Trusted Reviewers

[Texconsinite]

Im jost keeding

We are joking around. I am not into being the best the first or anything I just want to help make this site as good as it can be. If Texconsonite can keep up with me thats fine, it will only make the site better.

Yes, we're most definitely just joking. I've played several rounds with harr, and he's a good dude. There's really no sense of competition btw us, more like we feed off each other by swapping stories about the cool new courses we played last week. The more TR's our area gets, the more accurate, detailed reviews our courses get, and the sooner our top courses will crack the DGCR top 100 list, and get the notoriety they deserve, IMO, like Blue Ribbon Pines already has. Hopefully someday people are mentioning WI and MN courses (Highbridge Hills?) in the same sentence as better known ones like Milo McIver, Waterworks, and DeLa, even our more famous cousins across Lake Michigan like Flip City and Leviathan/Beauty/Beast.

I firmly believe that WI is brimming with hidden gems of courses, including ones yet to be constructed, and truth be told, uncovering them is my real goal. That and playing in as many states and countries as I can, since I think the variety of experience makes me a better reviewer & a better player, and less inclined to HBB, though with my gypsy lifestyle the past yr, I'm not sure which city I would call home anyways, so hopefully I'm not too inclined to HBB anyways.

 

[pokamitch]

Keep it up guys, I think your reviews (for the most part) are excellent

 

[DGtourist]

I thought I'd hijack one of these review threads instead of starting yet another one. Something that has been bugging me lately.

All of the overrating going on. If your course is average or below, you are not writing a helpful review by misleading the public into thinking it is above average to great. There are a handful of courses that I have given it the lowest grade, and IMO it's the only accurate grade in the bunch. Then the home boys come in and lie.... straight up lie. I've played enough courses to know what a 4(1/2) is like and what a 2 is like. A understand that some people have only played 20 or so courses, and given time they will learn later what a true 4&1/2 is like, but some of the overratings are just plain silly.

The overrating is so rampant that the last two trips I went on I added the current dgcr grade to the profile and I could pretty much assume that the reality was that the course was as much as a whole disc rating too high.

That and drive-by reviews, they suck the most.

 

[Adam Schneider]

There are a handful of courses that I have given it the lowest grade, and IMO it's the only accurate grade in the bunch. Then the home boys come in and lie.... straight up lie.

May we ask which ones you're thinking of?

 

[harr0140]

As I add more reviews I go back and compare the older courses I have reviewed to make sure their scores I gave are accurate. I have adjusted some scores lower and upped a few too. I have only given out between 1 star and 4.5 stars, because I think a 1 star is fairly descriptive in its own right. A zero or 1/2 star isn't much worse than a 1 star in my opinion, but going from 4 to 5 is a leap!!!! I have played some clunkers so far out of my 46 courses, mostly because they did not have reviews prior to me going there, and combined with the fact that I just like playing new courses to see as much different use of land and property as I can.

I think there is going to be a natural bias to local courses no matter where you are unless you have played hundreds of courses in other areas. Also there is some negative bias on certain properties when played in different areas. For instance, I am not sure if all Florida courses have palmettos fields that are nasty nasty spots. But two of the 4 I played had them and I think that completely detracts from the courses. So I ranked those courses lower than a local might who is used to the Palmettos fields.

Just a couple thoughts, remember you need to read into what people say, you cannot always take from them as truth but it can be used as a guide to make a decision.

If you want the reviews to be better, keep writing them yourself. Play as many courses as you can. Play when you travel so you can see regional differences. And most importantly promote this site wherever you go. I have left fliers and given the little business cards out numerous times, because the more people who are on here, the more accurate the courses will be. Just remember it is an average, and perhaps you grade courses harder than others, noone is right or wrong, they are simply opinions.

I know you are an active member of this site and the sport, so I am not criticizing you, just encouraging you to do as much as you can to make the site better. Try not to get frustrated by what you read, but if you disagree, send those people a note wondering why things were ranked so high. Maybe they have only played 5 courses in that area and dont have enough to compare it to. Let them know to play somewhere else and then reevaluate. I have emailed a few people who had values I didnt agree with.

All of this is important, but not as important as continuing to play!

I am up 7 more courses since this weekend in MN. I hit a new state for disc golf and am up to 46 courses played now. It looks like hitting 75 or 100 courses in 1 year will be doable for me. I have 7 more reviews to write tonight, unfortunately Gordon, Blue Ribbon Pines is not one of them. The timing wasn;t going to work out for me to get up there, so on my next visit to MN I will make it, but I did play some fun little courses! Kaposia, Central Park, North Valley, Lakewood Hills, Sunnyside Park, Bassett Creek, Acorn Park.

