Best Courses of 2010

[timg]

Happy new year everyone!

A new year means another list of last year's top courses. See which ones made the cut at the link below:

http://www.dgcoursereview.com/topcourses/topcourses_2010.php

[BrotherDave]

Sweet, that's the bee's knees there.

Hey Tim, is there anyway to compile a list of the courses that received the most reviews during 2010?

[timg]

Maybe tomorrow :)

[harr0140]

Who played the most rounds? or reviewed the most courses (its a given . . . mashnut)? or posted the most?

I am a man of measurement and I need metrics to survive. $25 Premium membership gets me most of what I need, but could use some more!!!

[Connor Jones]

Who played the most rounds? or reviewed the most courses (its a given . . . mashnut)? or posted the most?

I am a man of measurement and I need metrics to survive. $25 Premium membership gets me most of what I need, but could use some more!!!

Is the who posted the most a trick question?

Agent peebz for sure.

[mashnut]

Thanks Tim, I love seeing these lists at the end of every year. I've played 3 of the top 10 and 14 of the top 50.

[kingjames1014]

i hope to see some Indiana courses on there next year. Camp Cullom and Old English are close.

[tallpaul]

I've played 18 of the top 50.

[wkelly42]

Interesting that, with all the courses there, only two of the top 50 are in North Carolina. And neither of those are Charlotte area courses.

[jcf5083]

or posted the most?

I know that one!
http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/memberlist.php?order=DESC&sort=posts&pp=30

[tallpaul]

Interesting that, with all the courses there, only two of the top 50 are in North Carolina. And neither of those are Charlotte area courses.

I have not reviewed the Charlotte area courses I've played for reasons of my own (and I'm not sure exactly what they are; except to say that oftentimes when I've only played a course once; I don't really feel qualified to make an assessment unless I've been paying attention specifically for that reason. Oftentimes, I'm simply enjoying the course too much; and the folks I'm playing with; to be concerned with taking notes and such. Plus, on a big trip with many courses played, they can somewhat blend together. They do separate over time; but, if you've made another couple trips in the meantime....can be a bit of sensory overload). With that said, I think the "Charlotte area" is one of the best I've ever seen. I agree that the Ashe County course belongs up there. Bracketts was up there when the course was still listed. Renny has some fairly serious navigation issues for first timers. Hornets is great; Nevin will probably be considered too punitive for newer players (though, I enjoyed playing there a great deal and did review that one), I have yet to play Eastway or the angry beaver. Some of the surrounding ones are quite solid; but not tops in the country. Sugaree is on the list; is it not? So, counting retired Bracketts; they have three.
A better barometer; IMHO for a "great course area" would be how many 3.5 and above courses are within a grouping. Charlotte will show this; I believe, (without looking). I also believe it will be considered, by the pros, as the best overall World's site ever....though, as pros are want to do; they complained somewhat about the rollaway greens at Renny and Hornets; being too luck based. Quite a few top pros played in a strong field event in 2010.
My opinion on that, is that this is perhaps the one area we have open to us, to head more in the direction of ball golf (for t.v. viewing enjoyment, for instance); in making greens play more precarious.
Real answer is that top 50 allows for one per state; if you look at it that way....

[tallpaul]

Opti should be chimming in, in the near future, to give his outlook on Charlotte vs. Pennsylvania (another great grouping area and state). That will be enjoyable.

[scarpfish]

Does this list consider all the reviews to date, or just the ones submitted or updated in 2010?

[timg]

All reviews.

[srm_520]

Ahh, the Christmas present I almost forgot. Always enjoy seeing the year end list Tim - thanks!

[BrotherDave]

Interesting that, with all the courses there, only two of the top 50 are in North Carolina. And neither of those are Charlotte area courses.

We don't suffer from as much HBB as all those midwesterners. :p

[DSCJNKY]

We don't suffer from as much HBB as all those midwesterners. :hfive:

Fixed that for ya.
DSCJNKY

[WorldsCoolestGuy]

I've played 7 of the top 50. I gotta pick up the pace!

[lokirising]

2 are in Oregon! Woo hoo!

