Course Baggers

[mndiscg]

I feel targeted by Mando. 2.34 is my average rating.

 

[Mando]

I feel targeted by Mando. 2.34 is my average rating.

ha.There's actually something quite noble about having such a low rating.

 

[wellsbranch250]

I feel targeted by Mando. 2.34 is my average rating.

I dont mean to speak for all of us fellow baggers, but i think we all admire your commitment to reveal the caliber of courses over a large swath of the country.

You're the Mike Rowe of course reviewers. somebodies got to do it.

mine's pretty low too. 2.420 over 486 reviews

 

[ejvogie]

This as well. I've stumbled across the extremely cool places that I NEVER would have stepped foot (or vehicle) in any other way. I think a LOT of us bag to travel, and travel to bag. Why else would I have ever been to Rhode Island twice?

Elaine

 

[nothinbuttree]

See, this is where I fail as a bagger. I love seeing different parts of the country, and how designers make interesting courses out of wildly varying landscapes.

But closer to home I have 14 un-played courses within 50 miles, and nearly 50 un-played courses within 75 miles. Some are new, some have restrictions, and some I just haven't gotten to yet.

But many are just . . . meh, I don't really care if I ever play them.

Heresy, I know. I suppose that boring courses somewhere else are more interesting than boring local courses.

Life's ultimate question--is it the journey...or the destination?

Wow, sounds like MD has definitely gotten on the ball. I first started playing in 1988 (took 25+ years off) at Calvert Rd. Craig was just working on Seneca at that time. But other than Druid Hill, I seem to recall mainly going to DE and northern VA to find other courses. I'll have to come back and visit this area soon if there are that many now!

 

[Olorin]

I consciously choose to review courses on the ends of the spectrum, and there is a common psychology term for this. (For those who know it, please enlighten me about what it's called.) It makes sense to me that others do this as well. I review the ones on the 0 side mostly as a warning to people who might want to go there but also to nudge people about what needs to be fixed. I review the ones on the 5 side as a way to express my gratitude for the pleasure I had while playing and to thank them for long hours of great work. I also want to encourage others to go there to experience the same pleasure that I did. Also, it's fun to relive my round and cement the course in my memory.

Summary-- my low rated reviews are to help people avoid pain, and my high rated reviews help people experience pleasure. (Psychology again.)

So my average is 2.54 even though I have reviewed fewer 2.5 courses, so my rating graph is M shaped. See "How Normal are Diamond TRs?"

Spoiler

Diamond TRs are NOT normal

 

[Olorin]

Life's ultimate question--is it the journey...or the destination?

I love every single aspect of road trips to play new courses, so for me it's both. Even the anticipation while planning my next trip energizes me.

I love planning the logistics.
I love the tingle of excitement and anticipation for the adventure ahead as I start out in the early morning (often before sunrise).
I love the driving time to think, pray, worship God, meditate, memorize the Bible, listen to podcasts and news, think of new ideas... Some of my most productive thinking time is on the way to new courses.
I love playing with a compatible travel buddy when it works out.
I love going to new towns in far flung corners that I would never visit otherwise.
I love meeting new disc golfers. I especially love giving throwing advice to brand new players and seeing their face light up when then throw straighter and 30 feet farther than they ever had before! I love giving them a light weight Shark to improve their game!
I love obscure attractions in these new places.
I absolutely LOVE meeting private course owners! They are the nicest people on planet Earth!
I love pulling up to a new course and hoping to find at least one hole or one shot that stand out.
I love taking notes and gathering course data. I love estimating elevation changes as a way to give back to the course designers.
I'm not too keen on playing holes that others would say are unplayable, but I will expand the limits of the word "playable" in the name of exploration and to guard my integrity that I played every hole I could. I do not like thorns!
I don't mind creating and updating Udisc hole maps because they have been so immensely indispensable to me at new courses.
I love taking pictures so that I can relive the course later.
I love unique experiences like playing in Death Valley CA or in the cactus ghost town at Frisco Disco in Frisco NC.
I love marking a course as played because I am driven to Master and Perfect what I enjoy!
I love completing playing an area, especially a state.
I love driving to the next course and having time in the car again.
I love the endorphins from exercise and being outdoors!
I love it when I make a good shot and the frisbee follows its intended flight path.
I LOVE to learn new throws and to work on improving weak spots in my game. I love analyzing throwing mechanics.
I love problem solving when my discs don't fly as hoped.
I love feeling my mind in flow state as I block out the rest of the world while I'm on a course.
I love aerodynamics and learning the physics of why a frisbee flies the way it does.
I love the feeling of calm and satisfaction as I pull into the driveway at home.
I love a good night's sleep after a day of discing.
I love entering my notes into MS Excel to produce hole by hole course ratings. I love summarizing the data in my MS Access database.
I like writing reviews on DGCR in order to help others and contribute to the sport.
I love sharing the knowledge I've gained from playing new courses.
I love debating the finer points of reviewing, course design, par, course difficulty...
I love getting Yes votes on my reviews, and I value my HTN ratio most of all!

