Scoring culture: Sport and art converge at Shawnee Mission Park’s new disc golf course

If you’re torn between visiting a museum to get your art fix and enjoying the great outdoors, Shawnee Mission Park offers the perfect spot: a new art disc golf course. The new course, located near the park’s longstanding one, offers statuary at each hole.

After approximately three years of planning, the nine-hole course opened in May. Inspired by an idea from local resident and disc golf enthusiast Clifton Alexander, the county hired a landscape architect to plan the course.

It’s all part of the county’s public art master plan to add art to county facilities.

Susan Mong, superintendent of culture for Johnson County Park and Recreation District, said her team was looking for ways to “create a new curiosity and a new experience in our park setting.”

Mong said the county specifically looked for artists local to the area. A committee that included disc golfers and artists narrowed it down to the four chosen: Amie Jacobsen of Independence, Tim Mispagel of Olathe, and Scott Diven and Jake Balcom of Kansas City.

“They (the art pieces) are all are meant to reflect the natural environment of Shawnee Mission Park and to celebrate the local flora, fauna, insects, animals you would find in that setting,” Mong said.

That includes dragonflies, butterflies, fish, wasps and deer. Each of the 10 pieces had a $14,000 budget, for a total cost of $140,000.

For durability, the artists turned toward steel and aluminum. The plan is for all the art to last 20 to 30 years.

“These are life-size beautiful pieces that elicit the imagination in a different way,” Mong said.

For golfers, it’s an easier course than most, with all the holes less than 200 feet. The aim is to encourage beginners to give the sport a try.

The course runs through a forested area, with uneven ground and some steep and narrow pathways. Originally, the plan was to have one piece of art for each of the nine holes, but a bonus 10th hole near the inclusive playground was added. It’s the only one accessible to those with mobility issues.

Although artists took inspiration from The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art’s miniature golf course, the art here is more decorative than practical. The art stands at the start of each hole, rather than the end.

“It’s harder to integrate art into a disc golf course, because you’re physically throwing a disc. We really don’t want people to hit the art,” said Bill Maasen, superintendent of parks and golf courses for Johnson County. “We wanted art to be a part of the course, but we could not determine a way to make it safe for the public to have art as part of the hole.”

The exception is the 10th hole, a honeycomb-like structure that allows you to throw a disc through it.

To play, you do have to bring your own disc. Maasen said groups of players should include no more than five people. There’s a lot of shade, but bring your bug spray to ward off ticks and other biting insects.

The course is open anytime the park is open, with no fees or reservations.