What makes a great disc golf course ?

[Halcón]

Hawk Hollow is the course in question btw. Forgot to add that.

Just saw the pics of that course. Now I see why you had some pies in the fairway.

 

[dreadlock86]

I will say this. In my opinion the best course that I have played to this point had dirt tees, no bathroom on site, no benches, decent but not great teesigns, and literally had chit in the fairways.

Amenities are great but a course can be great without them

:clap: yes

 

[denny ritner]

I will respectfully disagree with this. While having a bathroom onsite might be nice occasionally, I rarely find myself having to go in the middle of a round. Taking care of that kind of stuff before leaving home is smart. I could care less about park amenities (bathrooms, water fountains, picnic areas, etc.). As long as the course is great, bathrooms do nothing to affect my view of a course.

But that's me. If you want bathrooms, that's cool as well :thmbup:

no wonder why we've held steady at 7% female participation for about 20 years.

 

[DavidSauls]

Hawk Hollow is the course in question btw. Forgot to add that.

It was pretty easy to guess.

Although.....those fortunate souls who played the temporary resurrection of Gran Canyon this year, played a great course that also offered the possibility that their discs would get, uh, fertilized.

 

[mashnut]

no wonder why we've held steady at 7% female participation for about 20 years.

You're right, it can't be that women don't want to wander around in secluded wooded areas with sketchy shirtless dudes, or that many women have less of a drive to do something competitive like disc golf. It's got to be the lack of bathrooms.

 

[aajpity]

-Well maintained
-Clean
-Trash cans
-Place to sit
-Concrete teepads
-Signs to show around the course
-Shot variety

 

[vizi25]

First and foremost: variety.
-Fairway Types: open, moderately wooded, densely wooded.
-Fairway Shapes: left, right, straight, S-shaped, some weird or interesting ones...
-elevation: uphills, downhills, risk reward pin placements on near slopes/drop-offs, holes that throw over gullies, over hills/rises, and at least a few flat or nearly flat, some holes that can have you putting uphill or downhill based on where your upshot lands.
-Distances: good mix of all kinds of distance, and should have at least a couple of 175-225' Ace Runs, and at least a couple of 500'+ bombers, and all sorts of stuff in between, especially good if there are some holes of similar distance that play quite differently due to elevation.

Until you have ^this^, you can't begin to think about a truly great course - that's square one.

Multiple pins/tees helps (if well executed), but is not absolutely necessary, and won't save a bad course from being bad.

Other factors that determine whether a course is truly great or not:

Basics: Tees, baskets, signs, upkeep & maintenance. I don't care how great the holes are, if people can't find their way, or things are in disrepair, things aren't great. Basics don't have to be incredible - they just have to be good enough to "not be a factor." No one really shoots better because of truly exceptional baskets, tees, or posts, but they can certainly shoot worse when things suck. Good = great as far as I'm concerned on this. If you get this wrong, it doesn't matter what else you get right.

Beauty - a great course is inviting to play and a pleasure to see, would be a nice walk without discs.

Challenge - great courses are challenging, yet able to be accommodating to a variety of skill level. Hard to be great if too many holes are easy (or impossible) to par, which leads me to...
Scoring separation: tougher to do than it sounds. Well designed holes create scoring separation. don't want to elaborate here, search other threads for more info.

Good use of natural elements, especially water.
Flows well from hole to hole.
Fun factor - makes you want to come back.

Bonus for things like: unique holes, hanging baskets, basket in tree, water carries that aren't absurd, charm, and unique touches you often see on private courses which give them personality (as long as things aren't overdone).

Top of the world shots (who doesn't love 'em?).

