zontar
Double Eagle Member
also raised Nebraskan. 20mph is windy, but not REALLY windy. open courses suck for me around here. give me trees any day....
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What do you find more challenging...a long, heavily wooded course, or a windy open
- Thread starter hawkeye007
- Start date
also raised Nebraskan. 20mph is windy, but not REALLY windy. open courses suck for me around here. give me trees any day....
More challenging... ? I think it's the wooded course. More frustrating? Definitely the open, windy. The thing about the open, windy course is that you learn to adjust your expectations. I agree with the Nebraska folks, in that anything over 20mph is really tough to play in. But it's not too tough to adjust, you just won't be getting lots of birdies and won't be genuinely attempting very many putts over 12 feet. Make those adjustments in expectations and strategy (and choose discs wisely and get you're nose angles right), and open/windy ain't too bad and can even be fun in a ridiculous, self-deprecating kind of way.
As far as which I would choose, I'd definitely choose to play the long, wooded, Idlewild type of course.
As far as which I would choose, I'd definitely choose to play the long, wooded, Idlewild type of course.
Dthunderchicken
Double Eagle Member
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2009
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- 1,963
In MO we had some of that yesterday. My sweetie's garden pinwheels were doing crazy things. I was kinda wishing that I was playing.
If no OB, I guess I would lean towards wooded being more challenging. I'd rather play the wooded course because I feel like I'd be more in charge of my destiny but since I'm usually my own worst enemy that factors in a lot with difficulty. With open windy you can just keep throwing your beefy driver on a hyzer and get the hole over with without too much guesswork. Putting is annoyingly impossible but again, you can just suck it up and turn your disc upside down and lay it up into tap in range. Swallowing your pride is really the hardest thing about an open windy course.
In tournaments? If you're like me (decent accuracy and putting, drives top out at 325'), you can compete with bigger arms in the woods. Open long holes favor guys who can bomb but can't do much else. Give me the dense woods in a tournament any day.
Casual play? They both have their challenges and fun aspects. I like putting with wind being a factor, actually. (Yep, I spin putt). It's our equivalent of ball golfers reading the breaks on their greens. Our greens are aerial and they change with the wind.
One of my favorite courses is actually kind of open but doesn't play like a lot of open courses do (Wild Haven, Manton, MI). It's very hilly and trees are becoming more and more of a factor as they grow taller each season. Its original course #3 is one of my favorite short holes ever, a steep downhill to a pin placement near another steep bank to the left. That hole is all about judging the wind and choosing the right Disc. If the wind is behind me (from the west), I take something understable and throw it gingerly, like a beaten-in DX Roc. If it's a headwind (from the east), I have to grab something more OS and give it more torque. Crosswinds are even more fun.
Casual play? They both have their challenges and fun aspects. I like putting with wind being a factor, actually. (Yep, I spin putt). It's our equivalent of ball golfers reading the breaks on their greens. Our greens are aerial and they change with the wind.
One of my favorite courses is actually kind of open but doesn't play like a lot of open courses do (Wild Haven, Manton, MI). It's very hilly and trees are becoming more and more of a factor as they grow taller each season. Its original course #3 is one of my favorite short holes ever, a steep downhill to a pin placement near another steep bank to the left. That hole is all about judging the wind and choosing the right Disc. If the wind is behind me (from the west), I take something understable and throw it gingerly, like a beaten-in DX Roc. If it's a headwind (from the east), I have to grab something more OS and give it more torque. Crosswinds are even more fun.
I have to have some trees to throw around or some type of obstacle. At least on a handful of holes. Nothing more boring than wide open course and throwing hyzers all day or dodging annoying OB's because they have to do something to make it harder. and the wind will humble you quickly. I guess if i lived in an area and thats all I had then I would embrace it and play but I live in KY so we have a lot of trees but plenty of courses that offer a little of both
VictorB
* Ace Member *
Wind is a variable. Course design is not. A well designed course in the woods, in my opinion, is always more fun and interesting than a very wide open course. The very wide open course may be incredibly difficult on windy days, but play much easier when it's calm. A wooded course will have slight variability with the wind - but will always offer a challenge due to technical skill and hitting lines that a wide open course is most likely not to have.
I prefer longer courses in the woods (Harmony Bends, Wilderness) that reward tight play and smart shots.
I prefer longer courses in the woods (Harmony Bends, Wilderness) that reward tight play and smart shots.
