Work on Reed City disc golf course continues Course to be ready by summer, city officlals say

Around 128 trees are being removed from a 10 acre area in Rambadt Park to make room for a disc golf course. City officials expect the course to be completed by summer.(Pioneer Photo/Cathie Crew) Around 128 trees are being removed from a 10 acre area in Rambadt Park to make room for a disc golf course. City officials expect the course to be completed by summer.(Pioneer Photo/Cathie Crew) Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Work on Reed City disc golf course continues 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

REED CITY -- Local disc golf enthusiasts can look forward to another course to try out as Reed City continues development of a disc golf course at Rambadt Park.

Ten acres in the woods of Rambadt Park are being cleared to accommodate the course. The city retained the services of local forester Kenneth Ford, of Lakes States Forestry in Hersey, to conduct the tree removal selection.

"Tree removal selection has been completed," Reed City City Manager Ron Howell said. "The next step in the process is to have the trees removed."

Developers of the course asked that as few trees as possible be removed in order to retain the beauty of the park, and make the course challenging.

A total of 128 trees that are dead or have reached the end of their useful life have been selected for removal, Howell said.

According to Howell, Ford sent out bid requests to area loggers for purchase of the timber and removal of the trees. The project was awarded to Aaron Miller, an Amish logger.

"We had estimated the price for the timber to be around $19,600," Howell said. "Miller came back with a bid of $19,584."

Payment for the select cutting will cover most of the cost of the development of the course, he added.

"We were concerned about the logging machinery causing a large amount of damage to the wooded area," Howell said. "The company decided to use traditional logging techniques, using horses to drag the logs out, which will cause minimal damage to the course area."

The city is considering the possibility of roping off an area where visitors can watch the logging process, he said

"The logging process and tree removal is expected to be completed by the end of March," Howell said. "Once the area is cleared, the installation of equipment should go pretty quickly."

A concrete throwing platform will be installed at each tee area, 18 in all, and baskets will be set up. That is expected to be completed sometime in April. After installation, there will need to be a clean up of the playing areas and the fairways will need to be defined, he said.

"We hope to have the course ready by summer 2020, but it will be dependent on the weather," Howell said.