A major overhaul of the 24-hole disc golf course at Ox Bow County Park has restored it to its former glory, says Goshen disc enthusiast Jason Samuel, and added some modern touches.
In addition to newly designed holes, players will have access to new baskets, tee-off areas, signs, an information kiosk and a putting green for warming up and practicing.
Now it’s time to celebrate with three days of tournaments Aug. 16-18 for every skill level, age and gender, not to mention a party with a live band, food trucks and local beer to celebrate disc golf’s 35th anniversary at Ox Bow, 23033 County Road 45, halfway between downtown Elkhart and Goshen.
“It was just time,” says Samuel, who oversees both the tournaments and the remodeling campaign that has raised more than $18,000 and a grant from the Community Foundation of Elkhart County.
Count in his endless hours of volunteer work, too. Ox Bow is his “home court.” It’s where he learned the game in 1999 and returned to the sport after a 13-year hiatus in 2020 when the pandemic drew him back to the outdoors.
“We couldn’t have done it without our team and hundreds of hours of volunteer work,” said Ronda DeCaire, director of Elkhart County Parks.
She says this modernizes a course that Jim Ingold and Dan Shenk built in 1989.
“It’s very inviting,” says Samuel. “We’ve put a lot of work into developing a course that’s challenging and fun.”
Fourteen of the 24 holes have been rerouted to allow for faster play and shorter paths. Samuel says those 14 holes are now more beginner-friendly and for those who need shorter, easier terrain. They are also playable year-round, he says, with a more manageable course when daylight hours mean a shorter window in winter.
The rerouting also solved a problem, park officials say. Tees and baskets were removed from flood-prone areas.
Samuel says the redesign has also made the other holes more challenging, including an island hole, an elevated tee hole, a two-shot hole and out-of-bounds markers.
This weekend, Ox Bow will host the largest disc golf event since the 1996 World Championships, which included games there and at courses in South Bend, Mishawaka and Goshen.
The grand opening will be held at 2 p.m. on August 16 at the park’s nearby Stable Shelter. Later that day, from 5 to 9 p.m., the public celebration will be held at the Honey Locust Shelter. There will be live music from the band The Erly, food trucks, beer from Goshen Brewing Co., putting contests, exhibits and vendors. Aside from the $3 entry fee per car and the food or beer you purchase, admission is free.
All three tournaments are new to Ox Bow and if they go well, Samuel says they might return.
They may attract some good players from the region, but it’s important to remember, he notes, that many of the top players will be at the World Championships in Virginia this weekend.
∎ August 16 (Friday) is the Summer Sizzler, a PDGA C-Tier one-round competition in which individuals can enter any time between 3pm and 8pm.
∎ On August 17 (Saturday), the Ox Bow Classic, a two-round PDGA C/B Tier individual event, will feature individual rounds at 9 a.m. and after lunch.
∎ On August 18 (Sunday), the Dog Days Doubles, a PDGA C-Tier doubles event, will take place; play begins at 2:00 p.m. with teams of two competing by best of two throws.
The entry fee for Professional Disc Golf Association members is $20 per person on Friday, $40 per person on Saturday and $40 per team on Sunday. There is an additional $10 fee for non-members. More information and registration for each tournament can be found online at www.discgolfscene.com and via the links in this column.
I love the Biketober Fest
Early bird registration has begun for the return of Love Biketober Fest on October 6, featuring the usual lineup of street and dirt bike options, food, local craft beer, and coziness (warmth and good cheer) at Love Creek County Park in Berrien Center.
Cost is $40 per person and $75 per family through August 16, then $50/$95 through September 22, and $60/$115 thereafter.
Start the day with a 24- or 32-mile ride on gravel and paved roads, or a 25- or 51-mile ride on paved roads. Or try the park’s 3.5-mile mountain bike trails. Or just hike there. Then enjoy a hearty feast and beer under tents.
This year’s proceeds will go entirely to the nonprofit Bike Michiana Coalition and its many efforts to financially support local trail improvements and bike safety awareness. In the past, the ride had shared proceeds with the park for trail improvements and maintenance, but event chair Rob Shellhamer says this year organizers want to make sure more money goes to the coalition’s efforts. The park continues to support the event.
For more information and to register, visit www.lovebiketoberfest.com.
Night bike tour
The City of LaPorte is offering its last nighttime bike ride of the summer. The 13-mile group ride begins at 9 p.m. CDT on August 16 at the Dennis F. Smith Amphitheater in Fox Park, 401 Truesdell Ave., on the north side of Clear Lake, followed by food and fellowship.
Cost is $20 in advance and $30 at the event and includes food, drinks and a t-shirt (if there are any left). Register online at a link here in this column.
Indiana Dunes Art Walk
Hike the Bailly/Chellberg Trail in Indiana Dunes National Park on August 17 from 2-5 p.m. CDT and discover artwork along the way that you can then use to create your own artwork. This family-friendly event takes place on a trail through wooded ravines, open fields and historic buildings. The artwork was created as part of the park’s Artist-In-Residence program.
The event begins at the park’s Volunteer Program Office at 891 N. Mineral Springs Road, Porter, across from Chellberg Farm, between US 12 and US 20 and west of Indiana 49.
The event is free, but the national park charges an entrance fee of $25 per car for up to seven days; annual passes are also available for $45 (www.recreation.gov/sitepass/indu).
Valpo preserves grow
Meadowbrook Nature Preserve, north of Valparaiso, Indiana, just expanded by 73 acres, adding agricultural land that has been (and still is) farmed for over a century, newly established swamps, and upland forests.
Déjà vu? This follows news I reported just recently: The owner, the nonprofit Shirley Heinze Land Trust, has also added 94 acres to the Lydick Bog Nature Preserve in South Bend, with a future trail to connect it to the Indiana Dinosaur Museum.
At Meadowbrook, which now has 300 acres, four miles of trails and forests, wetlands, rivers and prairie, one of the goals is to preserve agricultural land.
There is a crowdfunding campaign to build an amphitheater at the preserve. Donations at patronicity.com/amphitheater will be matched by the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority up to a total of $50,000.
And on August 17 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. CDT, Meadowbrook will host the nature-in-art program “Weaving Through Waterways,” where you can learn to weave things like coasters, turtles and wall decorations, but also take guided walks in the preserve where artists from the Duneland Plein Air Painters will demonstrate their skills. The Mixtura Food Truck will be selling food. Make reservations at heinzetrust.org/events.
Meadowbrook is located at 109 W. County Road 700 North, southwest of US 6 and Indiana 49.
New record for spotted gar
Angler Kyle Hammond of Fort Wayne caught a state-record-sized spotted gar, a member of an ancient family of fish with elongated, narrow mouths, at Chain O’Lakes State Park on July 11.
The nine-pound, 11-ounce fish from River Lake surpassed the previous record of six pounds, 12.5 ounces caught in a gravel pit in Vermillion County in 2017, according to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.
Hammond was targeting northern pike while fishing from his kayak. He used a spinning rod and reel with a white Zoom Fluke. The DNR notes that northern pike are typically found in shallow water near vegetation. To find the Indiana lakes where certain fish species are most abundant, visit the DNR’s Fish Community Survey Results Dashboard, linked online here in this column.
Find columnist Joseph Dits on Facebook at SBTOutdoorAdventures or 574-235-6158 or [email protected].
