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Can it be???
- Thread starter harr0140
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Cgkdisc
.:Hall of Fame Member:.
If it's a 5 now it's at least a 5.5 with fall colors coming soon. Of course all of the other northern courses with hardwoods should get a 0.5 bump for fall also.
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- Jan 4, 2009
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hmmm youve got me thinking I need to head that way with my wife, even if she doesnt play disc golf with me its a way I can get her to the area.
I know highbridge has been ranked highly, I just didnt expect anything to pass flip city. . .
I know highbridge has been ranked highly, I just didnt expect anything to pass flip city. . .
I think we are going to see a lot of shake up in the top ten with such a low threshhold of # of reviews for being in the top ten. Mind you this doesn't take away from Highbridge (which I hear is MUST play course, and I will play it in a month). ..BUT I think the courses like Idlewild/Flip/Beaver with more than 40 reviews and still near a five speaks a bit louder than just having 10 or so and being a top ten.
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I agree Tom . . . and I look forward to the time when I can compare them both. I played blue ribbon pines and bryant lake this weekend in MN and although bryant has been taken off the top 10 now . . . it was fun to play 2 courses that were at one time ranked top 10 . . . plus I played winter park in Kewaunee now ranked 6th about 3 weeks ago. So I have played some top notch courses now and can compare hem to all the other 10o or so course I have played. I started off my disc golf career on one of the most played courses in the country (freeman lake in elizabethtown KY) and was disappointed because I expected more . . . but not I have a true representation of the sport. I love to travel and play different courses as shown by my dedication to this site and getting reviews done . . . I want to help people make decisions about hitting up a course or not. I have played some real duds and been the first reviewer and I have now played some prety awesome courses. I wish I knew if there were any people on this site that have played more than 3 or 4 of these top 10 . . . and including the ones that have less than 10 reviews but still have rankings higher than 4.5 overall.
drgnslyr221
Newbie
I think 10 reviews is way to low of a threshold for consideration of top ten.Maybe 25 but I would say at least 30.The course looks awesome though.
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I would have to give more credence to the overall ratings of courses that have been reviewed by numerus members.
Nothing off Highbridge - never seen it, and would probably consider myself very lucky to play it. But what's to stop a small group of friends who are passionate about a particular course from writing some glowing reviews and plugging it with a bunch of 5's?
If the course only has 10 or so reviews, that small group of friends has exercised a great deal of influence - they could be responsible for over half that course's reviews/ratings. But with 40+ reviews, their influence isn't so severe. You get more robust results with the larger sample size.
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That actually is what I feel happened with bryant lake park . . . it was probably the locals who wrote all the reviews, because when I played it . . . . although I enjoyed it . . . the reviews had it built up way to high in my mind. I just didnt think it was a top 10 course . . . whereas Winter Park in kewaunee WI I did feel was worthy of that spot and I had played that just 2 weeks prior.
Now as out of towners play it and have more of a frame of reference the rating goes down!
Usher
Birdie Member
Once it gets more reviews from more outsiders, it will get a more of its "real" review number...
Blueberry definitely deserves a spot up there, at least in the Top 3. Granted, I haven't played many of the other Top 10 except Winter Park in Kewaunee, but when you head up to Highbridge you will be blown away by the natural beauty of the area...reviewers might be tempted to give it a high rating before even playing it!!! Because of its EXTREMELY secluded location (and like Chuck has said in other threads), it probably won't receive the volume of ratings the other top courses do, but then again not many of the locals near Highbridge are avid DGers; indeed, many of the reviewers have travelled from far and wide to experience what previously was a course with few reviews, yet was highly recommended, so the fact that it's drawing people from all over the country--and of course it's not JUST Blueberry, but all the other courses at the resort--speaks very highly of its superiority.
When you talk to John, the owner and primary maintainer of Highbridge (who has never played DG, but is probably more passionate about it than most of us), he is more than happy to share his vision for the future for this beautiful chunk of land he's inherited. I'm sure Pro Worlds will be held there again. I can't wait to go back.
When you talk to John, the owner and primary maintainer of Highbridge (who has never played DG, but is probably more passionate about it than most of us), he is more than happy to share his vision for the future for this beautiful chunk of land he's inherited. I'm sure Pro Worlds will be held there again. I can't wait to go back.
Ive had my eye on Highbridge for a while now, it looks like a great destination. Surprised to see that it jumped to #1 though 
.
And I had the #1 and #2 courses in the world in my back pocket too! Damn.
.And I had the #1 and #2 courses in the world in my back pocket too! Damn.
Cgkdisc
.:Hall of Fame Member:.
