College campus courses.

[wolito]

Why do colleges build courses right on campus? Obviously they are trying to reach out to their students as another activity to do, but the location of such courses just leaves me wondering. Such courses are built right on campus where they are just too hazardous for practical use. I just played Arapahoe Community College in Denver Colorado and am just amazed that they put it where they did. Right next to buildings, on top of sidewalks, near picnic tables and parking lots. Such courses are just asking for trouble and some have been pulled because of it. I would rather have a college course off campus instead where it would be safer. What are your thoughts?

[heelboycraig]

I would rather have a college course off campus instead where it would be safer.

If it's not on school property, it wouldn't be a college course. Schools like having a variety of activities = they build a course where they can.

[petecarp]

Most universities have a limited amount of undeveloped land that would be usable for a 'secluded' disc golf course. From experience I know that this land is some of the most highly coveted at the university often with multiple parties interested in its use. The master planning committee of the university usually has final say because these are the folks who will decide if a new dorm, office, or building of classrooms will eventually end up there. Other interested parties include environmental and biology departments who like to use wooded or natural areas for research plots and studies. But other times the area is simply deemed off limits because there has already been conflicts over its use.

Sometimes courses are put in these undesirable places in the heart of campus because of poor course design or a lack of understanding, which is why its always important to hire an experienced course designer.

My battle for a disc golf course at UNC-Asheville has run into all of these land use issues, and we have been attempting to navigate the bureaucracy for nearly 3 years so we can finish our now 6 hole soon to be 18 hole on campus yet secluded disc golf course.

[Brall]

it can be a little wierd to go from throwing in the woods for 3 months then go try a college course and you are weaving in between buildings and over parking lots.

but i don't look a gift horse in the mouth. i'm just happy to have another course to throw at.

and some colleges do a great job, like Hocking College DGC (http://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.php?id=2592). they did a fantastic job and put a lot of effort into the wooded part of their course.

[kpc2004]

i have only played one college campus course, UT Tyler, and they did a good job of keeping it away from traffic areas. it kinda goes around the soccer practice fields and then into the woods. i could see how if a course just stuck one in highly populated areas of campus it could become a problem. at my college, the closest course was accross the street from the intramural fields in a public park that used to be a pecan orchard (hence the name Pecan Park lol). when the pecans fall you had to wait on at least 4 or 5 holes a round for people to stop picking up pecans to throw.

[wolito]

^^ UT Tyler did a pretty good job of their course. WHile the front 9 does have a little bit of issues with the soccer fields, it is nothing that a little caution is all the is required while the back 9 is completely isolated. As far as the other posters, I can see how "off" campus land can be at a premium and how many other groups are looking to get their hands on it. I suppose the key here is design. If placed directly on a campus, then great desing is a must for the flow of the course and the safety of those around.

[esdubya]

few examples of the good, bad and ugly..

Wivenhoe park at the University of Essex (England) is awesome. This design works with the campus and has been around for a long time.

Lawrence Tech in Southfield, MI is a really fun to play course that sadly probably won't last long.. too many potential conflicts.

Winthrop seems to have worked out ok..

[NothinButChing]

Colorado State University baby

[CwAlbino]

IHCC

http://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.php?id=1381&mode=ci

[optidiscic]

Hocking College is really well done and a lot of fun

[scarpfish]

I've seen some schools that had plenty of land available in the perimeter of their property for a decent course, I've also seem some of the aforementioned "crammed between buildings" courses. Then there are the unofficial object courses that were designed back in the days before there were real courses to play. Of course, we didn't have bevel edged drivers in urethane heavy premium plastics back then either. Considering the advances in disc technology since their creation, I'm not too crazy about the latter two categories.

One saving grace about these courses I suppose is that the peak disc golf season for most of us is Summer, and the peak days of the week in any season are Saturday and Sunday, precisely the times that the campuses they're on are likely to be a whole lot quieter.

[cali]

Nothing better than playing a campus course in the Springtime. So many breezys running around wearing practically nothing :thmbup:

[magictenor1]

I just recently played the course at the Univ. of S Alabama and it was very nice. i played on a weekend so not an issue for me but I hear that it is closed on weekdays before 5 which would be a large drawback.

[wkelly42]

That's the benefit the designers at Liberty University had -- the school owns 65,000 acres or something like that, and a LOT of it is undeveloped right now. From what I've seen and heard (haven't played it yet), it's an outstanding course that doesn't feel like a college course.

[bcr123psu]

My home course, although I don't play it all that much any more, is at DeSales University (http://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.php?id=39). Not a terribly difficult course, but it's a nice course for practice. Since it was installed, and subsequently redesigned due to campus construction, it's become a bit of an afterthought in the area. The biggest downside of the course is the proximity to sidewalks and areas of heavy pedestrian traffic. I'm hoping that it could be revitalized and maybe tweaked a bit for some longer, more difficult holes and to improve the safety.

[bwiese]

Liberty University has alot of land, but the course designers did have certain areas they had to put the course. They did a good job and in the long run the course should be a great course. Another college in lynchburg that just added a coures is randolph college. It is a putter 9 hole course in and around the buildings. The designer did a great job with the land that was there and created a safe short course students can learn about disc golf on. My dad (age 62) loved the course.

[Gonnagal]

Grizzly Oaks (http://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.php?id=3537) is on the campus of Oakland University and it's actually one the better courses around.

