A nine-hole disc golf course on Lake Panorama’s south shore soon will be a reality. The course is one part of a package of low-impact recreational amenities developed by Friends of Lake Panorama and approved by the LPA board of directors at its July 25 meeting.
Building a disc golf course at Lake Panorama has been discussed for more than five years. In April 2019, the Friends board of directors conducted a survey to gather input from Lake Panorama Association members and help prioritize future projects. Ten possible projects were proposed for consideration.
As a result of that survey, the Friends board, in cooperation with the LPA, has completed several projects that ranked high on the survey. These include new playground equipment at Shady and Boulder beaches, Panorama West Nature Trail, dog park and a sports court at Sunset Beach.
The survey results also showed interest in a trail system on the south shore, and a disc golf course somewhere within the Lake Panorama community.
In the comments section of the survey, LPA member John Worth volunteered to design a nine-hole course for Lake Panorama, and help guide its construction. After meeting with the Friends board and LPA staff, he scouted several locations and found the south shore to be ideal.
“My interest in disc golf goes back to my high school days in Atlantic in the late 1970s when frisbees were common amongst the young crowd,” Worth says. “We used to practice our fancy throwing and catching skills in parking lots along the main drag for all to see. We heard people were using frisbees to play a golf game so we gave it a try in the local park. We laid out a few holes, using trees as targets, and I haven’t quit playing since.”
In 2007, one of Worth’s good friends became the Atlantic Park and Recreation director. “We were quick to start scheming how to get an official disc course in Atlantic,” Worth says. “Thanks to some very dedicated and persistent individuals, a new course was installed within the next two years. I was able to provide some input on the course layout and volunteered many hours to help install and groom the course.”
Worth and his wife Angie lived in Atlantic most of their lives, pursued their careers and raised three children. “As we became empty nesters and started thinking about retirement, we moved fulltime to Lake Panorama in 2016,” Worth says. “The lake is a very special place to us. We love the relaxing environment and have made many dear friends here. We also enjoy making memories with our three children and five grandchildren.”
Worth retired in January 2022 from a career in manufacturing, where he worked initially as an engineer and then in management. With their move to Lake Panorama, Angie Worth started a new career in real estate and is part owner of Sunset Realty.
Construction on the Lake Panorama disc golf course began Oct. 4. “The course is literally cut out through the wooded area on the east side of the south shore,” Worth says. “Each hole is a Par 3, bringing the total par for a round of nine holes to 27. The holes range in distance from 155 feet to 320 feet long.”
Though John Worth did much of the course design, he got some help from his son, Jesse Worth. “Jesse cut his disc golf teeth on the makeshift course we had in the Atlantic park,” Worth says. “When he headed to Iowa State in 2006, he discovered two 18-hole disc golf courses in Ames. That’s when Jesse and I switched our disc gear to the smaller diameter, official golfing discs. Jesse was very helpful in thinking through how a new course would best fit into the south shore area.”
Jesse now lives in Ames with his wife Leah and their daughter, and works for Hawkeye Molding in Roland. On a visit to Lake Panorama in mid-October, he and his dad spent a sunny afternoon testing out the course.
“It was fairly surreal to experience the course for the first time,” Jesse says. “The mix of shots through nine holes play well and feel balanced. It’s exciting to think of the course really establishing itself in the coming years. I know it’s going to be well received by the community.”
Another experienced disc golfer played a practice round at the Lake Panorama disc golf course in October, before the tee boxes and baskets were installed. Josh Tuggle and his wife Mariah live in Bloomington, Minnesota. Mariah’s parents, Paul and Marcia Cates, have a house on Lake Panorama.
Tuggle grew up in Norwalk, attended Iowa State University, and graduated with a construction engineering degree. He works as a design manager for a company that builds utility scale solar plants across the country.
“My brother Ryan got me hooked on disc golf a few years ago, and I got Mariah into it as well,” Tuggle says. “I have played 120 courses in 21 states, but mainly in Minnesota and Iowa. I’m a member of the Professional Disc Golf Association, and now play at the highest level. The past few years, I’ve played in about 10 tournaments each year.”
Tuggle has followed the development of the Lake Panorama disc golf course. When tee box sponsors were being sought for each of the nine holes, he decided to sponsor the sixth hole. The sponsor sign on that hole will be “Tuggle & Cates Family.”
