Wild and Untamed vs Neat and Trimmed

[optidiscic]

NP U Niced Me...btw those deer you love will eat anything edible up to 6-8 feet so chances are if its not being eaten by Mother Nature then you can take it out....most of the out of control weeds thorns and shule are not native and should be removed anyway to aid mother nature.

I always am astounded that when this country was discovered it was entirely hardwoods with no underbrush from the Atlantic to the great Plains and that a squirrel could theoretically run from the ocean to the Mississippi w/o hitting the ground

 

[eegor]

I play a couple of courses in west Texas that would be boring a repetitious without the native mesquites, cactus and honey locusts... will you bleed? Probably. Would the course be as boring as playing with baskets on a soccer field if you cleared them? Definitely!

There are no native hardwoods in the Permian Basin... just desert, oil, high school football and a bunch of very tough people. You have to use what you can to make the holes interesting... even when it's honey locust trees...

 

[optidiscic]

Been to west Texas once. Ouch. This thread was referring to eastern hardwood courses. 2 different beasts altogether. Wind would be the best obstacle out there I'd guess

 

[AJ_86]

I really wanna play this one...it looks awesome!:thmbup:

We played the front 9, it was 102 that day and we said f' that we are going to the beach! But yeah, it was a sweet little course...I can't believe I drove by it a million times before and didn't know it was a course.

Personally, I don't care for the course... I find the more open Reed Canal to be better looking and better playing. Even if you do have to watch for non-golfers in areas.

I actually think that Tuscawilla and Reed Canal are good examples of this thread topic in one city. The first is a heavily brushed course with a wild feel about it and the second is a much more trimmed and carefully maintained feel. I know people who think Tuscawilla is the best course in the area and Reed Canal is only so-so, while I think the opposite.

To each their own.

 

[U_NICED_ME]

Holy Cow Eegor...now that's one hell of a bush!

 

[magictenor1]

The closest 9 holer to me has extremely heavy underbrush but it needs it. The course is an older one and quite short although there is a lot of elevation change. If you cleared the underbrush the course would be way too easy. As it is now if you can hit your lines (narrow) there are lots of birdies to be had but if you are off line bogey or worse is possible and likely. Every hole can be birdied but I make doubles and even triples occasionally.

 

[AJ_86]

I just played a course that, surprisingly, was both wild and untamed and neat and trimmed.

Strong Arm DGC (link in my signature) is 24 holes and the two halves are very different. The front twelve is long field grass, heavy brush islands and is a nice wilderness course. The back twelve is the opposite. It's in well manicured fields and is almost devoid of brush. A very nice looking course.

Never seen a combination like that, before. Though, from speaking to one of the designers, the wild and woolly side will be tamed eventually. For now it's a wonderful combo.

I took a bunch of photos and will be reviewing it fully sometime this weekend, after I get some info from the course designers about questions I have.

 

[eegor]

Holy Cow Eegor...now that's one hell of a bush!

Honey Locust trees... they're everywhere out west... from Fort Worth to the Pacific northwest. In the desert, they are just a tree of thorns... in wetter climates, just the trunk of the tree has thorns.

 

[U_NICED_ME]

Thank god we don't have those here! My sticker bushes look weak up next to that thing. That's a freaking Blackberry bush on steroids!

 

[DavidSauls]

yeah I will never understand guys who think thorns, brambles, kudzu and deep grass add to the risk/reward...wtf!

At Stoney Hill we used to have a hole that required about a 250' shot to clear a huge area of old logging debris covered in blackberries and other nasties. It was, at the very least, exciting. Like throwing over a 250' pond except, in the pond, you know you've lost your disc; here you felt obligated to give blood and try to find it.

It wasn't a design feature---it just took us a few years to clear that mess up.
Now just a smooth grassy area to glide over.

 

[andrewkh]

i like a challenge and the whole risk and reward apsect of playing a course like your describing, but i have played a few courses that were basically baskets placed on slim walking trails in the jungle and if your not shooting pro caliber, your screwed. I would say some trimming is ok for the sake of keeping things reasonably playable, but don't over do it.

 

[jppbkm]

If you think Sontag is tough you need to get down to Charlotte and play Nevin opcorn:

 

[Disc Dog]

I like some of both. New Quarter Park in Williamsburg VA is like this. Some of the throws are very forgiving with a decent chance to still par if you do not doink your up shot. But there are a few if you get off of the fairway you will be lucky to come out alive. The tough ones make me a better player and the workable ones keep me from getting overly frustrated.

 

[deBebbler]

Ohhhh this is about disc golf....

Nevermind...




I like it trimmed, either way. Maybe clean up the first 5' or so.

Five Feet!?!?!?!? Oh wait, disc golf... right.

Yeah, I agree.