Renaissance -- out of the top 50? (also, list of 4-star or higher courses)

[t i m]

Just ran the course review numbers, based on courses with 5+ reviews, and my favorite course, Renaissance, in NC, is ranked 51st. Which just blew me away.

Shocking to think that there are 50 courses in the country that people think are better than Renny. I'm sure there are some, but wow!

Whether or not I agree with everyone's reviews, it is impressive to think of the number of amazing courses that are out there.

There are 107 courses rated 4.0 or higher with 5 or more reviews. Here they are in order:

1. Maple Hill DGC Leicester, MA
2. Flip City Disc Golf Park Shelby, MI
3. Idlewild Burlington, KY
4. Milo McIver State Park (Riverbend DGC) Estacada, OR
5. The Woodshed Paw Paw, WV
6. Whistler's Bend Roseburg, OR
7. Beaver Ranch/Conifer Park Conifer, CO
8. Whippin' Post Paw Paw, WV
9. Colorado Mountain College, Glenwood Glenwood Springs, CO
10. Brakewell Steel / Warwick Town Park Warwick, NY
11. Richmond Hill Asheville, NC
12. Blue Ribbon Pines DGC East Bethel, MN
13. Tyler State Park Newtown, PA
14. Pier Park Portland, OR
15. Hudson Mills Metropark - Original Ann Arbor (Dexter), MI
16. Sandy Point Resort DG Ranch Lac Du Flambeau, WI
17. Walnut Ridge Johnston (Des Moines), IA
18. Water Works Park Kansas City, MO
19. Bryant Lake Park Minneapolis (Eden Prairie), MN
20. Circle R - Rolling Meadow DGC Wimberley, TX
21. Lester Lorch Park - Coyote DGC Cedar Hill, TX
22. Deer Lakes Park Tarentum, PA
23. Moraine State Park Portersville, PA
24. DeLaveaga Park Santa Cruz, CA
25. Circle R - Circ Hill DGC Wimberley, TX
26. Sinnissippi Park Sterling, IL
27. Lester Lorch Park - Beaver DGC Cedar Hill, TX
28. Hudson Mills Metropark - Monster Ann Arbor (Dexter), MI
29. Old English Golf Course English, IN
30. Lake Russell Elberton, GA
31. Freeman Lake Park Elizabethtown, KY
32. Banklick Woods Park Independence, KY
33. Bud Hill Millington, TN
34. Cameron Park East Waco, TX
35. Stafford Lake County Park Novato, CA
36. Mason County Park - Beast Ludington, MI
37. East Metro Park Manor, TX
38. Foundation Park DG Complex - Champ 18 Centralia, IL
39. Knob Hill Park Warrendale, PA
40. Borderland State Park Easton, MA
41. Standing Rocks Stevens Point, WI
42. Seneca Creek State Park Gaithersburg, MD
43. Coyote Point DGC Ventura, CA
44. The Grange - Sunnyside Spotsylvania, VA
45. Muse Park Jackson, TN
46. Anna Page Park - West Rockford, IL
47. Jordan Creek Whitehall, PA
48. Sandy Creek Park Athens, GA
49. New Quarter Park Williamsburg, VA
50. Cedar Hill Park Nashville, TN
51. Renaissance Park Charlotte, NC
52. Harry Myers DGC Rockwall, TX
53. Sharp Springs Park Smyrna, TN
54. Charlie Vettiner Park Louisville, KY
55. Tinicum Park Erwinna, PA
56. Mesker Park Evansville, IN
57. Buckhorn at Harris Lake County Park New Hill, NC
58. Adair Park Corvallis, OR
59. Patapsco Valley State Park Marriottsville, MD
60. La Mirada Regional Park La Mirada, CA
61. Stony Creek Metro Park Shelby Township, MI
62. Kereiakes Park Bowling Green, KY
63. Hornets Nest Park Charlotte, NC
64. Dexter Park DGC Dexter, OR
65. Ross Barnett Reservoir - The Rez DGC Brandon, MS
66. Moccasin Bend DGC Morton, MS
67. WR Jackson Memorial DGC Appling, GA
68. Mt. Airy Forest Cincinnati, OH
69. Z-Boaz Park Fort Worth, TX
70. Blue Mountain Missoula, MT
71. Golden Gate Park DGC San Francisco, CA
72. Vallarta-Ast DGC Deforest, WI
73. Golden Hills DGC Blacksburg, VA
74. Univ. of Ala. Huntsville (UAH) Huntsville, AL
75. Sylmar (Veterans Park) Sylmar, CA
76. Emerald Isle Oceanside, CA
77. Blackhawk Tulsa, OK
78. Pease Park Austin, TX
79. Cliff Stephens Park Clearwater, FL
80. Vollrath Park Sheboygan, WI
81. Dretzka Park Milwaukee, WI
82. Pyramids Leicester, MA
83. Mason County Park - Beauty Ludington, MI
84. Parma DGC Parma, NY
85. Little Lehigh Parkway Allentown, PA
86. Chestnut Ridge Park Orchard Park, NY
87. Joralemon Park DGC Coeymans, NY
88. Cass Benton Hills DGC Northville, MI
89. Jefferson Barracks St. Louis (Mehlville), MO
90. Nockamixon State Park Quakertown, PA
91. Sioux Passage St. Louis (Florissant), MO
92. Lake Lewisville Park Lewisville, TX
93. Veteran's Park Arlington, TX
94. Deis Hill Park Dover, OH
95. Franklin - Simpson DGC Franklin, KY
96. Lake Bistineau State Park Doyline, LA
97. Plamann Apple Creek 18 Appleton, WI
98. Dabney State Park Troutdale, OR
99. Zebulon Community Park Zebulon, NC
100. Winthrop University Lakefront Rock Hill, SC
101. Oak Meadow Park DGC Cypress, TX
102. Oakwood Park Cottage Grove, MN
103. Williamson County DGC Leander, TX
104. Fountain Hills Park Phoenix (Fountain Hills), AZ
105. Dr. James A. Dillon Park Noblesville, IN
106. Tittabawassee Park Freeland, MI
107. Bryan Park Richmond, VA

