Green Mountain Championships

[ScottyLove]

Guess I'm in the minority... I LOVE ropes on courses. Makes me think harder, shape shots, lay up, etc. Maybe 'cause I've only got 330' power. Also like playing hybrid course where greens, sand bunkers, and over cart paths are OB. Put the pins near all of that too for drama.

Played Winthrop Gold the other day -7 with no ropes. No way that's happening next week when the ropes go up and I can't wait to get down there to see if I can shoot par.

 

[Steve West]

Guess I'm in the minority... I LOVE ropes on courses. Makes me think harder, shape shots, lay up, etc. Maybe 'cause I've only got 330' power. Also like playing hybrid course where greens, sand bunkers, and over cart paths are OB. Put the pins near all of that too for drama.

Played Winthrop Gold the other day -7 with no ropes. No way that's happening next week when the ropes go up and I can't wait to get down there to see if I can shoot par.

I think most hybrid courses are missing an opportunity when they simply make the bunkers OB. I like to make the sand traps casual relief areas where the player must take relief. (Move the lie back away from the target to the far edge of the sand without penalty.) It allows for placing targets closer to the bunkers without being unfair.

 

[paulw]

I like ropes/etc and feel that disc golfers and especially disc golf course designers just lack imagination when it comes to "artificial" ob. If there was a lake/stream/cliff/ocean on the other side of the ropes the basket would more times than not be "genius".

Meh -- just imagine water. Some roped areas are good, some are bad, some are great -- it just seems some appreciation of the challenge versus what creates the challenge should be emphasized. Completely ignoring ropes as a means to an end is wrong -- but seems like that's the way it's going.

 

[biscoe]

I like ropes/etc and feel that disc golfers and especially disc golf course designers just lack imagination when it comes to "artificial" ob. If there was a lake/stream/cliff/ocean on the other side of the ropes the basket would more times than not be "genius".

Meh -- just imagine water. Some roped areas are good, some are bad, some are great -- it just seems some appreciation of the challenge versus what creates the challenge should be emphasized. Completely ignoring ropes as a means to an end is wrong -- but seems like that's the way it's going.

Seems to me like it is proliferating rather than going away.

I definitely lack the imagination to deem roped off areas the same as natural OB areas. I agree that in the most technical sense they are the same- aesthetically they do not appeal to me in the least however.

 

[lyleoross]

Seems to me like it is proliferating rather than going away.

I definitely lack the imagination to deem roped off areas the same as natural OB areas. I agree that in the most technical sense they are the same- aesthetically they do not appeal to me in the least however.

I think you are correct, they are proliferating. The question is why? The answer, I'm guessing based on past observations by many, is that our courses were developed when play was different. We are finally getting a significant pool of players for whom the old style courses are just inadequate. To make them challenging via natural obstacles would require years of growth for trees and bushes. The alternative is a) new courses, b) ropes.

The truth is that one option is to remove NT and Major status from courses that require large amounts of rope to bring them to a high enough level to be competitive. It isn't impossible, it would just ruffle a lot of feathers. SC and NC have a large number of more than adequate courses that could be used for USDGC. The Memorial, a well run tournament, occurs in an awful location.

Moving those tournaments to better courses would be great, but people do get attached.

Ropes should be an enhancer. Not a core part of the course.

 

[BrotherDave]

Seems to me like it is proliferating rather than going away.

I definitely lack the imagination to deem roped off areas the same as natural OB areas. I agree that in the most technical sense they are the same- aesthetically they do not appeal to me in the least however.

Yeah, it just looks too childish. Don't step on the sidewalks, it's lava! etc.

I get the use of ropes when it's the only option but I get really annoyed when I see courses with perfectly good trees and other natural obstacles not being used but ropes are. How about better tee and pin placements instead of rolling out the spool of yellow spaghetti sometimes?

 

[rd.bittle]

^this