 

[DGtourist]

May we ask which ones you're thinking of?

PM me and I will.

 

[Olorin]

TR Stats

I was playing around with some of the TR stats on 4/25/09 because I was wondering which TR has the most "Helpful" votes. You can find my data sorted in various ways by starting at

TR Stats

From the TR Stats page the subpages are:

Prolific TRs- Alphabetically by Name

Most Reviews
1) Innovadude = 138
2) Valkyrie Kid = 101

Most "Helpful" Votes
1) Donovan = 507
2) Valkyrie Kid = 493

Least "Not Helpful" votes
1) bazkitcase5 = 2

Highest HTN ratio
1) bazkitcase5 = 110.5!

Most "Helpful votes per Review"
1) Donovan = 10.8
2) t i m = 9.3

DISClaimer: This just for fun. It's based on a certain point in time, and is not intended to be anything definitive. Some statistics are inherently flawed because of limitations and flaws in how they're generated. Feel free to draw your own conclusions; I've already drawn my own. I don't intend to defend the stats. Hopefully those who have worked hard to write many reviews, and to write high quality reviews will be encouraged! I hope this will also encourage newer reviewers with something to aspire to.

 

[DGtourist]

I think there is going to be a natural bias to local courses no matter where you are unless you have played hundreds of courses in other areas. Also there is some negative bias on certain properties when played in different areas. For instance, I am not sure if all Florida courses have palmettos fields that are nasty nasty spots. But two of the 4 I played had them and I think that completely detracts from the courses. So I ranked those courses lower than a local might who is used to the Palmettos fields.

Just a couple thoughts, remember you need to read into what people say, you cannot always take from them as truth but it can be used as a guide to make a decision.

If you want the reviews to be better, keep writing them yourself. Play as many courses as you can. Play when you travel so you can see regional differences. And most importantly promote this site wherever you go. I have left fliers and given the little business cards out numerous times, because the more people who are on here, the more accurate the courses will be. Just remember it is an average, and perhaps you grade courses harder than others, noone is right or wrong, they are simply opinions.
.

For the last year I have ignored the grade. I have solely judged the reviews I have read based on the written word. I had given up, because people have their own grade scale in mind. One mans 4 is another mans 2 & 1/2. If you look deeper into the ratings you will see commonalities within the common courses played. I think there is a way to take common courses played and relative spread between them and adjust the grades. I think it will require another years worth of grading data though. I just don't like seeing grades that are obvious attempts to get a courses score up because its dishonest.

 

[srm_520]

I was playing around with some of the TR stats on 4/25/09 because I was wondering which TR has the most "Helpful" votes. You can find my data sorted in various ways by starting at

TR Stats

From the TR Stats page the subpages are:

Prolific TRs- Alphabetically by Name

Most Reviews
1) Innovadude = 138
2) Valkyrie Kid = 101

Most "Helpful" Votes
1) Donovan = 507
2) Valkyrie Kid = 493

Least "Not Helpful" votes
1) bazkitcase5 = 2

Highest HTN ratio
1) bazkitcase5 = 110.5!

Most "Helpful votes per Review"
1) Donovan = 10.8
2) t i m = 9.3

DISClaimer: This just for fun. It's based on a certain point in time, and is not intended to be anything definitive. Some statistics are inherently flawed because of limitations and flaws in how they're generated. Feel free to draw your own conclusions; I've already drawn my own. I don't intend to defend the stats. Hopefully those who have worked hard to write many reviews, and to write high quality reviews will be encouraged! I hope this will also encourage newer reviewers with something to aspire to.

Well, hey! I don't feel too bad, and it's good company to be in!

Looking at that - I guess I'd better get off my duff and start writing some more reviews. Ya'll keep up the good work! (Little Texas slang for you too.)

 

[DGtourist]

I was playing around with some of the TR stats on 4/25/09 because I was wondering which TR has the most "Helpful" votes. You can find my data sorted in various ways by starting at

TR Stats

From the TR Stats page the subpages are:

Prolific TRs- Alphabetically by Name

Most Reviews
1) Innovadude = 138
2) Valkyrie Kid = 101

Most "Helpful" Votes
1) Donovan = 507
2) Valkyrie Kid = 493

Least "Not Helpful" votes
1) bazkitcase5 = 2

Highest HTN ratio
1) bazkitcase5 = 110.5!

