Senior project seeks disc golf course

ALBERTON – As the end of the semester approaches, high school seniors are putting their education to the test with their senior projects. One Alberton student will be bringing a folf disk course to her community.

Folf is a combination of Frisbee and golf. According to Samantha Bennett, the senior behind the project, the course is laid out with a series of baskets players need to aim for. Like golf, there will be nine ‘holes’ in a full match.

“It’s actually getting quite popular, I feel,” Bennett said. “I’ve been hearing a lot more about it because Superior just put one in and Frenchtown has one.

Bennett plans to install five permanent, high quality baskets at the park in Alberton. Each basket consists of a ring with a chain around it. The goal of the game is to get the disk through each one. A game will consist of two circuits of the course.

The idea came to Bennett slowly. She knew she needed a project and spent the summer thinking about what she could do for it, but could not come up with anything. Once the school year started, she still did not know what to do. This project finally came to her when Kent Haab, the business teacher at Alberton, and Principal Kyle Fisher started talking about installing a folf disk course.

Glen Teeters, Bennett’s project advisor, said Haab and Fisher gave their blessings for installing the folf disk course as Bennett’s project. Bennett said she owed a lot to Teeters and the project would not have come together without him.

“My senior year wouldn’t be the same if he wasn’t involved in my senior project,” Bennett said. “I couldn’t have finished this without him…I will remember this for the rest of my life.”

The Alberton Town Council has already approved the project. Bennett had to bring her proposal to two meetings.

Bennett and Teeters have done most of the design layout. They designed the course based on the feedback from the town council.

The plan is to purchase the baskets on April 1 from Spokane and have them installed by May 15. The full cost of the project is expected to be approximately $2,000 including shipping.

“The Town of Alberton can help with the installation,” Bennett said. “When I was at the meeting…they said they have equipment we can use.”

Bennett felt the course would be a big boost to the Alberton community. She said it would draw tourism traffic at the same time as being something the community could enjoy. Another idea she had was for the community to hold tournaments during Alberton’s Railroad Days event.

“It’s pretty much the biggest thing in Alberton,” Bennett said. “That will bring more people in for that day. It will be very fun.”

After graduation, Bennett plans to go to the Missoula College, but had not decided on a field of study.