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

[bazkitcase5]

have you played every course on that list? if not, then how can you say that?

 

[swellerdiscgolf]

To respond to arrdee33, I think everyone kind of does that in their head as they rate a course. I rate the courses based upon those things and kind of tally up in my head where it would end up. I also try to think of ways that I would "improve" each course, and take that into consideration also.

 

[bjreagh]

As more people leave reviews the cream should rise to the top. I have played over 70 courses and reviewed more than half of them. I have had to go back and change a few of my ratings since I started. Some were too low and others too high once I started to compare and play more courses. Plus as courses evolve ratings could change too. Hopefully others won't be afraid to make changes since it is so easy to do. (Also, I have rated a course in every category from 0.5 to 5, however the majority of them fall in the 2.0-3.5 range)

One problem I see is that people think a 3 disc rating is an insult, but according to timg's descriptions a 3.0 is GOOD. In fact a 2.5 is your regular run of the mill fun for all course. (on a side note, I noticed a lot more people vote my reviews as unhelpful the lower the rating I give!) Though, one could even argue that there is no such thing as a bad disc golf course! Also, newer players, who have not experienced a wide range of courses, after the best course they have played up to that point may give it a 5, and then a year later they may realize that there is so much better still to come.

 

[Hamilton]

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.

i'm pretty close to that...five of the ten i've played are on that list (idlewild, freeman, vettiner, renny, and hornets nest), and i have plans for three more in the next few months (keriakes, banklick, and mt. airy)...

 

[33tango]

My home course has 8 reviews, 4 star rating and is not on your list that I can find: http://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.php?id=925

 

[DGtourist]

My home course has 8 reviews, 4 star rating and is not on your list that I can find: http://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.php?id=925

The image is rounded up to four stars but if you do a roll over on the rating you will see that its a 3.81 rating.

 

[DirtyMittenDG]

Nice list!

Its cool to see some of my favorite Michigan courses moving up!

Mason County "Beauty" and "Beast" in Ludington, Mi

and "Tittabawassee Park" in Freeland.

These courses will continue to move up the list as people play them!

 

[SimonCarr]

The top 20 of this list looks pretty solid - but it seems like there are quite a few really great courses that are rated 75 or worse. These are all pro-caliber courses, near the bottom of this list:

Nockamixon
Winthrop University
Little Lehigh
Blackhawk
Univ. of Ala. Huntsville (UAH)

Of course these ratings are totally subjective, but it seems like popular parks with strong local followings generate more ratings and better reviews.

 

[crouchingwombat]

I think the ratings are nice and all but reading what people have to say is the best way to judge a course. On this site you get to read about several peoples experiences on a course and then if you get to play it you can write your own review that others can read.

Like anything that can be reviewed a lot of courses have some home court bias. Disc golf is really popular in some areas and not so much in say, south dakota. If there is an absolutely stunning course in S. Dakota but only 1 person has played it because it's in the middle of no where, it will never be considered the best course in the country. Flip city on the other hand has tons of visitors. It's true that more visitors could mellow out the average giving you a better rating but hype becomes a factor also giving courses better ratings.
Everyone reviews courses differently also, newer players might really like a course that veterans hate and both would give a completely different rating. Thats why I like reading some of the reviews.

This site is great because you can read a review and then check out the person that wrote the review . I would have doubts about a 5 star course if it's the only one that person has played. I don't even know where I'm going with this anymore.... Go DGcoursereview.com!!!

 

[scarpfish]

Out of 107 courses on that list, I've hit five of them. Five. Each in a different state oddly enough.

have you played every course on that list? if not, then how can you say that?

That's the thing. I think very few of us have the time and gas money to play them all, so we play (and review) the ones closest to us. I plugged the list into a spreadsheet and sorted them by state. Doing so revealed how biased the list is.

Texas had 13 courses. Michigan had 8. Kentucky had 6. Oregon had 6. Massachusetts, despite only having 18 courses in the entire directory, had 3. Iowa despite having 140 courses in the directory, only had one. Say what?


This list really isn't an objective measurement of which courses are the best. Its more of a roadmap of where we have a lot of DGCR'ers and where we do not (apparently we don't have that many in Iowa). How else can you explain that a small midwestern state with more courses per capita than any other (and there are several championship caliber courses in the Des Moines area alone) only has one course on the list, and by local opinion said one course might be only the second or third best that they have.

As I've told people before, the rankings here aren't worth the hubbub people are making over them because there's too much local bias in the database. Until things balance out as more people become aware of DGCR and start submitting, don't have a cow over it.

 

[humchris85]

Variety is the spice of life

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!!

