Disc Golf Commons
New Tiffany Creek Disc Golf commons course is maximizing the use of the Hamilton District Christian High campus by inviting the community to join in & play.
Griffin Dekok led the grade 12 Geography class through a walkabout presentation of Hamilton District Christian High’s new disc golf commons course. He focused on the use of the commons and how the disc golf course is maximizing the use of our campus. Griffin also touched on the importance of sustainability and our responsibility as Christians to care for the resources that God has blessed us with. The following is Griffin’s presentation.
The commons are described as land or resources belonging to or affecting the whole of a community. This can be an ocean, the land a country is made of, our rivers, lakes, skies or really any other resource that is used by the whole community. Our Hamilton District Christian High campus can be described as a commons because it’s an area of land that is used by lots of people in the community for various reasons. Dog walking, baseball, soccer, and even people walking.
For Venture last year, we were given the task of creating a project that invited people to use the HDCH commons. Some ideas we had to utilize this space were: a nature path, disc golf course, and hosting senior girls volleyball OFSAA. We decided to build the disc golf course because we thought it would be the best use of the property.
We had to make a decision on where and how this course would come into play on the property. We couldn’t interrupt current uses like the soccer and baseball fields, and we had to keep in mind future plans for the school campus. This is part of the use of commons; conservation and sustainable use. Just as we need to use this space well, we have to use our oceans, forests, and other commons well too.
Humans have made lots of mistakes in the past when it comes to the commons. Overfishing in the Atlantic, deforestation in South America, and heavy pollution by giant corporations have all contributed to the deterioration of our world. This is the opposite of what we want to happen. I’m not saying we can’t use the commons, I’m just saying we have to use them well. More so than we are now. We have to make a conscious effort to conserve and protect common resources on both a global and a local scale.
One of the major issues with the disc golf course was not interrupting or disturbing the natural order on Hamilton District Christian High’s campus. We were careful to not put the course anywhere that would be inherently bad for nature if humans were walking around. One of the major considerations we had was the bridge project. This bridge became a side project on top of the Disc Golf Course because we wanted to make a safe and easy way for players to cross Tiffany Creek. This did prove to be a bit of a struggle though. As part of using the commons properly, we had to go through two different conservation authorities to get the bridge certified and make sure it was allowed. The bridge had to be built for a 100-year storm so it wouldn’t disrupt the flow of the creek.
Related: New Sport Builds Bridges with Hamilton Community
We learned a lot about our campus and our community during this project. When people found out what we were doing on our campus, they wanted to be involved in such an interesting project. We had many hours of labour and many dollars of equipment donated to this project.