What did Tuggle like about the course in his exploratory round? “The course has a variety of shots and fun lines,” he says. “It may be on the shorter side, but still is a great challenge with the wooded holes.”
Tuggle offered this advice to those who might be trying the sport for the first time, because of the Lake Panorama course. “It can be overwhelming to pick some discs as a beginner. I recommend going to a store and picking a nice putter and midrange that feel good in your hands,” he says. “Most people go after the drivers when picking some first discs, but it's better to start slow.”
The other eight tee box sponsors for the Lake Panorama disc golf course are: #1-Sunset Realty; #2-State Farm Insurance, Robert Carr; #3-Panora Fiber; #4-OvaEasy; #5-Hawkeye Molding; #7-Aaron & Mindy Poldberg Family; #8-Martin-Flanery Ace Run; and #9-Lake Panorama Realty.
John Worth has played more than 30 disc golf courses in Iowa, and a few out of state. “It’s such a great way to enjoy the outdoors and get some exercise,” he says. “There is a concrete tee pad on each hole, which is used to throw your first shot from. From there you simply throw your next shot from where your ‘drive’ or last shot landed. Keep going until you land your disc in the target, which is a metal wire basket that uses hanging chains to deflect the disc into the basket.”
Worth encourages the interested and the curious to walk the course. “I think many will return with a disc in hand to give it a try,” Worth says. “You can use any flying disc you have at home. Once you are hooked, you will want to purchase official disc golfing discs. These come in three categories—drivers, midranges, putters—each intended for different throwing distances. Having one of each type is a great starting point, and are readily available at sporting goods stores.”
The course will be playable once tee pads are poured and baskets have been installed. Information on the opening date will be provided in the LPA Prompt and on the Friends of Lake Panorama Facebook page.
Signage won’t be in place until next spring. There will be a tee sign adjacent to each tee box showing the hole distance and layout, a hole sponsorship sign on each hole, and a large sign near the first tee box. The large sign will include a map of the disc golf course, and general information about the course. There also will be separate signs here for disc golf course rules, and the UDisc app.
Disc golfers use the UDisc app on their smart phones to keep score and navigate interactive maps of disc golf courses. UDisc, LLC, was co-founded in 2012 by Matt Krueger and Josh Lichti, two computer engineers who bonded over coursework and disc golf at Iowa State University. UDisc has grown from a hobby project to a tool that covers more than 14,000 courses worldwide.
Beyond the disc golf course, other portions of the Friends of Lake Panorama plans for the south shore also are progressing. A fenced driveway at the south end of Chimra Road and a parking lot that provides walk-through access to the recreation area is complete. A small shelter near the parking lot is in place, and where a picnic table will be added in the spring.
The Lake Panorama trail system with a variety of distances is complete. Those who start at the trailhead and do the full loop down to the shoreline and back up through the meadow area to return to the parking lot will have walked two miles. In addition, four places where the riprap contractor widened existing trails to get to the shoreline are offered as trail options.
Brown fiberglass trail markers have been installed at each junction of the trail system, and are marked on each side with colored arrows.
There are five trail options, each designated with a different color. The original two-mile loop is the “green” trail. People who start at the trailhead and choose the first option they reach, the “red” trail, will walk sixth-tenths of a mile. The other three options offer distances of 1.1 miles (blue), 1.6 miles (yellow), and 2 miles (orange). This final loop results in walking the same distance as the original loop, but the terrain and views provide a different experience.
Next spring, benches and bluebird houses will be installed along the trails throughout the recreational area. Three large metal signs also will be in place by spring. One will be near the shelter and include a Lake Panorama map, general information about the south shore project, and a list of donors who give $500 or more to the project by Dec. 31, 2023. Other signs will be posted near the first hole of the disc golf course and the Lake Panorama trailhead.
The estimated cost of these recreational amenities is $35,000. Over the past two years, Friends has received $11,000 in private donations for projects on the south shore. Some funds also are available from the 2023 Beach Ball, and disc golf course tee box sponsors.
Tax-deductible donations for south shore projects can be made by check payable to Friends of Lake Panorama, and mailed to Friends of Lake Panorama, PO Box 488, Panora, Iowa, 50216. Donations also can be made through Venmo @Panorama-Friends, or by credit card on the Friends website at friendsoflakepanorama.org.