I see these things as great, you see them as bad that's why I love this site, I get to see the diffrences in oppinion. Parking has no effect on how the course plays, other than that it keeps more people from showing up and crowding up the course. A 1/2 mile walk is nothing, if you won't walk a 1/2 mile to play disc golf than good more golf for me. Plus a 1/2 mile walk just gets the blood flowing before a round therefore I'm more ready to play. I have quite a few courses around here that are deep out in the mountains, one in particular has a 2+ hour walk in, and it just helps keep people away . Aaaahhhh theres nothing beter than spending a weekend out playing disc soo far out in the woods that you can run around butt naked if you want. I'm happy alot of those courses arn't listed, it keeps down the amount of players.

Keep Hucking
-Chris UPDGA # 0001

 

[humchris85]

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???

In my opinion:
Rate these aspects one to five:
parking..................._ _ _ _ _barely matters
signage.................._ _ _ _ _matters a little bit
tee pads................_ _ _ _ _barely matters
fairways "fair"........._ _ _ _ _Worth some points
benches................._ _ _ _ _Doesn't matter
trashcans.............._ _ _ _ _Doesn't matter
flow......................_ _ _ _ _Worth some points
Remember this is just my opinion, other people may see things diffrent.

 

[33tango]

The image is rounded up to four stars but if you do a roll over on the rating you will see that its a 3.81 rating.

Doh! thanks! Didn't know that.

 

[crouchingwombat]

I have quite a few courses around here that are deep out in the mountains, one in particular has a 2+ hour walk in, and it just helps keep people away

Wow man thats great, I would love to hike out somewhere to play disc golf, maybe even spend then night out there.

Like a buddy said to me the other day, "disc golf is just hiking with a purpose."

Not sure where you're located but you can't keep that place a secret for ever!!!

 

[bjreagh]

Wow man thats great, I would love to hike out somewhere to play disc golf, maybe even spend then night out there.

Like a buddy said to me the other day, "disc golf is just hiking with a purpose."

Not sure where you're located but you can't keep that place a secret for ever!!!

Yeah, awesome, where is that? I love backpacking too. I would love to combine both, play some disc golf and eat some s'mores! Oh yeah!!!!

 

[bazkitcase5]

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

have you played every course on that list? if not, then how can you say that?

scarpfish, my comment was only based on the quoted comment above, not the list itself - I personally like seeing lists like that

there will always be a little biased results in rankings of some sort, but in general, it will still allow us to see roughly what are some of the best courses and when people debate/discuss these kinds of lists, we can learn even more and it can even encourage people to go work on their home course, or design a new one nearby that will live up to the expectations of lists like these

 

[scarpfish]

scarpfish, my comment was only based on the quoted comment above, not the list itself - I personally like seeing lists like that.

I think his comment has merit, as does the OP's comment about Renaissance. I personally have never play DeLa or Renny, but I've known a lot of top professionals and longtime DG'ers who have played them. And I think those folks have enough playing experience to make me belive that they're two of the most challenging courses in the country. Those courses have earned those reputations.

there will always be a little biased results in rankings of some sort, but in general, it will still allow us to see roughly what are some of the best courses and when people debate/discuss these kinds of lists,

Umm, no it doesn't. This list is based on nothing more than the results of a mathematical formula, the components of which come from a subjective ranking put in by the users here. Since most of the courses have less than 10 reviews, one super favorable or super critical review can boost it up the list or knock it down considerably. I re-queried the data, and in the short time since the OP's list was posted, Deleveaga has since dropped to #29, and Renaissance to #57. There are also 110 courses on it now.

I would also venture most DGCR's are not long time players or national touring pros. Most of us in fact probably have only reviewed courses within 100 miles of home. I don't think such a player can offer the same caliber of review as said long timers or pros, but under the review formula here at DGCR, we have just as much weight in affecting the results. To me, that diminishes the worth of this list.

we can learn even more and it can even encourage people to go work on their home course, or design a new one nearby that will live up to the expectations of lists like these

Well, I hope not, because I think this list is fair (as in not terrible, but not good) at best. There are a lot of quality courses that aren't even on it which should be (due to lack of reviews), and vice versa (due to too many favorable fluff reviews).

If people want to debate, that's all fine and dandy, I'm all for the discussion. But with respect to the numbers and rankings, I'm trying to tell people not to read much into things, because the breadth of information we have on here just isn't that broad yet. That list is going to look entirely different when some of these underrepresented areas start getting represented. Will that mean these new courses are better than the ones that gets shuffled out? No. It means the database is starting to fill out.

 

[_.-Dut-._]

In my opinion:
Rate these aspects one to five:
parking..................._ _ _ _ _barely matters
signage.................._ _ _ _ _matters a little bit
tee pads................_ _ _ _ _barely matters
fairways "fair"........._ _ _ _ _Worth some points
benches................._ _ _ _ _Doesn't matter
trashcans.............._ _ _ _ _Doesn't matter
flow......................_ _ _ _ _Worth some points
Remember this is just my opinion, other people may see things diffrent.

Just out of curiosity, if none of that matters, what does?

 

[biscoe]

topography, hole design, challenge, dancing girls.

 

[t i m]

topography, hole design, challenge, dancing girls.

So when are you getting dancing girls at Hawk Hollow?