So, Idlewild is down to 3rd

[mashnut]

It's obvious that the course is well above a 1 rating. On the other hand, it's obvious that it's overrated on the list when it's at #3 in the country. So maybe the one star is justified to bring it down to reality.

Because let's be real, the reason it's probably even listed at the top of the list is because homers like peabody and his Kentucky buddies are all trying to push it to the top by creating several DGCR accounts and giving it a 5 rating. Otherwise, would he even care that it moved down to #3? Sounds like someone who has put extra effort in trying to push it to the top. Because I mean, how many disc golfers are there in Kentucky?? LOL jk

Oregon gets a HUGE and dedicated disc golf following, I think, and you don't see their courses with 70+ reviews. A Kentucky course has twice as many reviews as one of the top Oregon courses???

Is Kentucky a tourist destination? I'd like to know how many out of towners are included in the review of this course. So I actually put more credit into reviews that are done by people who are from out of town because there's less bias. And it eliminates the Peabody factor.

Just a thought...

On the other hand, there are people like me who have played a pretty good number of courses all over the country and have absolutely no attachment to Idlewild or the people who designed and put in the course. I happen to think it's a fantastic course and deserves a top rating. Kentucky is a fairly short trip from a pretty large chunk of the country, whereas somewhere like Oregon is a little more isolated, I think that's a big part of the reason why Idlewild has so many reviews.

 

[tallpaul]

^^^^West of Minnesota not very highly represented here; plus, as noted; you travel long distances to play on west coast. When I got to play some in Wash., Oregon, and northern Cali; it took one all night drive to hit the northern cali courses. My poor brother, who's more into ball golf; got to see just how dedicated some of us can be. I know I'll probably get blasted for this; but I think west coast is behind the curve in terms of building courses (just a little); as compared to east coast and midwest. I also think there have been traveling tourney/and non tourney players; touring in these areas much longer than out west. Look at the ages of courses in various parts of country and realize that persons into this sport early; had many more options east and midwest. Kentucky is kind of a central point for east - midwest travel.

 

[mashnut]

Great points Paul, and on top of that, the distances between population centers gets bigger and bigger as you get out to the west coast, which means even more distance in between concentrations of courses.

 

[Posey Ching]

On the other hand, there are people like me who have played a pretty good number of courses all over the country and have absolutely no attachment to Idlewild or the people who designed and put in the course. I happen to think it's a fantastic course and deserves a top rating. Kentucky is a fairly short trip from a pretty large chunk of the country, whereas somewhere like Oregon is a little more isolated, I think that's a big part of the reason why Idlewild has so many reviews.

but you're probably more the exception than the rule. Oregon is isolated, but I'd like to know how many true disc golfers are in Oregon compared to Kentucky. Portland and Seattle are about 2 hours from each other. And these are both big cities with a lot of disc golfers. Maybe I'm wrong but Kentucky isn't a popular tourist destination and there probably aren't too many making a trip to Kentucky just for disc golf. So 70+ reviews on that course?? A little sketchy...

But don't get me wrong, judging just from the info, maps, and pics I see on the course, I know it's a 4 or above course guaranteed. Probably a five.

It just raises a red flag to me when a homer makes a comment about his course moving down to the #3 spot.

 

[mrstiggy]

:hfive::clap: I guess mrstiggy has no future plans of being a moderator.

No need to be a mod, just contribute with what I can

 

[Three Putt]

Maybe I'm wrong but Kentucky isn't a popular tourist destination and there probably aren't too many making a trip to Kentucky just for disc golf. So 70+ reviews on that course?? A little sketchy...

It's just across the river from Cincinnati. It's not like it's in the boondocks four hours from civilization or anything. That would be a better description of where Flip City is.

 

[NDABRUSH]

Look Tim, You are the wizard of OZ around here and have gotten rid of bogus reviews before. can't say what would qualify except when they admit in their review that they didn't even play the course, which has happened. LOL Saying that a course shouldn't be in the top 10 because it isn't beginner friendly sounds like personal preference thing to me. But these are not beginners and 1 of them admitted that it was indeed a suicide bomb attack on it's rating and that he really doesn't think that it is a 1. If I give a course a 5 and then say that it prob doesn't deserve a 5 but I want it in the top 10, then I have just admitted my own agenda and have just shown my illegitimacy. just my stupid opinion.

 

[Swisher Streets]

Funny how 1 review can generate more than 7 pages of replies.

 

[mashnut]

but you're probably more the exception than the rule. Oregon is isolated, but I'd like to know how many true disc golfers are in Oregon compared to Kentucky. Portland and Seattle are about 2 hours from each other. And these are both big cities with a lot of disc golfers. Maybe I'm wrong but Kentucky isn't a popular tourist destination and there probably aren't too many making a trip to Kentucky just for disc golf. So 70+ reviews on that course?? A little sketchy...

But don't get me wrong, judging just from the info, maps, and pics I see on the course, I know it's a 4 or above course guaranteed. Probably a five.

It just raises a red flag to me when a homer makes a comment about his course moving down to the #3 spot.

