like, oh, man. Where am I? But it was I I I I've always liked Dark Eye. You know? I kinda like the area. It's got like like I said, first time I played it, it had this kinda like apocalyptic feel. Mhmm. Yeah. It wasn't just straight woods, like you're playing with like rusted metal and rebar and just, you know, old concrete. Like the whole first hole, you were just kinda looking at a pile of like   Rubble. Yeah. Old Yeah. Old streets torn up and just you're just throwing over that. So here's a interesting thing is the city  

[00:17:31] Weston Ringger:

almost they pretty much approved this course going in to get rid of the paintballers.   So, back when I was playing airsoft there, the paintballs were there too.   And,   yeah. When I first played the course 2010,   the baskets   were so soggy from paintballs. Oh, no way. You couldn't even hear the chains. Oh, wow.  

[00:17:54] Scott Belchak:

That's hilarious. Yeah. So you're you you and your ilk of air softers and paintballers were were were actually the impetus for this being created to begin with. Yeah. So we can we can sell the whole thing to you to begin with. Rid of the paintballers and that was one of the reasons   for approving the course in the first place. Okay. So so so he goes to city council and or,   like, to the city and goes and talks to him about it. They say,  

[00:18:18] Weston Ringger:

sure, I guess. What what did they say? They they they're like, let's go. Oh, yeah. Disc golfer and, you know, this guy seems reputable that works at the hospital. Like, let's let's do it. So in 02/2006,   Rob Dowlin,   Martin Baughn,   their, old Wasatch Disc Golf Club founders,   they donated the baskets. They were,   handmade.   They were,   Mach three clones, but they made them themselves. Okay. That's awesome. And those are still in service right now. Right? Yeah. They went up to, Beacon Hills up in Highland. Oh, interesting. Are those the, like, the nine hole,  

[00:18:52] Scott Belchak:

like, the putting course? No. It's a 18 hole. But no. The nine hole putting course is the The Costco's.   Is that's the Costco's? Yeah. So Okay. So   the the the baskets on the course are are still The original art dye. The original art dye baskets. Interesting. I did not know that. Nice. Yeah. When we, got new baskets back in 2014  

[00:19:15] Weston Ringger:

or no. Sorry. 2016,   we donated the baskets to Highland because they or,   yeah, Highland because they were   old, you know, $50   Costco baskets. So   they were happy to take them and   it was a little upgrade for them.  

[00:19:31] Scott Belchak:

Yeah. So the club the club creates their own baskets.   They   they install the the course in their own little dump paradise,   and they just wallow around in in the filth of art dye just enjoying  

[00:19:47] Weston Ringger:

life to the fullest. Yeah. It was pretty much just installed and then, you know, maintained to get the course installed. Then after that, just   it kinda just went   a little dry. Just the course stayed. Not a lot of work, not a lot of maintenance   until really,   when I got into there with, Tim Dowell in about 2010,   2011 is when we really started to ramp up   the work at Art Dive from its original installation.  

[00:20:15] Scott Belchak:

Yeah. So the young guys come in   with a little bit more energy   and do more things.  

[00:20:22] Weston Ringger:

Yeah.   So, yeah, I was at twenty   twelve   is really when the   the city kinda started taking note of what's actually going on in the course. Somebody got   or, no. 2012 no. 2012 is when they let us know that the course   was gonna change big time because they were gonna expand the park drastically.  

[00:20:46] Scott Belchak:

Right.   Because for the longest time that it it wasn't a park. It was just it was just a a dirt parking lot   for the disc golf course, really.   And it was just this big open undeveloped field, the farmer's field. Right?  

[00:21:00] Weston Ringger:

Right. I mean, when I   so that's what Doug said. Yeah. There was like a little dirt parking lot. Uh-huh.   And then just of that grass field that's in front of the course was just all   wild weeds. Yep. But then   I'd say 2,008   or 9 is when they put in that initial half parking lot.  

[00:21:22] Scott Belchak:

Interesting.   Yeah. I I'm I'm trying to remember my my experience with it because I remember   driving to the course and parking essentially where   where Hole 1 is   and then playing from there, not even knowing that there was a a parking lot that was attached to it. Right. And, you know, and I didn't see anybody while I was out there.   So yeah.   So so so so you and Tim get involved,   and you   you start making those tee pads. Yeah. 2012  

[00:21:54] Weston Ringger:

is, like, when the first one went in. It took a couple years, and that's where all my back issues came from was just   laboring over tiles and Yeah. Those are the pavers. Right? Those pavers. Yeah. Me and Tim and Adam Harvey   built them all. We just   asked somebody for $75   to sponsor a tee pad because that's how much they cost at the time. And   there's plenty of raw materials being dumped on the course, like sand   and road base to backfill them all. We just used the course's supplies for the rest of that.   So, yeah, that took a couple years. But, yeah, 2012 was by all the time, it just really   started to get going to where we see it   now, for sure.  

Let's see. 2012   was the first Patriot Classic   that was started by,   Matt Ashworth and Jordan Needham and myself. So it was the very first Patriot Classic was in 2012   with I think we had about seven, eight tee pads   during that first  

[00:22:56] Scott Belchak:

PDGA tournament at Ardai, which was awesome. And that was a sanctioned tournament, that that very first one? Yes. Wow. Yeah. Cool.  

[00:23:03] Weston Ringger:

It started as a c. It only turned into a b,   like, probably year six   with that. Let's see. And then, yeah, 2012,   we did new   alternate pin positions.  

[00:23:16] Scott Belchak:

That was me, Tim, and Adam as well. Just a lot of cutting of fairways and and getting the ground ready.  

[00:23:23] Weston Ringger:

Yeah. Yeah. How is that ground to dig in? It's terrible. There's a dump. There's bricks. Like, you dig, you'll find a brick or   something, some metal.  

[00:23:33] Scott Belchak:

A doll. That's when Rick's auger would be nice. Yeah. Even then, it's not getting through a brick. Yeah. That's true.  

[00:23:39] Weston Ringger:

Yeah. If you like old bricks, go dig it hard.  

[00:23:42] Scott Belchak:

But not in the fairways, man. Yeah. What's what's the wildest thing you've you've found out there? Oh, so My disc.  

[00:23:51] Weston Ringger:

There was this old culvert. It was on current, Hole 13.   I was walking down the fairway and I look down a culvert and   I see these little child's legs sticking out of the tube.   Oh, man. Yeah. And my heart sank. My adrenaline   peaked.   And I just, like, creeped down to this tube to take a peek. And it's just a doll. Somebody shoved up the tube.   I thought I walked up on a dead child and, just, oh, it ruined me.  

