MANSFIELD — Plans are in the making to bring a disc golf course to the Clear Fork Reservoir. The professional-level course will feature 19 holes, including a practice hole.

“That’s why there’s so much interest in it right now because there’s not a professional-level (course) in this area,” said Gary Foster, operations supervisor of Clear Fork Reservoir.

The object of disc golf is to complete the course in the fewest number of throws of the disc. Participants stand at a designated area and try to throw the disc into a basket. The player with the lowest score wins.

Foster mentioned the rising popularity of disc golf, saying there are national and international leagues. There’s even talk of it becoming an Olympic sport, he said.

“One of our officers, a few years back, he came up with the idea of creating a small playground (at the reservoir) because we really have nothing down there for children, so we started a small playground and all this was donated — time and all the materials — by a couple of Boy Scouts who were working on their Eagle Scout projects,” he said.

The area was dubbed the “Brian Evans Memorial Park” in honor of a Mansfield police officer who was killed in the line of duty.

“We’ve since added a couple smaller pieces to that,” Foster said.

The next step is the addition of a disc golf course. To help with this project, the Brian D. Evans Memorial Scholarship Fund is donating $2,000.

“That’s going to cover a little bit more than half of what the equipment is going to be,” Foster said.

The project as a whole is estimated to cost at most $6,500, with less than $4,000 of city funds needed, he said.  

City Finance Director Linn Steward thinks money could be appropriated from the Clear Fork Reservoir fund to cover the city’s contribution but wanted to have the law director’s input before making a decision.

Foster said 15 businesses have contacted him about sponsoring a hole. The course will be located at picnic area one along Ohio 97, which is underutilized, Foster said.

“There’s really not a lot that goes on there, but they would like it to move over into picnic area two, as well,” he said.

He hopes to see the course up and running by the end of August or early September.

“It’s not something they just do in the summer,” he said. “They’ll play this throughout the winter. And it’s something that I think is going to bring a bright light to a park that’s not utilized as much as it needs to be.”