Lefty, throw FH & BH, 320-350 D with backhand of late.
250-270 with FH, dotn use as much as used to.
How I generally do Course Reviews: I like courses with variety of challenges. I'm a simple man, really. I like courses to have 3 main things. Trees, elevation, and water. If a course has all three, usually I'll give it a good review. Some great courses only have two out of three, usually just trees and elevation, (though in Houston usually elevation is the part lacking) but they are designed very cleverly, which makes up for one missing piece.
I like playing holes that are unusual and fun. Not an open, flat field with scattered trees, like many courses are. If I play a hole, and want to describe it in my review later so others will want to play it too, thats probably a good hole. If the course rewards good shots, and offers risk-reward then those are also pluses.Even if the hole is fairly standard, throwing in an interesting twist makes me want to come back and play it again. Examples include: Pin on the edge of a cliff or on top of a boulder. Island greens. Terraced greens. Tunnel shots. Blind shots. A Lake or river in play. A hill or valley in play. OB sidewalks/roads. An unusual shaped line.
All these things, if used well, can make a hole noteworthy, instead of just another hole. Admittedly, few courses could include all of these things, due to limitations of the land they are built on, but making use of what's there for a fun and challenging experience is really what matters. Admittedly, not all courses are created equal. Some are built on land that really isn't all that interesting. Not every course can be, or needs to be a championship course. Some of my favorite courses to play are ones I might have only rated a 3.5, and some of the most challenging courses I've played are ones I might have rated less than a 3. If its fun and interesting, with variety, then it probably got a good mark.
The thing that separates good from great, in my book, is the wow factor. Was this course stunningly beautiful, with a variety of challenges and memorable holes? Usually this means challenging, yet fair. Its a hard balance to achieve, and I have utmost respect for the course designers that are able to reach this pinnacle.
Some things that count against courses in reviews:
One thing I don't like is repetitive holes. Some courses have many holes that are essentially the same. This isn't very creative, and gets pretty boring for me as a player. Also, some courses manage to be challenging without being fun. If there is only one way to play every hole, and the course does not force a variety of shots, then it probably got marked down for it. For example, if a course can be played easily with just RHBH, without any extreme annys or other shots, then its probably not challenging enough. at the same time, if you can just go over the top on every hole with a spike hyzer or a tomahawk, that takes alot of the strategy out of the game as well.
Admittedly I'm biased towards courses in the woods, because areas with only scattered trees are usually too forgiving, in my opinion. Also, I like courses that are technical enough that distance isn't the single most important factor. Most DGers I meet don't throw over 325, so how does a course test skill if its just long open holes that you just need a lot of distance to par. That, IMO is boring, and takes a lot of the strategy and decisions out of the game.
I think maintenance is probably not as important to me as some. I like concrete tee pads, but dont really care that much as long as the tees are flat and level. As long as I know where to go, its not a big issue for me how FTF a course is. Some of the courses I've ranked highest are very un-FTF, but I liked playing them so much that this wasn't really an issue to me. However, a really run-down course might otherwise be great with a little TLC.
Conversely, I feel like some courses are overgroomed. Their fairways are too wide and the holes lose some of their challenge. Some courses that are among the most well-maintained get marked off for making it too easy. Its another delicate balance.
What I've started to realize, after looking for a common theme in the courses I gave 4.5 or 5s to, is that a course doesn't need all three main elements (Trees, Elevation, Water/OB, generally in that order of importance) to be one of the best. If it has an abundance of one of the three, or lots of 2 of them and creatively plays to its strengths, for a unique and challenging experience, it can more than make up for lacking in one element. Here are some good examples of how to make up for a lack of one thing:
Fountain Hills Park, AZ- Open with few trees. Water everywhere and moderate elevation.
Blue Ribbon Pines, MN- almost no elevation, but tons of huge trees and several ponds in play.
Justin Trails Big Brother, WI- No water, but tons of crazy elevation and 2 generous scoops of trees.
Lambs Creek, WI- Crazy amounts of all three.
So, to recap,
3 MAIN Elements of Potentially Good Courses
Trees
Elevation
Water/paths/other misc OB (tho water is usually best)
Other SECONDARY, Complimentary Details
Risk Reward Opportunities
Baskets-hillside/elevated/protected?
Hole Variety-different curves, diff lines
Length Variety-some long, some short
Fun!!
Tee Pads/Signs/Benches/Mowing/Course Flow/Maps
Thickness of Shule
Width of Fairways/tunnel shots
IT Factor- signature & unusual holes, scenic views, etc
Well, hope that all makes sense, and maybe answers some questions about why I review the way I do.
golf in the AM on saturday and my birthday party on saturday . . . undecided about sunday but I should get out and play somewhere!!! I just sent you a facebook invite, if you want to stop by send me a message and Ill get you directions and address. We will be starting around 3 with brats burgers, hot dogs and chicken breasts and all the beverages you can handle. Bring something to share with everyone and you will be allowed in!
Hey man, sorry I had to leave right away after we finished yesterday. I figured you would have caught up to us, because we were playing doubles and kinda slow. Anyways, I will be in town for another 5 days if you want to head out and play a round in the next few days let me know. I have to get some Christmas shopping done but I would play at least 1 round every day . . . especially since I stayed home today to get all of my work done. Let me know.
