-
Discover new ways to elevate your game with the updated DGCourseReview app!
It's entirely free and enhanced with features shaped by user feedback to ensure your best experience on the course. (App Store or Google Play)
My July 2021 Road Trip Recap
- Thread starter cox3
- Start date
Somewhere on this site is a thread asking how far people have thrown in a day -- that is, total of hole distances.
You could make about 10 entries there.
14 courses in one day (including a couple of big ones) is a testament to your routing and navigation skills.
You could make about 10 entries there.
14 courses in one day (including a couple of big ones) is a testament to your routing and navigation skills.
Also...."I walked out of my house, played 143 miles of disc golf, and came home" might be a claim to fame.
cox3
Par Member
I did this trip all by myself. In all honesty, my wife and I separated in January. That is probably why I've played 400 new courses in 7 months this year. I did most of my traveling with her before that so we obviously did a lot of things other than disc golf as well-- although I probably still was playing much more disc golf than she liked.
I think it would be impossible to do a trip anywhere near this one with anyone else. It's literally: wake up, play all day not doing anything else, fix my ice chest for the next day, shower, eat dinner, go to sleep, repeat. Almost no one would want to do that and even someone else who would would slow the pace of play down making it impossible to reach the same volume.
cox3
Par Member
It looks like I did 165 holes on July 4th (Happy Birthday America!) on 14 courses (which included Canaan Riverbend Gold and Winthrop Gold). I think 14 courses in a day is my new record. I did 176 holes in one day in Wisconsin last summer though (on 13 courses). That day in Wisconsin was also about 49,400 feet. This July 4th was "only" about 43,000... A lot of short 9-12 school/church courses in the Rock Hill area...
cox3
Par Member
Well, the first day I drove from Baton Rouge, LA, to Columbia, SC, and the last day I drove from Knoxville, TN, to Baton Rouge so those are obviously the 2 farthest. Aside from those bookends, I drove from Baltimore to Lynchburg, VA, on the day I played Hawk Hollow and I drove from Raleigh to Newport News on one day. Those were pretty far drives. Honestly, I didn't have a lot of high mileage driving days on this trip. I only drove 5,000 miles total from home to home. I did WAY more than that last summer in Wisconsin and the UP of Michigan. And I did WAYYYY more than that in 2018 when I did the Pacific Northwest. The concentration of courses is so great in North Carolina that most of these courses were 10-20 minutes apart tops. I've done plenty of trips where I was driving 30-60 minutes between almost every course because they were just so spread out. That wasn't the case on this one.
cox3
Par Member
I'm going to get back to you on my favorite courses, the hardest courses, the most physically demanding courses, etc.
cox3
Par Member
No. I honestly don't care. I just play disc golf because I love to play. I love to travel and play new courses and see different parts of the country. I love to compete with every course that I play and try to shoot the best score that I can. I love to be physically exhausted and keep going. I don't want to do anything that takes the joy out of it. Which is the same reason I don't do much on social media or content production. Disc golf frees my mind.
cox3
Par Member
Thank you. Planning is paramount to executing a trip like this. I've become kind of an expert over the past 6 years. I create an itinerary of all the courses I would like to play (plus extra "filler" courses that I sometimes play and sometimes don't). I map every route to see what is feasible from a driving standpoint. I decide/reserve every place that I stay before I leave home. Essentially, my goal is to do all research and "thinking" before I leave home so that I don't have to do any while I'm on the road and can just focus on playing and maximize my time playing. This actual trip was virtually identical to the itinerary that I had set before I left home. I had some flexible in Charlotte and Raleigh because I was staying in the same place but I had built-in that flexibility.
cox3
Par Member
I like the way you phrased that, Mr. David! It's so to the point.
cox3
Par Member
Most Rigorous... Keep in mind, that these opinions can be biased based on how tired I am entering the course (courses later in the trip and later in the day were probably just inherently more physically tiring)... With that said, these were the courses that I remember being the most exhausted after/while playing:
1. Liberty University – East
I don't know what it was about this course but it wore me out-- so much so that I called it quits for the day after finishing with several hours of daylight left. There are 20 holes, it is somewhat long, and there is quite an uphill hike to get to hole 13's tee; but what I remember most is that it felt like I had to walk uphill after almost every hole to get to the next tee (playing the long tees). That is an exhausting feeling for me.
2. Panther Creek State Park
Getting up hole 5 and hole 11 are about as physically demanding specific points of a course as you will find. Throw in that it's 9,000+ feet long and it is simply an exhausting course.
3. Stumpy Creek Park
The course kills you on hole 2. Then it continues to kill you with several more uphill climbs on the first 14 holes which brings you near the parking lot by hole 1. Then, in the cruelest of jokes, you play 5 longish holes completely away from your vehicle and have to make a quarter mile walk back through a wide open parking lot.
4. Lake Marshall – Lions
It's long. It covers an absurd amount of area. There are several uphill climbs throughout. This may be the most time consuming 18 hole course you can find.
5. Independence Park
Long with many demanding shots creating more errant shots and mental fatigue than normal. Three pretty significant uphill climbs.
6. Renaissance Park – Gold
One of the original brutal courses. I always feel like I'm about to die when I finish. It's super long and it covers a very large area. The saving grace is that the uphill climbs are minimal and not extreme.
7. Albemarle City Lake Park
For being relatively short compared to most of the others on the list, this course has many significant uphill climbs. The climbing starts on hole 1 so it gets you tired early and at least 1/3 of the course is uphill.
8. Ashe County Park
Given the climbs you have to make to get to hole 9 and 18's tees, it would seem this course would be more tiring. It has some real saving graces though. First, it's at a pretty high altitude so the temperature is normally very benign. Holes 1-7 are really not tiring at all so you are already over 1/3 of the way through the course before the demanding part really begins. The first climb is done entirely in one hole (hole 8) and the second climb is done mostly on hole 14.
