Alvin C. Ruxer Disc Golf Course opens

Jun 19, 2023

The City of Jasper, Dubois County Disc Golf Club and Jasper Mayors Youth Leadership Council celebrated the opening of the Alvin C. Ruxer Disc Golf Course Monday evening with two ribbon cuttings.

First, the groups ceremoniously split the ribbon at the entrance to the renovated former golf course property to celebrate the expansion of disc golf into the City of Jasper with an 18-basket course designed by Eric McCabe, a well-known course designer.

Then, the crowd roamed over the soggy ground to the two renovated bridges providing access to the back nine holes of the course to celebrate the Mayor’s Youth Leadership Council project. The group took on the demolition and renovation of the steel bridges spanning a creek that splits the course.

The Jasper High School teens spent the late spring and summer taking out the rotten planks and sanding the old rust and paint off the trusses and beams to prepare for a fresh paint job and brand-new wooden decking.

In addition to raising funds and material donations for the bridge projects, the youth council procured sponsors for each basket of the refreshed course.

According to the council president, Brailyn Whaley, they quickly learned the project was going to require a lot of work and coordination to accomplish. “I think it was one of the harder projects we have taken on because of the flooding,” Whaley noted. “We were at the point where we were ready to get to work and couldn’t because of spring rains.”

The council then had to work quickly later in the summer to complete the bridge renovations.

“When we were all done, we kinda stood back looking at it and said, ‘Wow, we did that,'” Whaley said.

She has been involved with the Mayor’s Youth Leadership Council every year since it was created. “It’s amazing every year just to see everyone’s so proud of it (the project),” she said.

The city closed the Ruxer Golf Course in 2020 due to the consistent burden upkeep had become due to flooding issues as well as the limited season it could remain open.

According to Parks Director Tom Moorman, the disc golf course is playable even when it is wet and requires a lot less maintenance and materials to operate compared to a traditional golf course.

The popularity of the sport in Dubois County is apparent as Moorman noted that though they hadn’t publicized the course was finished a few weeks ago, the day the baskets were put in, more than 40 players hit the fairways to try it out. “It’s been constant ever since,” he said.

Jasper Mayor Dean Vonderheide commended the efforts of all the groups working together. “This is how we get things done,” he said. “We work together.”

The Dubois County Disc Golf Club is hosting an open this weekend for players and anyone curious about the sport. The open is at 9:30 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 13, 2023. “We will have discs people can borrow to play that day and experienced club members that can show people how to throw correctly and play disc golf,” Lubenow said by email Tuesday morning.

In addition to opening the course, the Jasper Park and Recreation Department has discs available to borrow for those new to the sport.

Cover: Trey Thomas, 14, tosses a shot at the basket.