Illianasconsinigan Members (Part III)

[notapro]

F that; Rollin' Ridge is elite. No homerism needed.

 

[jasonc]

Maybe we just hit it at a bad time? :\ There were people EVERYWHERE. Picnic tables full of people in fairways, fishermen blocking the water carries, kayak-ers landing (literally) on our teepad, walkers, sunbathers, et al.

FWIW, I didn't have any problems with people at West Lake Park.

I played it in December....not sure if that had anything to do with the lack of walkers and kayak-ers, but the 20-30 degree temps probably kept the sunbathers out of my way. :|

 

[notroman]

I've played West Lake Park on busy days before. A couple of the holes really can be overrun with people having picnics, family events, etc. I forget which hole, I think 11, can get really bad.

 

[BionicRib]

I'm more or less just curious about what the guys on this thread have to say about highbridge. My wife and I played bear all the way through after we were told that it was mowed.........1 hole was mowed, the first hole. You can get to hole 12 or 13 ok even though the grass is a bit high in spots (on the fairway), but after that it was just brutal, and that was kind of a downer because it would have been nice to go all out on those last 6 or 7 holes. The par 4s and 5s on those holes required 3 or 4 good to great shots to be able to have a chance to putt for birdie......(I love that kind of golf).

As far as West Lake goes.......Some of those safety issues would be solved if the park just simply moved some of those picnic tables to safer areas near some of those tees. I can see the argument for bad design there, but only really with the hole (i don't remember what number maybe 5) where the basket goes around the corner to the right, right next to a parking lot. I just love that course for the challenge......sure I lose a disc or two everytime I play it, but that doesn't bother me. I have never been there when its was busy with people or other disc golfers. Most disc golfers are afraid to play that course and have to much pride to admit it IMO.

 

[notroman]

Hole 4 at West Lake goes towards the parking lot and then bends. I can see that one being an issue. Hole 5 is the crazy one around the lake from the long tee, which people like to use for sun bathing, fishing, and apparently now docking their kayaks.

 

[Jukeshoe]

Rollin' Ridge is tits, pure and simple. It was obvious before they even poured the first teepads.

Re: West Lake...I couldn't believe Alan asked those people to pause their picnic (mind you, they were in a designated picnic area...it just happened to be in the middle of a fairway) so we could throw through.

 

[BionicRib]

What if you went to play rolling ridge and you showed up and half the holes had knee high grass and over growth covering the original lines on the holes. Would you still make it elite? Or would that be an issue that deserves a bad overall rating.

Thats kind of where I'm at with Highbridge........great holes, great design, flow, multiple tees, par 4's par 5's for all skill levels.....everything I love about a course..........but.........the lack of manicuring makes a lot of those great holes a bit too ridiculous to justify a 5 in my book.....

.....its a shame, because I know John has a million projects and is always working on them. For people who live 3 hours away or less it might not be a big deal.........but I would feel horrible for the group that makes a 6, 10, 12, or 20hr drive and shows up only to find out that 1 or 2 of the courses are in great shape to play......just my two cents

 

[Jukeshoe]

Hole 4 at West Lake goes towards the parking lot and then bends. I can see that one being an issue. Hole 5 is the crazy one around the lake from the long tee, which people like to use for sun bathing, fishing, and apparently now docking their kayaks.

Yeah, I do believe it was 5's tee.

 

[tallpaul]

All I can say about High Bridge is that I've not been there when I could not play all I wanted to (usually at least three courses) in great shape. With that said, as noted; I have not played all 18 of Bear yet (or any of the White Tail holes). I have been there numerous times at this point though. So, my perspective is that, while things may not always be perfect, I've never felt let down by maintenance.

Maintenance issues can often be found on any course....

It can certainly be a factor in a review though; but I always feel High Bridge gets a bit of a bad rap; based on what I, personally, have seen there...

 

[tallpaul]

Being in the top ten and hosting world's has already served it's purpose; to have peeps make the trip there. If it drops out; because reviewers down grade it for maintenance; well; that just means the place is even more deserted when I show up...win/win. I like having a course to myself; like days of old....

 

[RPS2012]

Are we talking about west lake in Iowa!?!??! =D

 

[Jukeshoe]

We're not talkin' West Park, Joliet.

 

[agibson]

Anyone headed out to Round Barn for the tournament next week? I initially heard pretty good things about the course, but haven't been to play it yet. If I get certain things accomplished at work in the next ten days, I'll try to make it.

Any tips on the course that might not be obvious from the reviews, for a MA4/MA3 player? Holes I should definitely practice, or the like?

 

[notapro]

Any water holes. The rest are pretty vanilla.

 

[krupicka]

I'd agree. Have a plan for you how you are playing the three holes around the pond.

 

[Jukeshoe]

3rd that emotion. Water holes are tricky...rest of Round Barn is pretty straight forward. Maybe check out the "stacked" basket hole, make sure you know which one you're supposed to throw to.

 

[agibson]

I'd agree. Have a plan for you how you are playing the three holes around the pond.

Definitely makes sense. Thanks for the heads-up.

Looks like a 300+ foot water carry, potentially! On 4L. Maybe 350? Needless to say I won't be going for that one.

But, for 4 long, it looks like it definitely takes some thought to decide _where_ to try and lay up. I suppose the plan can always be "just finish right"...

3 long and 5 short actually look awkward for me. 250 feet and 200 feet, with water to the left of the basket. Actually, for the 250 feet I'm probably OK. Depending on what that stuff looks like short, and to the right, of the basket (marsh? OB or not?). But, 200 feet might be tricky.

Water used to spook me pretty badly (learning the game at Rogers Lakewood, with number 1 opening up with a non-massive but intimidating water carry). I've found some comfort in throwing floating stuff across water (sub-140 blizzards), and am consistent enough with them to use them in a variety of non-water situations as well. (That may change, perhaps, if my form improves enough that their squirelliness starts to really punish me on bad shots.)

But, 200 feet is tough. I'm not sure I can control my floaters (light weight, high speed drivers) at that length. A buzz with some anny? But, I'd be nervous risking the disc. A roadrunner, which I often use on somewhat longer shots? Interesting challenges at least! I might have to play around with simulated shots like these in a field...

 

[agibson]

OK - apparently it's red (what I was calling long) tees for everybody.

So, 5 short (and indeed 11 short) aren't issues.

But 4L might be challenging for sure (the very long carry, or interesting choice of where to lay up).

And 3L, 5L, maybe also 4L, could be interesting if there's wind.

 

[agibson]

3rd that emotion. Water holes are tricky...rest of Round Barn is pretty straight forward. Maybe check out the "stacked" basket hole, make sure you know which one you're supposed to throw to.

Interesting. Baskets stacked on top of each other with, according to one review, the red basket on top (seems the reasonable choice, but worth checking). 225 feet. What's that make the basket... 7 feet off the ground or something? (Maybe a little less? It'd be pretty awkward if it was hard to retrieve your disc!)

 

[mashnut]

Only the basket and chains of the top basket are there there aren't two full poles, so it's not difficult at all for anyone over 4.5' or so to retrieve their disc. The "long" basket is on top, so it has a little bit more difficult putt than the "short".