On April 12 at 10 a.m., the Blaine Whitworth Disc Golf Course officially opened to the public with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and speeches delivered by donors, alumni, project coordinators and University of Central Missouri President Roger Best. The course is located at 820 South Holden Street, which was previously a fraternity complex, and consists of 18 holes.
“They want this to be not only a disc golf course but a place for everybody to come and enjoy nature,” Alumni Foundation Director of Development Tyler Habiger said.
The course is named after a former University of Central Missouri student, Blaine Whitworth, whose life was tragically taken at age 25. In dedication to his athletic nature, his parents, Diane Whitworth and Barry Whitworth, funded the creation of the disc golf course.
“It means the world to us because we know that part of the mission and goals of our foundation is to promote youth, sports, parks and recreation, because Blaine loved sports and parks… And so it just makes us proud that we know this is something to honor his memory and legacy, and so it’s a perfect fit,” Diane Whitworth said.
The success of the project is also attributed to community and university student volunteers. Diane Whitworth hopes the project will inspire others to give back and honor loved ones through community initiatives.
“I think the most rewarding part was just seeing the younger generation getting out and engaging with the community that is UCM,” said Assistant Director of Outdoor Education Jeff Rehm, who served as the volunteer coordinator for the project. “And so, for someone who has a busy life, they are full time students. They’re involved in organizations on campus, most of them probably work a job. To be willing to come out and volunteer their time for something that they don’t actively engage in says a lot about who they are as people.”
The disc golf course was created in a collaboration between the Alumni Foundation, the Student Activities Office and the Blaine Whitworth Go Big or Go Home Foundation, created by Diane and Barry Whitworth in honor of their son. Future plans for the disc golf course include adding seating, shelter houses and grilling stations.
“We hope to host multiple tournaments a year to fundraise for the Blaine Whitworth foundation and to fundraise for the disc golf club,” said Rehm.
The disc golf course is available to anyone in the community.
“As long as you have a disc, you can just come out and play,” Rehm said. “We have discs available at the Rec Center to check out if that’s something that you’re interested in and there is a disc golf club for students on campus who would be more than willing to help show you the ropes. But disc golf is equitable in the way that it’s cheap to play, easy to learn and easy to have fun.”
