The fairways for Holes 4 and 5 can be seen from Walker Park Trail, just east of the Fayetteville Senior Activity and Wellness Center. Photo: Todd Gill, Fayetteville Flyer

City Council members are expected to soon approve an official name for a new, 18-hole disc golf course being built at Walker Park in south Fayetteville.

Aldermen will consider a proposal to name the course the Waxhaws Disc Golf Course during their next regular meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 1.

The Waxhaws Memorial is located at the southwest corner of South College Avenue and Seventh Street. Todd Gill, Fayetteville Flyer

The request comes from the Northwest Arkansas Chain Gang Disc Golf Club, a group that the city partnered with in 2012 to construct the course, located in the park woods surrounding the Fayetteville Senior Activity and Wellness Center.

Club members Ray Moore and Ben Huss said the group has since logged over 1,300 hours of volunteer work to clear the fairways of invasive species while city parks maintenance staff have helped haul off the debris and plant new grass. Moore said the club is currently working to secure enough funds to purchase and install the disc golf baskets.

Waxhaws was the estate of former Arkansas congressmen and governor Archibald Yell. It was built in the 1830s on land where the senior center sits today. Yell named the home after President Andrew Jackson’s birthplace in South Carolina. It was torn down in the 1970s, but according to city documents, Yell’s law office was preserved and moved to the grounds of the Headquarters House on East Dickson Street.

The only remaining reference to the home is the Waxhaws Memorial, located at the southwest corner of South College Avenue and Seventh Street.

Moore and Huss said it was only fitting to name the new course after the estate, considering the historical significance of the land.

Members of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board unanimously approved recommendation of the proposal in early November. It’s now up to the City Council to make the final decision.

If all goes according to plan, the course should be open to the public by mid-2016.

Course Location

Map: Todd Gill, Fayetteville Flyer

Course Layout