By my count, I've hit 31 of the 4-star or better courses, and I've got a dozen more mapped out I think I will have a chance to hit sometime in the coming year. My hope is that when the DGCR top courses of 2009 comes out, that I will have played at least 1/3 of the top courses in the country. Because I think by next year, the top courses list will actually be robust enough to be a valid list of the top courses. For 2008, there were too few reviews to really take the final scores seriously.

How's your count coming?

 

[Hamilton]

i hear you, renny is my favorite course also, and we all think our favorite courses should be way up there...but i think the flaw in this whole analysis is that not everyone rates the same course the same way, some rate higher, some lower, even if they feel the same about all the aspects of that course. following this, it stands to reason that those who would rate higher will rate higher, so it's just a craps shoot of which course will come out on top, based on how many "high raters" have reviewed that course...this is not even considering the fact that the reviewers of many of the "top courses" listed above probably haven't played or reviewed renny or many other courses that we fell should be higher on the list...

however, i do feel that if i played all of the top courses, renny would still be at least top ten for me...

just my two cents...

 

[DGtourist]

Good list....... again. Its nice to see so much quality. I sure wish I had played the amount of quality that you have t i m. Many of these courses seem newer too, me thinks the future looks bright for DG.

 

[bazkitcase5]

Lester Lorch Park - Coyote DGC Cedar Hill, TX at #21...

I'm sorry, but I just do not see it. People have their opinions and different people like different courses, but I was not impressed when I played this course. I've only played it once while visiting Dallas, so I do not want to review it until I've had a fair chance to play it again, but I can not imagine it being in the top 100 courses, much less the top 50...

After playing Coyote, I was only able to play half of the Beaver course before it got dark and I wished I had played there instead (some local told me Coyote was better when I arrived). It seemed like a much better course, but I look forward to making a trip out there in the near future.