[00:24:23] Scott Belchak:

I Couldn't sleep for a week. And slept for a week. Hasn't slept well since.  

[00:24:27] Sean Kelley:

So 13 is the one up on the ridge. Right? Yep. That, like,  

[00:24:32] Nick Jennings:

now has a nice wide Yeah. Path that was  

[00:24:35] Scott Belchak:

pretty steep. Yeah. That's where all the trash is. Yeah.  

[00:24:38] Weston Ringger:

Yeah. So   I'll get to that. That's in, what, '2 2023,   2024   Oh. Part of the history there. But   I can jump there  

[00:24:50] Scott Belchak:

if you want. Yeah. Well, that it it it might make sense for yeah. Yeah. Well, yeah. I'll just jump there because Sean and I that's when Sean and I  

[00:24:57] Weston Ringger:

butted our little faces in into this whole thing too. Okay. Yeah. Well, I mean, I have that that on here as well. So So is that part of the remodel? Because when the dog park went in, that that happened a few years ago, didn't it? Yeah. So I'll I'll breeze through my timeline and I'll catch you guys up. So in 2014,   a, pedestrian   And that led to a big   city council meeting with the mayor and everybody and myself because I'm this I was the champion of art dye at Yeah. Wasatch Disc Golf Club. So I had a meeting with the parks department, the mayor,   lawyers. Yep. Like, just people all there and it was all, you know, over Zoom streamed publicly.  

And there and that's the time where the city's like, okay. This is disc golf.   What is this that we have on our property? Yeah. This new new management,  

[00:25:49] Scott Belchak:

new mayors, like And no one talks to to one another. Yeah. There's there's not like a like a like a a a master document that you receive when you become mayor that   says, and and here are all of our disc golf courses. Right?   Yeah. So Maybe one day. Yeah. Maybe one day. Yeah. It's called AI. Yeah.  

[00:26:07] Weston Ringger:

Yeah. So   pretty much had to,   tell them what disc golf is, what the park   is for, and just how popular it is. It was hard to give them, like, twenty fourteen UDisc numbers Right. Were pretty Mhmm. Weak at the time. But   So, they actually started taking ownership of the course about that time.   And that's when we pretty much had to meet all of their demands by course design, shooting over paths, because there used to be a couple   holes shooting over the walking path. Mhmm. Like, Current 17  

[00:26:40] Sean Kelley:

had a Yeah. Tee pad on the other side of it. Yeah. I remember that. Yeah. That was a great one. That was awesome. It was awesome. It's a it's a fun one. Yeah. Mhmm.  

[00:26:48] Weston Ringger:

And then, let's see. So they   recognized it and said we're gonna change some stuff. And then we knew about the impending   dog park coming in, the new softball fields, the new parking lot wiping out old 1718.   So there's just a lot of stuff we had to   work up and change.   And then, let's see. 2022   is about when that happened.   They wiped out old 1718,   and we had to redesign, put in filler holes, and that time is just total limbo. Like, we still didn't even know if the city was gonna do anything for us. Like Right. Yeah. Yeah. Disc golf, but, like,   we're taking away two of your holes. Like, figure it out. Put in two more.  



[00:27:31] Scott Belchak:

Yeah. They just spent, like, $75   on that on that dog park, you know. And it's just like, okay. Well, what else are they gonna do? And how come they haven't spent that money on disc golf?  

[00:27:42] Weston Ringger:

Yeah. So that's where Scott comes in about '20 early twenty twenty three.   Scott   nags a couple of, locals to go into a city council meeting and just take pictures of the course. And it's disarray and it's unkempt. And just go to a city council meeting and   just poo on the course. And  

[00:28:04] Scott Belchak:

Yeah. Yeah. I I I effective. I was I was planning on I was planning on on on on getting,   I was planning on going to one of these these city council meetings just to just to go talk about it,   but I figured it's it's probably best   best to have a local involved. So I sent Steve Lott a text message.   Well, I I sent Weston a text message and and said, hey. I really need some pictures of of some of the problems out out of Creekside because I'm assembling a book. Art dye. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Art dye. Of course. Yes. I'm assembling a book about about art dye, one of my books, so so I can present it to to to city to city council. And Weston said, well, Steve lives right by there and he plays it every day. Why don't you just reach out to Steve and see if he can get you some pictures? So I so I sent Steve a text and said, hey,   if the next time you're out there, just please take a picture of every problem you see, like   trash or, you know,   the benches   of the t sign. Like, literally every single hole has eight problems. Yeah. Sharp brushed metal. Yeah. Just like, you know, take a picture of some of the problems and give them to me so that and I I was only open for three or four, and then I got, like, a dozen and a half of them. And and he he told me, I didn't realize how bad it was or how how many problems were here   until you made me document them. You know? Like, it's a whole different thing because when you're at when you're not playing disc golf   on a course that you're very familiar with, on a hole that you've thrown hundreds of times,   you don't notice notice the problems. You don't see the the the you don't see that the t that that the t sign is is on a ball of concrete out of the ground hanging out of   a 85 degree angle. You know? You don't you don't see that,   until you look.  

So he did. He took all these pictures, and then and then he got he he got pissed off about it. He started getting really upset about it. And, you know, and I kinda riled him up a little bit too, you know.  

[00:30:00] Weston Ringger:

And basically said The parks director?  

[00:30:03] Scott Belchak:

No. Steve. Oh. Oh. Steve got mad at you. Yeah. No. Steve got mad at the park. Oh. Yeah. Yeah. He got mad at the park because he's he's like, this is this is bullshit. Like, this course is is like, I thought it was great, but then I started looking at all the problems and I'm seeing all the problems. And so he got riled up and and then I and and he was like, well, what what can I do about it? And I was like, just just go to city council. Like, you got city council meetings every every other Tuesday night at 7PM   at this address.  

Just show up and you you get three minutes of time, everybody gets three minutes of time at these things, just show up and   tell them that you're disappointed in their parks department for the crappy disc golf course that they have   And he did. He did.  

[00:30:46] Sean Kelley:

You're such a way with words.  

[00:30:50] Scott Belchak:

And and that surprised the hell out of me because I because I was kinda being a little bit facetious, you know, And he was just like, you know what? You're right. I'm gonna do that. And he did. And   and Steve Lott is the reason why Art Night is as nice as it as it is today because he he had the courage to go and be like, this is bullshit, you guys.  

