Pitch & Putt, or Nothing?

[Halcón]

Would you rather have a really short course, or no course at all?

I think that there may be some hesitation to put in very short courses, but those types of courses can be great for ANY player. Any thoughts?

 

[tbird888]

I have a pitch and putt closest to me, and I play it a fair amount during the week. After work it's not worth it to me to spend half the time in the car and pushing it to play 18 and beat the sun. It's ten minutes to the course, 18-54 holes depending on the course traffic that day, and I get to work on my short game.

On weekends I'll travel to play better courses.

 

[@iDiscGolf]

I have a pitch and putt closest to me, and I play it a fair amount during the week. After work it's not worth it to me to spend half the time in the car and pushing it to play 18 and beat the sun. It's ten minutes to the course, 18-54 holes depending on the course traffic that day, and I get to work on my short game.

On weekends I'll travel to play better courses.

Totes. :hfive:

 

[Hazer]

I agree with tbird888. Short pitch & putt courses are great during the week after work, and I'm very lucky to have one about 5 minutes from my apartment. It takes me at least 30 minutes to get to the closest 18 hole course to me and during rush hour it can take double that, so if it weren't for my local pitch & putt I probably wouldn't get much dg in during the week.

 

[DougCrawford]

I have a short 9 hole course a half mile from my house- can be out and back in 40 minutes. It's nice to have something like that close, but 10-15 miles down the road is bradford, bracketts, Hornets nest, and RL smith- so it's not a big deal for me to get somewhere more challenging fast.

 

[DavidSauls]

There should never be any hesitation to put in a short course. It'll be a great course for somebody.

I'm not sure how short we're talking about in this case, but I frequently play courses ranging from about 2500' to over 8000'.

 

[rocthecourse]

Pitch and putt courses are good even if you don't play them that much because they attract chuckers, and that can mean less traffic on the bigger/harder courses in the area.

Though ideally it would be a well designed pitch and putt.

 

[natedg1976]

My home course, River Falls DGC, would be considered a pitch and putt by many here. The marked pars are way off and me and my buddies play it all threes. We have some darn good players in my group and getting more than 2 under is a challenge for most of us. It still requires drivers on a few holes, and a few that require pin point accuracy to par or bird. I love it, it's close, the total rec player ratio is low. So it's where I play most. I will take it over the 18 hole hap hardly designed course by my work any day.

 

[BogeyNoMore]

I'm all for pitch'n'putts...as long as they're responsibly installed.
Short, easy courses have a place: good for introducing people to the game, quick rounds, kids, ace races, working on your short game, providing an easy way to bump the ace count in your sorry @$$ sig line, or just having fun.

Two main beefs I have with many pitch'n'putts is they are often:

1) Often shoehorned into a busy park, betwixt ball fields, walking paths, courts, etc...with idea being that "it's better than no course"... a premise I don't necessarily agree with. Not every park is a good fit for DG, especially small, parks where other traffic patterns are already well established, and there's essentially no way to avoid throwing with or towards people doing whatever they're doing exactly where they're supposed to be doing it. If you can't arrange the tees to throw away from other activity, maybe you shouldn't put a course there.

2) Too open... there's an art to laying out a course in a small, sparsely treed parcel. Holes don't have to be heavily or even moderately wooded to encourage shot shaping. I think 9 holes of "point and shoot" with baskets in the open and nary a tree does a disservice to the sport.
with the thought that play too close to walking I've seen with most dinky pitch'n

 

[Monocacy]

We have three mostly wide open courses nearby. I almost never play them because I hate wide open courses.

If the pitch and putt forces you to hit lines, absolutely, I would play frequently.

 

[Monkeypaws]

I play 75% of my rounds on a pitch and putt close to my job and my house.

More fun than throwing on a soccer field, plus it has scenic beauty as well.

 

[4th Rock]

We just got a local pitch and out course, and its great for working out your putting game. Most off we play with is putters and maybe a mid or two for some good practice. 9 holes is perfect when it gets dark soonnas you step out of the office . Some fays if rather enjoy myself on 9 slow holes and try to race the sunset for 18.

 

[grotto]

Have a 9 hole pitch and putt near me that only has one open hole, great place to practice upshots, low ceiling, hyzer, annie and putter only rounds. Longest hole is only 300' and it has little traffic, maybe an occasional hiker crossing the course.

 

[sumo21]

The short courses are a good way to work on your approach game. Plus it can give you looks at some of the tougher shots that you might face on a second or crucial third shot to save par. Think of it as field work while you're playing your round.

 

[sumo21]

Plus it's a good way to work on one of the hardest aspects of your game, the mental approach.

 

[Monkeypaws]

Have a 9 hole pitch and putt near me that only has one open hole, great place to practice upshots, low ceiling, hyzer, annie and putter only rounds. Longest hole is only 300' and it has little traffic, maybe an occasional hiker crossing the course.

Sounds a lot like mine - 300' is the longest, and many a putter or mid only round has been played there.

 

[adventurous penguin]

The closest course to me has one 440' hole, and then no other holes over 300'. Its great for putter only rounds and working on control, but many of the holes are very easy to park with a simple hyzer. I just use it as an opportunity to try new routes and battle the wind that often is at the course, or learn new discs.

 

[Smigles]

Would you rather have a really short course, or no course at all?

Your poll options say something different.

I'd have ANY course over no course at all. But if there are better close by courses like in the poll option, I would probably go play the better one.

 

[hendryxdisc]

The local pitch n' putt near me is one of the better short courses I've played. It is Santa Anita Park in Sacramento,Ca and was installed as an Eagle Scout project. The park is an offshoot of a larger park across the street, and located across from the busiest parking lot for the larger park. The holes range from 100-165ft, it plays back and forth over a small creek in between large oaks and sycamores. It's perfect for beginners and great for upshot work. It's easy to play 35+ holes in a half hour on a slow day. I would say it's a positive for the local disc community. I vote small course, but Sac has an 18 hole in Shady Oaks and Rocklin dgc and Auburn dgc are <30miles from Sac. So we are lucky to have a lot of courses, and new ones being added.

 

[Halcón]

Your poll options say something different.

You're right. Sort of a poll fail.