Designer Advice for Public Parks

[BionicRib]

I am looking for some insight from those with more experience then myself about the do's and don'ts when dealing with a park district staff that is new to disc golf.........Brief overview..........18 holes are already in but the design is a little rough around the edges, the biggest reason for this is the park district's head person doesn't want to disrupt other fields and areas that are occassionally used for other programs. As of now the course is (in my opinion a 2.5 on dgcr) There is potential for 4 or 5 legitimate par 4's........How do you convince people to go along with turning a pitch and putt into a borderline championship course.................Any insight.....links.....or wise opinions are welcome......Thanks alot!.........(this is a public park that is very busy.....walking path's, picnic areas)

[mashnut]

As tempting as it can be, it's always a better plan to avoid conflicts with other park uses. We're at the bottom of the totem pole, so when soccer or football moms complain about disc golfers you're the one who loses that battle. We recently had a course pulled for several months near here because it conflicts with walking paths and fields that are used for other programs and checkers were unwilling to play it safe or skip holes.

[BionicRib]

I agree completely, I guess I'm looking for those "keywords"....when it comes to negotiating "prime real estate" in the park.

[optidiscic]

give up on the championship high par concept.....you have to think about spray zones of the worst possible players on the worst possible day with the worst possible conditions and imagine people in places you just cant imagine them being.
We could all design par 72 courses if we had the land and space to do so safely.......scale it down and keep the drives under 300 feet....Don't ever throw in the direction that people may ever be....ever. I am having trouble now with some phone call about some kids almost getting hit. I think they impulsively saw the basket didnt know what it was and ran to it...thinking it was a piece of playground equipment. This is my only theory how or why they would have ran into the fairway...anyway despite me pissing off local disc golfers and designing the safest possible layout...due to being in a public park theres always gonna be a conflict...do yourself a favor and scale it down......you can always keep those crazy long tee positions in mind just keep them unmarked and use them for tournaments with experienced players and spotters keeping watch. Don't ever assume beginners or "chuckers" have common sense because they don't and will get your course pulled.

[#19325]

Originally Posted by BionicRib

I am looking for some insight from those with more experience then myself about the do's and don'ts when dealing with a park district staff that is new to disc golf.........Brief overview..........18 holes are already in but the design is a little rough around the edges, the biggest reason for this is the park district's head person doesn't want to disrupt other fields and areas that are occassionally used for other programs. As of now the course is (in my opinion a 2.5 on dgcr) There is potential for 4 or 5 legitimate par 4's........How do you convince people to go along with turning a pitch and putt into a borderline championship course.................Any insight.....links.....or wise opinions are welcome......Thanks alot!.........(this is a public park that is very busy.....walking path's, picnic areas)

Give them a link to the course and let them read the reviews. Hopefully you have a higher rated course nearby. Park districts are competitive. Tell them to hire an experienced course designer to make the changes.

[jhgonzo]

Originally Posted by optidiscic

give up on the championship high par concept.....you have to think about spray zones of the worst possible players on the worst possible day with the worst possible conditions and imagine people in places you just cant imagine them being.
We could all design par 72 courses if we had the land and space to do so safely.......scale it down and keep the drives under 300 feet....Don't ever throw in the direction that people may ever be....ever. I am having trouble now with some phone call about some kids almost getting hit. I think they impulsively saw the basket didnt know what it was and ran to it...thinking it was a piece of playground equipment. This is my only theory how or why they would have ran into the fairway...anyway despite me pissing off local disc golfers and designing the safest possible layout...due to being in a public park theres always gonna be a conflict...do yourself a favor and scale it down......you can always keep those crazy long tee positions in mind just keep them unmarked and use them for tournaments with experienced players and spotters keeping watch. Don't ever assume beginners or "chuckers" have common sense because they don't and will get your course pulled.

So yeah, you should probably get to work on that Disc Golf Bible pretty soon...

[BionicRib]

I personally don't agree with the idea of scaling things down......although i do see where you are coming from opti.....This land has potential for a better course than what is existing. Some people from where I am from think that a pitch and putt is ok because it appeals to the "majority" (and I use this term lightly) of lower skilled disc golfers. I personally don't agree........I live in Illinois (northern)and I know that people in this state are working very hard to better the courses that we have......but lets be honest........outside of a couple courses in the Joliet area and a 2 hour drive to Lemon Lake, northern illinois simply put does not have any difficult courses, its all about how do I get a deuce when you step up to the tee pad and I am tired of it..........I'm sorry to vent and I apologize if I offend anyone who has put in volunteer work or even designed a course in northern illinois...........I'm looking for insight from the ones that have designed champion level courses and had a park worker look at them like they were crazy when they pitched the idea of designing a 500ft+ hole. Thanks guys

[BionicRib]

Again I apologize for the comments about northern illinois disc golf I do not mean to offend anyone, but its time for a change (in my opinion) I'm just tired of driving so far to play a great course......I've seen what is going on at Idlewild, the Charlotte area, Minnesota twin cities area, Wisconsin and I guess I'm just wondering what steps were taken there to achieve these types of courses.

[optidiscic]

The Best championship courses are not set in a multi use area of a park. You said the area traverses walking trails and a multi use park. I'm confused. The great courses you mention are not near other parkgoers. Those great courses took the imagination of someone traversing unused raw land and visualizing a course. Often in unused or unuseable areas of a park.

[BionicRib]

Sorry I'm going of on a tangent, I am merely frusterated with the limited amount of legitimate par 4s in the chicago area..........I can count on two hands how many par 4's we have in the many courses we have. We need a course to set the bar so the rest can start to follow suit.