(Courtesy photo) This typical disc golf "goal" is part of "Greeley Greens," a 9-hole course on the Manchester Street side of Greeley Park that was built more than 20 years ago and is now used for practice and to teach beginners the basics.

NASHUA – Longtime Nashua resident Denise Muccioli, whose current home in the Oakhill condominium complex abuts a section of Roby Park, is rising up in opposition to the installation of a disc golf course within the park, claiming that site work being done by city crews and contractors has “scared away the rich, diverse wildlife community” while predicting that if the project continues moving forward the “gem” that is Roby Park “will be gone forever.”

But the two key men behind the project – Richard “Dicky” Smart, a self-proclaimed “disc golf addict” who learned the sport while living in Montana, and Alex MacLean, a city Public Works employee and disc golf enthusiast – along with Public Works Division director Lisa Fauteux, say Muccioli is greatly exaggerating the “very minimal” impact the project will have on the environment, the safety of park visitors and disc golf players, and the “wilderness feel” for which Roby Park and its environs are known.

“There’s no clear-cutting going on down there,” Fauteux said this week, referring to Muccioli’s claim that Muccioli witnessed “what looked like clear-cutting through Roby Park’s lovely, forested trails …,” and Muccioli’s assertion that when she walked through the area recently she “lost count after seeing approximately 115 trees marked for death.”

Fauteux said the work taking place involves the widening of the current paths, including trimming brush and tree limbs that have become overgrown and encumbered the paths.

Smart and MacLean, meanwhile, said that trees are important components of a disc golf course, serving as obstacles to test players’ skills, so it would make no sense to take them down.

(Telegraph photo by DEAN SHALHOUP) The entrance to one of the trails that Public Works crews are working on as part of the project to install a disc golf course on a portion of Roby Park.

A slide show that was part of a presentation Smart, MacLean and others brought before the Board of Aldermen states the planned work includes “general forest clean-up,” landscaping and “trash removal,” according to one of the slides.

They also emphasized the extent of the “homework” they did in bringing the disc golf course from an idea to fruition, describing a grassroots effort that led to the founding of Gate City Disc Golf in April 2019.

Perhaps the most significant step forward in creating a course that would stand out among New Hampshire’s 71 courses – roughly half of which are 18-hole courses – was the decision to reach out to Avery Jenkins, a world champion disc golfer and ambassador for the sport who is also a recognized expert in disc golf course design.

Jenkins, according to Smart, has designed around three dozen courses, but Nashua’s is his first in New Hampshire.

“His number one priority is safety,” Smart said. “There will be signs posted along the course” with various messages, including those reminding participants to follow safety guidelines.

(Telegraph photo by DEAN SHALHOUP) A segment of a Roby Park trail path that city crews are widening as part of the project to install a disc golf course.

One of the main differences between “regular” golf and disc golf, Smart and MacLean said, is cost. Unlike its club-and-ball counterpart, disc golf is free.

And while city Public Works crews are doing much of the trimming, trail-widening and cleanup work, the roughly $30,000 it will cost for the tees and the baskets that players aim at, is being donated by the Rotary Club of Nashua West.

The city’s first foray into disc golf was a 9-hole course built as an Eagle Scout project more than 20 years ago, Smart said. Located on the Manchester Street side of Greeley Park, “Greeley Greens” is falling into disrepair, but works well as a practice course and a place to teach young beginners the basics of the game.

The project, Smart said, is on target for an October opening.

For more about Gate City Disc Golf, the oingoing project and the history of the game, go to https://gatecitydg.com.

(Telegraph photo by DEAN SHALHOUP) One of the trails that city crews are working on at Roby Park is in the background, near where an excavator was parked for the night.

Dean Shalhoup may be reached at 594-1256 or dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com.

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