Are "Gimmicks" becoming more acceptable?

[BrotherDave]

The old guard has always seemed anti-gimmicks in design. By gimmicks I'm talking artificial OB, "island" greens, mandos (especially double and triple), raised baskets, etc. "Too much like putt-putt with windmills" they'd say. "Nobody observes mandos" they scoffed. But with the growing popularity of watching the pros among the general player base it seems as if we're getting conditioned to accepting, maybe even liking, the gimmicks. For example the USDGC has always been a R&D lab for design gimmicks, from its endless gold rope, square bale created islands, bamboo gate, and now the mozzarella sticks. If your local course started incorporating more features like this into the design would you scoff as much as you used to?

[elmexdela]

peep vision quest its a god damm circus of a course with no actual remarkable course design

brp is now going the route of artificial ob by observing their competitors at vq

yet the dumbard playing over the weekend loves a day trip to these courses

[BrotherDave]

There's definitely a novelty factor. I prefer all natural, rustic courses like the Iron Hill course. But not every place has the terrain and space available to pull off an Iron Hill or those Green Mountain courses. Are we gonna end up with courses like Vision Quest being the new normal?

[elmexdela]

if were talking straight rustic all natural mn has some like hidden lake and chains edge and mississippi river county park which are great rustic back acre courses no cement teepads and no gimmicks just great disc golf

there is a course "ruined" by my local stomping grounds it has 4 raised baskets one is legit cuz its a death putt with a big drop off if you miss or run the tee shot but the rest are just unnecessary and add nothing there isnt any wind either because its so wooded

perhaps its mass appeal to have the gimmicks to draw in that day trip crowd

[broomerang]

(the below is not talking about USDGC or any specific course).

Nothing wrong with putting artificial obstacles up when you don't have much natural elements to work with. If a course was totally open, no ob, nothing to force lines, it would be nothing but a hyzer fest.

OB is great for 2 things: score separation via risk/reward, and reducing penalty from landing in an unplayable lie (the kind you actually throw from, 3-4-5 times...). The latter can spend up competition rounds as well. Feel free to play a casual round without OB if you want, your not playing against a field. I prefer it to be next to a natural barrier of some kind, water or thick brush, but a painted line is fine if its not Ledgestone.

Mandatories are fine as well. The usual intention being, forcing a certain shot shape to prevent long arm players from taking the hyzer route. I'm fine with double/triple Mando's, I'm less fine with multiple Mando's on a hole, that turn it into some kind of candy cane layout.

Islands are just OB all the way around. I don't see a problem here as long as the expected shot will be thrown with a slow enough disc that you can have some control. If it's 400+ feet away and often windy, well that's a bit different.

I can point to plenty of holes and even some courses that are completely natural that still feel VERY gimmicky.

In short I don't like all the holes I've seen on tour but I think a lot of the newer designs are very thoughtful and strive to be much more fair to all players while still creating interesting results.

And if you disagree you can always join in the effort of designing and maintaining a course instead. How many courses are free for us to play that we've contributed nothing to. On the flip side if a course is pay to play and you didn't enjoy it, don't play it again? Seems obvious.

[broomerang]

Originally Posted by elmexdela

perhaps its mass appeal to have the gimmicks to draw in that day trip crowd

Interesting lines, visual stimulation (eg natural beauty), and challenge are the 3 elements most likely to draw people from out of town. I don't care how the 3 are achieved but if a course has none I'm probably not stopping on my way through town let alone planning a trip.

[elmexdela]

Originally Posted by broomerang

Interesting lines, visual stimulation (eg natural beauty), and challenge are the 3 elements most likely to draw people from out of town. I don't care how the 3 are achieved but if a course has none I'm probably not stopping on my way through town let alone planning a trip.

so those are the 3 you choose to value and doesnt necessarily mean others value those as their top 3

[DiscNinja33]

Originally Posted by broomerang

(the below is not talking about USDGC or any specific course).

Nothing wrong with putting artificial obstacles up when you don't have much natural elements to work with. If a course was totally open, no ob, nothing to force lines, it would be nothing but a hyzer fest.

OB is great for 2 things: score separation via risk/reward, and reducing penalty from landing in an unplayable lie (the kind you actually throw from, 3-4-5 times...). The latter can spend up competition rounds as well. Feel free to play a casual round without OB if you want, your not playing against a field. I prefer it to be next to a natural barrier of some kind, water or thick brush, but a painted line is fine if its not Ledgestone.

Mandatories are fine as well. The usual intention being, forcing a certain shot shape to prevent long arm players from taking the hyzer route. I'm fine with double/triple Mando's, I'm less fine with multiple Mando's on a hole, that turn it into some kind of candy cane layout.

Islands are just OB all the way around. I don't see a problem here as long as the expected shot will be thrown with a slow enough disc that you can have some control. If it's 400+ feet away and often windy, well that's a bit different.

I can point to plenty of holes and even some courses that are completely natural that still feel VERY gimmicky.

In short I don't like all the holes I've seen on tour but I think a lot of the newer designs are very thoughtful and strive to be much more fair to all players while still creating interesting results.

And if you disagree you can always join in the effort of designing and maintaining a course instead. How many courses are free for us to play that we've contributed nothing to. On the flip side if a course is pay to play and you didn't enjoy it, don't play it again? Seems obvious.

Couldn’t have said it better myself. It’s all ok under the right circumstances.

[teemkey]

Kind of funny that mini-golf is moving away from gimmicks ...

Increasingly, competition-grade miniature golf courses differ from the kind of course that most Americans think of — fewer gnomes, dragons and pirates stalk the professional circuit than in the old days. Newer-built courses instead feature a series of AstroTurf putting greens that look sober and almost respectable. They are sculpted to be tricky, with variations in the elevation and pitch of the greens. That adds an extra degree of difficulty, making skill more important than luck.

source

[broomerang]

Originally Posted by elmexdela

so those are the 3 you choose to value and doesnt necessarily mean others value those as their top 3

For sure. It would be interesting to see a list with all the reasons a person might travel to play a course. Or the top 5 things that make a course great in their opinion.