 

[EclipticOne]

im pretty stoked that whistlers is high up there. ive only played 5 courses and hope to road trip soon

 

[nicfit]

Beaver Ranch / Conifer Park representing!!! 'bout time.

 

[martinb]

top 50

havent played all those courses but i do know without a doubt renny should be way up on that list, not 51st. i can safely say glenwood springs, stafford lake, and coyote point are not as good as renny is. not to say they arent really good courses, but renny is better in most respects to those courses.

 

[_.-Dut-._]

Renaissance is an amazing course, havent found the time to play the Gold version yet but the original layout is beautiful by iself.

 

[mndiscg]

Giant's Ridge will be near the top of the list if enough people venture into northern minnesota.

 

[DWill]

Sadly, I've only hit 6 of these courses. I think as this site matures, the cream will rise to the top. Everyone has their own criteria what they like, and different parts of the country have different attributes that make that course great for that area. Hopefully it won't come down to a popularity contest.




__________________
Cool Disc Golf Apparel

 

[t i m]

I played disc golf in Texas for ~8 years, and have played pretty much all the top courses in the state. And I would agree that Lester Lorch (Coyote/Beaver) shouldn't be near the top.

If I were doing a top five for the state of TX, it would be:
* East Metro Park (Manor, TX)
* Cameron East (Waco, TX)
* Circle R Ranch - two courses (Wimberley, TX)
* Lester Lorch - Coyote/Beaver - two courses (Cedar Hill, TX)
* Harry Meyer (Rockwall, TX)

I know that Circle R and Lester Lorch both have two courses, so technically you can rate the courses separately, but in my mind, being able to park one place and play two full courses -- both good -- increases the VALUE of each course. If Coyote and Beaver were 10 miles apart, I wouldn't like either one as much. I've always treated it more like a massive 36 hole course than I have as two separate courses -- after all, the way it flows best, you play 16 holes on one, play 18 on the other, and then finish the last two of the first course to get back to the parking lot. Flow dictates that those courses go together, so I rate them as a single entity in my mind.

No Texas course belongs in the top 10, IMHO. It's debatable whether any belong in the top 50. I know that statement will probably anger a lot of Texas golfers who have HBB -- I would have been the same way when I lived there -- but I've found that Texas is such a big place that folks from there are less likely to play much out of state, so they have less perspective. They also have playable weather year round, which further encourages Texas golfers to stay within a few hours of home. And without seeing places in KY, MI, PA, NC, CA, OR, etc..., it's hard to judge what's out there. I haven't seen the current top four courses, but I've played three of the top 10 and nine of the top 25, and more than 30 of the top 100 (in nine different states), so I feel like I've got a pretty broad perspective.

I fully understand Texas golf. I lived there, and if I hadn't been in college, when gas was cheap and roadtrips were a great way to spend time, I wouldn't have played anything out of state either. And course quality has gotten a lot better in Texas in the past few years. When I started playing in 1997, none of those courses existed.

I think Texas courses will continue to improve (East Metro Park is a great example). And someday there will be some truly top-ranked courses there. But it's hard with Texas land to compete with the beauty and challenge of hills and mountains you have some other places. In part because for me, top be a top-ranked course, a place has to have aesthetics as well as great play and other features. East Metro is one of the best pieces of land I've seen used in Texas -- read my review, I loved it -- but it still isn't the same as some private course out in the mountains, where you roll out of your tent to see the run rising over the mountains, and the first rays of dawn bouncing off the pond and glinting on the chains of a nearby basket. (Your at PawPaw, baby!)

And really, I should have phrased things more carefully earlier. Renaissance is my favorite course to play golf at -- design, shot variety, etc... -- Paw Paw is my favorite play to BE. And it earns infinite extra points for the intangibles. It's what the top 10 is supposed to be. I'm sure some of the other top courses are the same way.