[00:31:07] Weston Ringger:

Yep.   And was that before or after you had contacted with them  

[00:31:13] Scott Belchak:

for, Elevate Utah to help them with grant and funding? It was it was it was after. It was after. Because I had I I had sent emails I had sent several emails   to park staff, Derek, and Camden. I had sent several emails to them saying, hey, you know, let's get a meeting on the books. You know, I've got something that I wanna present to you. You know,   there's funding opportunities. We you know, let's discuss.   And nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing. And pretty much the day after   Steve went into that meeting, I got an email from them saying, like, we'd love to talk to you about this. Can you please come in? And then Sean and I went went in. And that was a that was a really good meeting. It was really interesting.   Have you ever been into that that conference room that they have in there in American Fork? I have. Yes. Their their table is ridiculous.  

Yes. It's very gaudy. Yeah. It's huge. It's like the size of this room. Yeah. It's huge. And and for some reason I don't think one of the guys even knew what disc golf was. He's like, well, yeah. Explain this to me. What what are you doing? Well, I had these really nice booklets printed off, and and for some reason when I got in there, I just threw them on the table.   And they just went,   like, all over the table. Perfectly placed in front of every person at the table. No. They couldn't get to them because the the table is so big. You're like,   They're like right in the middle of this giant table.  

And then so that's how the meeting started.  

[00:32:33] Sean Kelley:

Yeah. Yeah. It was a pretty intimidate not not intimidating, but, like, awkward meeting. I feel like those   because it was two guys that looked like they just got off a golf course. Yeah. They're like they just came in. Yeah. And they just got reamed by their boss. Yeah. And they were just like, what are we talking about? Well, like, the disc golf course, art die. And they were like, yeah. Explain us what we're doing.   But,   I mean, I yeah.  

[00:32:59] Scott Belchak:

We we had one really sketchy moment in that meeting because because we were talking about   the danger   of some of these things. And,   I brought up the the the tea pads are actually pretty dangerous because   the wood   in in the wintertime gets very, very slick. Yeah. I take offense to that. I put a lot of work into this. I know. I know. But you know what though? That would No. You're not. You're not. You're not. You would over time. It would just gets wet, you know, and it gets dangerous. Great. And so they were like, oh, okay. Well, that sounds easy. Let's just take them out. I was like, no. No. No. No. No. We don't wanna take them out. We use them. We were very careful on them, but it's a liability, and it would be better if they were concrete.   Oh,   concrete. Okay. Well, why do you need concrete?  

Damn. Then you have to explain Which which is great. That's everything. Yeah. That's that's the whole purpose of of the nonprofit is is for us to go in there and explain these things to people,   so that they can understand and make the right choices and and,   yeah. And they've and they made some they made some decent choices.   I definitely push them harder harder than I think most   people would have pushed.   I pushed them really hard. Yeah. And  

[00:34:10] Weston Ringger:

long story short from there is, they didn't wanna hear it from you anymore. Exactly. Yes. They pretty much ghosted Scott in about 2023.  

[00:34:20] Scott Belchak:

Yeah. But I did But I He really put a bug in your ear. Yeah. I did I did my job and that was to kick him in the dick. Yeah. We we had that feeling leaving that Yeah. Yeah.  

[00:34:29] Sean Kelley:

We had that feeling leaving that meeting in general. Like, I'm like, these two guys aren't gonna put they're not gonna think about this after we walk out of there anyway.   I mean, I remember, like, when we went down   in our initial,   like, just just doing research on it, we we that, like, arborist. Oh, yeah. Ben. Oh, yeah. Ben. We were down there with Ben. And, like, him walking around and just looking at all the widowmakers and all, like, the trees leaning over. Like, his eyes were just, like, oh, yeah. Like Yeah. It's not safe back here. Just with, like, all the stuff going on. Like, all the dead branches and dead trees.  

[00:35:03] Scott Belchak:

But Yeah. So let's let's hop back into your timeline. Yeah. So let's see. That was,  

[00:35:09] Weston Ringger:

yeah, '23.   So Scott kicked him in the dick,   and then   they didn't wanna work with you and use your resources, use your help for so cities could actually acquire the proper grant funding   to properly fund and  

[00:35:25] Scott Belchak:

utilize that money for a good disc golf course. Well, there's more to the story, and it needs to be documented.   They actually did want to use my help. I kicked them in the dick, and then I went on vacation.   And while I was gone, they had decided to go forward with my with my plan and project. And and my plan was for them   to go after some PARC funds, park funds, which is,   parks, art parks, arts, recreation, and culture. I've talked about this in the past. There's zap, there's park, there's zoo, there's there's,   you know, all these things, par.  

You could probably do crap. Right? Because it's the same letters. But they don't do nobody does does does crap.   But That's so fun. So they so so they reached out to me over Christmas break and said,   or pre Christmas break, and said,   Scott, we'd like we're we're gonna go with your plan. We're gonna go after park funding. We're going to,   rejuvenate the course. We're gonna remodel it. And I said, that's great. Let's talk about my fee.   Because   why why should anybody do do work for free? Right?   And that's when they shut it. That's when that's when they turned around and and said and said, oh, no. Thanks.   You know?  

And and I I recounted that a little bit, and I said and I and I went back to them and said, look. The fee is a dollar,   but if there's a fee in place, then that means that you'll be paying me, which means that there's contracts in place, which means that there's a paper trail for what's going to be created,   and everyone's going to know what's happening and it's part of public record.   Right? Like, that's really what I was going for, was not to just   get money. We don't need money. Like, we're trying to give them money. Right? Like, if they would have paid us, we would have done the exact same thing that we did with Draper. Draper paid us $5,000 for the design of that. We bought a bunch of benches, and and we bought the mando, and we did all that we did all that work. Right? So it's like, we take the money, and then we reinvest it back in into these properties.   They didn't want that. They they didn't want they didn't want to engage the nonprofit   for,   professional level help.  

They didn't want,   a professional level project management   looking at that property   and helping make decisions. They didn't want that.   They chose not to not to pursue it that way, which is fine. It it's it's their it's their money, and it's it's their park. They can do what they want.   But at the end of the day, it it it needs to go on record that that's how that whole thing went down.  

[00:37:52] Weston Ringger:

Yeah. That   was pretty frustrating,   you know, because after they turned you down, they looked at me. Right. The president of   a disc golf club that's not even a nonprofit.   We just have, you know, a couple 100 bag tag holders and a, you know, $5,000   in the bank account. Like, they come to me for help in design, which is just so weird. But  

[00:38:18] Scott Belchak:

Yeah. Without a contract and without expectations and without,   you know, it's like  

[00:38:23] Sean Kelley:

Yeah. But they know I love it and I'll do anything for it. Yep. So they took advantage of it for sure. Yep.  

