Libby Dam disc golf course gets new baskets in $7,950 upgrade

New Innova Discatcher baskets changed more than the look of Kooky Noosa at Libby Dam. The $7,950 upgrade gave the 18-hole Libby, Montana course brighter targets, better catching quality and a longer runway for a layout that had been leaning on 17-year-old equipment.

The baskets were funded through a grant from the LOR Foundation, approved on January 22, 2026, with the Libby Dam Cooperative Association, Inc. leading the effort locally. LOR said the money covered 18 new permanent baskets and one portable basket, a modest investment that carried real weight for a rural course where equipment age had started to affect play.

That matters in disc golf because targets are not just scenery. The new baskets feature a bright yellow band that stands out in the wooded setting around the dam, making the landing zone easier to pick out from the tee and from the fairway. Their improved chain design also increases the likelihood that a disc will stay in the basket once it hits, a small technical change that can reduce spit-outs and make rounds feel fairer and more satisfying.

The old baskets had been in place for 17 years and originally came from another U.S. Army Corps of Engineers site. LOR said they had reached the end of their usable life and were keeping players away, so the replacement was as much about restoring confidence in the course as it was about fresh hardware. The old equipment is being converted into mobile units for a course closer to town, extending its use instead of sending it to scrap.

Local support helped make the project work. Mac’s Market, Big Sky Lumber and Jeff Gruber Sawmill were among the businesses and partners tied to the installation, reinforcing how a small-town disc golf upgrade often depends on more than one funding source. A crew of local disc golfers from Libby and Troy assembled and installed the baskets in just under four and a half hours, turning the project into a community job rather than a top-down replacement.

Kooky Noosa, established in 2011 and open year-round at Libby Dam, has now been modernized without losing its identity. For a course that has served players for more than a decade, the new baskets do more than shine on day one: they help legitimize the round, improve the experience for locals and visitors, and give the layout a more durable future.