[paulrothley@msn.com]

Best DG states ranked by the # in the top 50.
#1. WI - 5
#2. OR - 5
#3. TX - 5 (High #'s 4 all)
#4. PA - 4
#5. CA - 4
#6. Ky - 3
#7. CO - 3
#8. MN - 2
#9. VA - 2
#10. NC - 2
#11. IA - 2
#12. NY - 2
#13. MI - 1 (#1)
#14. GA - 1
#15. WV - 1
#16. MO - 1
#17. IL - 1
#18. TN - 1
#19. AR -1
#20. UT -1
#21. MT -1

[lokirising]

OR is #2!

[roadtripstuff]

I would like to see the top courses that were installed in 2010 if possible.

[jcf5083]

NOhio, I can't believe it!

[tallpaul]

influenza

[scarpfish]

I would like to see the top courses that were installed in 2010 if possible.

1. Go to the browse page.
2. Set year parameters to 2010-2010.
3. Set a minimum review standard. (Higher will be more meaningful, but will exclude more courses).
4. Click the rating button at the right end of the green bar two times so the triangle points down.

One thing to consider about your query though. A course installed back in January and one installed two weeks ago are both 2010 installations. The first one probably has had enough time for some people to review it so it would have a decisive (dare I say unfair) advantage over the latter.

I'd also say since courses don't exactly go in all at one time, and a lot of 2010 installations are still works in progress (as are some 2008-2009 courses), its really unfair to compare them at this time.

[TxDiscGolfBoy]

Hope that Turner Park in Arlington made it on that list. They did a FANTASTIC job on that course and in such short time to get ready for the Turner Park Tune-up

[BrotherDave]

OR is #2!

Hey, just like the majority of your posts! :p

I'd love to disc in Oregon. Maybe one day.

[sloppydisc]

Roadtrip!!! I'm in. And as long as we're headed West we might as well schedule a visit to the Tahoe area to play all those courses.

[Ripper]

Interesting that, with all the courses there, only two of the top 50 are in North Carolina. And neither of those are Charlotte area courses.

Kind of befuddled by that one also!

[Raptor]

Great to see Deer Lakes on the list. The folks there did a LOT of work on the course in 2010, and it shows. I'm really excited for the first full disc season with all the improvements.

[timg]

I'll be changing the criteria for the top 10 on the homepage in the coming week and updating the requirement to either 15 or 20 reviews.

I like the idea of a top 50 based on reviews entered for that year rather than overall as well. I hope to be able to add that to the top 50 list for this year. An "overall" and a "2010 only" list.

[zenbot]

It would be neat if the yearly updates could also show the change in ranking from the previous year.

[timg]

That would be a lot of manual labor on my part. All the lists are there (see the bottom links) if someone wants to do it.

I just created a query to only count reviews from the current year. Some interesting results.. Flip falls to #5 on that list. It's actually an almost entirely different list if we go by reviews added in 2010 only.

[RussMB]

I'm anxious to see that list!

[JR Stengele]

I'll be changing the criteria for the top 10 on the homepage in the coming week and updating the requirement to either 15 or 20 reviews.

I like the idea of a top 50 based on reviews entered for that year rather than overall as well. I hope to be able to add that to the top 50 list for this year. An "overall" and a "2010 only" list.

with as many members as we have now, 20+ is reasonable imo. I understood why it was when this site first started but with the new criteria, it forces more people to write reviews which is a good thing.:thmbup:

[optidiscic]

Opti should be chimming in, in the near future, to give his outlook on Charlotte vs. Pennsylvania (another great grouping area and state). That will be enjoyable.

I only played a few of the Charlotte courses...Renny Gold,Nevin,Hornets Web,Eastway,Reedy so I can't begin to fairly assess Charlotte or NC on a whole. I will just say wow that NC lives up to the hype so far.

I have my own personal tastes and I was satisfied for the most part with many long tight wooded fairways.

I will admit if I throw to another raised overly fast basket or end up in another ravine after a good shot I will scream and hunt Stan Mcdaniel down myself LOL.........After playing Renny gold and the other courses I had more than my fill of raised baskets and yeah I broke down and became sissified. I'm glad to hear that top pros also think the raised baskets in charlotte devalue an otherwise stellar disc golf area. A couple on a course is interesting..especially on a simple par 3 but after negotiating distance, landing areas, mandos, tight gaps, etc....why punish the DGer with a rollaway to OB or deep ravine for hitting the top of the bucket....(essentially u miss my an inch and instead of getting par or even birdie u can get double circle double biget or worse?)