The golf course part of the dretzka course will not go in until the golf course shuts down so I am sure they never give a date on that until it happens because the county has to make money on the golf before they allow the disc golf to open.
P.S. Parkside has 11 of the 12 baskets in now and I am planning on hitting it this weekend. I am also going to Silver Lake with Terry to walk a course he is designing right now at Fox River park I think it is called. I played the older 9 holes this spring, but I think there are 18 more awesome holes going in into a seperate section of the course. It is darn near IL but if I ever hit up parkside I wouldnt mind a further drive south to hit this course if it lives up to what Terry is saying about it. I am hoping to get some insight from Terry about design/installation and hopefully I can make a good connection and possibly be his go to guy for course installation someday. I also love the design process and think i could add some valuable input, so step #1 of my master plan is in effect. I will let you know how it goes and let you know what the course is like after we go down there sometime next week.
I was there today and the original 18 is still setup, but the 9 baskets on the east side of the road (the summer alternate 9) have been removed and were being put in. I saw Mark dropping off some of the teemats on some of the holes. It looks like at the very least 1-5 were in, but I did not see 6, 7, 8, 9 but I didnt look that closely either because I wasnt planning on playing it.
Ive already analyzed it and I would have to hit some majorly popular courses to hit diamond status. There are 5 other people ahead of me. I am not sure if I am ahead of you right now or Olorin but a week ago we were all within just a few votes right around 500.
The leader had 893 votes already and is pretty well travelled. Thevalkyrie Kid.
There are also these #'s Innovadude 649, ericj 683, dgtourist 651, donovan 676.
I do not think it is gonna happen.
Nice to hear about baraboo . . . I played that on my way to MN this summer. I enjoyed it but those rubber pads had some serious issues! Also i had heard about whitewater and will have to hit that up sometime next year to see the new holes.
Parkside is open all winter I believe. I might make a weekly trip down there to play all of them each day. I will go to Dretzka everyday I am here that isnt horribly nasty.
Just thought I would let you know that Parkside has the 18 hole course and now a 21 hole course on the other side of the road. What was the additional 9 this spring has had 12 holes added to it already. You may want to cut and paste your review of the east 9 so you can add it to your review down the road. I am going to wait for sure but I just saw a post that some of the baskets will be assembled and installed in the next week or so. The sleeves were put in this weekend. I am gonna head down there next weekend possibly or the weekend after and do what measuring I can unless I see that there are already signs, but I assume there will be no signs until they get some more money and finalize the design. There is always some tweaking when a course is freshly done I assume. Just thought I would give you a heads up about the course and that I will take care of adding the new course to the site. Later
I know you are jealous. I am so hooked can you tell. I should be at about 150 courses by spring. That is almost ridiculous, but I dont even care I am having fun doing it. I am gettng way better too. I have gotten some of my discs beat in real nice that the hyzer flip is becoming possible with some of my drivers (valk and beast). My Destroyer is beat a bit too and I can throw that thing a mile now.
Hey . . . I got your text about Elver. I went to Appleton and hit 6 more courses. Plamann, Grignon, school course in Kaukana and one in Kimberly and Ohauser in Menasha. I was supposed to play with tallpaul but he had to work so his buddy steve came out and met me for the day anyways. I had an awesome time and theose were some quality courses . . . even the school courses were sortof fun. I am looking forward to my winter trip to florida because I may be able to hit as many as 25 courses. I am going to Branson MO for a week, and can hit like 8 in that area. Then our drive from MO to fort myers I plan on hitting 5 or 6 on the way. There are at least 20 between Fort Myers and St. Pete where we are spending a night or two so I hope to hit a handful of those. Then we head north through North Carolina to see some friends and family and I hope to hit one of those very highly rated NC courses at the very minimum and maybe some others.
u from madtown right??? well tomorrow me. i am driving down to madison disc with a buddy and was wondering if maybe u would like to meet somewhere and play around with us... iam think Heighstand or Elver are the ones we will be hitting up.... let me know peace...
I recently lost my star orc 172 and need a replacement. Your orc came up when I searched for it. Are you still willing to trade your 172 Star Orc. If so, could I get a picture.
After looking at your bag to trade you I have, Cheetah, and a 9/10 Pro Wraith 175, I have other stuff just let me know
Good God man! That sounds spectacular. I played Beaver Ranch for the first time the other day and I thought that was cool. Definitely can't wait to hear what you thought of all of them.
where you from my friend sheboygan wisconsin here soon to be planning a texas trip wanted to play a tourney there for so long i cant recall how long so im going to do it this nov or early dec
Soooooooo, I got to visit my Grandma in Crystal Lake, IL today and my dad and I say to ourselves, "we should play a course while we're down there". We check the site quick and see that we can either play Lippold or Fairfield. Both have gotten 3 disc average ratings so we quick choose Fairfield, print a map and directions and hit the road. Can you see where this is going? After a ****ty day on a ****ty course I come back to log my score and out of curiosity check the reviews. Bingo, yours is the first one I see, one disc and a hearty rant on how crap the course is. Granted it had cleared up considerably since you played, its still one I or my dad will never return to. Should have checked the reviews first!
And thanks again for showing us around Hiestand the other day. We all had a great time. And if you or anyone you know are in the CO mountains, make sure to hit me up.
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