Neon Nights Disc Golf Lights Up Park

Irving—The Irving Parks and Recreation Department hostedNeon Nights Disc Golf in W.O. Harrington Park on Dec. 10.

“We came up with this idea right after COVID,” Sylvester Brown, lead recreation coordinator, said. “We wanted something for our residents to do other than sit at home. We wanted to get them into the parks to see what we have in Irving.”

The disc golf course’s nine par-3 holes were illuminated by over 1,300 lights.

“It’s novel.It’s new, and our residents are really liking it,” Brown said. “We never thought it was going to be this popular, but we’re happy the community gravitated toward it.”

“It’s a wow factor, throwing a Frisbee at night,” Tyrone Thurman,lead recreation coordinator, said. “This is probably the best time to come out here and play.”

Tyrone said for their next event they plan on changing the colors of the path.They have nine different colors, so each path will be a different color.

“They can shoot their first shot without having to worry about somebody being behind them or rushing them through the course,” Brown said.

It takes almost two hours to set-up the lights, and after an event, the recreation team must remove the lights.

“For me it’s not about just putting the lights out or seeing the light, it’s seeing that response from our community,” Brown said. “Seeing our community respond and seeing those eyes dilate.They get big.They’re just like, ‘Oh, this is cool.’It makes that hour and a half set-up worth it.”

“I think the city does such a nice job setting up the course that you can follow the lights,” resident Catherine Gantt said. “The path will tell me I’m not going to get anywhere near the basket on my throws, but I’ll see where I’m going.

“It’s an outdoor, socially distanced event we can do with family.”

“It’s just nice to be outside, especially since it’s a lovely evening,” resident Sarah Markle said. “The weather’s really working with us, and it’s an excuse to walk safely at night and do a fun activity.”

“It’s a challenge just like any other game or sport,” Trish Mann said. “It was fun.We didn’t take ourselves too seriously.”

The first winter disc golf event was supposed to be on Dec. 3, but it was canceled because of shipping issues.

Neon disc golf will return in March.