Top Destination Ratings

[Cgkdisc]

Only Highbridge Hills (5) and IDGC (3) have more than 2 courses in the list of top 25 Destinations. Assume TimG calculates Destination ratings as the average of their courses' ratings? Seems like the average rating of the best two courses at a destination would be a more appropriate way to determine a destination rating so destinations with 2 highly rated Championship courses can be ranked well even though they have other beginner courses and 9-holers in addition that may be perfectly fine but not championship level. Their ratings shouldn't pull down the average rating for their top two courses, and in fact, should somehow be figured in as a bonus which enhances the desirability of the destination.

 

[ru4por]

I am not sure I agree. I don't honestly need that much help. I think Highbridge, Selah, IDGC, Lemon Lake are all going to be available on the destination list anyway. I would take a look at each course, at each site, as a part of my travel prep plans anyway. Seems like a solid group of good courses at a site could get punished for a couple very good course and a couple meh courses at a site.

Of course, I see ratings and rankings as a fairly useless part of this site anyway. The power of DGCR is reviews.

 

[Cgkdisc]

A lot of these destination sites are private or at least pay-for play like Lemon Lake. If you have two championship courses with a good ranking on DGCR, using all course ratings to produce an average is a disincentive to add shorter or 9-hole courses even though they would enhance the experience for their customers, families in particular.

 

[sisyphus]

My dream of a 'perfect' destination would have a top-tier Open / Gold / Championship course, a flexible layout geared to 'Intermediate' / White skills, and a Novice / Green course, each of which would encompass diverse shots, fun, and challenges, appropriate to the respective skill level. Only the Gold course would ever get the monstrously high rating scores on here...

But picture the above trio at a state park, with a restaurant and pro shop, plenty of parking, camping, and other activities nearby (but not conflicting with the safety of the disc golf). Ahhh...

 

[DavidSauls]

I agree, Chuck. Though any formula brings in an additional measure of subjectivity (beyond the fact that the ratings themselves are subjective). How much of a bonus for that 3rd course?

But, yeah, a system that says that if a place adds another (optional) hole -- or 9 or 18 of them -- its value goes down, doesn't make a lot of sense.

On the other hand, if a destination with 2 or 3 excellent courses adds a crappy 9-holer, how much bonus should it get?

 

[Steve West]

This has been studied in other contexts. The solution is a weighted sum with the weights being the inverse of the ranking of the courses on site, raised to the .618 power.


A site with two courses rated 5 and 4 would get a score of 7.6.
A site with four courses all rated 3 would get a score of 7.7.
A site with four courses rated 5, 4, 2, and 1 would get a score of 9.0.

 

[DannyS]

This has been studied in other contexts. The solution is a weighted sum with the weights being the inverse of the ranking of the courses on site, raised to the .618 power.


A site with two courses rated 5 and 4 would get a score of 7.6.
A site with four courses all rated 3 would get a score of 7.7.
A site with four courses rated 5, 4, 2, and 1 would get a score of 9.0.

I don't understand your math as it has been a few decades since I have been in school, but I would definitely rather go to a site with two courses rated 5 and 4 instead of traveling to a site with four courses rated at 3 each.

 

[wellsbranch250]

once i played the IDGC, i finally realized how flawed the destinations rankings are. I'm fairly certain that we could leave separate ratings for multi-course complexes, that the IDGC and Highbridge would rise to the top.

my 5 favorite multi-course parks in order are (IDGC, Flying Armadillo, Bill Frederick, Blue Angle and Bud Hill)
A place like Lake Claiborne (6th), which has better individual courses than both blue angle and bud hill, get passed up because the facilities and vibe at those two places are superior in my personal opinion.

 

[BogeyNoMore]

I'm with Chuck on this (and I remember bringing this point up when Tim first introduced the destination rating).

If you have a place with three 4.5-5.0 courses, does adding a 3.0 or 3.5 make it any less a destination?


But everyone's gonna have a different take on how it should be calculated/weighted, etc.

 

[elmexdela]

something something is the whole is greater than the sum of its parts something something

 

[Steve West]

I don't understand your math as it has been a few decades since I have been in school, but I would definitely rather go to a site with two courses rated 5 and 4 instead of traveling to a site with four courses rated at 3 each.

The real appeal of a course may not be accurately reflected by the disc rating.

A 5-rated course may be more than 67% more appealing than a 3-rated course. Or, a 5-rated course may be more than 5 times as appealing as a 1-rated course.

But, that's a different issue.

 

[DavidSauls]

At any rate, the list is just a conversation piece. I doubt a lot of people are planning their disc golf trips -- destinations -- based on whatever formula someone comes up with to rate multi-course facilities.

(I'm not even sure a multi-course facility is the definition of a "destination"; I'm more likely to travel to a single great course, or a city with a cluster of courses that aren't on one property, than to some of these).