 

[Olorin]

I don't actually consider myself a course bagger. I don't even really like the term. I'm a disc golf player. I just play a lot of disc golf. My motivation is not to play as many courses as I can. It's to play every quality course and see how well I can score on it.

Cox3,

I like this, and it's helpful to me. I like the emphasis on just calling ourselves avid disc golfers. Most of all I like to watch the flight of well thrown frisbee on a really fun, challenging, scenic hole. I like your emphasis on quality, but I keep getting focused on completing playing every course in the state that I live in, so quality is secondary. My goal is mainly personal, so that I can know from first hand experience which courses I enjoy the most in an area by playing them all. However, I enjoy those trip days even more when I've played a high quality course. I do have a goal of getting to 1000 courses played, but I hope to get there with quality courses too.

 

[Monocacy]

Life's ultimate question--is it the journey...or the destination?

Can I pick both?

Wow, sounds like MD has definitely gotten on the ball. I first started playing in 1988 (took 25+ years off) at Calvert Rd. Craig was just working on Seneca at that time.

Nice! Seneca Creek is now 27 holes and much improved.

But other than Druid Hill, I seem to recall mainly going to DE and northern VA to find other courses. I'll have to come back and visit this area soon if there are that many now!

Great idea! People tend not to think of "Maryland" as a disc golf destination, but from central MD there are a ton of outstanding courses within reasonable driving distance, some of which just happen to be in PA, VA, WV, or even DE.

For example: Course (rating) drive time

Woodsboro (3.83) 0:15
Freedom Center - Clark's Run (4.42, 2.0) 0:25
Ditto Farms (4.03) 0:30
Seneca Creek (4.26) 0:30
Patapsco Valley (4.00) 0:40
Pinchot SP - Quaker's Challenge (4.07, 3.38) 1:10
Whippin' Post (4.41) 1:30
The Woodshed (4.28) 1:30
Mill Brook (4.07) 1:30
Iron Hill (4.30) 1:45
Muddy Run (4.69) 1:50 [DGCR #14]
Turkey Hill (4.12) 1:50
South Hills (4.03) 1:50
The Blockhouse (4.16, 4.09, 3.57) 2:15 [currently closed]
Hawk Hollow (4.73) 2:30 [DGCR #10]
Lake Marshall (4.92, 4.63, 4.33) 3:00

 

[ThrowBot]

I consciously choose to review courses on the ends of the spectrum, and there is a common psychology term for this. (For those who know it, please enlighten me about what it's called.)

...

So my average is 2.54 even though I have reviewed fewer 2.5 courses, so my rating graph is M shaped. See "How Normal are Diamond TRs?"

I'm of no help with the psychology terms, but a statistician would call your M-shaped graph a bimodal distribution.

I agree with the value of reviewing low quality or poorly maintained courses as a warning to other players. Especially if outdated reviews don't reflect the current conditions.

 

[nothinbuttree]

Can I pick both?



Nice! Seneca Creek is now 27 holes and much improved.



Great idea! People tend not to think of "Maryland" as a disc golf destination, but from central MD there are a ton of outstanding courses within reasonable driving distance, some of which just happen to be in PA, VA, WV, or even DE.

For example: Course (rating) drive time

Woodsboro (3.83) 0:15
Freedom Center - Clark's Run (4.42, 2.0) 0:25
Ditto Farms (4.03) 0:30
Seneca Creek (4.26) 0:30
Patapsco Valley (4.00) 0:40
Pinchot SP - Quaker's Challenge (4.07, 3.38) 1:10
Whippin' Post (4.41) 1:30
The Woodshed (4.28) 1:30
Mill Brook (4.07) 1:30
Iron Hill (4.30) 1:45
Muddy Run (4.69) 1:50 [DGCR #14]
Turkey Hill (4.12) 1:50
South Hills (4.03) 1:50
The Blockhouse (4.16, 4.09, 3.57) 2:15 [currently closed]
Hawk Hollow (4.73) 2:30 [DGCR #10]
Lake Marshall (4.92, 4.63, 4.33) 3:00

Great! Another disc golf road trip to plan for! This is great list actually, thanks--I may try to grab a few on my way up to NE this fall.

 

[nothinbuttree]

People tend not to think of "Maryland" as a disc golf destination,

For the record, its Mare'-lin.

I was born and partly raised in Bal'mer, so I know.

 

[Monocacy]

For the record, its Mare'-lin.

I was born and partly raised in Bal'mer, so I know.

Anyone who uses more than 4 syllables to say "Baltimore, Maryland" ain't from around here.

