Derecho Damage to Disc Golf Courses Curbs Play in Bemidji Area

Story by Lucas Pierce

Recreation in Northern Minnesota tends to involve being on the lakes and among the trees, and it’s among those trees where the Bemidji disc golf community has been having issues. The City Park disc golf course was left almost unrecognizable after the derecho that hit town on June 21st, leaving behind bent baskets, covered tee beds, and downed trees in its wake.

“Having trees and the course down, it’s just devastating for a lot of us because there’s so many of us that come here and play all over the state and neighboring states,” said Bemidji Disc Golf board trustee Evan Lussier. “It’s heartbreaking, really.”

For some, disc golf is their outlet into nature. For others, like Lussier, the course is more than just a hobby—it’s an opportunity for self-improvement.

“I’m in recovery,” he said. “I’m five years sober now, and I found this course as an activity to get out and try something new in life, and so to see this course gone … it’s helped my sobriety so much into getting outside, working, and just being in nature, and just finding myself again. So, losing it … just hurts.”

The City of Bemidji is looking to hire a local logging company to clear out all of the downed and damaged trees across City Park, but in the meantime, the community has put their hands together at Fisher Bend Disc Golf Course near Wolf Lake.

“I think we got pretty lucky, actually,” said Fisher Bend Disc Golf Course owner Miles Oustad. “We posted [online] to have people come out and at least help clear the one giant pine down on [the] eighth fairway that maybe would make it playable. We ended up having a great turnout, half a dozen people here. And yeah, you realize that it’s not too much a day of work and the course is actually playable.

“It’s definitely quite a shock to see and still to process the work that’s yet to go,” he added. “We got things basically out of the way for now, but it’s still a ton of broken trees yet and things you got to take down, and this will be months yet before we really get it cleaned up.”

With no timeline for when the City Park course will be open, the Bemidji Disc Golf Club could move future events out to Fisher Bend.

“If [City Park] is not available, we might have to do a little bit of rearranging or combining the schedule to maybe only have one tournament instead of two,” said Oustad. “It could affect things a little bit, but at least as far as my basic plans go, I think we’re good now. It’s just a matter of continuing to pick up sticks and clean up and get things looking sharp again.”

To find out more about the state of disc golf courses in the Bemidji area, you can visit the Bemidji Disc Golf Club Facebook page.