States, Metros with the best DG Scene?

[Clue]

I don't rate courses based on weather.

 

[harr0140]

I wonder how many states you could completely cross through the midpoint in the time it takes to get from Ft Worth to Rockwall, or have less people? Comparing DFW to other *metro areas* is like comparing dinosaurs to frogs and turtles.

Course reviews for Austin and DFW are so incredibly inflated. I've played most of them, and I don't mean to sound like a hater because I love playing in Texas, but some of the 4 and 5 star ratings are absurd.

I could flip flop KC and Des Moines all day depending on criteria. KC probably has better leagues and tournaments and is easily more fun, but Des Moines' courses are still better. Charlotte and the Twin Cities are really close as well, and they both have the potential to jump significantly in the next year or two with major course expansions. I think Austin gets a slight edge over DFW. But a real super sleeper is the Quad Cities on the border of Iowa and Illinois, easily a top 10 area in the country.

You have mentioned all of the major cities I have played in (although I am headed to Dallas tomorrow to check out some courses and Kansas City in a few days (might not get to play much because of snow)) I will be able to add more after I finish this road trip, but I would say in terms of quality courses Charlotte is tops for me right now and I have played a lot in the Twin Cities, Quad Cities, SE WI, Northern Ill, the west coast of Florida, and a smattering of courses in Texas now. What I will say right now is that the high rated courses in TX deserve their ratings (so far at least), but the mediocre all seem to be receiving elevated ratings. I just feel that having played in some of the hotbeds for disc golf I can safely say Texas seems to be slightly overrated as a whole.

 

[himynameismatt]

IMO there's like 5 major disc golf scenes in the US, in no particular order...Texas, Carolinas, Upper Midwest(MI, WI, MN), California and the Pacific Northwest...This is fairly broad statement but I'd bet that about half or more of the top pros in the world are from one of those areas.

 

[Midnightbiker]

There are 39 courses in the Greater Houston area.

 

[Lewis]

There are 39 courses in the Greater Houston area.

But only about three inside 610.

 

[Lewis]

IMO there's like 5 major disc golf scenes in the US, in no particular order...Texas, Carolinas, Upper Midwest(MI, WI, MN), California and the Pacific Northwest...This is fairly broad statement but I'd bet that about half or more of the top pros in the world are from one of those areas.

This is 30-something percent of the country's population. Just California and Texas combine for about 20% of the total US population. So it would not be terribly surprising to find that close to half of the top pros are from one of these areas. Anectodally, however, 3 of the last 4 USDGC champions were NOT from one of these areas of the country.

 

[simpletwist]

Saying California or Texas has a thriving disc golf scene is imho ludicrous. If I lived in San Diego Its an all day affair just to drive to San Fran. And Texas is the 2nd biggest state in the union. Metro areas makes more sense to me. Houston with 39 metro courses makes sense, but not Texas. And to say the tri state area of MN, WI, MI as a metro area is again ridiculous. If you have to drive more than 2 hours you are way beyond the idea of a metro area.

 

[esdubya]

Not much love here for the Ann Arbor area. Within 50 miles of my zip code I have 11 4 star+ rated courses, and 51 total. I wouldn't call it the best area, since we've not quite got the geology for it, too flat, but there's a really strong scene. Good maintenance on courses, tournaments constantly, excellent players. The only time I've been to any of our quality courses and not found someone else playing was during a blizzard. And me and a friend still played 24 holes while 4 inches fell.
Oh, and we've got Discraft's HQ, too.

Ann Arbor FTW!

Enough courses to spread out the players, and many are starting to go pay-to-play. If we get our "crown jewel" (details TBA, but it would basically be a 5-disc course right in the heart of town) then Ann Arbor would be THE prime disc golf destination, or at least a very good stop on your way up to Ludington.

That said, Ludington, MI (Flip-Leviathan-Goliath-Beast-Beauty) seriously rivals anywhere else based on quality of course alone. The tourney/league scene isn't crazy there but that is only because the population density is pretty low.

This ranking should also include quantity/quality of local microbrews. Ann Arbor - Portland, OR - NorCal are all awesome. This is where Texas loses!

 

[discmeister]

Lucky to live in the DFW Metroplex

I live south of arlington, 76063, and can hit the courses listed on the initial listed search within 45 minutes. Life is good. Have friens that live in Houston. Sorry,but the quality is not the same and you have to travel further.

 

[JHern]

Saying California or Texas has a thriving disc golf scene is imho ludicrous. If I lived in San Diego Its an all day affair just to drive to San Fran. And Texas is the 2nd biggest state in the union. Metro areas makes more sense to me. Houston with 39 metro courses makes sense, but not Texas. And to say the tri state area of MN, WI, MI as a metro area is again ridiculous. If you have to drive more than 2 hours you are way beyond the idea of a metro area.

You're right, California and Texas both have multiple smaller scenes embedded within them, and this seem to be how people in those states think about it...