9. Liberty University – Camp Hydaway
It's not the worse but getting from 13's basket to 15's tee is quite a climb. Throw in that it's 20 holes and fairly long from the long tees and it's certainly tiring. Oh, it's also probably 1/4 mile walk each way to the first tee and back from the last basket.
10. Rockness Monster DGC @ Piedmont Community College
It probably wouldn't be too bad except for that it's 27 holes. That is time consuming in itself. Throw in that there are many uphill holes and the entire course is more on the natural side and it makes for a long, tiring round.
cox3
Par Member
Kinder Farm Park. 2 tees & 2 baskets on each hole. Played short/short then long/long. Both fun layouts but totally different. It was at the end of the day and I had some extra time and nothing else new close by that I wanted to hit. I pretty much always play the hardest layout available (as long as the signage and tees are the same quality) but I could tell quickly that I was going to have a hard time playing long/long without walking up on a lot of holes to see what was going on so I just played a quick round of short/short and it served as a scouting for the long/long so I knew what I was doing there.
- Joined
- Dec 21, 2009
- Messages
- 3,935
That's pretty funny that out of all the courses you played on an amazing and impressive trip, Kinder Farms is the one that you played twice.
I agree that the new version of Kinder Farm is pretty fun, and way better than the old 9-hole course.
cox3
Par Member
That's pretty funny that out of all the courses you played on an amazing and impressive trip, Kinder Farms is the one that you played twice.
I agree that the new version of Kinder Farm is pretty fun, and way better than the old 9-hole course.
I enjoyed it. Definitely would be a nice place to have near where you live. I'm very partial to 2 tee/2 basket courses with 4 distinct layouts. It's the way to go, in my opinion.
After I was done I hit up some all-you-can-eat crabs at Mike's North. Ate probably 2 dozen. They were good. :-D
- Joined
- Dec 21, 2009
- Messages
- 3,935
Well done, sir!
cox3
Par Member
Alright, here it is, my top 40 from the trip. Don't nitpick too much. It's so hard to rank courses. I'm sure I could easily move every course on the list up or down 5 spots.
1. Lake Marshall – Lions
2. Ashe County Park
3. Panther Creek State Park
4. Diavolo DGC @ New Hope Park
5. Mayflower Hills Park
6. Keeley Park
7. Hornets Nest Park
8. Renaissance Park – Gold
9. New London Technology Park
10. Lake Marshall – Lair
11. Independence Park
12. Elon Park – Angry Beaver
13. Stumpy Creek Park
14. Sugaree DGC
15. Harmon Hills DGC
16. Mill Brook DGC @ Churchville Recreation Complex
17. North Cove Social Club – The Boulders
18. Clark's Run DGC @ Freedom Center – Main
19. Bradford Park
20. Fox Chase DGC @ Chuck Morehead Park
21. Chester State Park – Green
22. The Scrapyard DGC @ Idlewild Road Park
23. Sawmills Veterans Park – Original
24. Albemarle City Lake Park
25. Sugar Hollow Park
26. Camp Canaan – Riverbend
27. Winthrop University – Gold
28. Hawk Hollow DGC
29. Rolling Pines DGC
30. Ditto Farms Regional Park
31. Stoney Hill DGC – Diamond
32. Liberty University – Camp Hydaway
33. Morristown Rotary DGC @ Frank Lorino Park
34. Cherokee Park
35. Goose Landing DGC @ Richfield Park
36. Liberty University – East
37. North Cove Social Club – River Run
38. Buckhorn DGC @ Harris Lake County Park
39. The Claytons DGC
40. Kinder Farm Park
1. Lake Marshall – Lions
2. Ashe County Park
3. Panther Creek State Park
4. Diavolo DGC @ New Hope Park
5. Mayflower Hills Park
6. Keeley Park
7. Hornets Nest Park
8. Renaissance Park – Gold
9. New London Technology Park
10. Lake Marshall – Lair
11. Independence Park
12. Elon Park – Angry Beaver
13. Stumpy Creek Park
14. Sugaree DGC
15. Harmon Hills DGC
16. Mill Brook DGC @ Churchville Recreation Complex
17. North Cove Social Club – The Boulders
18. Clark's Run DGC @ Freedom Center – Main
19. Bradford Park
20. Fox Chase DGC @ Chuck Morehead Park
21. Chester State Park – Green
22. The Scrapyard DGC @ Idlewild Road Park
23. Sawmills Veterans Park – Original
24. Albemarle City Lake Park
25. Sugar Hollow Park
26. Camp Canaan – Riverbend
27. Winthrop University – Gold
28. Hawk Hollow DGC
29. Rolling Pines DGC
30. Ditto Farms Regional Park
31. Stoney Hill DGC – Diamond
32. Liberty University – Camp Hydaway
33. Morristown Rotary DGC @ Frank Lorino Park
34. Cherokee Park
35. Goose Landing DGC @ Richfield Park
36. Liberty University – East
37. North Cove Social Club – River Run
38. Buckhorn DGC @ Harris Lake County Park
39. The Claytons DGC
40. Kinder Farm Park
Cool to see someone love Ashe County that much. I think it's incredible, but not everyone seems to revere it quite as much as I do.
cox3
Par Member
Went there in 2012. Thought it was heaven. Always said it was in my top tier. Went out of my way to play it again this time (which says a lot in itself). Still thought it was heaven. It has its flaws (every course I've ever played does) but it's as beautiful of a park as you'll ever find, it has such a variety of holes, and 9/18 are awesome tee shots that you don't get very many places.
Similar threads
