Tournament Ready 18-hole Disc Golf Course Opens on Reinhardt University Campus

WALESKA, GA – Reinhardt University officially opens its newly expanded 18-hole disc golf course on Saturday, Feb. 12 with a ribbon cutting at 8:50 a.m. Following the ribbing cutting, Reinhardt will host the new course’s inaugural disc golf tournament.

The original nine-hole course opened on campus in the fall of 2014. Since then, the popularity of disc golf among Reinhardt students and the public has grown exponentially. Reinhardt senior, Austin Daman, president and captain of the Reinhardt Disc Golf Club Team, attributes much of the growth to the pandemic. “When COVID-19 started, people were afraid to go into buildings, but they weren’t afraid to go outside,” said Daman. “Disc golf grew in popularity because people could easily distance from others, no one shares equipment, and the sport is healthy, outdoor exercise.”
 
Increased growth and popularity have disc golfers searching for courses, and Reinhardt boasts a prime location. “It’s in the middle of a disc golf ‘dead zone.’ Only one other course exists in Cherokee County – Sequoyah Park in Canton.  Now, Reinhardt is on the map for disc golfers in Blue Ridge, Jasper, Ellijay, and Canton.”   
 
In the spring of 2021, Daman, who has been playing disc golf for over three years, approached Walter May, Ph.D., Reinhardt’s dean of students, about launching a disc golf club team and expanding from nine holes to a full 18-hole course. “When I first approached Dr. May with my ideas, he was already thinking about the possibilities.” 
 
“We had increasing interest in disc golf on our campus,” said May, “and thought it necessary to re-envision and expand the course from the original nine-holes to a tournament-ready 18-hole course. Upgrades now make the course both challenging enough and large enough to be competitive and attract more advanced players.”  
 
Mark Sheldon, owner of TrainHopper Disc Golf, led the course redesign. An avid disc golfer, Sheldon started his organization to create disc golf tournaments in the Greater Atlanta area. Reinhardt’s course was his first design project. A resident of Cherokee County, Sheldon played the original course and formulated new ideas. He describes the new course as an “intermediate level course that highlights the natural beauty of the campus, designed to blend into the campus scenery.”  
 
The February tournament will be the second event hosted at Reinhardt. “Last summer we had a tournament called Fairways and Fireworks - a fundraiser to help the disc golf team and support course expansion. We had a full tournament with 18 holes, and considerable attendance and participation - a great display of support that helped raise funds to move us forward,” said Daman.  
 
North Georgia disc golfers have been eagerly watching the progression of Reinhardt’s new course. “The tournament sold out within four hours of opening registration in January,” said May. Amateurs and professionals will compete in the tournament. 
 
Reinhardt’s course is also included on the UDisc app, used by disc golfers worldwide, to find courses and track their scores. During January 2022, more than 100 disc golfers logged their scores on the Reinhardt course - nearly three times more than in all of 2021! 
 
The Reinhardt disc golf course is open daily to the public. For information on Reinhardt’s disc golf course, complete with a downloadable course map, disc golf rules and safety information, visit www.reinhardt.edu/discgolf.  
 
About Reinhardt University
Founded in 1883, Reinhardt University is a private, comprehensive institution grounded in the liberal arts. Reinhardt offers more than 40 graduate and undergraduate programs online and on campus, including business, education, music, theater, and nursing. Reinhardt’s 525-acre campus is ideally located in Waleska in the heart of Georgia’s high country and nearby the great international city of Atlanta. For more information, please contact Reinhardt at (770) 720-5600 or see Reinhardt.edu.