Rant over

I dont wanna touch the PA vs NC debate :popcorn: maybe another thread would be more appropriate for that mess LOL

NC is a must play I will return

[biscoe]

I'll be changing the criteria for the top 10 on the homepage in the coming week and updating the requirement to either 15 or 20 reviews.

I like the idea of a top 50 based on reviews entered for that year rather than overall as well. I hope to be able to add that to the top 50 list for this year. An "overall" and a "2010 only" list.

so much for HH:(

[timg]

I was going to do it before the top 50 of 2010 but didn't feel it was fair to change the rules at the last minute. Sorry :(

[zenbot]

so much for HH:(
Don't worry. It will be back.

[superberry]

Interesting that, with all the courses there, only two of the top 50 are in North Carolina. And neither of those are Charlotte area courses.

Brackett's Bluff used to be #3 I think.

[superberry]

I'll be changing the criteria for the top 10 on the homepage in the coming week and updating the requirement to either 15 or 20 reviews.

I like the idea of a top 50 based on reviews entered for that year rather than overall as well. I hope to be able to add that to the top 50 list for this year. An "overall" and a "2010 only" list.

Requiring 15 reviews changes almost none of the current Top 10. Changing to 20+ removes just 3 of the top 15 courses. Maybe consider 25+ reviews.

Better yet - TOP 25 on the homepage!!!!!!!!!!

[superberry]

That would be a lot of manual labor on my part. All the lists are there (see the bottom links) if someone wants to do it.

I just created a query to only count reviews from the current year. Some interesting results.. Flip falls to #5 on that list. It's actually an almost entirely different list if we go by reviews added in 2010 only.

How do you query course ratings by reviews within date ranges?

[timg]

You need to have direct access to the database.

[solomon.trenton]

Any thought about a bottom 50 list?

[timg]

Added the top 50 based on 2010 reviews only to this years best of list. I was going to go back and do it for 2009 and 2008 but with updated reviews, the ratings wouldn't be accurate to that period in time and the list would be different. So it'll be a 2010 and on feature of the list.

I don't think a bottom 50 is really too interesting. You can just do that one yourself via the course browser :p

[superberry]

Does the 2010 only list include reviews that were updated in 2010, or just new reviews?

[superberry]

I think I figured it out - just new ones, which is why WP is nowhere to be found.

[timg]

I could probably included reviews updated in 2010 although then the same reviews might count for one year and then again the following year which doesn't seem quite right.

[mashnut]

Added the top 50 based on 2010 reviews only to this years best of list.

Cool stuff tim, it's interesting to see which courses are clearly on their way up (specifically Sinissippi, Grey Fox and Highland around here).

[tallpaul]

Reviews for one year is kind of cheesey. Don't mean to be rude; but what sense does it make?

[mashnut]

For one thing, it shows which courses have made improvements and are getting really good reviews now, but might be held down by older reviews before changes were made. I think Highland Park is a good example of that, tough challenging course that's a little more broken in, and now has concrete tees so it's getting good reviews in the last several months, but the crappy natural tees were holding it down before.

[lokirising]

Come to Oregon. I'll be a guide!

[tallpaul]

For one thing, it shows which courses have made improvements and are getting really good reviews now, but might be held down by older reviews before changes were made. I think Highland Park is a good example of that, tough challenging course that's a little more broken in, and now has concrete tees so it's getting good reviews in the last several months, but the crappy natural tees were holding it down before.

That's a good consideration. Thinking about it a bit further; I suspect another intention is to allow new courses the opportunity to get close to the top. I.e. courses that have MANY reviews that are all high; could conceivably stay near the top forever. I would hope that both lists continue to be compiled though; as those courses that have been reviewed a ton of times; and especially those in the middle of nowhere; may not get a ton of reviews each year; especially since many HAVE already reviewed them. Would be a shame to see great courses drop off the list and not be on people's radar any more.

[mashnut]

Looks like the regular top 50 is still the main page that comes up, and the 2010 only stuff is a link from there. I doubt the overall list is going anywhere, and I agree that it shows the courses that are and have been consistently good.

[hognosesucker]

does the 2010 list include reviews that were updated in 2010, but were originally reviewed before 2010?

[hognosesucker]

seems like a lot of the 2010 courses are either pretty high profile courses (high reviews/year)or good courses in heavily played areas (Chitown, BG, Charlotte) b/c of the 10 review minimum. I don't really see the point of the 2010 tab, could be called good courses with the most reviews in 2010

[mashnut]

does the 2010 list include reviews that were updated in 2010, but were originally reviewed before 2010?

