Where have all the DGCR members gone ?

[ThrowaEnvy]

...

Good on your cheap a$$ getting a new phone from this century though

Too soon buddy, too soon. haha Forced obsolescence, BB won't update past Android 8, it crashed my accounting system.... I will give this Samsung an edge on processing and viewing compatibility but man it's bulky and heavy and slow (usage wise). I could kill a deer at 20yds with this thing. Plus side its waterproof so next time I'm caught in the rain in a fog bank in the boat at least I won't worry about losing my GPS navigation and dying, so there is that....

Serious question, would/do you really use uDisc to find new courses and plan a road trip? Aren't the reviews practically meaningless over there?

Well we are #17 or something in the world for dg courses out here on Pender.... proving the ratings are a little skewed haha. You only need a driver for 5/27 holes

 

[BillFleming]

Serious question, would/do you really use uDisc to find new courses and plan a road trip? Aren't the reviews practically meaningless over there?

Yes. I don't care about or look at reviews of courses....I just want to know what courses are close to where I will be. If anything, I like uDisc's showing of how many people are using uDisc on the course at that moment....that gives me an idea of how crowded the course might be.

 

[notapro]

Yes. I don't care about or look at reviews of courses....I just want to know what courses are close to where I will be. If anything, I like uDisc's showing of how many people are using uDisc on the course at that moment....that gives me an idea of how crowded the course might be.

That's wild. All I look at are ratings/reviews.

 

[Skamanda]

That's wild. All I look at are ratings/reviews.

That's wild, to me. I've found that people's opinions of courses vary so wildly from so many factors that reviews are basically pointless. All I look at are the locations and course maps. When no one has a full set of pics for the tee shots on each course, there's not much else of use, to me...

 

[nothinbuttree]

Yes. I don't care about or look at reviews of courses....I just want to know what courses are close to where I will be. If anything, I like uDisc's showing of how many people are using uDisc on the course at that moment....that gives me an idea of how crowded the course might be.

Unfortunately, the crowd metric is a joke. Just yesterday, I was one city from where I live, and had 2 hours to kill. I know which courses are there, so I just checked Udisc for the crowd thing--it said 0-5, not busy. Great--google maps, lets go. I get there 15 minutes later, the parking lot is jammed full. Four groups waiting to tee off, and I can see a backup on another hole. Now either 30 groups got there in 15 minutes, or the feature lacks teeth.

Yeah, I get it--it only reports users USING Udisc. But still seems way off in practical terms, I used it again last week and it was very off again.


It seems the popularity of DG is far outstripping available courses, at least close to populated areas. The other thing I notice is courses where rec/novice players have chances at pars (aka shorter courses) are FAR more crowded. Yet, it seems the majority of new courses seem to play to immediate, advanced, and pro skill levels. Quite a disconnect, IMHO.

Other observations from other areas?

 

[Countchunkula]

That's wild, to me. I've found that people's opinions of courses vary so wildly from so many factors that reviews are basically pointless. All I look at are the locations and course maps. When no one has a full set of pics for the tee shots on each course, there's not much else of use, to me...

Opinions definitely vary, but that's where TRs come in handy. After you read a good number of reviews, you'll likely find a prolific reviewer or two who's opinions generally align with yours. In my part of the country, that was mainly mashnut, tallpaul, and more recently wolfhaley. I can read their reviews of a course and be confident that I'm getting a detailed review from someone with very similar preferences to my own.

 

[BillFleming]

That's wild. All I look at are ratings/reviews.

Ratings are like a$$holes, everyone has one. Seriously though, your opinion/rating of a course may not match mine. Players consider different things when they rate a course. Someone might give a low rating because it is a 'pay to play' course, whereas I don't care about that as long as the price I'm paying is reasonable. Some people might rate a course poorly because it is too open and they prefer a wooded course....or they don't like OB and there's a bunch of it. Also, my playing ability is different than others, so what people might think is a too short or easy course might be enjoyable for me. So, ratings of disc golf courses mean nothing to me.

An example: Paseo Vista Recreation Area in Arizona has a 3.5 rating. The Red Mountain North course is rated 3. I much prefer Red Mountain North. PVRA is gimmicky and has very tight fairways if you play the intended OB (the tee signs don't show any OB and are worn out, barely readable). PVRA is still a fun course and I do enjoy playing it to work on my accuracy (there are two huge circular mandos that make it kind of interesting)....it also has two highly elevated baskets with concrete blocks to help with retrieving discs. 3.5 rating....maybe 2.5 for me. RMN - tight lines, not a bunch of OB, I wouldn't call it gimmicky....I really enjoy it for working on my strategy, consistency, and accuracy - I would rate it a 4.

So, rating mean nothing to me as far as courses go, players like different things and that is okay, but it doesn't help me with choosing a course to play.

 

[BillFleming]

Unfortunately, the crowd metric is a joke. Just yesterday, I was one city from where I live, and had 2 hours to kill. I know which courses are there, so I just checked Udisc for the crowd thing--it said 0-5, not busy. Great--google maps, lets go. I get there 15 minutes later, the parking lot is jammed full. Four groups waiting to tee off, and I can see a backup on another hole. Now either 30 groups got there in 15 minutes, or the feature lacks teeth.

Yeah, I get it--it only reports users USING Udisc. But still seems way off in practical terms, I used it again last week and it was very off again.


It seems the popularity of DG is far outstripping available courses, at least close to populated areas. The other thing I notice is courses where rec/novice players have chances at pars (aka shorter courses) are FAR more crowded. Yet, it seems the majority of new courses seem to play to immediate, advanced, and pro skill levels. Quite a disconnect, IMHO.

Other observations from other areas?