[00:38:30] Weston Ringger:

So   with all that happening,   let's see.   They secured  

[00:38:37] Scott Belchak:

some money. Yeah. I think they secured $152,076   from the from the PARC.   And,   it's about   it's about   a quarter   or a fifth of what I was pushing them to go for,   because I because I really wanted them to,   parlay that PARC money into the Utah Outdoor Recreation Grant Program to to double their money. And I wanted them to do it at a bigger scale too because they could have if they would have increased their PARC ask and the PARC has,   almost $2,000,000 in it every year. And it goes out all over the place, and it's refunded. It it it's refreshed every year of $2,000,000.   So   if if they would have increased that by another 40 or $50,   then they could have gone to the state of Utah   and asked for a $125   there, and they would had a quarter of a million dollars to put into that place, and they could have built stairs. You know, they could have they could have brought in a lot more wood chips. They could have, you know, planted more trees. They could you know, it's like stuff like that, they could have done, but they they had no interest in doing that at all. They wanted to do the bare minimum to be able to to satisfy   the condition of residents not showing up to city council meetings saying this is unsafe.  



[00:39:53] Weston Ringger:

Yeah. So with safety in mind,   so   about 2024,   I had had it with   running the club, and our club had about   8,000   in our coffers.   So instead of,   you know, getting that money to the next president, course   because I knew   all their next level   of the course because I knew all their money   was just gonna go to tree work and tee pads. Mhmm. That was, like, that's all  

[00:40:37] Scott Belchak:

that money went to and a handful of benches. Yeah. And the writing was kinda on the wall as soon as they put the tee pads in that that they were just kinda done.   You know? It's like it's like you you mentioned to me as soon as the tee pads were in, we had a conversation. And   and   and your your question was was are they are they done? Do you do you think? And and it's like, yeah. I think they're done. And, you know, like, are they gonna come back and and regrade?   Right? Like, are they gonna do like, are they just gonna leave concrete just here?   You know?  



[00:41:07] Weston Ringger:

Yeah. They built the tape pads. They ripped out the forms  

[00:41:12] Scott Belchak:

and nothing. They left the forms there too.  

[00:41:15] Weston Ringger:

Yeah.   There's pits.   Just holes everywhere.   Just like surrounding the tee pads? Yeah. Surrounding the tee pads. Like, nothing regraded back to it, leveled, nothing.   Just mud pits because, you know, it was early   there was a  

[00:41:33] Sean Kelley:

What's that? It was November? Yeah. I was gonna say it was, like, early winter. Yeah. Early winter. So,  

[00:41:39] Weston Ringger:

I mean, it was just muddy, you know, from equipment out there and all that. So   I was like,   okay. I've got this money. So I hired   a a club member, Tony.   He's a awesome landscaper.   And I just said I gave him the rest of the club money. I'm like, dude, come out here,   grade all the tee pads, chip them, and fix some of these unsafe spots that the city didn't even budget to fix.   Like Hole 13, that steep walk to that little   rickety bridge that's been there since 2004   that you had to pass on 13.   And then whole,  

[00:42:19] Nick Jennings:

15 too. 15  

[00:42:21] Weston Ringger:

that steep   pebbles on a hill. Climbing over rusted cars. Yeah. Climbing over cars. So Tony just got his mini excavator up there and just graded that whole thing flat for just a nice easy walk. That was just all club money. Like,   it's kind of a don't ask, don't tell thing. Like, just For sure.   They don't know they have they don't have the slightest inkling of just how much the community has done for that park. Right. This is turning into a moan fest for me. No. Well, I mean, it but  

[00:42:51] Scott Belchak:

but it is a moan. It it is kind of a moan fest. Like, the way that the way that that city did not embrace   the the the sport   and and an amenity   that that frankly,   a lot of their residents enjoy, you know, it's it's enough to moan about, you know. But there are there are a lot of really good things that that happened out of that. Yeah. I mean, they did put in the money. Tea pads are awesome. Benches,  

[00:43:16] Weston Ringger:

trash cans, they finally started taking care of trash. The club's been dealing with the trash since   2014.   Wow. We put out five trash cans and been emptying them   not as often as we should have for years.   So, I mean, the city's finally taken over. So, like, there's a lot to be grateful for. That's for sure.   So and then   so, yeah, 2024,   we'd moved all the dirt,   spent all the club money. We built the kiosk, so that was all club money.   They wanted   more money from us too, but I'm like, no. I'm just gonna build the kiosk and pay for the design for the   tee pad signs, and then   the club's done our part from there.  

And then yeah. Is that when new hole one got cut in? Yeah. So they actually cut it, like, a year year before and then didn't touch it. So, like,   they didn't want hole one where it was. They didn't want us meeting out in that grass field right there. So they   cut a pretty   short little gap. I'm like, this needs to be a little bigger.   So they're the ones that actually put the T Pad further back to where those big old trees are right in the way off of the T Pad one. So Yeah. That's city doing, you know, I was happy to have it. Mhmm. I didn't think they'd   let us do that for dangerous  

[00:44:41] Scott Belchak:

ricochet reasons. Right. But has there hasn't really been very many ricochets into the dog park on one. I don't think I've seen too many. It's mainly 18 in the long position.  

[00:44:49] Weston Ringger:

Yeah. Yeah. Which I think should only be put in in the, summer. Mhmm. What is that? The long straight one? Yeah. Yeah. Full leaf. I think we can put it there. If there's no leaves on the trees, there's no way we should No. Ever have it there.  

[00:45:04] Scott Belchak:

So what's next for art dye then? Well, so there's a fence now. Are you done with your timeline?  

[00:45:08] Weston Ringger:

Yeah. Let's see. At twenty five   oh, yeah. Just hold the tree work.   That's just the last thing That was a massive amount of tree work. Tons. When it came to that. Tons.   We, over the years, have just made so many piles.   And,   you know, we weren't gonna get rid of them, pull them off the property. Like, we we cleaned it up. But,   I mean, that's like every Patriot classic that's always been   a debate is like how much relief do we get from the pile if you land in there. Right.   So they got rid  

[00:45:43] Scott Belchak:

of tons. There was a mountain of chess. Wild. Like, I've there's there's a there's a video on the Elevate Utah Instagram   of of,   that chipper that they had going on. And it's just basically a mini x picking up, like, giant bundles of wood, sticking them on a conveyor belt, and the conveyor belt just   taking whatever goes on to that conveyor belt and just munching the hell out of it Yeah. And spewing   chips. And,   the, like, the the couple days after   after they did that chipping, I thought that that whole pile was just gonna light on fire because it was just it was hot. It was hot. It was December and it was steaming.  

[00:46:22] Sean Kelley:

It was hot. It was  

[00:46:24] Scott Belchak:

a hot   piece of  

[00:46:26] Weston Ringger:

chip.   Piece of chip.  

