The City of Santa Fe recently approved a new 18-hole disc golf course to be installed on the Southside of Santa Fe. The course will be called Jaguar Ridge and will be located in the Southwest Activity Node (SWAN Park) at the intersection of NM 599 and Jaguar Road.
Scheduled for installation by community volunteers in March 2022, Jaguar Ridge will be the first public disc golf course installed in Santa Fe since 2007 and will be free to play. The City of Santa Fe Public Works Department's Parks Division collaborated with DiscGolfPark (DGP) for design, consultation, and equipment.
"We’ve been planning for disc golf at SWAN since 2011,” said Melissa McDonald, Interim Director of the Parks Division. “The City of Santa Fe is proud to finally make this Southside facility a reality. The collaborative work between the City, local disc golf volunteers, and DiscGolfPark will lead to a great passive recreation option for community members of all ages and abilities."
Jaguar Ridge will be designed by professional course designer and PDGA World Champion Avery Jenkins, in collaboration with city staff and community advocates.
“We’re extremely excited to be working with the city of Santa Fe on the development of Jaguar Ridge DiscGolfPark,” Jenkins said. “A disc golf facility will integrate nicely with other multi-use park amenities such as walking paths, bike trails, and sports fields. I look forward to fully utilizing this park property to design and create a course that will provide the community with endless
hours of outdoor recreation."
The City contracted DGP to provide most of the course equipment including baskets, custom signage, an InfoBoard, and field turf for the professional tee-pads. Fundraising efforts will be launched to support the purchase of additional supplies necessary to install the professional tee-pads, the materials for 18 amateur tee-pads, and other amenities as can be afforded (benches, tables, extra signage, etc.).
Disc golf is similar to the rules of golf. Disc golf equipment includes a variety of plastic Frisbee-like discs that come in many different shapes and weights. A disc golf target, or basket, corresponds with a hole in golf. The winner of a round of disc golf is the one who completes the course with the fewest number of throws.
"As the volunteer project manager, I'm over the moon to see this project underway," says Ryan Flahive, Archivist and Museum Studies Faculty at the Institute of American Indian Arts. "Over 50 million rounds of disc golf were played in 2020, a crazy stat that shows an exponential growth of disc golf over the past several years -- it is a testament to the accessibility of the game for Santa Feans of all ages and abilities. This new disc golf course will offer Southside residents a casual recreation option and engage youth in a lifelong, healthy activity. Additionally, the Jaguar Ridge DiscGolfPark has the potential to draw thousands of disc golfers from around the country to SWAN Park and the surrounding businesses."
Community Cleanup Days will begin at 9 a.m. on December 11, 2021, and January 22, 2022, to pick up trash from the SWAN Park open space. Volunteers should arrive at SWAN Park with plenty of water, work clothes, and a pair of work gloves. This event qualifies for service hour requirements and we encourage all youth and community groups to participate.
Contact: Ryan S. Flahive, Santa Fe Disc Golf/Infinite Discs; (505) 795-2201;