Fair enough, my first comment on this thread included the fact that I really think we place way too much emphasis on the ranking of courses when we should focus on the reviewing. At the moment, there just aren't enough reviewers to really make the ratings consistent throughout different parts of the country, so they're really most useful in ranking courses in a specific area or region right now.

Also, you may be surprised at just how many of the people who have reviewed Idlewild did travel to the Cincinnati area just for disc golf with three really awesome courses and a bunch of other places to play.

 

[tallpaul]

Lots of big tourist attractions in Oregon and Washington? (I happen to like north west) I'm just sayin....

 

[dmalexander]

Bowling Green Kentucky is a pretty hot discgolf location with quite few great courses, clubs, and tournaments. For a small town it has quite a discgolf presence. There are other awesome courses throughout the state, like holler in the hills and CV in Louisville.

 

[Three Putt]

I'd kinda confused by the two members. They live in Channahon and both say they are good golfers, so Channahon/West Park/Shorewood should be their stomping grounds. They don't have any reviews of those courses between them. The motivation to even bother to write a review of Idlewild appears to be that they had a crappy time and don't think the course should be in the top 10. So much for an objective opinion.

 

[Hitmetal]

Overrated. Period.

We drove 5 hours, spent the weekend and two nights hotel and food. We expected to play a top 10 course. Didn't get it. I love disc golf. Obviously, I have played 110 courses and can't stop. I plan my work trips and family vacations around where I can play discgolf. The wife has accused me of cheating on her with "Valkyrie" and thinks Hyzer is my boss's name. Idlewild needs to ease back, open up some fairways and not be such a "pro's course" because most of us are not pros's and just want to have fun playing a great game.

 

[mashnut]

I'd kinda confused by the two members. They live in Channahon and both say they are good golfers, so Channahon/West Park/Shorewood should be their stomping grounds. They don't have any reviews of those courses between them. The motivation to even bother to write a review of Idlewild appears to be that they had a crappy time and don't think the course should be in the top 10. So much for an objective opinion.

And on top of that, they both put up reviews of Volunteer Park (a terrible little course in a boring little park) with higher ratings than their reviews of Idlewild.

 

[Posey Ching]

It's just across the river from Cincinnati. It's not like it's in the boondocks four hours from civilization or anything. That would be a better description of where Flip City is.

I did not know that.

To another point...the top course list is largely biased to how many reviews each course gets.

And to the other guy's point about being behind on course design. I would agree if we are talking about 10-20 years ago. But there are new courses popping up in Oregon pretty quickly. You also have to look at terrain. The midwest is very flat. On the west coast, you can't put a disc golf course just anywhere. But I like this about the west coast. Yes, it's a longer drive to courses, but it also means very beautiful scenery compared to the midwest. I'm an Iowan who moved to Oregon a few years back. I'll live here until I die. The scenery on a course is always a big plus for me. And the midwest just doesn't have any compared to Oregon.

Horning's Hideout, is a newer 54 hole course (split up into 3 18-hole courses). The Meadow Ridge course, a gold course, would probably be at #1 if there were more Oregonians who knew about this forum.

That's another thing about the top 10 list. It's all about how many people even know about this site and where those people live...

 

[magictenor1]

I'd kinda confused by the two members. They live in Channahon and both say they are good golfers, so Channahon/West Park/Shorewood should be their stomping grounds. They don't have any reviews of those courses between them. The motivation to even bother to write a review of Idlewild appears to be that they had a crappy time and don't think the course should be in the top 10. So much for an objective opinion.

Opinions are never objective which is why we call them opinions. facts are objective. reviews by definition are opinion and therefore subjective.

 

[mashnut]

To another point...the top course list is largely biased to how many reviews each course gets.

Except that three of the top 10 courses have 11, 12 and 15 reviews. To me, the ones that stay at the top of the list after 70+ reviews like Flip City and Idlewild are even more impressive, even with people who clearly hate the course, the overwhelming majority have good things to say about the course and feel it deserves a top rating.

 

[tallpaul]

Overrated. Period.
We drove 5 hours, spent the weekend and two nights hotel and food. We expected to play a top 10 course. Didn't get it. I love disc golf. Obviously, I have played 110 courses and can't stop. I plan my work trips and family vacations around where I can play discgolf. The wife has accused me of cheating on her with "Valkyrie" and thinks Hyzer is my boss's name. Idlewild needs to ease back, open up some fairways and not be such a "pro's course" because most of us are not pros's and just want to have fun playing a great game.

^^^^Takes all kind of courses to make the world go round. I, personally, would not give a course a 4 or above if it did not have very challenging gold level tees. I have not been to Idle yet; but have been wondering if I will give it less than most; due to lack of footage. (Will find out some time this summer). The two of you have perhaps upped my expectations there.

 

[Hitmetal]

Because those Channahon courses have reviews that I feel are accurate. And I am not a blogger, I dont have the desire to review every course I play. 5 star expectations of Idlewild were not met.

 

[DiscChucker]

but you're probably more the exception than the rule. Oregon is isolated, but I'd like to know how many true disc golfers are in Oregon compared to Kentucky.

What would define a true disc golfer?