No, just new reviews from 2010.

[superberry]

Reviews for one year is kind of cheesey. Don't mean to be rude; but what sense does it make?

In my mind it would be meant to showcase both current popularity, and improvements at a course.

[Mando]

seems like a lot of the 2010 courses are either pretty high profile courses (high reviews/year)or good courses in heavily played areas (Chitown, BG, Charlotte) b/c of the 10 review minimum. I don't really see the point of the 2010 tab, could be called good courses with the most reviews in 2010
That's pretty much my take on it as well.
Don't know that it quailifies as a best list when 46-50 are under 4.00, but I think the point is to exclude the irrelevent courses falling under the 10 minimum.

[timg]

It was more of a for fun list rather than a "top list". It just shows courses that received the most favorable reviews this year. If I continue doing it, chances are it will be completely different from one year to the next. Maybe I should move it to a different area to avoid confusion.

[prerube]

I have played 2 of the top 10, but only 1 of the next 30 and I don't even remember it.

[Mando]

It was more of a for fun list rather than a "top list". It just shows courses that received the most favorable reviews this year. If I continue doing it, chances are it will be completely different from one year to the next. Maybe I should move it to a different area to avoid confusion.
I don't think it was a bad idea, but I would have dropped the minimum way back to ID the up and coming courses. Even though the site has grown leaps and bounds, 10 reviews is still alot in one year.

[Sunday Mike]

We need special categories--Best Mountain Course, Best Forrest Course, Best Desert Course. Ok, I would really just be interested in Best Desert Course--BUFFALO RIDGE!!!!!!!!!!

[Daffron24]

That would be awesome to put courses in categories, but 1.) it would be a lot of work for Tim to do 2.) What about courses that fit in with more than one category and 3.) What is the criteria for best mt course or best forest course; aesthetics, difficulty, etc.

[hognosesucker]

I don't think it was a bad idea, but I would have dropped the minimum way back to ID the up and coming courses. Even though the site has grown leaps and bounds, 10 reviews is still alot in one year.

this

[hognosesucker]

We need special categories--Best Mountain Course, Best Forrest Course, Best Desert Course. Ok, I would really just be interested in Best Desert Course--BUFFALO RIDGE!!!!!!!!!!

I think someone compiled these at one point. You can probably do a search on the forum for that thread

[superberry]

If you look at the Top Courses list and the 2010 Only List, they are mostly the same courses, and are ALL courses that had been in the Top 10 at one point. Actually only 1 of the top 10 (Phantom Falls) and 4 of the top 15 on the "2010 only" list have not been in the Top 10 in 2010 (Phantom, Coyote, Ashe, and Moraine).

This goes to show that all the Top 10 (at some point) courses have had at least 10 more reviews added in the year 2010 only! Reason being - everyone wants to play and review the top courses! Many courses will be lucky to ever get 10 reviews. This is all the more strength and reasoning to having a Top 25 (or more) listed on the front page. Hell, we have 3285 courses as of today, let's show off at least 1% and list the Top 35 (Top 50 would be 1.5%). More people will see more courses and the courses, this site, the sport in general will benefit and continue to grow.

I know I sould like a broken (and pushy) record on this issue, so maybe I need to clarify. I am giving HUGE credit to this site, the Top 10, Timg, etc for promotion of the sport. I think we can easily promote it so much more and so much better by 'showcasing' more of the top rated courses. Maybe I don't understand, I see it as easy to change the list on the front page to 25 or even 50 from the current 10.

SHOW MORE TOP COURSES PLEASE. TOP 25 AT LEAST!!

[paulrothley@msn.com]

Top 25 on the homepage PLEASE!!!!!!!!
Top 25 to 50 dropdown link PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Sunday Mike]

I think someone compiled these at one point. You can probably do a search on the forum for that thread
Cool, thanks. :hfive:

[biscoe]

imo top 10 on the front page is plenty, keeps the visual clutter down- it's easy enough to search for more. you guys just have a vested interest...;)

[Daffron24]

I understand both arguments for and against expanding the top ten. I think the biggest thing that expanding the top ten would do is expose more courses to people on this site.

[RussMB]

Or we could do it like the oscars. Just have everyone vote for their favorite of the choices.

...or something like that.

That way there are categories and narrowed votes

[lion]

at least I have played 4 of the top 50, hope to play 5 more on that list this year.