R.I.P. Coyote Trace

[sisyphus]

Terrible, but understandable news: Eric Posted this in the course condition updates for Coyote Trace:

COURSE IS CLOSED and we are pulling the baskets. We just do not have the time to repair the damage done by the flash floods earlier this year and to remove the remains of the ash trees we logged due to the emerald ash borer. Priorities have changed on our farm and we are moving in other directions. We thank all of you who played here and were so kind in your rating of Coyote Trace. It was a pleasure to have you here.

It's a real shame that Mother Nature did this to Eric & the folks who built such a beautiful course, but I totally understand the disappointment they must feel in having invested such an incredible amount of time and effort into this treasure, only to have to either face it all again, or shut it down.

So thrilled I had a chance to play it. :thmbup:
So sorry to see it go.
Thanks for sharing it with us while you could, Eric! :hfive:

 

[namar]

A true bummer, this course looked fantastic.

 

[gdub58]

What a shame. One of the best designed courses I have ever played and it was only going to get better as they were planning to put in additional tees and basket locations.

 

[Atvizory2000]

It is a real shame. Got a chance to play this course 3 times and it was an amazing course.

 

[AdamE]

It was a real treat being able to watch this course evolve. I was there for the first walk through when Martin and I met Eric, marveled at the rolling hills and walked for hours through the vast wooded wilderness. The course grew into one of the best courses I've ever played, Eric and Edie are such wonderful people and gracious hosts. Thank you for letting us come enjoy your amazing course!

 

[InnocentCrook]

So glad I had the chance to play it back in the end of June. It was a well designed and challenging course and he should be very proud of what he was able to do. Not only that, Eric was such a great host and guide. At my request, he spent several hours with us playing through the course, answering questions about the design, issues he's run into as a private course owner (as we are embarking on that same journey currently), etc.

It's definitely bittersweet for me. Eric and I came to an agreement a couple weeks ago and the discatchers from Coyote Trace will be making the short trip up I-71 to the course my brother in law and I are building on our land. We're a handful of holes into the design/build (See "Executing the Dream" thread for pics/updates/details) but we hope to have 9 holes playable sometime this winter. (Wife and I just had our second child, so that has slowed things down a bit.)

 

[donnyv]

Bummer
They put in a lot of work and had good reviews so far.
Glad to hear that the baskets will at least have a new home at Hidden Ridge.

 

[ru4por]

So glad I had the chance to play it back in the end of June. It was a well designed and challenging course and he should be very proud of what he was able to do. Not only that, Eric was such a great host and guide. At my request, he spent several hours with us playing through the course, answering questions about the design, issues he's run into as a private course owner (as we are embarking on that same journey currently), etc.

It's definitely bittersweet for me. Eric and I came to an agreement a couple weeks ago and the discatchers from Coyote Trace will be making the short trip up I-71 to the course my brother in law and I are building on our land. We're a handful of holes into the design/build (See "Executing the Dream" thread for pics/updates/details) but we hope to have 9 holes playable sometime this winter. (Wife and I just had our second child, so that has slowed things down a bit.)

For the love of God....and our game, could you stop having sex with your wife and finish your dang course. Glad to hear the baskets are going to good use.

 

[DavidSauls]

Boy, hate to read stuff like this. I guess Coyote Trace joins that lamentably long list of great private courses that can no longer be played. I'm not sure which I miss more---the ones I visited and can't return to, or the ones I never got to see.

 

[goosefraba1]

Hate to hear that. Coyote Trace is the best course that I have had the chance to play. Eric is a great host... and I hope that he can remain active in the disc golf community. God knows that the Louisville area needs a guy like that around. Hard to believe that a course that was probably within a year or two of cracking the top 10 is now extinct.

On a positive note, I'm glad to see that those baskets are staying in Kentucky!

 

[bballr4567]

So sad to see a gem go. I was planning on taking a 3-4 day vacation next year and this was on the list.

 

[pmorgan1214]

I was definately looking to play here. I heard they are making another course close by that might have the same potential.

 

[discNDav]

I am thrilled I had a chance to play it, my review predicted it as a future top 10.

 

[Martin Dewgarita]

Sad.. I was just looking at adding it to my fall road trip itinerary. I think I miss the ones I never got to see more. There's hundreds of courses, many of them great, that I only had the chance to play once and will never play again just by circumstance.

 

[sisyphus]

OK, rather than starting a new thread, I want to ask for a little group feedback and consensus on the topic of when is it appropriate for someone not affiliated with a course to notify site administrators that a course should be moved to 'extinct'?

Coyote Trace is now a pretty clear issue: The course owner (Eric) updated DGCR personally, with his course condition update, and we know his baskets went to another course in development, so it should obviously be changed to extinct.

But there are times when we're out there course bagging, and come across ones that look defunct. Certainly, it feels like a case of "I've seen it with my own eyes: there's no way this course remains: no baskets, no tees, ...it's gone". I don't mind calling that one in. Especially if I can get confirmation from someone local or someone listed as owner, designer, etc.

But in some cases, I've come across a course that still has baskets in an untended field, but the gate is locked, and there's no evidence of play visible, or on this site. Sometimes, the last update here is two or three years old, and indicates it was in that condition then. I've even tried to contact the folks who built, operated, or were most recently out there (and got no feedback).

What does etiquette say? Get it listed as extinct, knowing that if it's revived, it can just get switched back? What do you all think?

 

[timg]

I'd just make a judgement call. If the baskets are rusted out, half missing, half falling apart it's probably a dead course even though something remains. No baskets in the area is an obvious extinct.

 

[Jukeshoe]

OK, rather than starting a new thread, I want to ask for a little group feedback and consensus on the topic of when is it appropriate for someone not affiliated with a course to notify site administrators that a course should be moved to 'extinct'?

Coyote Trace is now a pretty clear issue: The course owner (Eric) updated DGCR personally, with his course condition update, and we know his baskets went to another course in development, so it should obviously be changed to extinct.

But there are times when we're out there course bagging, and come across ones that look defunct. Certainly, it feels like a case of "I've seen it with my own eyes: there's no way this course remains: no baskets, no tees, ...it's gone". I don't mind calling that one in. Especially if I can get confirmation from someone local or someone listed as owner, designer, etc.

But in some cases, I've come across a course that still has baskets in an untended field, but the gate is locked, and there's no evidence of play visible, or on this site. Sometimes, the last update here is two or three years old, and indicates it was in that condition then. I've even tried to contact the folks who built, operated, or were most recently out there (and got no feedback).

What does etiquette say? Get it listed as extinct, knowing that if it's revived, it can just get switched back? What do you all think?

I've seen courses that were borderline "extinct" that ended up getting a face lift at a much later date.

I guess you don't want to be too hasty and assume it's truly extinct (vs just in really bad shape pending repairs).

 

[Mando]

I'd just make a judgement call. If the baskets are rusted out, half missing, half falling apart it's probably a dead course even though something remains. No baskets in the area is an obvious extinct.

So, has the extinct course designation changed in the last couple of years ?

 

[sisyphus]

So, has the extinct course designation changed in the last couple of years ?

I'm not a site admin, but personally, your question did have me remembering to qualify the "no baskets" issue...

There are regions where baskets are pulled for the winter, and those courses should be listed as 'seasonal', and someone needs to be diligent about the course condition updates having a helpful statement to the effect of when it's closed and when it will be reopening.

What I'm hoping for here is to have the site be as helpful as humanly possible for the traveling course bagger.

 

[Mando]

It used to be that some "extinct" course still had baskets...probably more accurate to call them temporary than extinct.