Dretzka Park’s Winter Disc Golf Course Faces Uncertain Future Due to Climate Change

In an introductory video on the Wisconsin Disc-Sports Association’s website, members celebrate the winter disc golf course at Milwaukee County’s Dretzka Park. “We can play in zero-degree weather,” says one enthusiast. “We can come out here and there will be 30 other like-minded individuals, ready to challenge the course. It’s crazy and it’s awesome all at the same time.” 

There are six disc golf courses total in and around Milwaukee, but Dretzka is home to Milwaukee County’s winter-only disc golf course. Here, disc golfers have the unique opportunity to play a course that county parks officials only set up once the ground is fully frozen and there is a protective layer of snow over land that is Dretzka’s regular golf course in the summer and fall. 

However, the much-beloved course is at risk of becoming a thing of the past. 

“We’re hoping for snow more than anything,” says Peter Bratt, director of operations and skilled trades for the Milwaukee County Parks Department. 

To run the winter disc golf course at Dretzka Park, Bratt and his colleague Paul Corrao need temperatures to be below 36 degrees. Ideally, there should be snow cover, as well. Without these conditions, they risk damaging the grounds. 

“When the temperature creeps into the 30s, we make a game-day decision. We look at temperatures and forecast outlooks,” says Corrao, who has been with Milwaukee County Parks for decades, adding of the 2023-24 winter season, “There were only two really good snows.”

That lack of snow puts the future of the winter disc golf course in danger. “It’s a question we’re going to have to wrestle with moving forward,” says Bratt. And the problem extends beyond disc golf. Milwaukee County has previously maintained snowmobile and cross-country ski trails for community members, but Bratt and Corrao say they haven’t had to maintain those trails for the past three years. There just wasn’t enough snow. “We need to keep looking at other ideas, you know? How do we plan for warmer winters in a way that allows people to keep using our amenities?” Bratt says. 

During the 2023-24 winter season, Milwaukee County received 19.5 total inches of snow, but frequent thawing meant there was rarely consistent snow cover. By comparison, the county saw 40 inches of snow in 2016. These temperature and precipitation trends do not suggest a snowy future for the Dretzka winter disc golf course.

“You have to hit while the iron is hot,” says Corrao. “If it’s snowing, the disc golfers will be out there, but they generally understand when Mother Nature says it’s going to be 40 for a week, then we have to temporarily close the course.” 

 Other courses in Milwaukee stay open year-round, so disc golfers can enjoy a game no matter the weather. But, Bratt and Corrao admit, there is something special about the winter-specific course. 

“I don’t think any other area nearby has a one-time-only kind of course like this,” Corrao says. “I think most of the other county courses are year-round or summer only. That’s kind of how that normally works.” 

It takes an incredibly well-coordinated communication system to get the word out about the winter disc golf course, and this year Milwaukee County Parks has unveiled a new text notification program for Disc Golf Season Permit Holders. Users can opt-in to receive text notifications about course closures and updates. The course closures are tracked on the website, as well, so users can get up-to-the-minute information at the click of a button. 

For now, Corrao, Bratt and the disc golfers of Milwaukee will be watching the forecast closely for the opening day of Winter Dretzka.