Top DG cities

[heelboycraig]

I know this will spark plenty of conversation and debate. This site ranks Charlotte the top DG city in the country http://lifelongdiscgolf.com/top-10-disc-golf-cities-in-america/. Gotta give some love to my hometown.

[Greg Layton]

I live in Grand Rapids so it's pretty sweet to see it in the top 10. I'd agree with the ranking, I have 7 or 8 courses within 10 miles of my apartment. There's also Spinski's, an incredible Pro Shop, just a couple of miles down the road.

I'll be hitting up Denver and Minneapolis on my DG road trip next month.

[YoDesigner]

Throw DFW in there as a notable. Congrats to Charlotte.

[Luke@DiscTrips]

Two cities that I think were overlooked for his top 10: Tampa and Kansas City.

(I know it's one guy's opinion and his disclaimer at the top states that much of his research was done online, not in person, so I'm not taking anything way from the list he assembled -- his choices are clearly explained and well-justified, and it's a good group.)

Both Tampa and K.C. have 10 or more area courses, active local clubs, and are symbolically important (Tampa as Climo territory, and K.C. as the home of many big tourneys, the birthplace of the Ice Bowl, and the HQ of the erstwhile Disc Golf World magazine). I don't live in either place, so I'm not partial here... Just wanted to highlight those as probably appearing on any consensus Top 10 list.

[Olorin]

I second Kansas City. I was surprised to see San Francisco. Golden Gate sounds like a good course, but the others seem too far away to be included, IMO.

I think Ken Climo should move to Kansas City, so that KC is in KC. ;)

[JConnell]

FYI: The author is ehillis and he is a member here.

[ehillis]

Oh it's totally fine, I'm glad this is sparking discussion and debate, that was really the purpose anyway. Those are just the cities that I would want to visit, but I guess I will have to add Kansas City and Tampa to the list. I have also heard about Bowling Green and Louisville as good destinations.

[ZMan44]

Louisville is ok...but Bowling Green is better in my opinion. I have played both areas a few times.

[t i m]

I don't know for sure, but I think two areas of PA have some potential on that list. Two of the top 10 courses listed on the front of DGCR are in the Pittsburgh area (Moraine and Deer Lakes Park), and I know Knob Hill is up there as well, which is supposed to be a similarly top-notch course. They only have a few other courses, but what they don't have in quantity of courses, they make up for in quality.

I think an ever stronger case can be made for Allentown, PA. They hosted Pro Worlds a few years ago and have more than a dozen courses, several of which are top-shelf courses: Little Lehigh, Tinicum, Nockamixon and Jordan Creek. Also within an hour or so is Tyler State Park (27 holes and a DGCR top-10) if you head southeast; if you headed north instead, you've got Francis E. Walter and Hickory Run courses. So I don't know about the local clubs, but I can think of few better places to spend a week discing than in the Allentown area.

Last place you might want to look into is Portland, OR. I think they've got far more disc golf presence than San Francisco, and some amazing courses (though I do love the Golden Gate Park course -- one of the prettiest courses I have ever played).

[t i m]

I don't know for sure, but I think two areas of PA have some potential on that list. Two of the top 10 courses listed on the front of DGCR are in the Pittsburgh area (Moraine and Deer Lakes Park), and I know Knob Hill is up there as well, which is supposed to be a similarly top-notch course. They only have a few other courses, but what they don't have in quantity of courses, they make up for in quality.

I think an ever stronger case can be made for Allentown, PA. They hosted Pro Worlds a few years ago and have more than a dozen courses, several of which are top-shelf courses: Little Lehigh, Tinicum, Nockamixon and Jordan Creek. Also within an hour or so is Tyler State Park (27 holes and a DGCR top-10) if you head southeast; if you headed north instead, you've got Francis E. Walter and Hickory Run courses. So I don't know about the local clubs, but I can think of few better places to spend a week discing than in the Allentown area.

Last place you might want to look into is Portland, OR. I think they've got far more disc golf presence than San Francisco, and some amazing courses (though I do love the Golden Gate Park course -- one of the prettiest courses I have ever played).

[t i m]

Sorry about the double post -- not sure why that happened; I've been having computer problems today. I tried to edit the post, but got a message that "you can only edit a post in the first five minutes after it posts, so this message has been locked." Never seen a message like that on a forum before, but oh well.

Thanks for the list by the way. It's a great discussion to start. Of the top 10 cities currently listed, I've played a fair amount in Raleigh, Charlotte and Austin, and agree with the inclusion of all three.