I agree, with some courses it is hit-or-miss as to how accurate the 'number of users' is. I've seen my main course packed when uDisc showed only a few people playing. But while I was out there, I saw quite a few groups were beginners (one disc each, obviously not much of an idea of how to throw....maybe one person in the group 'teaching' them). So, yeah, people have to be using uDisc for the 'crowd metric' to be accurate. There are signs on several courses asking players to use uDisc and having a QRC code to the uDisc app.

But it is still a starting point....if I see the course is crowded, I don't even go. If it shows hardly anyone there, I'll go and see what it is really like.

 

[notapro]

That's wild, to me. I've found that people's opinions of courses vary so wildly from so many factors that reviews are basically pointless.

Well, as someone who has written hundreds of reviews, I respectfully disagree.

So, rating mean nothing to me as far as courses go, players like different things and that is okay, but it doesn't help me with choosing a course to play.

Maybe I am uneducated about uDisc, but I was under the impression that every course is rated between a 4-5. If you were to travel out of state, would you really be able to discern the dreck from the quality courses? On DGCR you can weed out half (or more than half) the courses just by limiting the search to rating of 3 discs or better.

 

[Shallows]

I tried doing one of the adblockers and they're still here on my phone? Though I don't always mind them tbh

 

[Mike C]

Course ratings are a vital part of this website for me. I rely on them to get a feel for which courses are best in an area, but also for tips like long walks between holes and navigation tips in general.

The other week I was driving from TN to Asheville to play some courses and realized I'd get to AVL too late to film a course. So I used the course ratings to determine the best course I could bag before dark, and ended up at a pretty cool college course, Haywood Community College.

There's definitely times I disagree with review scores, but more often than not it's because those reviews are out of date. Overall I find them helpful in determining the best courses around.

As far as crowds go, rec courses near me are always busier than pro level courses. I know every time I make the trip out to Renny Gold, Renske is always packed while the golds are a ghost town. But it lets me play courses faster so I'm not complaining.

 

[DavidSauls]

This site is, in many ways, like much else in social media and on the internet in general.

There are a ton of features, some of which will be useful to a user, much of which the user will have absolutely no interest in. And it's a different mix for everyone.

95% of the stuff here, I don't use, but the other 5% makes it worthwhile.

 

[BillFleming]

Well, as someone who has written hundreds of reviews, I respectfully disagree.




Maybe I am uneducated about uDisc, but I was under the impression that every course is rated between a 4-5. If you were to travel out of state, would you really be able to discern the dreck from the quality courses? On DGCR you can weed out half (or more than half) the courses just by limiting the search to rating of 3 discs or better.

I should have put that those 3 and 3.5 ratings I quoted were from DGCR. I looked up two courses that I frequently play and compared them to how I feel about them.

I don't believe you can 'weed out' courses based on ratings. Again, the ratings are how OTHER players feel about a course. Here's a great example: Morley Field in California. uDisc has it rated 4.6. DGCR has it rated 4. I'd rate it 2.5. I've played it multiple times, but only because I was in the area and there weren't any other ones close by. I'd play it again if I was in the area. But if there was another course nearby, I'd go to that course instead. Morley is dangerous. Fairways cross other fairways (I get that they didn't have much space to work with...but that doesn't change how dangerous it can be). Heck, 19th's tee pad has a cage around it to protect the players from discs since a couple of other fairways cross at that point. So ratings don't do much for me; they don't give me any idea as to whether I will enjoy the course or not.

 

[Money_Shot]

Without a doubt. Udisc has the scoring application as well as maybe the easy find and navigate to a nearby course features. When it comes to actually being able to get a feel for what a course is before getting there, dgcr blows Udisc out of the water. I have planned tons of disc trips around reading reviews on here and it never fails me with enough research. Meanwhile there are guys that use Udisc and really have no clue what a course is until they pull up to it because everything on Udisc is either really high, or very low in rating with no information to truly differentiate within those extremes.

 

[notapro]

So ratings don't do much for me; they don't give me any idea as to whether I will enjoy the course or not.

Right on, interesting to hear a different opinion. :thmbup:

 

[Innova63]

Reviews > ratings...

 

[ThrowaEnvy]

Well I checked in on my review of my home course and I think I put it in four and a half star it's rated 4.14 which I think is fair maybe a touch high but it is a nice place to be and it is very beginner friendly, on udisc it is five stars and one of the top in the world. I love it well enough but it is definitely not a top 20 in the world course but beginners love it and a lot of people give it five star reviews probably because it's a great experience, Ace runs Galore but not the greatest course.

There is a giant wealth of information if you read all of the different reviews about how to get there what it cost and exactly what you're in for

 

[zontar]

I've never had spam or ads. ever. am I just a bad candidate for advertising????

 

[foxdawg10]

I miss Prerube 'Use the search function' posts.

That dude was wound a bit too tight, lol. I hear he gave that schtick up after he became the "people person" of his local disc golf club, lol.

When I first came to this site, he was among a few dudes who liked to throw around OAT and PLH as if he knew what he was talking about.

All the time I knew he was just an 825 disc golfer with a napoleon complex.

 

[txmxer]

I really haven't noticed a big difference in how the site itself functions.

Maybe a little lighter on the politics or trigger issues outside of the water cooler.

There are forums that are strictly moderated to remain on topic, those that are free for all's and then something in between. When I joined, DGCR was more middle ground I think.

I haven't seen a big change, but I've been less active in general and trying to be more DG in the DG areas, although I still dabble in the cooler.

Whatever this place evolves in to, there is a need for a DG home on the web. Fakebook isn't it IMO and neither is UDisc, nor Reddit.



But some indicate is one things have changed. Of course change is inevitable.