I don't understand Udisc course ratings

[Mando]

Originally Posted by Olorin

I honestly don't understand why Udisc ratings are so inflated and why there are such a predominance of 5.0 ratings.

I am baffled. What do you think?

I think that if a person is giving a one hole course on Udisc a 5 star rating, they are part of the problem.

[Countchunkula]

Originally Posted by aphilso1

The reviewers' opinions mirror those of the app developers', apparently. uDisc claims Chicago is the #2 disc golf metro area, based on "both how many courses each area had in relation to its size and how good the courses were."

https://udisc.com/blog/post/top-disc...ities-usa-2021

I'll add to the chorus. Chicago being #2 is crazy. There have been a lot of really nice courses added since I started playing, but Chicago area dg is still defined by nasty niners.

Our two best courses are at opposite ends of the metro area and traffic's no joke here. Picking a central location between the two leaves you at least a 45 minute ride away from either (in light traffic). Almost all of the quality courses are in the outermost ring of suburbs (easier to find available land, but farther away from where most of us live). I'd almost say it would be best to divide the metro area in two at the traditional mason-dixon line of Madison street.

[Mando]

Originally Posted by Gblambert

Unlike DGCR, Udisc focuses on finding courses, providing layouts, hole lengths and recording scores. Reviews are an afterthought. The reviews themselves are not rated, there are no trusted reviewers, no option to sort reviews by date or reviewer experience level.

Perhaps it's regional, but most of the folks I play with never heard of DGCR, but everyone uses Udisc. My home course has been in existence for 7 years. During that that it has been reviewed 11 times on DGCR and over 1,500 times on Udisc. Since Udisc asks for nothing more than a simple number rating, lots of folks are happy to comply.

So, in the absence of formal review criteria, how do most players assign that number rating to a course on Udisc? Most, I believe, are rating the course based on the experience they had while playing and not the subtleties of course design. Did they have a great time while playing that day? If yes, then they will more than likely give it a perfect 5.0 in Udisc.

Yes! Rather than launch a crusade against Udisc, wouldn't it be more productive to fix DGCR. It ain't perfect either.

[wolfhaley]

Originally Posted by Mando

Not in theory. I watched it happen on my own course, where 90% are using Udisc.

Just curious, but what layout will be set up in May? There's four different maps on Udisc right now. Or is it a couple different ones?

[Mando]

Originally Posted by wolfhaley

Just curious, but what layout will be set up in May? There's four different maps on Udisc right now. Or is it a couple different ones?

We have a layout just for guys like you... Full Monty Vistarama...all 30 holes.

[wolfhaley]

Originally Posted by Mando

We have a layout just for guys like you... Full Monty Vistarama...all 30 holes.

Well that's what I like to hear 👍

[Mando]

Originally Posted by wolfhaley

Well that's what I like to hear 👍

We keep it out of public view cuz there is a big chance of visual overload. Only for folks who are in "too much is just enough" camp.

[Three Putt]

Originally Posted by Countchunkula

I'll add to the chorus. Chicago being #2 is crazy. There have been a lot of really nice courses added since I started playing, but Chicago area dg is still defined by nasty niners.

Our two best courses are at opposite ends of the metro area and traffic's no joke here. Picking a central location between the two leaves you at least a 45 minute ride away from either (in light traffic). Almost all of the quality courses are in the outermost ring of suburbs (easier to find available land, but farther away from where most of us live). I'd almost say it would be best to divide the metro area in two at the traditional mason-dixon line of Madison street.

When I lived up there early on I lived in Elgin and worked in Wauconda; a guy I met at Shady Oaks lived in Naperville and always wanted me to go to West Park and Channy. When I'd suggest that we go to Crystal Lake or Round Lake he'd go "Are those up by the Dells?" He had no idea where anything in Lake or McHenry County was. He didn't know what anything North of O'Hare was. Shady Oaks was pretty much the Northern limit of his idea of Chicago.

[Countchunkula]

Originally Posted by Three Putt

When I lived up there early on I lived in Elgin and worked in Wauconda; a guy I met at Shady Oaks lived in Naperville and always wanted me to go to West Park and Channy. When I'd suggest that we go to Crystal Lake or Round Lake he'd go "Are those up by the Dells?" He had no idea where anything in Lake or McHenry County was. He didn't know what anything North of O'Hare was. Shady Oaks was pretty much the Northern limit of his idea of Chicago.

This pretty much describes me prior to disc golf. The northern half of the suburbs might as well have been Wisco as far as I was concerned. The desire to find new places to hit trees with golf discs gave me the shove needed to go explore up there.



I'd go so far as to say that Chicago isn't the best dg metro area in Illinois. I think Peoria is probably more deserving, just based on the ratio of quality courses to players. Depending on how you consider the Quad Cities (IL/IA border), that metro area should be in the conversation too.

Also, with the growing popularity of dg, it's near impossible to get a round in at the Canyons on a weekend without way more waiting than I'm willing to put up with. If I wanted tourney pace of play, I'd sign up for a tourney. So, it's been a couple of years since I've played the best course in my area.

[aphilso1]

Originally Posted by Countchunkula

Depending on how you consider the Quad Cities (IL/IA border), that metro area should be in the conversation too.

I once had a 2 week long business trip to the Quad Cities. It was 4 months before I started disc golfing. I still regret the unfortunate timing of that. Lots of good courses in the area and I didn't even know what disc golf was yet. Would have made that trip way more tolerable.