Other cities to watch for the future, as I'm thinking about it:

Fredericksburg/Spotsylvania, VA -- a pair of very good (and very different) public courses and several of the best private courses I've every played. Also host quite a few big tourneys throughout the year. Some more courses are in the works, and as they come in it will be an amazing disc golf destination.

Dallas, TX -- It has a ton of courses, but not many of them are very memorable. However, it has some great locals and the courses that are going in are showing some tremendous potential and I think the parks departments are getting on board with the sport. Give it a few more years and I think it will be a top shelf fall/winter destination when all the Northern cities on your list are buried in snow.

Augusta, GA -- depending on the quality of the PDGA HQ courses being built here, this has some potential as an up-and-coming disc golf destination. The only course I've played there is the Riverside Park course in North Augusta (just over the border into SC), and it was excellent (though that course has been around for years and has nothing to do with the PDGA HQ).

[nosajeel99]

I think an ever stronger case can be made for Allentown, PA. They hosted Pro Worlds a few years ago and have more than a dozen courses, several of which are top-shelf courses: Little Lehigh, Tinicum, Nockamixon and Jordan Creek. Also within an hour or so is Tyler State Park (27 holes and a DGCR top-10) if you head southeast; if you headed north instead, you've got Francis E. Walter and Hickory Run courses. So I don't know about the local clubs, but I can think of few better places to spend a week discing than in the Allentown area.

I agree. Allentown, PA has some really nice courses. Top 10, probably not; Top 25, probably yes.

[ehillis]

Alright, I added some more profiles (http://lifelongdiscgolf.com/top-10-disc-golf-cities-amendment-1/) for the cities that I missed the first time around, including Bowling Green, Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Mobile, and Tampa.

San Francisco was easily the most rejected, so it moves down. How about a top 15?:

1. Charlotte, NC
2. Cincinnati, OH
3. Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN*
4. Kansas City, MO
5. Des Moines, IA
6. Pittsburgh, PA
7. Bowling Green, KY
8. St. Louis, MO*
9. Tampa Bay, FL
10. Austin, TX*
11. Madison, WI
12. Mobile, AL
13. Raleigh, NC
14. Grand Rapids, MI
15. I'm sure I'm still missing somewhere in the Northeast...

[DGtourist]

I know you are from Austin, which is why I think you put it low, but feel it should be a little higher.

[t i m]

I'd move Bowling Green, Grand Rapids and Austin up, definitely. Pittsburgh down. And I'd add Portland, OR to the list -- several top courses in the country in Portland and the scene is growing.

I'm not sure what "Local support" is worth for courses, but that's a place where Bowling Green gains a lot of ground. They don't necessarily have world class courses yet, but they have tremendous volunteer support and good upkeep of all their courses. The same goes for Raleigh -- no true world-class courses, but amazing, amazing course/tourney support.

People will keep making suggestions, so I'd go ahead and bump it to a Top-20 list. And to help get there, I nominate Allentown, PA; Augusta, GA; and Dallas, TX to go on the list.

I would also look at a list of cities that have hosted Pro/Am Worlds tournaments in the past (if you can find one), as that would give you leads to other cities that may have a critical mass of dedicated disc golfers and several decent courses... (Note: not all cities that have hosted worlds have good disc golf scenes -- Houston, for instance).

You'll be hard pressed to find any golfer that has enough knowledge of all the local scenes across the country to make any true hierarchy completely valid, but you should be able to get close -- or you will have to do the slightly more objective thing, come up with a weighted system for each city, score each city in each category, and come up with a hierarchy that way.

If you decide to go the more objective city-scorecard route, I would suggest categories such as (# of holes in a 50 mile radius of the city; # of sanctioned tourneys in a year; # of top-tier courses within 100 miles of the city; accessibility, navigability, helpfulness of the local disc golf Web site; overall course maintenance; extra points for hosting A-tier or higher tourneys; extra points for public/private courses with camping; enthusiasm of the local disc golf scene, etc...) Hard to get definitive measurements of all of these, but it would be a fun project to take on if anyone had the time -- if you want to take it on, I would see if you can pitch it as a story to the fabled Flying Disc Magazine and get some sort of compensation for your time and effort. I think most disc golfers would love to see the results.

[John Merhi]

Newark DE (esp now with Iron Hills) and Allentown PA both have better disc golf than Raleigh.

Plus, Kentrock is in Raleigh and that alone should demote them off the list.

Iowa has the 2nd most amount of courses of any State. Surprised to not see more Iowa in the list.