 

[arrdee33]

Well, maybe there would be a different way to do the review. in all reality it is dgcoursereview.com
It might be too late to change, that would be up to timg.
but what if there were something similar to a survey. and you gave 1 to 5 ratings based on different aspects of the course.

something like:

Rate these aspects one to five:
parking..................._ _ _ _ _
signage.................._ _ _ _ _
tee pads................_ _ _ _ _
fairways "fair"........._ _ _ _ _
benches................._ _ _ _ _
trashcans.............._ _ _ _ _
flow......................_ _ _ _ _
and so on and so forth.
then the averages would be tallied off the inputs..............it may work out to a course getting a 4.2 or 3.6 or 2.9 of whatever, and then be even more specific

of course this is just an opinion, i guess everyone will still be biased towars there home courses.
but i know for example sharp springs in TN, IMO would receive a high score, but one could look and see that my rating of the benches would be poor.........not because they are not plentiful, but because some jackass stomped the middle of a bunch of them caving the centers down, cause your break between hols to be slanted.....

thoughts????
good???
overkill???

 

[craigg]

I've played about 30 of the courses on that list.
What I have seen is that there are lots of folks who review a course, and rate it emotionally, instead of objectively. Someone who has only played 15-20 courses can't possibly know what a 5 really is, not trying to be mean or anything - but ignorance in this case is not an insult - if you don't know - you don't know. There are several courses on that list that are over rated - and with luck that will change as more reviews are logged in.

 

[timg]

It's been discussed in the past.. in the end, K.I.S.S. prevails. Making the review process too complicated/long won't do anything but discourage people from reviewing courses.

 

[DGtourist]

I like to see how these list are always evolving as more reviews come in. Courses like east metro and Beaver Ranch spring up and courses lke Dela sink, its fun to watch. I would like an update to this list in six months that includes billboard hot 100 like arrows up and down.

 

[srm_520]

As I look at this course list - I truly wonder what people believe a 5 looks like. I may be too harsh, but isn't there almost always something that could be done to a course to improve it. Size, shape, type, a feel of the box. Options off the tee, fairway, and rough. Basket location in relation to other baskets as well as the area. Does the course flow? Does playing it take your breath away??? All of these things - I mean - I really want to play Maple Hill, because Pease is the highest I've played, and I thought the course was cool, but it didn't really blow my mind. Sounds like in the end I just need to play more courses.

 

[craigg]

Beaver Ranch is a perfect example of what I'm talking about. I'm thrilled that there is a nice mountain course to play - and it's probably a jammin course - but come on guys. Lousy parking lot, no tee pads, and a 1/2 mile walk to the first tee does not equate to the best of the best!!

 

[biscoe]

Well, maybe there would be a different way to do the review. in all reality it is dgcoursereview.com
It might be too late to change, that would be up to timg.
but what if there were something similar to a survey. and you gave 1 to 5 ratings based on different aspects of the course.

something like:

Rate these aspects one to five:
parking..................._ _ _ _ _
signage.................._ _ _ _ _
tee pads................_ _ _ _ _
fairways "fair"........._ _ _ _ _
benches................._ _ _ _ _
trashcans.............._ _ _ _ _
flow......................_ _ _ _ _
and so on and so forth.
then the averages would be tallied off the inputs..............it may work out to a course getting a 4.2 or 3.6 or 2.9 of whatever, and then be even more specific

of course this is just an opinion, i guess everyone will still be biased towars there home courses.
but i know for example sharp springs in TN, IMO would receive a high score, but one could look and see that my rating of the benches would be poor.........not because they are not plentiful, but because some jackass stomped the middle of a bunch of them caving the centers down, cause your break between hols to be slanted.....

thoughts????
good???
overkill???

the pdga tried something along those lines- didn't work.

 

[valkyriefb11]

Ive played 4 on that list ... 3 more soon enough
I think that list is going to be changing a lot over time though ... the really good courses will stay or go up on the list. those not so deserving will fall to where they belong.

 

[milow369]

Delaveaga, Santa Cruz, CA. listed at 24 is way under ranked. It's a travesty and devalues this top 100 list in my opinion.