[00:46:29] Nick Jennings:

And that was, like,   on now Hole Six's fairway. Right? Where a lot of that chip was. Yeah. That's still in the hole. There. That was from their second  

[00:46:38] Weston Ringger:

clean up. So it was in, like, two phases.   They did a fall and then a late spring.  

[00:46:44] Nick Jennings:

Yeah.  

[00:46:45] Weston Ringger:

That's crazy. There were so many chips. Yeah. So many chips. There's still a lot there. But they used it again to, you know, cut down all the leaves on, like, Hole 8 or of the, like, the mounds on Hole 7 And 8 that border the grass.   So they've used a lot of a lot of the chips.  

[00:47:02] Scott Belchak:

Yeah. You know, they really came around to, you know,   with that whole thing. And I'm I'm really pleased with with how it turned out. The the fence all on the course line is is great and much needed. Have you guys noticed,   a decrease of kids   that wander in?  

[00:47:18] Weston Ringger:

I feel like I have seen a decrease. Yeah. Even though during that last micro burst, like, a couple weeks before Patriot,   some big branches took out, like, three sections of that fence already. Oh, really? Yeah. Oh, wow.   Yeah. It's not a course you wanna play well. It's really weird. No. Yeah. So that's a public service announcement, everybody. Yeah. If there's winds above 15 miles per hour  

[00:47:42] Scott Belchak:

Go. Don't play. Yeah. Go. Yeah. Just go to just go to Draper. You'll be you'll be you'll be you'll be safe,   but not have trees falling behind you there.  

[00:47:53] Weston Ringger:

My ups in the sand in your eyes.  

[00:47:56] Nick Jennings:

And a half a bag of lost discs.  

[00:47:59] Sean Kelley:

You will land out of bounds on a Wednesday.   Well, it seems like that course in general has been   made by, like, the public or just mainly disc golfers,   maintained by disc golfers over time. Yeah. I feel like It just has the history of just,   you know, from the beginning,   you know, maintained,   cuddled, and, you know, just absolutely loved   by the local players. For for sure. Yeah. And that's just that's just I mean, it's a I love the course. It's it's a it plays different than   a lot of other courses around around the valley and and even up in the mountains, but it has its own feel. But it's, it kinda shows through because there's a lot of creativity in the holes that are out there.   And you don't get that, like, I guess, like, if originally you had gone,   let's just say, to the, you know, to the the parks and rec department.  

And then if they install the disc golf course,   like, you don't see those, like, just those little little quirks and, you know, little designs that, like,  

[00:49:01] Weston Ringger:

you get you get from players who who play the sport. Sure. I mean, that goes to show you too the design. Like, more than half the holes are still the original holes. And, like, that's a vision that,   you know, was pretty good from the original designers.   It's pretty awesome. Although, we were we were pretty close to to blowing it up. We were. Yeah. It was close. I I was ready to make that water tower on Hole 11 Or  

[00:49:26] Scott Belchak:

12. I was ready to put tee pads up there and get rid of that basket. Yeah. So what so what happened there with that? Because because because we were we were close. Last time last time I had talked to you, like, we we were gonna go forward with it. It was a budget. It was the money thing. So I think if they would've had  

[00:49:43] Weston Ringger:

more money   and they would have done all the tree work first   and then you see where your lines are. So, like, it's really hard to design a course that   is the thick undergrowth   forest. Like, it's just hard to see through   the bushes and Mhmm. The main trees and what they're gonna cut because Yeah. You can't be there holding hands with the arborist. Like, cut this one. Don't cut this one. Well, and they might wanna cut something that that for reasons of their own. Sure.   So   then with the lack of money when they brought me in with their budget   and what we were gonna do with the money, I'm like, okay. That's   just not gonna happen.  

But we could've cleared out on, you know, another   acre   in a different corner of the property and just had a nice   redesign or at least a few holes.  

[00:50:32] Scott Belchak:

Yeah. There was there was a moment where where,   the American Forks guys had told me that that that they had been in conversations with,   Avery Jenkins to come out and redesign it. And, that was a that was earlier on in our in our,   in our discussions, and and, I actually got got Avery on on the phone to talk to him about it a few times.   And,   that's another thing that that was a more additional pressure was that I had Avery calling American Fork and and saying, like, hey. What's going on with this project? I thought you wanted me to come out.   So just like all these tiny little pressure points, you know. Yeah.  



[00:51:09] Weston Ringger:

So I would have loved to have   somebody else's from the outside's   design of our dye.   Like,   being played it for so many years, like, doing a redesign, you just almost can't see the course another way. So I would have loved to see   an outsider's   perspective as if it was just wiped clean, they took out all the tee pads, baskets, and they started from Scratch. Xed   and made the course, I would love to see what somebody would come up with. Yeah. It certainly would have been, you know, like, I went out there probably  

[00:51:42] Scott Belchak:

half a dozen times to envision what I what I thought would would make a good flow. And and we came up with some good stuff. And and there's some unused land there on the Northeast or the Southeast Side that, we were thinking about using too, which would have been kinda cool too.   But there's a there's a if if you ever get a chance, like, go go up there and and just take take a look. There's some really weird encroachment things happening. Yeah. Walk past Hole 10 up in the big corner. Yeah. There's Hole 10 is the one that's like up on the hill Uh-huh. Right now? Okay. Yeah. Yeah. So the hole after the double mandatory.   Yeah. Just hang just hang a right and go up. There's a walking path. Go up that that hill. And you'll see that one of the guys who owns a house up there has basically made himself like a a castle,   like, in into parkland and is trying to, like, imminent domain,   like,   a a half an acre of of parkland up there by just Yeah. He's got, like, 10 foot wall of just garbage just to, like, make this natural fence. He did. He's totally just, like, this is my land.  

He's he's like an like an OG pilgrim   out here just, like, putting his his flag in the sand saying this is my this is my spot. Call him John Smith.  

[00:52:53] Nick Jennings:

That should be the John Smith Hole if you ever named the holes. Alright. Alright. There you go.   Yeah. I   from the time I first played or die, like I said, 2023,   like, summer of twenty twenty three,   I mean,   I'm brand new to disc golf and it   wrecked me. Like, it was   it was a slug fest for sure.   But now like with the redesign and with me getting a little bit better,   it's been really fun to go like that's where I go to really challenge   my line hitting.   Right? Yeah. Because you have to you have to be very precise. Like I play river bottoms a lot, but river Bottoms is like taking most overstable disc a lot of times and   stay in bounce. Right. Right? Which is awesome.  

