Cherry Hill Debuts Disc Golf Course

With little fanfare, the Town of Amherst-owned Cherry Hill Golf Course has added an 18-hole disc golf course to the property.  Online sources describe the course as seasonal, indicating that it will close after winter recedes and regular golf activity resumes.

Developed in the mid-1970s, the sport of disc golf enjoyed a boom during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Akin to traditional golf (disc golfers refer to it as “ball golf”) it involves trying to throw a plastic disc from a rectangular tee box into a standing basket made of chains in the minimum number of throws.

A par value of between 3 and 5 is assigned to each hole.  Beating par represents a birdie, while exceeding par results in a bogey.  The discs, while similar to a frisbee, are specially designed to be thrown farther, or with more control.  A rich technology has grown around disc golf discs and throwing techniques.  YouTube offers an abundance of tutorials for all levels, such as Disc Golf for Beginners by popular pro and commentator Nate Sexton.

The Cherry Hill course fills a need in Amherst which has a storied history of excellence in the sport of Ultimate Frisbee.  A 9-hole disc golf course was installed at Orchard Hill on the UMass campus in 2013, but it has struggled with maintenance issues and dense thickets guaranteed to devour errant discs.

Cherry Hill’s layout is wide open with few trees to obstruct shots.  Hole lengths range from 216 to 501 feet.  All but four holes are par 3 with the longer holes rated as par 4.  Completing a round of all 18 holes is estimated to cover about 2.2 miles of walking.

More information can be found in the essential disc golfers’ app, UDisc, including a map of the hole layout.

A round of disc golf at Cherry Hill is an excellent way to get some mild exercise and take in the scenic beauty of rural North Amherst.  And best of all, it is free!