Opinions mixed over pay-to-play

Drew Hamilton and Nick Gruber stepped to the tee pad at the Kaposia Park Disc Golf Course in South St. Paul on a recent Wednesday and encountered an unpleasant surprise.

A sign informed them that they'd have to pay to play the scenic 24-hole course they and numerous others say is one of the best in the state.

Opened in 1987, the wooded course had been free until May 28, when the city's Parks and Recreation Department began charging the fee -- $5 a day or $30 for a season pass -- as a way to generate revenue and use additional resources to spruce up the heavily worn course.

"Some are taken aback by Kaposia going to pay-to-play because the nature of disc golf is that it should be free," said Mike Snelson, president of Fairway Flyerz, the city-approved vendor that is collecting the fees. "Everybody is used to that, but pay-to-play is the new business model because you can take that money to maintain the course."

While a majority of courses in Minnesota and nationwide remain free, according to the website www.discgolfreview.com, Kaposia has joined a growing number of courses that are charging a user fee.

The Three Rivers Park District charges a fee at its three disc golf courses, as does the privately run Blue Ribbon Pines course in East Bethel. In its first three weeks with a user fee, Kaposia has sold 650 day passes and slightly more than 300 season passes, which are good through January 2011 and can also be used at North Valley Park in neighboring Inver Grove Heights.

"It's not a bad way to go if they plow that money back into the course," said Nick Lester, 25, of Roseville, who plays Kaposia a half-dozen times a year.

With additional revenue and volunteer help this summer from the Twin City Tree Trust, golfers are likely to see repairs to an impassable trail near hole 17, which has been closed. A temporary hole has been set up in its place.

Fees have not had an adverse effect at Three Rivers' Hyland Lake Park Reserve, which has sold an average of 2,500 season and 8,000 daily passes over the past few years. Money collected there has been used to assemble a staff to groom and mow the lawn, put in aesthetic improvements and print up scorecards. With staff present, there also has been a decrease in vandalism, said Jake Woese, the park district's operations supervisor.

Veteran players see another upside to the fees. "It helps get giant groups of people off the course, and the people who don't know what they are doing," said David Abraham, 26, of Minneapolis, who has been playing for almost 20 years.

Esser said the city struggled with whether to impose a fee at Kaposia. The course was badly in need of upgrades, and golfers want a course that is safe, clean and pleasing to play, but the city didn't want to turn people away, either. That is why they created the daily rate to "soften the blow" for those who come only once or twice a year.

Organizations hosting tournaments and having exclusive use of the course at Kaposia will pay $200 per day or $500 for the weekend. Players without a daily or season pass will be fined $100 or more. As of last week, no one had been cited, Esser said.

That was not enough of an incentive for Hamilton and Gruber, both 23, of northeast Minneapolis. They opted not to play the course.

"The sport's free. That is why I was drawn to it," Hamilton said. "I refuse to pay when I can play for free. I'm cheap."