I love that course.   And Creekside, you get a little bit of that.   Some of the line hitting, but Art Dye is like the next level up, in my opinion. And I don't know. I've I've loved the new redesign.   Hole one, I think it's great for what it is. Like,  

[00:53:55] Weston Ringger:

it's a good starting hole, I think. Yeah. Which is cool. The city just plowed a fairway for us, and then we kinda   placed the tee pad in the pan from there. Yeah. It's like it wasn't a total redesign. It was just like a little flow change. Yeah. Well, it it's such a it was such a huge and important change for the for the character of the course too because  

[00:54:14] Scott Belchak:

the old starting hole was was out in the wide open. It was baking in the sun,   you know, like there was there was no really good warm up basket close by. Yeah. No entrance. There was no comfortable meeting area.   And and so now this it it it's much more welcoming. You get out of the car and and you see the kiosk, and there's just this nice little pathway that takes you to a practice basket with hole one right there and an uncomfortably close bench.   Don't get me going on the benches. Two is the same way with the bench, isn't it? There's several. Two and six. Yeah. Weston doesn't wanna talk about Weston doesn't wanna talk about 17. We're happy to have benches.   With a lack of bench at this point? No. It's it's there. Oh, it got reinstalled? Well, you can see it. It's right by it's it's it's It's off to side. Yeah. It's in proximity.  



[00:55:03] Weston Ringger:

They literally put the bench a foot away perpendicular   to the tee pad. Yeah. Like a foot away.   That's like having somebody sit on a chair watching you take a poo.   It's just like uncomfortably,   very uncomfortably close. Like making eye contact   during your backhand. Somebody just sitting   right there.   Maybe the googly eyes. Yeah. So, they pulled it out. Like I told them, like, this is terrible.   So they ripped it out and they didn't replace it. They just dumped it on the path. Yeah. Like walking up to something. Yeah. They just dumped it. It's just dumped right there. It's just laying on the side. Yeah. It's like we did all this work clearing that big open space off to the side. The perfect bedroom. They didn't know you could not have them   On the t right behind the t pad. Yeah. But they never asked me and I've been their liaison this whole time. Exactly. Well, they wanted someone they could walk on and not have to answer to. Yeah. And they did and it sucks.  

But  

[00:56:02] Nick Jennings:

It's frustrating. But Say, when they ripped that out, they left the holes there for a little bit. Right? Yeah. They didn't do anything. Yeah. They didn't fill the holes in. Yeah. You had like these three big holes right next to the tee pad. Yeah. So, like, I text them, like, these tee pads are like really  

[00:56:16] Weston Ringger:

close.   Like, they replied, what does it matter? Like, they're pretty rude back to me.   And I'm like, well,   it's not good and it's not bad. Just like,   I give them a golf analogy. I'm like, imagine just taking your tee shot and somebody standing within like a foot behind your club swing. Like, you would not feel good about that.  

[00:56:38] Scott Belchak:

And it's like, okay. I get it, but it's too late now. Yeah. Well, it's not it's not too late because because what they did was they gave us really good bag holders.  

[00:56:47] Weston Ringger:

Yep.  

[00:56:48] Scott Belchak:

And so all we need is all we need is more benches.   Like, we need benches in the spots where we want them, and then we've got bag holders right by the tee pad. Like A bench behind the bench. Yes. Let's make a bench behind the bench. We need stadium seating. Yes. Every home. Benches. All that. Yeah. I mean, why not? Right? It's like, let's just let's just raise some money to fix the benches out there.  

[00:57:09] Weston Ringger:

You can do it, Scott. You got it.  

[00:57:12] Nick Jennings:

Well, he's gonna get in on a local there, Weston. If you're Well, you can walk all over me, dude. I'll do whatever you want. If you're listening right now, our Patreon is,  

[00:57:20] Scott Belchak:

elevateut.com/patreon.   Or you know what? You can just go hop in a league and go play for $3.60   or $5, and a dollar will eventually go to the course once we're done with US women's. Which by the way, we're halfway to   our goal of 10,000.   Oh, nice. In like less than six months? Yeah. And we've got two three basically a whole year left. Yeah. So hopefully, we'll be able to wrap that up   sometime in the next six months and and then be able to start raising funds for our courses   once that's done.  

[00:57:49] Nick Jennings:

Yeah. That's awesome.   I'm excited for when some of those things some of those funds get reopened for the course,   maintenance stuff. I think benches is a good option for our guy. Yeah. We saw some really awesome benches out at,  

[00:58:02] Scott Belchak:

Diavolo, the the one of America's top courses.   And what they did was they basically made,   imagine a picnic table that's cut in half.   So you've got the lower bench, and then you've got an upper bench.   And so what ends up happening is that people put their bags on the upper bench so they can see inside their bags at head level. Oh, hell yeah. And then they sit on on the normal bench, or   you sit on it like you'd sit on a on a picnic table if your feet are on the bench.   And you get this nice raised feel. And it's really just   a few posts and, you know, a couple two by fours there and two by fours there, and, you know, you make a nice elevated spot. And,   I've seen that in a lot of the top courses that are being installed right now, and they're they're relatively cheap. It's just lumber and and and   installation.  

So I'd love to see more of those   get installed here because they make filming really good too because because they they give you a really nice, like, thing to stand on that's really tall. So I'd I'd like to see more of those be built.   Maybe we could build some of those up up at the Wonder.   They're already implemented. See what they look like. Yeah.   So, what's next for   for you and   that   property? Are you pretty much just enjoying it now? Yeah. For  

[00:59:24] Weston Ringger:

our dime, just enjoying it now. Really   kinda   really lost my steam on doing all this after   this whole thing, working for the city   and coordinating all of this. It's it's been a nightmare, and it's been really hard. I really wanna write an open letter to the city about   my experience with the parks department and   just their lack of communication   when I want something.   But when they want something, I'm right there ready for them.   So   pretty much, I'll just do one cleanup day a year, you know, a couple weeks before Patriot Classic, and   now I'll just enjoy the course.  

So that's been   it's been a journey, but it looks night and day. Do you post links on these   videos?   Can you? Sure can. There's   a old   YouTube video of art dye that somebody recorded on, like, a handheld   from, like, twenty   ten or something. So, like, you can actually do   a 2010 art dye walkthrough. It's shaky and grainy, but,   like, it's Oh, that's gonna be great. Yeah. It's crazy. Yeah. Send it over to me on the other side. To you guys.   So you can just see the transformation.   If you haven't played   since   like, if you've never seen pre 2012   art die,   it's   insane.  

Just   the transformation.   Like that   asphalt walking path on 1718   used just to be dirt.   It's like that wasn't even   a walking path and those holes were totally different. Yeah. Like, Hole   2 used to be shooting backwards,   like, from the field. So you'd actually shoot from the field   between the two trees   to,   two's tee pad where a pin used to be right off the path.   Interesting. So it's a big left to right anhyzer Yeah. Going   up the path.  

