Adding Holes in the Woods

[Steve West]

Don't just force players to throw straight down the middle of every corridor you find.

Sometimes a long open area works better perpendicular to a fairway. Or to multiple fairways. Or at another angle.

[oldmandiscer]

Use elevation to your advantage. Tee from high and finish with the basket low as much as you can (play downhill). Try and make the basket visible from the tee as much as possible.

[Billipo]

March is best time to design wooded holes. Designer can see through the woods to envision holes. Mark tees and potential pin locations. Watch as foliage fills in. Look for natural fairways ( someone mentioned that point).

Take your time. Remember you need to make the right decision. You will be judged eternally for your design.

[1978]

careful with proximity. It is inevitable that there is a long tee and basket area that you just miss hiding there. Youll see it 5 years from now when a tree dies. Make sure your tees are far enough away from the previous hole for that and to protect players during normal play. If you switch back, remember your rough (should be thinned for play) will be thinned by play and dying trees. Make sure you have plenty of room between holes for expansion and safety.

[1978]

Originally Posted by Billipo

March is best time to design wooded holes. Designer can see through the woods to envision holes. Mark tees and potential pin locations. Watch as foliage fills in. Look for natural fairways ( someone mentioned that point).

Take your time. Remember you need to make the right decision. You will be judged eternally for your design.

Sure but spring/summer is the worst time to cut! All the trees are full of water so everything is heavier and have leaves and it is hot.

[ChrisWoj]

Originally Posted by DiscgolfStu

Just stopping in to say thanks for the comments, much appreciated! I've done a walk through now and have a better idea of the land. It's actually two gently sloping ravines on either side of a small creek. I'm aware that the creek bed will flood and should be avoided, but I'm also hopeful to be able to play across it and back (might need a bridge). I'm going to wait a couple of weeks to venture out again, though, as the leaves are falling and it will be much easier to see potential lines at that point.

What you said about water was what I was thinking to post - the one time I went in and cut holes out of dense wooded land we made sure to wait out a rainy season to see where the water was going to settle, and then we designed the fairways in large part by sticking to the spots that weren't going to flood, or making sure they wouldn't be a major issue with the players (like throwing across it right off the tee, such that you'd have to hit first-available to wind up in the drink).

Another point - I saw some people mention surveyors tape... We bought a couple of those 3000'-5000' bales of cheap twine and literally outlined our fairways. We strung them over/through the prickly ****, looped them around the trees that would serve as the major fairway boundaries, and then literally just "colored inside the lines" when cutting out all of the brush. We didn't cut any trees until we'd cleared all of the brush that was within the twine, waiting to see what it'd all look like before getting to that step.

(sadly this was in 2009 and 6 months of work on 1600'+ of holes that were used in 2 events were allowed to overgrow when I moved out of state for 3 years and nobody cared to expand the rest of the holes and keep the ones we initially did cut)

[glassila]

When using Google Earth, don't overlook the Historical Imagery feature. This allows you to view all the different times a satellite photo was taken. You can see large rocks, evergreen trees and other features much better in a winter image. Huge difference.

[Mando]

A wise man (Riverdog) once told me that you can visualize everything much clearer in the woods, with snow on the ground. Sound advice. I would add that paying attention to game trails can point you in the right direction. Course design is a puzzle.

[DavidSauls]

A puzzle, indeed. I'm amazed that people can do it -- all at once, I mean, not just a bit at a time, over years.

The snow tip probably works better in places that actually get snow every winter. We have to settle for winter and the bare trees.

[DiscgolfStu]

So, it's coming along! We're 4 holes in on one side of the course with 5 to go on the other. Managed to get 3 fun par 3's in and my new favorite hole on the course: an uphill, left to right par 4. I really should get some pics...next time I'm out!