PLAY DISC GOLF AT EOU

No polyester pants and questionable fashion accessories are needed at the new EOU "country club." (Staff photo/CHRIS BAXTER).

LA GRANDE - A new nine-hole, recreational level Frisbee golf course on campus will help keep students at Eastern Oregon University busy playing outdoors all year round.

The course was completed in late September just in time for the start of fall term classes.

"We are trying to find activities that students enjoy and then create outlets for those activities here on campus," said EOU senior Steffany Long, director of Eastern Student Entertainment.

"All the students seem to be really excited about the new course," she said.

Frisbee golf, also known as disc golf or folf, follows the same rules as golf and has enjoyed a rise in popularity since it first originated in the 1960s. According to the Disc Golf Association's Web site, there are more than 3 million regular players of the game in the United States, and there are more than 20,000 members of the Professional Disc Golf Association.

Hundreds of tournaments are held at courses across the country each year.

EOU's course is tournament ready. Outside groups can also hold tournaments on campus if they coordinate with the ESE office.

Planning for the course began last year. Long worked with Jeff Dunbar, past director of Student Activities, to design the course. Together they measured out the entire course, which begins near Quinn Coliseum and traverses through campus ending between the Hoke Union Building and Pierce Library. The entire length of the course is 1,944 feet.

Money to build the course was allocated from the EOU Vending Committee, which will continue to provide funding for the project throughout the academic year. EOU Facilities also donated some time and labor to install the equipment, which included rust-resistant baskets and tees that are designed to last for a long time with little to no maintenance.

Long said that there is a possibility of expanding the course by adding more holes, but right now the course is contained to the

area of campus most utilized by students.

To view a map of the course visit www3.eou.edu/sao/FrisbeeGolfCourse.html. Maps and score cards may also be picked up at the Student Activities Office in the Hoke Union Building, Room 321.