[01:01:34] Nick Jennings:

Kinda like from where the dog park is now?  

[01:01:36] Weston Ringger:

No. A little more south of that. A little south. Okay. Yeah. But   I mean, it's night and day. So   I wish everybody could have seen it then, but not everybody's been playing that long. Well, apparently, we can. Because we have a YouTube video linked to the show. Yep. A potato video, but it's fun.  

[01:01:55] Nick Jennings:

So has everybody played Art, Die, Here? Yeah? Oh, for sure. Yep.   Maybe, Wes, let's start with you. I would I wanna know your favorite hole,   how it's shaped up   from the new redesign, from the work that's been done in the last couple of years. Like, what is your favorite hole right now? It's it's gotta be Hole 2.  

[01:02:13] Weston Ringger:

So that's another   thanks to the city because   that whole fairway Hole 2 used to be the thickest part of the whole course Oh, wow. Tree wise.   And so because the the hole used to be out in the grass   shooting up and around the corner up to two's tee pad,   but then they didn't want us shooting over the path anymore. So that's   was part of their compromise for us is to make us a new fairway.   So that Hole 2, just the length and that new long pin,   I just   wish there was more in that that length that are die.   Yeah. The hole two is definitely  

[01:02:51] Scott Belchak:

one of my favorite additions. Yeah. You you thoroughly explored Hole 2 because you you you walked by it for the longest time, and then then you played it,   south to north. Yep. And now it's it's north to south.   So, yeah, you definitely explored it quite a bit. Yep. It's had a lot of iterations, but  

[01:03:09] Weston Ringger:

the way it is right now, I love it. How about you, Scott?  

[01:03:15] Scott Belchak:

I think Hole 10 is my favorite.   It's just so iconic. You know, it's it's got those those big guardian trees. And when it's in its long position up the hill   and and you can just you know, the the light can hit can hit it in just the right way too. So you're just, like, standing on the tee pad and you see this beautiful basket up on the up on the hillside, like, behind all   these massive   one of those elms.   Yeah. Just just Chinese elms. Just gorgeous hole. And it's very specific,   you know. And it's also a little bit weird that that there's people in the fairway,   you know, when you're throwing it because, you know, you really kinda wanna enjoy that fairway by yourself, but then there's, like, people in it in the fence. You know, like, what the hell are you guys even doing here? It's a good fence, though. It is a good it's a very good fence.  

John, what about you?  

[01:04:02] Sean Kelley:

One of my favorite holes that I I it'll probably be at this point, it's,   17.   There's so many trees and the the basket's so guarded, so it's such a particular shot to hit.   But I will say, like,   for most holes, like,   the one that gets me all the time is that double Mando hole. Shut up. Me too. Like, it's so time. It's it's one of those holes where you just, like, for the the amount of time I've ever played disc golf, this should just easily just be the easiest shot for me. Because it's either I lace it and I'm parked within four feet or I miss it and it's like I take a five on that hole. And it's there's never ever like, oh, I pardon. No. It's either like a birdie or a five   or something like that. It's just absolutely, like,   you know, it's night and day. But it is, like so I I love those holes. But I will say as far as, like, just a hole,   I will say 17   just because there's, like, there's so many leaning trees, and then it's so guarded in the back. Like,   it's it's such a hole you wanna get because you'll you will see this disc fly by. Like, it will have to hit so many different little,   you know, openings to to make it there. You'll have to bypass so many trees to get it. So every time, like, every time I do tee off there, you're just sitting there and you're watching. You're like, alright. Bye. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep   as if it keeps going, it keeps going. It just you know, I just get more and more excited watching it fly through that area. Yeah. I just wanted to throw in that double mando hole hole 9 was  

[01:05:35] Weston Ringger:

an addition of bonus hole for Patriot classic made by Jordan Needham. Alright.  

[01:05:40] Sean Kelley:

He's passed away now, but, like, it's the Needham hole. So Hole 9 is the the Needham hole. Any any double Mando. Again, like, if if it wasn't a Mando, if it was just two trees you had to throw   through Oh, no problem. Hit it every single time. But the fact that you're like, you have to go through here is just like, okay.   Why is this just, like, you know, just an absolute spot in my brain that I can't get by it? But, yeah, I mean, I I love that hole. I love every double mando hole. It's just kinda like I said, it either eats my lunch or it's   it's Yeah. It works out perfect. I love that it's a permanent part of the course now. Yeah. I do like that whole. It's a good addition for sure. It's something it's a whole I think about the night before.  

Yeah. That's true. That's I'm thinking about it along the way. As I'm driving down there. I'm like, oh my god. I gotta get that. It's on it's on your spreadsheet. Yeah. I feel like it's easier if I just rip something. Like, I just go fast. I'm going flip up forehand. Right? And turn it over. That's the only way I've gotten it is to do that. But  

[01:06:37] Nick Jennings:

maybe I'll try that next time. Because I've tried the hyzer flip backhand. Mhmm. I tried the skip shot backhand with something overstable. And recently, I've been trying the especially when it's in the deep position. Mhmm. The flex forehand  

[01:06:50] Scott Belchak:

was That's hard. Overstable.  

[01:06:52] Sean Kelley:

Yeah. And I I'm having no luck. So I throw a mana and just a little bit of angle that'll pop up and go over and then beat it out. That's the only way I've gotten it though.   Interesting. I'll have to get that TriNet stuff I play. Yeah. Take a couple with you. Just a just a Mako shirt. Otherwise,   five and six five and six are the two I really enjoy just because I couldn't rip on something hard. I know because I have to. Like, five, you have to hit the gap at a certain angle and let it flip over. Like, I'm doing a my Mamba   low and hard, hoping it gets all the way back there.  

And then six, I can   Six gold. Yeah. Get it going. Yeah. I'd yeah. It's a lot of fun to get get one over. I'm changing mine to five. Yeah. It's a fun throw. It's a fun throw. Yeah. It's very specific. It's the best. You're right. So you're saying I'm gonna see that. Let's go play old five. I got a whole 18 or a whole 12.  

[01:07:40] Scott Belchak:

Yeah. Ritual are you using? Yeah. I know. Old 18. Yeah. Old 13. Yeah. Whatever it is. I stop people. It goes back. Whenever anyone says, oh, yeah. It's over by old Whole 13. I don't know what you're talking about. It's five. It's five.  

[01:07:55] Sean Kelley:

Yeah. Old when? What year? What year? Exactly. What year? What model? What version?   Hole 3,   circa 02/2011.  

