Gallup considers disc golf course at Fox Run Golf Course

Gallup’s latest recreation debate centered on one question: can Fox Run Golf Course do more for the community than it already does? A proposal from McKinley Leadership Academy’s Team Seedlink asked city leaders to consider adding a disc golf course to the 18-hole municipal course at 1109 Susan Avenue, a site that has served golfers since 1965.

The idea lands in a city where public space carries real weight. Gallup’s population was 21,899 in the 2020 census, and McKinley County had 72,902 residents. With a tourism-based economy and a city identity tied to outdoor activity, the discussion goes beyond one sport. Supporters are essentially asking whether Fox Run, which the city operates as an enterprise fund, could attract another layer of use without losing its role as a traditional golf facility.

Fox Run already has a long local footprint. Designed by Leon Howard, the par-70 course has been part of Gallup’s recreation landscape for more than 60 years. City Council members toured the course on March 20, 2024, and the council continued receiving rehabilitation updates in 2025, showing the property has remained under active review. That history makes the disc golf proposal part of a larger conversation about how the city invests in and adapts an existing public asset.

The appeal is straightforward. Disc golf is widely seen as a low-cost, accessible activity that can bring new users to open space. UDisc’s 2026 Growth Report says there are now more than 17,000 disc golf courses worldwide, 89% of them free to play, and 21.2 million rounds were played in 2025. For Gallup, that could mean more families, youth groups, and visitors spending time at Fox Run rather than requiring the city to build an entirely new recreation complex elsewhere.

There is also local precedent. Gallup Parks and Recreation previously offered youth disc golf programming, including an introductory session at Harold Runnels Athletic Complex in 2018. That history suggests the sport is not new to the community, even if a permanent course at Fox Run would mark a larger commitment.

The proposal also has an equity angle. The 2023 National Veterans Wheelchair Games included adaptive disc golf rules approved by the Professional Disc Golf Association, and the association added Appendix F for adaptive disc golf on June 15, 2023. That matters in a city where access to recreation can shape who gets to use public land and who gets left out. As Gallup weighs the future of Fox Run, the decision will test whether one well-known site can serve a broader slice of McKinley County without diminishing what already works there.