By Tara Fischer

Staff Writer

Ahead of a disc golf tournament next month, the Berlin Town Council approved changes to the course at Stephen Decatur Park to improve pedestrian safety and appeal to beginners.

Eastbound Disc Golf representatives came before the Berlin mayor and Town Council at the body’s Monday, Feb. 10 meeting to request modifications to the Stephen Decatur Park course in anticipation of the event.

These changes will include an improved design that focuses on safety for pedestrians and non-disc golf park goers.

“The general idea behind the reorganization of the layout is focused on the crossing of pedestrian walking paths,” Eastbound Project Manager Taylor Hubbard said. “Right now, the course has a few that are probably a little too close, being a danger to people walking on the path. We have never had an issue that I’m aware of … but this plan makes it safer for the community.”

Hubbard said the new layout will ensure that a disc golf player only crosses a path when they’re throwing the Frisbee instead of where the Frisbee is landing.

“You have the most control when you’re throwing the frisbee versus 100, 200 feet away where it’s landing where someone could be walking across the corner,” the project manager said. “This new layout proposal gets rid of a lot of blind shots and a lot of blind walking paths. You have a full view of the path the entire time.”

The new design will see the repositioning of three current baskets and the rearranging of tee pads, where disc golfers begin a hole. Hubbard maintains that the alterations “follow the general layout of the old course with just a few modifications.”

According to Hubbard, hole two will be cut in half, creating two different holes to “reduce any cross of the walking path.” Hole four is to be moved slightly to avoid again crossing the path. Holes six and seven are where the “major moves” will occur.

These locations heavily cross main paths, so hole six will be shifted to only cross where the tee pad is. Hole seven, which the project manager said was the biggest complaint hole, will not cross any paths upon the redesign’s completion.

“Overall, the goal was to take the design and make it something that was shorter, more beginner friendly, and flowed better with both disc golfers and pedestrians not having to wait on the other group,” Eastbound President Shawn Johnson said.

The Berlin Town Council approved the changes, and officials were happy with the proposed modifications.

“Course layout is beneficial to walkers and players and makes it safer for everyone,” Berlin Public Works Director Jimmy Charles said.

Eastbound Disc Golf will also apply new blue vinyl wraps to the metal bands along the top of the disc golf baskets. The group’s representatives argued that this enhancement would “provide better wayfinding for disc golfers by presenting the proper number for each hole” and improve the course’s aesthetics.

Volunteers supporting Eastbound Disc Golf will complete the modification work on either Feb. 15, Feb. 16, or Feb. 28.

During Monday’s presentation, Eastbound Disc Golf shared usage data with the council courtesy of the UDisc app, which players use to keep score and also navigate courses new to them. In 2024, 997 total rounds were logged on the app for the park with 210 of the rounds reported as first-time players to the course. In 2023, 1,213 total rounds were reported with 258 being first-time course users.

The course redesign will be finished in time for Eastbound’s tournament on March 1, Double Dip Double Dash. The morning portion will take place in Ocean Pines, and the afternoon segment will kick off at Stephen Decatur Park in Berlin.

The event will welcome teams of two and will not exceed 36 total players. Participants will switch parks between rounds, with the first segment at Bainbridge Park in Ocean Pines. Check-in starts at 8:30 a.m., the games begin at 9:30 a.m., and activities conclude around 11:30 a.m. Players will then head to Stephen Decatur Park for the afternoon tournament session. Sign-in starts around noon, and the second round will begin at 1 p.m. The tournament is expected to wrap up between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m.

The tournament will have a $70 entry fee per team. As Eastbound is a nonprofit organization, the event is not generating revenue for the group. Hubbard emphasized at the Berlin Town Council’s Monday, Jan. 27 meeting when the organization sought a special event permit that Eastbound was not profiting from the game series.

“It’s a net negative total tournament, so there is no actual money going to the organization,” Hubbard said.