How much would you pay?

[Phlick]

Much of this depends on locale. If you're the only game in town, you're going to be able to get away charging more and delivering less. If there are already a slew of good free courses in the area - you're going to have a hard time, unless there's something the course can offer no other place can. Putting a DG Basket on the side of the green and having the DG'ers play the BG course does not sound like very much fun to me, unless perhaps it was a lit par 3 course. Carts.. only reason I would consider a cart would be if there was a long walk from one hole to the next or if there was an extreme amount of elevation.

 

[Cgkdisc]

Some combo courses require disc golfers to pay and use carts partly as financial justification for using the course but just as importantly so the other ball golfers know there's a group in front of them. A common complaint on some combo courses is that ball golfers will drive on DG groups because they can't tell they are playing ahead of them. The cart provides a visual clue.

 

[ru4por]

For disc on a ball golf course (shared fairways type)
1. $10 per round / $20 per day (might only get 2 rds in anyways on a par 70 course) / $100 year
2. $10 per cart for all day use (need them on the monster courses)

IMO, I'd only play on the "Big Boy" course a few times a year unless it was the only course around. Now if the disc golf course was entirely separated from the ball golf course (different land used, more catered to disc golf) I would play much more often. Not that I dislike golf or the golfers, I just don't care for wide open courses.

For a quality Private Disc Golf Course with disc golf only...
$5-10 per round / $10-20 per day / $50-100 year
$10 for the cart
(If it is donation only, $5-10 a round is reasonable. I'd donate even more if it is killer and/or super fun.

:hfive:

 

[MacDaddy]

Thanks for all the good feedback! Yes, this is a question for a potential real world application. While this property is not "heavily wooded" there are plenty of trees. The design would roughly follow the flow of the ball golf course (in part, to improve flow for both types of golfers). It would offer a 4+ experience to any experienced disc golfer (and probably not for any newbies or casuals). The carts may be mandatory, pretty much for the reasons spelled out by Chuck.

Follow up questions:

1. How far would you drive?

2. How often would you play?

 

[Three Putt]

For disc on a ball golf course (shared fairways type)
1. $10 per round / $20 per day / $100 year
2. $10 per cart for all day use.

Same

New 1. 100 miles?
New 2. Depends. Inside 20 minutes maybe 4 times a year unless I bucked up for the season pass and needed to get my $$$ worth. Over 20 minutes and I'm down to once every five years.

 

[Halcón]

Like Scarpfish said in the third post, I don't want to spend all day on a round. I would probably never play a par 70+ course for free, much less pay for it.

 

[Dan Ensor]

I assume this project is just a hypothetical? Or is there a real world project that you're planning?

Here's where you may have lost my business...


Which the terrain and obstacles will be designed to fit ball golf, since that's what pays the bills. To me, putting a disc golf course on a ball golf course is a resignation that you don't have the land for a dedicated disc golf course, not a benefit. Not that you can't put a decent disc golf course on a ball golf terrain by ignoring the ball golf course layout entirely, but doing so kind of interferes with the ball golf.


Also, of no benefit to me. I'd personally like to get my round done in under two hours. A lot of people are quitting or cutting back on ball golf rounds precisely because they take too long.

This need to make par 70+ disc golf courses seems to stem from some inferiority complex some of us have to make ourselves more like our so-called "big brother sport" in every aspect. In all honesty, we really need to cut that out and run as far from that direction as possible. There's a lot of good middle ground between that and our numerous existing Par 54/SSA 48 layouts we can shoot for.

I also eschew the idea that the people who are most willing to spend money playing a disc golf course want the most challenging layout that can be made. The ball golf industry spent millions over the last 20 years finding out that wasn't necessarily true.

No inferiority complex. Some of us like to throw more than a drive and a putt on a hole. Par 70+ isn't just about challenge. It's about community. On a par 3, you're driving, then you're putting. Be silent, all the time. If you're all walking to a landing zone, there's a lot more talk allowed/promoted, because you have to do all your focusing when you find your disc.

I would pay a decent amount ($20-40 plus cart fees), probably 6+ times a year. But I wouldn't drive very far to do it. Nowhere you're thinking about putting a course.

 

[DavidSauls]

If it's truly a 4+ course, and within an hour, I might play it once or twice a year, as a novelty. I have better options, more convenient to me, and limited time.

Until recently there was a 3-rated course like this, with lots of elevation but few trees, about an hour from me. I played it once, and never seriously considered going back.

 

[scotnt73]

I would be more willing to drive 1-2 hours several times a year if:
1)it was more of a disc golf complex with 3-4 courses connected to each other
2)the pro shop at said complex was top notch with some harder to find discs

 

[UCF_Knight]

Par 70+ is the shortest/only layout offered? Or the longest available?