[humchris85]

Try these two out for how a college course should be done.
The Redwood Curtain (HSU) (http://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.php?id=1371)
College of the Redwoods (http://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.php?id=3429)

[Matthew boals]

Purdue University in West Lafayette, In just installed a rather nice 9 hole course,Check out my review!

[elevated plastic]

http://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.php?id=4264
brand new college course that just opened 2 weeks ago. The only time students/public is an issue is when you park. Other than that which is so minor anyways, the course plays around the suurounding property on rolling hills. Another great addition to Tahoe area courses. This one on the other hand sounds iffy. http://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.php?id=3837
HSU course is the most epic college course i've played.

[koogs]

Around here, I've played UW-Baraboo, UW-Platteville,and UW-Whitewater and they're all pretty good courses.

[Jay Dub]

The course in Oxford, Ohio (Miami Univ.) was used for the '98 worlds in the current condition and layout. never a problem there with safety.

[TxDiscGolfBoy]

TCC southeast campus in DFW has a small course on it.

[bpierce08]

IHCC

http://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.php?id=1381&mode=ci

i second this one.. best course around IMO

[94LTICam]

Kansas State University, worst college campus course on earth, end of story. 3/4 of the shots are blind or by the time you throw to your target someone may be there that you couldnt see when you let go of the disc, spotters are needed on almost every hole if you want to have a good chance of not hitting anyone, then again you still might. 1/2 of the shots are over major sidewalks where people are 100% of the time, and over major roads and side roads where cars park their cars 100% of the time. people write in the paper how professors, students, visitors, etc. get hit non-stop by discs flying through campus...great layout....superb.

[Three Putt]

A lot of colleges have money earmarked for student projects. If it came down to a layout designed by an experienced course designer or one done by a student who started playing 2 months ago and threw a design together, those colleges will go with the student design every time. I was told that letting a student fail at designing a course fits in with the mission of our local college, where paying someone qualified to design a course does not.

[humchris85]

HSU course is the most epic college course i've played.

Woooo!!! Getting some love for the Curtain!:hfive:

[jhgonzo]

A lot of colleges have money earmarked for student projects. If it came down to a layout designed by an experienced course designer or one done by a student who started playing 2 months ago and threw a design together, those colleges will go with the student design every time. I was told that letting a student fail at designing a course fits in with the mission of our local college, where paying someone qualified to design a course does not.

Fortunately for me and the other designer, LTC Cleveland (http://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.php?id=1498) is a little tech college that didn't have a clue what DG was, so once the Village of Cleveland approved my proposal for a course (which was initially to be a little 9-hole pitch-and-putt at a local park until we found that LTC had tons of green space that was expertly maintained, but not used), we brought our idea to the college, who basically gave us free rein--but not total carte blanche, since we couldn't go into the wooded areas--to get all the land utilized. In the end we came up with a suitable 18-hole design, and a few holes DO come close to roads (O.B.) and there are a few close fairways, but neither has been a major issue (though you will see both touched on in some of the reviews). It seems a lot of the reviewers find LTC appealing (in a 3-disc sort of way), since it's obvious that disc golfers put the course together and avoided the really bad elements you see at some college courses (holes playing over sidewalks, cramped feel, on a campus that's too busy to really even play, etc.). The school's totally behind us now, there's a DG club on campus (who receive $300 a year, which they've put towards a putting basket for indoors and some club merchandise), and I'm working on proposing another 6- or 9-hole addition expanding into the previously off-limits woods.

I can't plug LTC like, say, superberry does with Winter Park, for obvious reasons! But come on out and play, I'll meet up with you for a round, and I guarantee you'll find it a refreshing change from your typical campus course, though maybe a tad short and open.

[Ripper]

http://itd1.cincinnatistate.edu/copperleaf/index.htm like how Cincy State tied in the Arborteum and the Disc Golf Course! !

[Guru10]

texas state west park is my favorite. tons of elevation, new holes put in by real players, plus a weekly club that plays for tags.

also, i live near trinity university, which has a nice 6-hole. perfect location (away from campus, buildings) but only 6 holes...

[weeman]

I just recently played the course at the Univ. of S Alabama and it was very nice. i played on a weekend so not an issue for me but I hear that it is closed on weekdays before 5 which would be a large drawback.

That's a really fun, scenic course. Best in Mobile, in my opinion. I only played it on the weekends as I lived a hour away. The only safety issues there are the road loop that is near numbers two and three as well as the road that comes into play on number 5, the walk to six along the road, number 12 and number 13. There's hardly any traffic on these roads though. Hardly any foot traffic anywhere near the course.

The course in Oxford, Ohio (Miami Univ.) was used for the '98 worlds in the current condition and layout. never a problem there with safety.

Also a fun course... if you can find your way around it. It seems to flow through campus with several points where you can come into contact with innocent bystanders. Don't remember which hole it is but the one that plays through/under/over the pedestrian bridge can be a big safety issue. Of the two times I played it, landed on the bridge once and cleared it the other off the tee but I can definitely see how it can be a problem.

If the school has restrictions on when the course is open (after a certain time and weekends), then there shouldn't be a problem with other non-golfers. I'm for using walking paths, buildings and everything else to create OB's and obstacles as long as the chances of getting hit with a disc is kept at minimum. I agree that they are a great way to introduce people to the sport and can be a fun addition to any campus with surplus space.