
Mantua resident and creator of the Tornado Crossing Disc Golf Course at Chestnut Branch Park, Jim Kiel organized the first small instructional clinic on Oct. 18.
The clinic was a learning curve to plan for a larger community disc golf event in 2026.
Disc Golf is one of the fastest growing individual sports in the world. It’s played much like golf, but instead of a ball and clubs, players throw an aerodynamic plastic disc (or frisbee) down a fairway and into an elevated metal basket with chains to catch the disc.
The objective is to complete each hole by throwing the disc the fewest times down the fairway from the tee box area until it lands in the basket. The challenge the player faces is to keep the disc in the fairway and avoid hitting trees or brush.
Tornado Crossing is an 18-hole disc golf course that was designed and built in the exact area of an EF3 tornado that passed over the park on Sept. 1, 2021. It was constructed from 2023 through 2025 by volunteers, with financial support for equipment and supplies from the township.