[tomschillin]

i'm in raleigh and I've never heard of Kentrock??...i know of Kentwood and think that it's a good confidence booster type course, mostly ace-runs. I don't think that just because it's a short course that it should detract from Raleigh area courses as a whole. Another good/great thing about Raleigh area disc golf is the HomeGrown Tour! a series of 12-16 local, privately owned courses that have a rotating tournament tour on each course throughout the summer. The only one of those courses on this website is Higher Ground, and from what I hear that's one of the lesser courses on HGT, although still a nice course. Plus, with proximity to Charlotte, i think it definitely deserves a spot in the top 20, if not top 15.

[adlacro]

I have to agree with everyone who's supporting Allentown, PA in a top list. Certainly it wouldn't be the higher ups, but it could make the list at a lower notch. We have four world class courses in Nockamixon St. Park, Tinicum, Little Lehigh, and Jordan, then several other 18 hole courses such as S. Mountain, DeSales U., and Hackett's, then you can add the 9 hole rec courses that aren't all that bad. And from the airport, you can hit any course around here well within an hour's drive. As for Tyler State, Walter Dam, and Hickory Run, they're all within 90 minutes of downtown Allentown. Enough said, I think the Lehigh Valley deserves mention.

[martinb]

laas angeeleees, not on the list? the area has some great courses.....

[Olorin]

i'm in raleigh and I've never heard of Kentrock??...i know of Kentwood and think that it's a good confidence booster type course,

Kentwood is packed with new players! It's by far the most played course in the Triangle. Countless hordes have learned the sport of disc golf by starting at Kentwood. It's a shorter White level course that more seasoned players will have a birdie fest on, but every city should have a course like it for newer and younger players. Not to mention that far and away more women play Kentwood than any other Triangle course, so it's also introduced tons of women to DG as well. For myself, as a White level player, it sure was fun to shoot a -10 the one time I got it all together!!

Calvert Road in College Park MD is an equivalent.

[Olorin]

laas angeeleees, not on the list? the area has some great courses.....

I was thinking of LA too. Any city with La Mirada has to be top 15 at least.

[Olorin]

Go to http://stevewestdiscgolf.com/DGinUS.aspx to find the center of the disc golf universe. I'm thinking of moving to Rock Island, Illinois and looking for a house that backs up to Longview Park. I figure that all of the positive DG vibes must flow back there and it'll add 100 ft to my drives and lower my scores by at least 5 throws per round! ;)

[Olorin]

Newark DE (esp now with Iron Hills) and Allentown PA both have better disc golf than Raleigh.

I'd probably rank Raleigh from 15-20. (Technically it would be best to call it "the Triangle"). Raleigh may not have a world class course but there are some top level courses such as Buckhorn, UNC, Valley Springs, Zebulon, and really good courses like Cedar Hills. Quantity needs to count too. In the Triangle there are


8 courses of 18 holes
4 courses of 9-13 holes
7 Private courses (9 & 18s)

Then if you want to go a little farther you hit Burlington, Sanford, Rocky Mount.

[Donovan]

Go to http://stevewestdiscgolf.com/DGinUS.aspx to find the center of the disc golf universe. I'm thinking of moving to Rock Island, Illinois and looking for a house that backs up to Longview Park. I figure that all of the positive DG vibes must flow back there and it'll add 100 ft to my drives and lower my scores by at least 5 throws per round! ;)

And people say I have too much time on my hands! :D

I can't believe I born and raised 45 minutes from there and never knew I was right there living in the vortex of disc golf! :rolleyes: Anyway that is still some pretty cool stuff.

[tomjulio]

I was just thinking about this...
being in Ludington, Michigan visiting for the summer, it is utterly amazing how many people in this city disc golf! It's a small, lakeside tourist town of 10,000 people. Imagine a smaller Santa Cruz, but in the midwest.

So let's see. 4 great full size pro courses. Beast/Beauty/Goliath and Leviathan. That's 4 courses/10,000 people. so 1 course per 2500. Wondering what cities might beat that, with a minimum of two or more courses?

That's a 4 mile radius too.Flip City is 30 miles south of Ludington.

[DirtyMittenDG]

Yes, My vote is ludington!! You just have to go there to undestand how good it really is.

[sidewinding]

I know you are from Austin, which is why I think you put it low, but feel it should be a little higher.

Austin should be at the top of the list because here you can play year round and usually in shorts. Can you play year round in Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Etc.? My wife is from Ohio and I would not want to play up there in the winter.

