And I'm not going to name the individual, as I don't believe in these episodes where we stone someone with red thumbs for having obtuse tastes in the desirable disc golf experience, and the reviewer that inspired me to write this commentary is hardly the only offender. Anyways, the gist of my point is...
Sometimes, its best just to not submit a review.
Yeah, I get it. You invested a lot of gas money to get there. You may never pass that way again, and you want to document the experience. Totally, I get it. Back when life was a little more free and happy going, I was one of you.
But let's be real. We both play a sport that 85% of the time, has no entry fee. When you are not paying specifically to access the venue, you can only expect so much in regards to the conditions you might encounter when playing a particular track. Sometimes, overgrowth hasn't been addressed. Sometimes you hit the bad part of the mowing cycle. Sometimes the foliage isn't in on the trees yet, and these are things that can happen when the weather is normal.
Speaking of the weather, it isn't always normal. Around where I live over the last month, it has been anything but. May was one of our wettest months on record. We have reservoirs statewide and in neighboring states that have had to do emergency water releases. Major highways have been shut down due to floodwaters. Some towns have had to have evacuations.
Like many places, a number of our disc golf courses are in flood plain areas that aren't much good for other things, and as a result courses built on those pieces of land aren't doing so good. Even on courses that are still playable, the soil is saturated, parts of those courses are muddy and as a result, the local parks department hasn't been mowing for awhile. So yeah, when that hasn't happened for a few weeks, you can expect taller than normal grass.
The thing is, had you arrived 30 days sooner, or 90 days later after everything has been cleaned up, these issues you're carping about like they're a permanent fixture of that course, wouldn't be there. Do you honestly expect the red carpet to be rolled out for you, when it isn't even rolled out for the folks who play there all the time? If a course in your neck of the woods had just had an episode of flooding, storm damage, fire or some other issue that was probably an acute matter, and someone from out of state, ignorant to the situation, came by and complained about it not being in impeccable shape, how would you feel?
I too have come across courses where there was unkempt grass, standing water, chiggers from too much standing water, branches and sometimes entire trees down. Parks departments and nature can only clean this so fast, and for a niche activity that they likely don't make any revenue from, their incentive to expedite things isn't exactly a priority. It has been that way for as long as I've been playing. Those of us playing long enough have made peace with it. Its a price many of us are willing to pay to keep disc golf cheap and accessible.
I know I can't stop you, hell, I'm not even going to implore you do so, but in all honesty, its just better in some cases to tick a course onto your played list, and let any judgment of it go. You honestly didn't get to experience it during reasonably normal conditions. That's not its fault. You're welcome to keep your notes in case you do pass that way again to see if that acute situation has been dealt with.
Just my $.02. Agree if you may, disagree if you must, discuss if you wish to. This isn't the first rant regarding this subject on here, and i doubt it will be the last.
Sometimes, its best just to not submit a review.
Yeah, I get it. You invested a lot of gas money to get there. You may never pass that way again, and you want to document the experience. Totally, I get it. Back when life was a little more free and happy going, I was one of you.
But let's be real. We both play a sport that 85% of the time, has no entry fee. When you are not paying specifically to access the venue, you can only expect so much in regards to the conditions you might encounter when playing a particular track. Sometimes, overgrowth hasn't been addressed. Sometimes you hit the bad part of the mowing cycle. Sometimes the foliage isn't in on the trees yet, and these are things that can happen when the weather is normal.
Speaking of the weather, it isn't always normal. Around where I live over the last month, it has been anything but. May was one of our wettest months on record. We have reservoirs statewide and in neighboring states that have had to do emergency water releases. Major highways have been shut down due to floodwaters. Some towns have had to have evacuations.
Like many places, a number of our disc golf courses are in flood plain areas that aren't much good for other things, and as a result courses built on those pieces of land aren't doing so good. Even on courses that are still playable, the soil is saturated, parts of those courses are muddy and as a result, the local parks department hasn't been mowing for awhile. So yeah, when that hasn't happened for a few weeks, you can expect taller than normal grass.
The thing is, had you arrived 30 days sooner, or 90 days later after everything has been cleaned up, these issues you're carping about like they're a permanent fixture of that course, wouldn't be there. Do you honestly expect the red carpet to be rolled out for you, when it isn't even rolled out for the folks who play there all the time? If a course in your neck of the woods had just had an episode of flooding, storm damage, fire or some other issue that was probably an acute matter, and someone from out of state, ignorant to the situation, came by and complained about it not being in impeccable shape, how would you feel?
I too have come across courses where there was unkempt grass, standing water, chiggers from too much standing water, branches and sometimes entire trees down. Parks departments and nature can only clean this so fast, and for a niche activity that they likely don't make any revenue from, their incentive to expedite things isn't exactly a priority. It has been that way for as long as I've been playing. Those of us playing long enough have made peace with it. Its a price many of us are willing to pay to keep disc golf cheap and accessible.
I know I can't stop you, hell, I'm not even going to implore you do so, but in all honesty, its just better in some cases to tick a course onto your played list, and let any judgment of it go. You honestly didn't get to experience it during reasonably normal conditions. That's not its fault. You're welcome to keep your notes in case you do pass that way again to see if that acute situation has been dealt with.
Just my $.02. Agree if you may, disagree if you must, discuss if you wish to. This isn't the first rant regarding this subject on here, and i doubt it will be the last.
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