Michael LaLonde has lived in Bend since 2005, and he has fond memories of playing the Central Oregon Community College disc golf course with his young kids. But t he course was removed in 2014 to make room for new student housing . When LaLonde started a new job as vice president of finance and operations for COCC about a year and a half ago, one of the first things he inquired about was a possible return of disc golf on the campus.
"There's still a lot of space, why don't we put it back in?" LaLonde recalled. "There was some pushback a little bit. People are concerned about trash and fire .
.. but working with the Central Oregon Disc Golf Club, they've been great.
They're helping police it and making sure people clean up after themselves. So far it's been great, no complaints at all." Ten years after being shuttered, one of Central Oregon's original designated disc golf courses has returned to the COCC campus in northwest Bend.
The nine-hole Cascade Forest Disc Golf Course, which opened on Aug. 30, is a completely different track than the former one, but located in the same general area adjacent to the library parking lot. LaLonde and COCC partnered with volunteers from the Central Oregon Disc Golf Club (CODGC) on the planning, and the course features all new baskets, and gravel and rubber mats on all tee boxes.
The course was designed by CODGC's Ryan Lane, and the mapping furnished by COCC geographic information systems student Scott Reich. Discs are available for purchase a.