[tomjulio]

Austin should be at the top of the list because here you can play year round and usually in shorts.


are you saying we "can't"? ;-)

http://www.youtube.com/v/mycYWeJ7Syg&hl

[taxman]

my season usually ends for me when my fingers start to get to cold to hold the disc well. late october will probably be the end of it for me this year. but i know lots of people that play all thru winter. i did at one point buy a black disc so that it would be easier to find in the snow. but winter play just isn't for me.

each to his own

[PhattD]

Austin should be at the top of the list because here you can play year round and usually in shorts. Can you play year round in Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Etc.? My wife is from Ohio and I would not want to play up there in the winter.

We have tournaments in January dude. The only time I don't play is if the snow is real powdery cuz it eats discs. Although I've seen people attach ribbons, like for wrapping presents, to the center of their discs to help find them in the snow.

I just thought of another You know you're addicted line lol.

Of course I can't lie to you I would much rather play when it's 85 and sunny.

[heelboycraig]

Restarting this thread after a long vacation. Another boost to Charlotte's claim as top DG city is word that the city will be hosting the 2012 Pro/Am World Championships. And to prepare for that, 7 to 11 new courses are going to be built in the city. Add all those courses to Renny, Winthrop and Hornet's Nest, plus all the other courses already in Charlotte, and it's great living here.

[Greg Layton]

I live in Grand Rapids so it's pretty sweet to see it in the top 10. I'd agree with the ranking

Yikes. 9 months (and 75 courses) later, I can't disagree enough with myself. There's no way Grand Rapids is top 10 in the U.S. The courses here are pretty weak. I've got to drive northwest, straight east, or straight south for a couple of hours to get to anything I'd consider top notch. Grand Rapids should probably be ranked around #30 solely based on quantity, not quality.

Can't wait to hit Charlotte later this year.

Oh, and the link in the original post doesn't work anymore. That's kind of sad. :(

[cc0049]

I think DFW should be on the list and should be ranked higher than Austin is. DFW has just as many or more quality courses to choose from and from my experience the courses in DFW have nicer amenities. A lot of courses down in Austin have dirt teepads, which is a major negative for me.

[BENFTS]

santa cruz ca.

[80playedin10states]

buffalo and rochester, NY...15? courses between the 2(probably a few more i am missing). worlds have been held in rochester twice and the am worlds is coming back in 2011..i also believe buffalo has one of the longest courses in the world now with close to 11,000' at emery park..hard for me to comment on others since i havent traveled off the east coast..

[srm_520]

I think DFW should be on the list and should be ranked higher than Austin is. DFW has just as many or more quality courses to choose from and from my experience the courses in DFW have nicer amenities. A lot of courses down in Austin have dirt teepads, which is a major negative for me.

There may have to be a second here. DFW should at least make the list since we're talking around 40 courses in the area with at least half of the courses being considered pretty dang impressive.

Austin should be higher too, going to Pease Park is just the crest of amazing courses in the surrounding areas. Also, one would have to consider land area - Austin city limits itself doesn't have as many as the areas that actually surround it but holistically it's pretty sweet..

[A.Mutt]

I really need to play down in Cincy it looks like. I've got a lot of love though for the courses in and around Columbus.

[hilega]

I really need to play down in Cincy it looks like. I've got a lot of love though for the courses in and around Columbus.

Forget I-71, stop through Dayton on your way from Columbus to Cincy ... Def hit Belmont (1991 Pro Disc Golf World Championships) and Englewood. I still haven't played all the local courses in the DYT.

Go to the Map Browser and put in 45402 for the zip and set the filter for 75 miles ...

[FRIZZLE TOSSLER]

truth is... I'm sure there are MANY great disc golf cities out there.... DG is growing fast.... real fast...its hard to keep up.... courses are being erected/reconfigured at a much faster pace than ever before.... it's great.

Glad to see Austin on the list. Great vibe out here on great courses. I never thought I'd say this about a city but we do need more concrete (tee pads, of course) Word is that we're building 4 new championship level courses in the next year..... I think we are making a push at trying to become the "disc golf capital of the world" in addition to being the live music capital of the world..... Man It'd be cool to be able to go to a local park and watch some of the top players in the world compete... not to mention having MORE great courses around. DFW should be on the list as well, I think.... lots of courses... lots of good golfers... year round play too

I did only get to play two courses while in Portland (Pier & Darby State Park) and was very impressed by both.... I most def want to check out more of the top rated courses when I'm back this summer. I would also like to say that Portland has the most potential out of any other city I've been in..... great vibe (might even be better than Austin)..... and they have more green space/public land than any other city I've been in (ie. potential for new courses) Needless to say, I love Portland, sorry Austin (I love you too, but......) nature beckons