There are more baskets (90+) than people (45) located in Highbridge. There are clubs near Flip City and Idlewild with more members than the whole Highbridge population. I'm not sure that anyone living within 2 hours of Highbridge has even entered a review yet. So there's no "homer" effect currently or even possible.
skinner21
* Ace Member *
Cool, another top 10 course in WI, which means an easier road trip for those of us in IL looking for good trips.
skinner21
* Ace Member *
except this course is about 8 hours from Chicago
As for the number of reviews, they seemed to be from mostly out of towners (including some trusted reviewers, I'm looking at you tex), the course designer, and maybe 1 or 2 locals. This course seems legit. Can't wait to make my way up there, but it may have to wait til next year.
As for the number of reviews, they seemed to be from mostly out of towners (including some trusted reviewers, I'm looking at you tex), the course designer, and maybe 1 or 2 locals. This course seems legit. Can't wait to make my way up there, but it may have to wait til next year.
Slightly off topic. I wasn't impressed with Beaver Ranch. The course lacked shot variety. It didn't take any thinking to play. You throw and either hit your line or don't. Couple that with the natural tees and long walk from the parking lot and I will not be going out of my way to play it again. I've only played a few comparable mountain type courses but I would say Sipapu was much better than Beaver Ranch. If I were to list the top courses I've played I wouldn't put Beaver ranch in the top 5 and it is the only course I've played that is currently in the top 10. (Lester lorch and circle R have made short appearances)
I guess you guys make no distinction between quality and quantity. What makes you guys think Flip and Idlewild don't have the same issues with their scores being bumped up by crappy two sentence HBB reviews from locals? I mean just read their reviews. Flip just got one this morning (0/8 helpfuls so far) and has had three just this month. Coincidence, since it just got knocked off its pedestal? I doubt it. In fact, I'm starting to suspect some of the Flip reviewers are sock puppets.
Ten reviews is plenty high a threshold for the time being considering fewer than 20% of the courses in the directory meet that threshold, and fewer than half even have five reviews. Data on a lot of our courses has not been allowed to fill in. If you keep raising the standard, its never going to be allowed to, and the Top 10 list is never going to change that much. If anything, I'd suggest moving the standard down to eight.
And congrats to Blueberry Hill. I've always wanted to go visit Highbridge since watching the '07 Worlds video. Hopefully, this will help plug the entire complex for a lot of folks.
drgnslyr221
Newbie
Has nothing to do with quality over quantity.And I don't happen to think this is a case of what we are talking about.The simple matter is it would be real simple to distort the top ten seeing as I would hope most people have more than 10 friends.We were just pointing out the vulnerability to making the threshold too low.If I ever get the chance I would love to play all the courses at Highbridge it looks like a disc golf haven.I don't think either one of us was knocking highbridge (I know I wasn't).
Perhaps it would help if we'd agree to not crown a national champion through a poll, but decide it on the field of play instead.
drgnslyr221
Newbie
The simple fact of the matter is the vast majority of people are not going to be able to play all the top ten courses.I'm blessed in that my in-laws live down the street from Beaver ranch which has plenty of shot variety by the way.I grew up in Ft Worth so I learned the game at Z-boaz and had Lestor Lorch park 30 minutes away.
I just don't think that 10 "locals" should be able to sway the top ten.But it's not that big of a deal and if you enjoy the course your playing that's all that matters.
I just don't think that 10 "locals" should be able to sway the top ten.But it's not that big of a deal and if you enjoy the course your playing that's all that matters.
Flip does have more crappy reviews than any other course, that's true, but it also has a 5.00 ranking from eight trusted reviewers which is higher than the average of the other folks who've reviewed it (4.877). Idlewild is the same way, 17 TRs for a 4.92 average versus a 4.88 from other folks. My theory is that Idlewild gets more TRs because it's centrally located (compared to west michigan) and is probably playable for a couple more months out of the year.
Oh, and if you want to use anecdotal evidence regarding review length as a basis for slinging mud, go take a look at the last couple of Idlewild reviews... not exactly Bill Shakespeare material.
I guess what I'm getting at is that I don't understand why you're trying to imply that either Flip or Idlewild or any of the top 10, for that matter, aren't worthy of the praise they've received. If folks who travel hours upon hours to play these courses (like me) didn't think highly of them after playing they wouldn't be in the top 10 anymore.
As for reviews, I think 10 is a fine number. Highbridge should now see an almost instant increase in traffic and reviews. It'll be interesting to see how many folks make the trip to visit the new course on the scene that's even farther north and in an even more remote location than Flip. I know I'll make the trip at some point, probably early next summer. I'm already looking forward to it.
