‘Shorfari’ disc golf tourney honors supporter

Jason Butch passed away, was integral to local disc golf development.

A photo of Jason Butch at Shore Acres Disc Golf Course taken in July 2024 by Rob Buit. “I believe the last picture I took of Jason,” Buit said.

Organizers of an upcoming disc golf tournament at Shore Acres Park in Laketown Township know there is no better way to honor long-time supporter Jason Butch than with an event along the lakeshore.

The Shorfari tournament in his honor is Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, at Shore Acres Park, 6602 138th Ave. Registration opens at 8 a.m. with tee-off at 9:15 a.m. For details, click here.

Butch, 52, of Laketown Township, passed away Sept. 6 after a long battle with cancer. He was involved with the disc golf course in the township as an organizing committee member and tournament director for the last decade. He oversaw league play for courses in Holland Township and Park Township and helped design and install the nine-hole course at Holland High School.

All proceeds from the tournament will be donated to Butch’s family, according to Rob Buit, treasurer of the Shore Acres Disc Golf Club, the group that oversees the course.

The event includes a raffle with disc golf related items. Raffle funds will also go to the family.

The event in the future will be called the Jason Butch Shorfari Memorial Tournament.

About Butch

“Those who knew Jason knew he loved golf so take a moment to swing a golf club, throw a disc, or throw back a Sprite in his honor,” the family wrote in his obituary posted at Dykstra Funeral Home.

Buit knew Butch for about a dozen years and remembered him as an Army veteran, husband and father who loved his pets and a survivor of neuroendocrine cancer for more than 10 years.

“He was a leader in maintaining upkeep and maintenance of the Shore Acres Disc Golf Course and park in general,” Buit said.

In 2019, Buit paid tribute to Butch in a social media post showing Butch throwing a disc at a tournament: “The last 8 days the man pictured here battled the elements, unfamiliar courses, my company, and neuroendocrine cancer while playing in this year’s Glass Blown Open disc golf tournament in Emporia, Kansas. He finished 11th in a field of 183 in his division. How about a standing ovation for my friend Jason Butch!”

Disc golf players wait to tee off at Shore Acres Disc Golf Course in Laketown Township.

Shorfari

The “Shorfari” name is a combination of Shore Acres and a “safari.” A safari course is one that alters the existing course layout, such as teeing off from Hole 3 but playing to the basket at Hole 5, or playing the course backwards.

Butch played a role in designing the three Shorfari events held at Shore Acres, including the one being played on Sept. 28.

“Thanks for all the hard work and dedication to West Michigan disc golf,” the Shorfari organizers wrote about Butch on their web page. “You will be missed.”

The Shore Acres course opened June 23, 2009. The course is inside the 40-acre park that includes the Felt Mansion, Carriage House, Chapel, pump bike track, bicycle course and hiking trails. The park does not touch Lake Michigan but is surrounded by Saugatuck Dunes State Park with trails to the water.