Most "Helpful votes per Review"
1) Donovan = 10.8
2) t i m = 9.3

DISClaimer: This just for fun. It's based on a certain point in time, and is not intended to be anything definitive. Some statistics are inherently flawed because of limitations and flaws in how they're generated. Feel free to draw your own conclusions; I've already drawn my own. I don't intend to defend the stats. Hopefully those who have worked hard to write many reviews, and to write high quality reviews will be encouraged! I hope this will also encourage newer reviewers with something to aspire to.

Love those charts man!

 

[Olorin]

Well, hey! I don't feel too bad, and it's good company to be in!

Looking at that - I guess I'd better get off my duff and start writing some more reviews. Ya'll keep up the good work! (Little Texas slang for you too.)

I hope you saw srm_520 in the number 2 slot of Least "Not Helpfuls"!

 

[Olorin]

Love those charts man!

DGTourist-- #3 in Helpful votes and HTN ratio, as well as being up near the top on all the charts!

 

[DGtourist]

DGTourist-- #3 in Helpful votes and HTN ratio, as well as being up near the top on all the charts!

Number 3 is a good way to roll. You know there's always gonna be someone out there who's better. I like it that way.

 

[srm_520]

I hope you saw srm_520 in the number 2 slot of Least "Not Helpfuls"!

Ahh come on! You're making me blush!

This is the kind of stuff that makes this site cool. Random stuff that people put together for others - I dig it.

 

[Greg Layton]

Hmm... I'm going to join the ranks of the prolific before the year is over.

Keep on rocking, guys. I've learned a lot from you all; hopefully it shows in my ratings/reviews.

 

[valkyriefb11]

I was playing around with some of the TR stats on 4/25/09 because I was wondering which TR has the most "Helpful" votes. You can find my data sorted in various ways by starting at

TR Stats

From the TR Stats page the subpages are:

Prolific TRs- Alphabetically by Name

Most Reviews
1) Innovadude = 138
2) Valkyrie Kid = 101

Most "Helpful" Votes
1) Donovan = 507
2) Valkyrie Kid = 493

Least "Not Helpful" votes
1) bazkitcase5 = 2

Highest HTN ratio
1) bazkitcase5 = 110.5!

Most "Helpful votes per Review"
1) Donovan = 10.8
2) t i m = 9.3

DISClaimer: This just for fun. It's based on a certain point in time, and is not intended to be anything definitive. Some statistics are inherently flawed because of limitations and flaws in how they're generated. Feel free to draw your own conclusions; I've already drawn my own. I don't intend to defend the stats. Hopefully those who have worked hard to write many reviews, and to write high quality reviews will be encouraged! I hope this will also encourage newer reviewers with something to aspire to.

So I'm guessing this was just silver/gold TRs ...
I like the stats though (I'll admit I'm a stats junkie)
[and especially since I'll be joining the silver club really soon ]

 

[srm_520]

Taking a closer look - what I really like is your new page setup for stats:
http://sites.google.com/site/dgcoursereview/trusted-reviewers/tr-stats

Olorin, are you planning on developing this more, or was this a one time deal to play with and show some stats? It certainly has potential to be a good offshoot from DGCR. I look forward to seeing where you go with this.

BTW - you have a good link to your review breakdowns? I'm looking for an easy link/file to finding a template per say of your hole by hole ratings and overall evaluation notes. Even though the review system isn't changing here - I think it may assist me in helping better evaluate a course. Do you have it in an excel or word file to post???

 

[srm_520]

Actually, looking further - I can modify an hole-by-hole in excel, but a guide to the evaluation notes could be nice. Thanks!

 

[Olorin]

BTW - you have a good link to your review breakdowns? I'm looking for an easy link/file to finding a template per say of your hole by hole ratings and overall evaluation notes. Even though the review system isn't changing here - I think it may assist me in helping better evaluate a course. Do you have it in an excel or word file to post???

srm,

Is this what your'e looking for?
Olorin's Review Criteria

I also have a blank Excel file with a template for the Hole by hole stats in the Files section of my DG Course Reviews Yahoo group.

And I have an excel version of the Review Criteria above, but it's not in the Yahoo group yet. It can be if members request it, though.

 

[timg]

Added a new TR level, Diamond. I also updated the requirements a bit which really shouldn't effect any current TRs. The new requirements list is below, the main change being diamond and the change in the number of reviews required for silver/gold.

Bronze: 10 Reviews, 50 Helpful Votes, 10 Unique Voters
Silver: 20 Reviews, 150 Helpful Votes, 30 Unique Voters
Gold: 30 Reviews, 300 Helpful Votes, 60 Unique Voters
Diamond: 50 Reviews, 1000 Helpful Votes, 200 Unique Voters

There is nobody even close to diamond right now although a few people are half way there. It's meant to be tough to achieve and I have some interesting ideas for a gift should anyone make it to that level.