 

[cox3]

Can I pick both?



Nice! Seneca Creek is now 27 holes and much improved.



Great idea! People tend not to think of "Maryland" as a disc golf destination, but from central MD there are a ton of outstanding courses within reasonable driving distance, some of which just happen to be in PA, VA, WV, or even DE.

For example: Course (rating) drive time

Woodsboro (3.83) 0:15
Freedom Center - Clark's Run (4.42, 2.0) 0:25
Ditto Farms (4.03) 0:30
Seneca Creek (4.26) 0:30
Patapsco Valley (4.00) 0:40
Pinchot SP - Quaker's Challenge (4.07, 3.38) 1:10
Whippin' Post (4.41) 1:30
The Woodshed (4.28) 1:30
Mill Brook (4.07) 1:30
Iron Hill (4.30) 1:45
Muddy Run (4.69) 1:50 [DGCR #14]
Turkey Hill (4.12) 1:50
South Hills (4.03) 1:50
The Blockhouse (4.16, 4.09, 3.57) 2:15 [currently closed]
Hawk Hollow (4.73) 2:30 [DGCR #10]
Lake Marshall (4.92, 4.63, 4.33) 3:00

In all honesty, Lancaster, PA, is one of the best places in the country to base out of for disc golf. Gifford Pinchot, Muddy Run, Kline's Run, Ship Rock, Coyote Hills, Codorus, all of the other courses that area, all of Maryland, Iron Hill, Philly+Stafford, Allentown...

If you draw a perimeter from Allentown to Harrisburg to Hagerstown to Baltimore to Philadelphia and back to Allentown, Lancaster sits right in the middle. There are literally dozens of the best courses in the country in that area which is all drivable in under 2 hours.

Nevermind the fact that Lancaster is a nice sized city with plenty to do without all of the headaches that come with the larger cities.

 

[BogeyNoMore]

Anyone who uses more than 4 syllables to say "Baltimore, Maryland" ain't from around here.

So the locals just refer to it as "BM?"

 

[Monocacy]

So the locals just refer to it as "BM?"

Sure. You should walk around Bal'mer saying that.

 

[ejvogie]

Eh, just remind him that the closest newspaper to Hell is in Ann Arbor

 

[Cgkdisc]

In all honesty, Lancaster, PA, is one of the best places in the country to base out of for disc golf. Gifford Pinchot, Muddy Run, Kline's Run, Ship Rock, Coyote Hills, Codorus, all of the other courses that area, all of Maryland, Iron Hill, Philly+Stafford, Allentown...

If you draw a perimeter from Allentown to Harrisburg to Hagerstown to Baltimore to Philadelphia and back to Allentown, Lancaster sits right in the middle. There are literally dozens of the best courses in the country in that area which is all drivable in under 2 hours.

Nevermind the fact that Lancaster is a nice sized city with plenty to do without all of the headaches that come with the larger cities.

Plus, most of the permanent mingolf courses are in that area if that's your thing.

 

[HyooMac]

All this timely talk about Maryland. I just did a bagging run down to norteast MD 10 days ago:

Perryville High School
Brantwood
Victory Street Park
Churchville 6
Mill Brook
Scarboro Hills
Calvert Regional
then up to PA: Broken Chains

My Brantwood and Mill Brook reviews are up; still working on the rest.


The standouts for me were Brantwood and Calvert.

 

[elmexdela]

Can I pick both?



Nice! Seneca Creek is now 27 holes and much improved.



Great idea! People tend not to think of "Maryland" as a disc golf destination, but from central MD there are a ton of outstanding courses within reasonable driving distance, some of which just happen to be in PA, VA, WV, or even DE.

For example: Course (rating) drive time

Woodsboro (3.83) 0:15
Freedom Center - Clark's Run (4.42, 2.0) 0:25
Ditto Farms (4.03) 0:30
Seneca Creek (4.26) 0:30
Patapsco Valley (4.00) 0:40
Pinchot SP - Quaker's Challenge (4.07, 3.38) 1:10
Whippin' Post (4.41) 1:30
The Woodshed (4.28) 1:30
Mill Brook (4.07) 1:30
Iron Hill (4.30) 1:45
Muddy Run (4.69) 1:50 [DGCR #14]
Turkey Hill (4.12) 1:50
South Hills (4.03) 1:50
The Blockhouse (4.16, 4.09, 3.57) 2:15 [currently closed]
Hawk Hollow (4.73) 2:30 [DGCR #10]
Lake Marshall (4.92, 4.63, 4.33) 3:00

funny you should mention this

i forgot if i talked to you about this or not

but i will hopefully be in your neck of the woods next summer

seneca is number one for me to hit up and patapsco second

will spoiled mn folk still complain about the quality of courses in md