Cease and desist for reviewing courses?

In addition to the obvious human safety issues, unsafe/irresponsibly designed courses can really set things back at neighboring communities.

When decision makers hear about problems at a course in some neighboring community, it going make it a lot harder (or impossible) for someone to get more responsibly designed course put in somewhere else.

They're not going to consider that one designer created an unsafe design, while a proposed might be a great design that co-exists well with other park activities.

They're just going to hear/read about close calls (or worse) happening at XYZ Park, and think... "No, thank you. We don't need that happening here."
 
I actually know of someone who received a Cease & Desist letter after complaining publicly (but not a review) about a re-design of a public course. That was in 2016, amidst some other drama a few folks here may recall, and I'm not going to dredge up the details -- partly because enough time has passed to let it lie, and partly because I wouldn't without permission of the recipient, who I'm pretty sure would like to let it lie as well.

I will toss in that it's a leap from a Cease & Desist letter, to a lawsuit. You only have to pay a lawyer for a few minutes of his or her time, for the C&D, and it can just be an empty threat. It's harder to get a lawyer to handle a lawsuit, if there isn't merit or a lot of dollars in it.
 
In addition to the obvious human safety issues, unsafe/irresponsibly designed courses can really set things back at neighboring communities.

When decision makers hear about problems at a course in some neighboring community, it going make it a lot harder (or impossible) for someone to get more responsibly designed course put in somewhere else.

They're not going to consider that one designer created an unsafe design, while a proposed might be a great design that co-exists well with other park activities.

They're just going to hear/read about close calls (or worse) happening at XYZ Park, and think... "No, thank you. We don't need that happening here."
A thousand times this... eventually there is going to be an incident somewhere that changes the perception of disc golf among the public course purchasing community. It will likely be a small child getting permanently injured (or worse). These dangerous courses installed by people who have no idea what they are doing will be the source. Put in fewer holes or none at all if you can't put in something safe for Dog's sake.

There was a very old course near me that had a couple holes that were disasters just waiting to happen. The course was an old object course originally played with Frisbees that had baskets installed later. Eventually a lot more players came along and brought things like destroyers into the mix. The most offensive holes got changed a bit due to a stream restoration project that had nothing to do with disc golf. Of course the most dangerous one of all was also easily the best hole there from a disc golf perspective and the players cried about it changing. I was sooooo happy to see it go.
 
I once had a course I'd rated a 3.5 reach out to me for slandering their course bc I updated the Course Conditions to Poor (they thought it was a review)(and they'd removed half the baskets temporarily, so I thought "Poor" was fair for conditions).
 
There's a balance between learning to accept criticism constructively, and having the inner confidence to develop a thick skin.

My general rules of thumb are:
1) Consider the source.
Does the opinion come from someone who has a legitimate knowledge of the subject, or some blowhard wannabe?

2) How many others share that opinion?
While there's usually some value in considering dissenting opinions (particularly when that person views the subject from a very different perspective than yours), I generally find more validity in a consensus of opinions, than the odd outlying opinion.

Some course designers (as well as reviewers) get so butt-hurt with a lower rating than they think their course deserves (or a thumb down on their review).

Who said it, and how much weight does that person carry with you? Is that opinion widely held by others who actually know the subject?

Answering those questions should help you put the criticism in context.

But if you let some keyboard warrior who wants to feel important on the interwebz, live in your head rent free, that's your problem.
 
Kinda like buying a drink in Mexico, if you can reach to put your money on the counter you'll be served. If you have money to purchase baskets you are qualified to design a course.

Can't speak about this specific example, but I see it - ill-advised courses put in without much thought creating poor designs and/or creating safety issues where designer often just want a course, ultimately spending more time defending efforts than they spent on the actual design or feasibility review.

With so many more online resources and qualified designers, it's too bad this still happens. Bad for the sport!

I'm pretty sure because of liability, PDGA wouldn't touch any kind of pre-certifying course design program - unless of course it's lucrative ;)
 
I'm pretty sure because of liability, PDGA wouldn't touch any kind of pre-certifying course design program - unless of course it's lucrative ;)
The PDGA has neither a stick nor a carrot available to prevent manufacturers from selling targets to anyone who wants them. The manufacturers are the only ones with any control over it and there are now so many manufacturers that getting them to agree on anything will be impossible.
 
Update: I sent a nice email to the mayor with my review attached. He responded professionally and has even started playing disc golf. Hopefully this leads to a better course on a different property in town in the future when this one get 86'd or downsized.

I still have not received a cease and desist like some other locals have.
 
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