I see shortest offered as a drawback and longest available as a strong point. I can and definitely enjoy throwing far and par 70+ still sounds pretty daunting as the only option. I mean you have to be talking like 10,000+ feet right? Or are we talking an am par 70+ that pros are going to want to be -19 on?

Having that layout would be awesome for a once every 2 months day and tournaments but that's a pretty big commitment for a 2-3x a month kind of course.

 

[BogeyNoMore]

Round: no more than $10... but it had better be pretty freakin' awesome for a $10/rd.
Daily: no more than $20... but it had better be pretty freakin' awesome for a $20/day.
That said, a daily fee would be a lot more palatable for a multi course facility. I'd even be willing to buy a 2-3 day pass for $50 for a place like HighBridge or Lemon Lake.
Season Pass: only if I'm very local Less than an hour) and the math makes economic sense... bought one for Bonnie Brook.

For a cart: only if it was a really long course, with lots of walking between holes and I could split the cost of a cart with a partner.

I freely admit I'm a cheap bastard, but I don't at all mind spending $ where I perceive there's value based on my personal likes/dislikes/usage/etc. What anyone else thinks is typically not germane to my purchasing decisons.

 

[scarpfish]

No inferiority complex. Some of us like to throw more than a drive and a putt on a hole. Par 70+ isn't just about challenge. It's about community. On a par 3, you're driving, then you're putting. Be silent, all the time. If you're all walking to a landing zone, there's a lot more talk allowed/promoted, because you have to do all your focusing when you find your disc.

Nonsense.

 

[MacDaddy]

It would be a legit Par 70+. The course could easily be 14,000+ ft. for PDGA Gold tees, slightly shorter for Blue tees. A few par 3's, mostly par 4's and some par 5's.

 

[Dan Ensor]

Nonsense.

Great rebuttal. You clearly know the will of every DGer everywhere.

I rescind my previous reply, and replace it with this:

"Nonsense."

 

[Toro71]

My only beef would be sharing with ball golf. Not that it's a terrible concept. But, I have so many free courses, including 4 par 68+, and everything in between, in my area that I don't know that I'd pay to play a course that often anyway, especially if it's disc/ball dual set up.

But, I might go over Brad's line in the sand, if it's DG exclusive property, and a real mind blowing experience, layout included.

Disagree that "we" need to "move away as fast as possible" from par-72 design mentality.

 

[MacDaddy]

What kind of beer

Cold

 

[biscoe]

for a private version of iron hill or da canyon:
$20/$20/$100 if i could get there on a regular basis
$20 for cart but only if conditions are miserable for walking. in my experience carts detract from the dg experience.

i have zero interest in dg on ball golf courses though.

 

[JC17393]

It would be a legit Par 70+. The course could easily be 14,000+ ft. for PDGA Gold tees, slightly shorter for Blue tees. A few par 3's, mostly par 4's and some par 5's.

That's a great course to play once or twice for the novelty, assuming it's not local, and maybe once or twice a year if it is local. But few if any are likely to buy a season pass for a course like that. A course like that is not going to get much consistent or repeat play (i.e. a regular clientele of players coming out once or twice a week every week), so it won't be much of a money maker.

If the property owners can handle that financially and maintain the course anyway, more power to them. But if they're looking for the course to pay for itself with the business it generates, I can't see it working for very long.

The key to a course being a sustainable business is really having a white-level (or even a red) option that will appeal to a far broader group of players. For every 950+ rated type player (whether tournament or strictly casual), there are probably 10 players that are below the 800-850 level. Those are the ones that the course has to appeal to to be sustainable. That's regardless of the price.

 

[MacDaddy]

The key to a course being a sustainable business is really having a white-level (or even a red) option that will appeal to a far broader group of players. For every 950+ rated type player (whether tournament or strictly casual), there are probably 10 players that are below the 800-850 level. Those are the ones that the course has to appeal to to be sustainable. That's regardless of the price.

White level tees would be a doable option. Reds... probably not so much. I don't really want a tee, literally half way (or more) down a hole.

 

[DG_Before_Breakfast]

I just paid $5 to play Skyline Wilderness Park in Napa. I didn't really mind that because it was a nice course on a Park you had to pay to park anyway, and I'd never played before.

But I play Delaveaga in Santa Cruz twice a week for exercise, and pay $40/year to park there. Have no problem paying that, but I would not be so happy to pay $10/week to play my morning rounds there. So I guess my thought is:

1) ~$5-10 per round is reasonable for a really well maintained course. Maybe $15 for a day pass.

2) For locals, maybe if you belong to the local club, you should be able to buy a yearly pass and greatly reduce your cost.

3) Buying a cart would defeat the purpose for me at this point, but I could see wanting one if I'm still playing at 70. I'd pay $5-10 more for that perhaps.