[01:08:07] Nick Jennings:

Yeah. I mean, I'm gonna have to agree with you though, Weston. I think Hole 2 is my favorite on the whole course. Like, it's just such a I don't know, like, it's kinda staggered trees, like, the gap is a little bit staggered, like, you have to hit the angle just right.   And And if not, you get punished. It's specific. Yeah.   Yeah. But it's such a when you hit it right, it just makes you feel so good. It does. It's one of the harder holes there. Yeah. Actually, it almost hit the league  

[01:08:34] Sean Kelley:

a couple months ago. Nice. Oh, I I hit it perfectly with an escape. It like flipped up and just like pushed straight and then came down, skipped,  

[01:08:42] Nick Jennings:

hit the bottom of the basket   and ended up like five feet away.  

[01:08:46] Scott Belchak:

Nice. Yeah. It was it would have been an all time ace. Like it would have been Did you get did you get your birdie? I did. Good. Yes. I did. Yeah. One of the few that day. Yeah. One of the wildest things I I've ever I've ever done was on that hole too. We were playing doves and I drew Cali. And we started on we started on one, and I birdied one, so I felt good about that. And then,   I I hit I hit the cage on my drive on Hole 2 in its in its short position.   And that was with a just a straight up hyzer flip with the turn right at it. Just dink.   Hit the hit the hit the cage. And on my second shot, I hit the top band.  

It   was all over it. Wow. And and what's so great about doing that in doubles when the course is full is that there's people on the tee pad right over there. Right. You know? And they can hear every single second of it, and they saw it all. And so that yeah. Yeah, that was definitely one of those moments that made me feel pretty amazing. That's it's probably the highlight of my life at this point. At this point, it's like there's probably nothing better that's ever gonna happen to me than that one thing. You have all it's all downhill.  

[01:09:53] Sean Kelley:

Who are you talking about? You've aced every course you've built. You've aced every hole. I forgot that. I forgot that. I forgot that. Oh, it's okay. How about that next time? Band is the best.  

[01:10:05] Scott Belchak:

It's so great. Well, I I I haven't aced at the arena yet, but that's because there's no baskets out there. But,   we're gonna be we're gonna be   talking to,   to Jake here for the next episode. So that's that's very exciting. There's a teaser. Does anybody have art die aces?   Yeah. I I have I have,   I have   seven.  

[01:10:27] Weston Ringger:

Seven? Whole seven. A whole seven. Yeah.  

[01:10:30] Sean Kelley:

I'm gonna phrase that differently.   In that case, I   have   three.   Just hole three?  

[01:10:42] Nick Jennings:

No aces and dart die for me yet. No. No. Couple basket hits. But There's a few gettable ones. There is. Yeah.   Yeah. Yeah. I actually almost aced to hole five,  

[01:10:52] Sean Kelley:

with, like, a flip up straight. Did you ramp it up the little   dirt ramp there? No. It was just pure. So that's what I did was,   last year's Patriot,   first round and second round. I ramped it right up that little thing, and we're like, oh, wait. No. Because you you see the, like, disc pop up. It's like, it's got a shot. Yeah. Isn't everybody's dream ace 12, the the water tower? Oh, for sure. Mhmm. If I make it up on top of that thing, I am tickled. Like, my eyes cannot throw up that high. You gotta ace that tower. Yeah. It's it it'll happen eventually  

[01:11:24] Scott Belchak:

until our bones wither   and our muscles atrophy.  

[01:11:28] Sean Kelley:

It's those two trees right there in the middle. Just can't get it up there anymore.  

[01:11:31] Weston Ringger:

It's just Part of being an MP 40. You don't really want a long pad up that hill behind it. Yeah.  

[01:11:37] Nick Jennings:

Kinda back where   old whole 17 c pad was. Yeah.  

[01:11:42] Weston Ringger:

Pile's gone. That's crazy. Mhmm. But   just back about 30 feet,   then it's a more flat but very narrow because that tree that's right off the tee pad comes way more into play. I believe that. I think it'd be an awesome long pad.   Yeah. Well, talk to the city about it. Let's get it done. Alright. Let's we'll work with the city. Let's go. 2,037.  

[01:12:05] Scott Belchak:

Help me up, man. We'll just we'll just teach them where they can go get their money from.   I don't Fair enough. Thank you. Thank you so much for all the work you've done on that property, and it it it really is sad to hear that that it it kinda broke you. You know? No. I'm broken. I appreciate it. And it's   it's a thankless job doing a lot of this, you know, and,   I certainly don't wanna get   broken. And, you know, I and it's one of the reasons why I advocate so strongly for trying to get get money released so that we can hire   professionals to come and do this because we don't wanna break the people who who who have given so much to to the sport. You know? We want we want you to enjoy the game, and we want you to have fun doing it. And it is fun working on these courses. It is fun. But when you get to this level and you're working with city employees and you're seeing the budgets and and and you understand that, you know, it's just   it's very easy to get burnt out and and broken. And,   so   I'm sorry it happened. And, you know,  

[01:13:07] Sean Kelley:

thank you for everything you've done for that for that property. I appreciate it. Thank you. Yeah. And, Dolly, you're spending the evening tonight. Sorry. What were you saying, Sean? I was just gonna say going back to him where he said he was just it sounds like he's moaning.   But it's like something like that, you put a lot of, like, your your own time and, you know, your own effort.   You you you start to just get a little bit of a relationship with the course where, like   you know? So   it it saddens you to see it go, like, you know, with   things that can't upgrade it, like, when they go south or something like that. It's just a disappointment. But I didn't sound like you were moaning. It sounded like you had a little bit just more passion in you. Sure. It's just a little bit more disappointment   at some of the outcomes. So we just had these high levels of expectations.  

So, yeah, don't feel bad. It's, you know,   it's nice to see someone care about those things because when you're out there and you see people, you know, trashing them and stuff like that, it it it can be hurtful. And leaving two star reviews.  

[01:14:03] Weston Ringger:

I appreciate it. Yeah.   I was like, when people ask where were you when James Conrad hit the holy shot,   working at Art Die.   Getting ready for the Patriot Classic.   That's where I was.  

[01:14:18] Nick Jennings:

There it is. That's awesome. Well, Weston, thank you very much for spending the evening with us tonight. It's been a pleasure to get to hear the story of our die   and and all of the hard work that's been going into it.   As always, if you, as the listener,   want to get more involved,   you know, start by contacting your city officials. Right? And and just getting the conversation   going.   You know, reach out to to   any of us, and we can kinda help get you in the right direction.   But until next time, that is this episode of the Elevate Utah Disc Golf podcast. Thanks.