I'm pretty sure I left some stuff out, but if you used my list to evaluate a given course, and everything scores favorably, you definitely have a great course. How great is a matter of details related to that course and personal tastes.

i think you just described idlewild exactly

 

[Stardoggy]

Hard to add to what Bogey has already stated, but one addition to Variety.....holes that are not all "righty friendly". I play with a few friends that are lefty's, and a really good player can adapt to placing their shots right/left depending on the placement of the basket...however, a great course has a good mix of righty/lefty holes. I'm not saying 50/50; but also not 15-16 right hand hyzer shot holes either, with a few lefty shots added. I've even played some holes that it does not favor either. Also, not having a LOT of holes being dead straight ahead is also good. Recently played a hole (#11 at Va-Du-Mar, Boiling Springs, SC) where it was a 450+ ft hole. You are on top of a hill throwing down, fairway is fairly wide, but is heavily wooded both sides, so an errant throw will cost you. At the bottom of the hill is a creek, so too long and you can be OB. The hole doglegs left, so it does favor a righty more off the tee. However, once down the dogleg, the basket is on the right side, and with a creek running down the entire length of the dogleg. So, it does favor a lefty once you throw the drive. Having holes similar to this (also to add this particular hole was not only tricky, but very pretty as well, and much cooler in the heat of the day once you got into the dog-leg portion) is what makes a course great.

I've played that hole...and it was definitely the signature hole of that course. I agree on all accounts. I especially liked how the basket was tucked in by the creek. It took 2 pretty solid shots to get a 3 there.

 

[Bikinimower]

To me the single most important thing to make a great disc golf course is making the best of the land you have available. Beautiful land used in an interesting and creative way makes for a top notch course. Let nature dictate your course design.

I don't even mind if you have to sacrifice flow to utilize the terrain. Just make sure you leave markers so that the players know where to go. Expensive signs, perfect tee pads, and immaculate fairways don't do much if all you have is an open flat field to work with.

Variety comes in at a close second, switching up the difficulties, distances, open, wooded, types of throws, and natural obstacles is also key

 

[Bikinimower]

Sorry about the ejaculate fairways part. I meant to say Immaculate, I just accidentally clicked on the wrong word option when the spell correction list came up.

At first I thought just don't say anything, maybe no one will notice. But then I realized there was a 100% chance that at least one of you would catch it

 

[Bikinimower]

Alright, now I'm sorry about the unnecessary apology. I didn't realize I could go back and edit my mistakes

 

[DavidSauls]

Edit the apology, too. Otherwise, this thread is in danger of a serious derailment over your Freudian slip.

 

[knave]

That would have to be one sweet fairway...

 

[BogeyNoMore]

:facepalm:

 

[Jeronimo]

I don't think 500' is the # to start at for longer holes. I much prefer courses that have at least 3 holes that push 700' or more.

Think about it for a minute, take a fairly average Am2 player who throws 350' and you've got a 150' up shot (yawn...) and a tap in for a three. Get into the 700' range and now we're talking about rewarding a potentially risky second drive to the pin with an easy putt, or punishing an uncontrolled drive with a long putt/pitch up and drop in. I know a lot of players groan at longer holes but they are a necessary evil that generates pretty good scoring separation.

 

[BogeyNoMore]

Bumping thread to make it easier to find and keep the discussion in one thread.

 

[DiscJunkie]

It's a good topic, and an old thread.

Have we changed our thoughts in 6 years??
I think, yes.
Being exposed to more and more great courses in the last 6 years should make us re-think the great course debate.
I think length is becoming more and more relevant as the "big" arms are becoming more common.

 

[Jukeshoe]

What makes a great disc golf course ?

A sense of adventure.

 

[Casey 1988]

It's a good topic, and an old thread.

Have we changed our thoughts in 6 years??
I think, yes.
Being exposed to more and more great courses in the last 6 years should make us re-think the great course debate.
I think length is becoming more and more relevant as the "big" arms are becoming more common.

But not just open long holes as is the effect of needing other challenges to the course to make them better.

Another thing they need is working baskets that are in okay working order, maintained with no broken or missing parts or at least replaced even if with non brand parts on some baskets like having to replace a fully rusty chain set or missing S hooks on a basket. This helps insure a great course. Also keeping the baskets the same or as close as the same as one can, do not replace a damaged basket with a different model like a Mach V for a modern Mach II to save money as much as a modern Mach II looks like a old cage Mach V they are slightly different baskets in more then just the Disc Cage height and how durable the baskets are. Also do not replace with a different brand entirely just because that is your favorite basket as that is not fair to people, thought some baskets are the exact same model just within in the same company with the other brands logo on the basket for a bit less.

 

[Dr.Smooth]

Water