For example, inside California, San Diego is an island surrounded by vast disc golf drought (Morley Field is the crown jewel), the LA area is a large scene with courses around the periphery (e.g., Sylmar, Casitas, Long Beach, La Mirada, Oak Grove), there is the south central coast scene (e.g., Waller Pines, SLO), the Monterey Bay scene (e.g., Ryan Ranch-CSUMB, Pinto Lake-Aptos-DeLaveaga-Felton), the south bay scene (e.g., Hellyer, la Raza), San Francisco (e.g., GG Park, Berkeley, and hopefully more soon), the wine/cheese/beer country scene (Stafford Lake, Napa Valley, Ukiah), the north coast scene (e.g., Humboldt State), the south San Joaquin River valley scene (e.g., Bakersfield, Visalia, Fresno), the Sacramento River valley scene (e.g., Stockton, Sacramento), the Sierra foothills scene (e.g., New Hogan, Placerville, Auburn, Grass Valley), the Tahoe scene (e.g., Markleeville, N/S Lake Tahoe, Truckee), and the southern Cascades scene (Shasta, Redding, Chico,...).

Some of these scenes are geographically huge in themselves, and only loosely affiliated across the region. But folks who play tournaments are likely to know most of the other tournament players at least in their own region, and associate with them more than players from another region. The quality of the disc golf scene (courses, players, community organization) also varies dramatically from one region to the next within a state.

 

[himynameismatt]

This is 30-something percent of the country's population. Just California and Texas combine for about 20% of the total US population. So it would not be terribly surprising to find that close to half of the top pros are from one of these areas. Anectodally, however, 3 of the last 4 USDGC champions were NOT from one of these areas of the country.

Hence the "this is a fairly broad statement" part whenever you're talking about California and/or Texas the population of those two states surely inflates the numbers.

And yeah I didn't break up California into Northern or Southern. Didn't seperate MI, WI, or MN, and didn't split up Texas. I don't really know the specific areas within those areas, but know they're all fairly big DG areas.

So honestly if you're in SoCal and are serious about DG I'm sure you make the trip North a few times a year to play tourneys etc. Just as I'm sure people from the DFW area play tournaments in Austin.

 

[giles]

Hence the "this is a fairly broad statement" part whenever you're talking about California and/or Texas the population of those two states surely inflates the numbers.

And yeah I didn't break up California into Northern or Southern. Didn't seperate MI, WI, or MN, and didn't split up Texas. I don't really know the specific areas within those areas, but know they're all fairly big DG areas.

So honestly if you're in SoCal and are serious about DG I'm sure you make the trip North a few times a year to play tourneys etc. Just as I'm sure people from the DFW area play tournaments in Austin.

TX has (for my argument) 3 major disc golf metro areas. DFW, Austin & Houston. From DFW to Austin or Houston is under a 4 hour drive, Austin to Houston even less.

 

[ZMan44]

My vote is for Rhode Island.

 

[simpletwist]

I've just read back a few posts and see that some folks consider climate as a factor, as in being able to play all year long. Who was it not long ago said in the media we are becoming a country of wussies. I played all weekend here in the Great White North. Wind chills around zero Saturday and Sunday, slightly milder yesterday. The wife and I weren't the only ones out there.

You can play all year long just about anywhere. The early forecast for this upcoming Saturday around these parts is a high of 12 and a low of 0. And that doesn't factor in the wind chill. We'll be out there. I like it better with these severe conditions better than 90 degrees and 90% humidity.

 

[himynameismatt]

TX has (for my argument) 3 major disc golf metro areas. DFW, Austin & Houston. From DFW to Austin or Houston is under a 4 hour drive, Austin to Houston even less.

Now I know, and knowing is half the battle!

I think that supports my argument that Texas DG can just be called Texas rather than breaking down each specific metro area esp by anyone who doesn't frequent these areas.

 

[lokirising]

Portland, OR

 

[mashnut]

I've lived and disc golfed in San Diego, Indiana, and now Chicago. I play year round here in the midwest, and have no major issue with playing in the nasty winter weather. That doesn't mean I wouldn't prefer living somewhere where I wouldn't ever have to deal with that. Given the choice of playing year round in a tee shirt with less than 10 rainy days a year and having to bundle up for a third of the year and playing in rain a good part of the rest of the year, it's a pretty easy choice. I definitely wouldn't classify myself as a wussy, but I would still love to be in a place where disc golfing was easier year round.

I've just read back a few posts and see that some folks consider climate as a factor, as in being able to play all year long. Who was it not long ago said in the media we are becoming a country of wussies. I played all weekend here in the Great White North. Wind chills around zero Saturday and Sunday, slightly milder yesterday. The wife and I weren't the only ones out there.

You can play all year long just about anywhere. The early forecast for this upcoming Saturday around these parts is a high of 12 and a low of 0. And that doesn't factor in the wind chill. We'll be out there. I like it better with these severe conditions better than 90 degrees and 90% humidity.

 

[1978]

Hence the "this is a fairly broad statement" part whenever you're talking about California and/or Texas the population of those two states surely inflates the numbers.

And yeah I didn't break up California into Northern or Southern. Didn't seperate MI, WI, or MN, and didn't split up Texas. I don't really know the specific areas within those areas, but know they're all fairly big DG areas.

So honestly if you're in SoCal and are serious about DG I'm sure you make the trip North a few times a year to play tourneys etc. Just as I'm sure people from the DFW area play tournaments in Austin.

And NC has the market cornered on Am World Champions. 6 in 10 years right? 3 Charlotte, 1 High Pointe and 2 Raleigh? (Keatts is a Raleigh traitor, but we claim him in Charlotte anyways)

 

[gj pain]

What up St. Louis?

I think we have some great courses, as well as some crappy ones.

 

[himynameismatt]

What up St. Louis?

I think we have some great courses, as well as some crappy ones.

Home of Gateway Discs too! I would love to visit their factory store someday, I've had dreams about it.