- Joined
- Jul 29, 2009
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- 15,715
What I genuinely prefer are courses that have VARIETY.
I find it more acceptable for a course to be one or the other if there are multiple courses course in the park that complement each other so that each offers what the other lacks.
I find it more acceptable for a course to be one or the other if there are multiple courses course in the park that complement each other so that each offers what the other lacks.
DamonRipper
Par Member
- Joined
- May 29, 2015
- Messages
- 120
^^ What he said
Too much of either is no fun to me. The best courses incorporate both. Like the beast at Waco, to me that is the one of the best designs I've played. A good variety of long and short holes, and exactly half of them are in the woods. It really tests your full game ... and never feels like a slog.
Too much of either is no fun to me. The best courses incorporate both. Like the beast at Waco, to me that is the one of the best designs I've played. A good variety of long and short holes, and exactly half of them are in the woods. It really tests your full game ... and never feels like a slog.
Baseballadp
Birdie Member
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2018
- Messages
- 323
I prefer trees than wind. Just can't throw my arted up bob Ross disc that says, "don't hit the happy little trees." I always hit a tree with that disc.
beereakfast
Eagle Member
- Joined
- Nov 7, 2009
- Messages
- 646
My sorry arm does not do well on open courses. I frequently suck on wooded courses too, but my scores look better!
PMantle
* Ace Member *
I prefer wind, so I guess I find wooded more challenging. I am going to gain strokes on the field in high winds. In the woods, it seems more chance than skill/disc knowledge.
I feel just the opposite. Trees don't move. Wind changes constantly.
Danderlion
Par Member
On a windy day, putting gets extremely hard on anything longer than 20'. It is guaranteed to add several if not many strokes to my score by missing these circle edge putts that I normally hit.
Long wooded courses are also difficult, but I can score better on these than a open very windy course. My scramble game is on point due to years and years and scrambling!
Long wooded courses are also difficult, but I can score better on these than a open very windy course. My scramble game is on point due to years and years and scrambling!
When wind is consistent, if you know how to play it, it's not THAT challenging. You can certainly throw farther if you know how to work a tail wind. There are also some fun and extreme lines that work only in certain wind conditions.
Gusty/swirly winds, on the other hand, are super challenging.
Trees: Meh!
Gusty/swirly winds, on the other hand, are super challenging.
Trees: Meh!
lines
Double Eagle Member
I have been playing wooded golf for five years. I need the trees to tell me what to throw. When I'm in the open i try to crank as hard as i can with terrible results.
Watching plastic carve up 300 foot line in the woods is 95% more fun than watching a 450 foot distance line.
Watching plastic carve up 300 foot line in the woods is 95% more fun than watching a 450 foot distance line.
dorseymatt
Eagle Member
Really depends on how fair the fairways are in the wooded course. Many wooded courses have lines that are not particularly reasonable, or fairways that need to be limbed up. Give me an open course over that any day. But if we are talking about a wooded course like Iron Hill, with extremely fair fairways, sign me up for that, too. Ideally, it'd be a mixture of both.
Anyway, a simpler answer to this: I'd rather deal with extreme wind than extreme unfair wooded fairways.
Anyway, a simpler answer to this: I'd rather deal with extreme wind than extreme unfair wooded fairways.
Both. I frequently play a course that has both---holes through the woods ranging from short to long, with various widths, and open holes that are often windy, some of which involve OB.
I'm not sure which is more challenging. In the woods, once I'm familiar with holes I know what to throw off the tee, whereas in the wind I have to decide, which is trickier when it's not a direct headwind or tailwind. On the other hand, when I miss the fairway in the woods, the "save" shot can demand all sorts of skills, some of which I don't possess.
Though I do find high winds fun to play in---my language at the time, notwithstanding---a very open course, particularly open with no OB, gets a bit redundant, even in the wind. Some not-so-well designed wooded courses do, too, I guess.
I'm not sure which is more challenging. In the woods, once I'm familiar with holes I know what to throw off the tee, whereas in the wind I have to decide, which is trickier when it's not a direct headwind or tailwind. On the other hand, when I miss the fairway in the woods, the "save" shot can demand all sorts of skills, some of which I don't possess.
Though I do find high winds fun to play in---my language at the time, notwithstanding---a very open course, particularly open with no OB, gets a bit redundant, even in the wind. Some not-so-well designed wooded courses do, too, I guess.
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