A question for New York state residents

[Mando]

NY seems like it would be a great state disc golf, but there are less than thirty 18 hole courses in the entire state. Why is that ?

 

[80playedin10states]

good question....quality and not quanity is what i like to tell people

 

[shirfan]

Western New York is very well represented, with the Buffalo and Rochester areas each boasting 7 full-length courses, and another on the way roughly halfway between the two.

The Adirondacks may simply not have the population/interest for many public courses to go in. As for downstate, I'm not sure. Expensive land and urban sprawl? Downstate really has little in common with WNY, I consider Southern Ontario to be more regional than anything past Syracuse.

 

[80playedin10states]

there are courses here but they get little play..it just has not caught on like people hoped it would..at least 3 courses are in the works for next spring..corning, bath, ithaca, and binghamton all have golf now and it is slowly spreading(ovid, danby, rathbone, onenota?, and syracuse has a few)

 

[Mando]

The thing that jumps out at me is the course quality in NY state parks is not very good. Looks like only two keepers (Beaver Island and FDR) out of nine installed in state parks.. Compare that with the PA state parks which has 10 really solid courses and two that are arguably as good as any in the US. It seems like they need a hand in the design process.

 

[80playedin10states]

really? ok maybe state parks, but i feel we have some high quality courses(warwick, j-park, oxbow, many many others) that maybe aren't in state parks..is this important for a course to be in a state park? i would rather have a course on private land(hyzer creek is badass) or somewhere where you didn't have to pay to play and "dodge the man" every time you went out..what are these courses in pa you are talking about?..i know of a few in delaware where you have to pay 7 buks to park and worry about a park ranger jumping out of the trees to write you citations..

 

[Mando]

really? ok maybe state parks, but i feel we have some high quality courses(warwick, j-park, oxbow, many many others) that maybe aren't in state parks..is this important for a course to be in a state park? i would rather have a course on private land(hyzer creek is badass) or somewhere where you didn't have to pay to play and "dodge the man" every time you went out..what are these courses in pa you are talking about?..i know of a few in delaware where you have to pay 7 buks to park and worry about a park ranger jumping out of the trees to write you citations..

Let's see, maybe you have heard of;
Moraine
Tyler
Nockamixon
Codorus
French Creek
Hickory Run
Pinchot
Gallizton
Prompton
Pymutuning
It isn't important that a course is in a state park, but it makes you wonder when so many attempts are botched. I guess clubs in NY don't want to get involved, for fear of the that ranger in the tree.

 

[80playedin10states]

attempts are botched for the same reasons alcohol is permitted everywhere in the state park BUT the disc golf course....unfortunately, disc golf is associated with smokers, drinkers, etc..and as for ny clubs not being involved? do you have any facts or are you just talkin' smack? 2 clubs have been around longer than 90% of the courses in this country..

 

[ghova]

yea i agree NY does need more disc golf courses. And it is in the process of getting them. i know of two courses that are in different stages of the approval process in the albany area. one in a state park one in a city park. governments are hard to deal with in NY and it takes a strong effort to deal with them to get a course approved on public lands. i know the albany area club has played a very active role in getting a course approved by a town govt (joralemon park is a great course which was recently expanded to 27 holes) and have established a good example to work from when dealing with other local governments.

I can imagine it is even more difficult to get a course in the adirondack state park as there are lots of restrictions and hoops to jump through when dealing with any of the land in there. but hopefully in the next year or two there will be a larger number of DG courses spread throughout NY.

 

[80playedin10states]

yea i agree NY does need more disc golf courses. And it is in the process of getting them. i know of two courses that are in different stages of the approval process in the albany area. one in a state park one in a city park. governments are hard to deal with in NY and it takes a strong effort to deal with them to get a course approved on public lands. i know the albany area club has played a very active role in getting a course approved by a town govt (joralemon park is a great course which was recently expanded to 27 holes) and have established a good example to work from when dealing with other local governments.

I can imagine it is even more difficult to get a course in the adirondack state park as there are lots of restrictions and hoops to jump through when dealing with any of the land in there. but hopefully in the next year or two there will be a larger number of DG courses spread throughout NY.

the number has more than doubled recently so it is catching on..when i moved here 5 years ago or so, there were 0 courses..now there are 4 within 20-30 minutes of my house..

 

[optidiscic]

Ive played everything worthwhile in PA.....and PA has some remarkable courses and many of these happen to be in State Parks......having only played 2 NY courses Joralemon Park and Warwick (Brakewell Steel) I am quite impressed with what NY has to offer as well/ Im looking forward to FDR/Leonard/Hyzer and getting out northwestern NY maybe on my way to Michigan one day on a disc golf adventure....Delaware has 3 of the most unique fun courses I have ever played in Brandywine, Iron Hill and Cape Henlopen not to mention the slew of the Pond Courses...Killens, Trap and Lums which are a step below but still solid... PA has plenty of very good courses I can name 15 that could rate as 4s. I think a better question would be what the hell is wrong with New Jersey?

 

[Vepr]

WHATS WRONG WITH NEW JERSEY! YOU DONT EVEN KNOW MAN!

Well honestly it has to deal with people being uninformed i think. Cause about 15 minutes from my house they attempted to get an 18 hole course started in Top of World Park in Warren. The mayor was an avid player of disc golf so it seemed like everything was going to turn out well. Then when they started clearing out bushes and things for the course and problems occurred.

People began to complain to the town and ask what the hell is disc golf? Why do we need it? Oh your only installing it cause the mayor wants it. Also since the course was in a park near houses those people came and complained about how they didnt want people tramping around their backyards. Even though they said instead of a disc golf course they would like some hiking trails. Which makes no sense right?

This makes me feel like not even wanting to talk to the town about expanding the chimney rock course here.

In general i think whats wrong with new jersey? Well around here its cause people around here are pretty damn selfish and are afraid of anyone coming near their property (dont get me started about this). If some random guy was tossing a frisbee around in my backyard i'd walk up to him and be like "OH HEY DUDE! WHATS UP BROTHER?" People in PA are so nice though, i get out of the car and like five people say hello to me and ask if i need any help finding anything, help me pump gas...such good people.

Sorry but theres my rant for the day or when i post again in two months.

 

[CaptainAnhyzer]

yea i agree NY does need more disc golf courses. And it is in the process of getting them. i know of two courses that are in different stages of the approval process in the albany area. one in a state park one in a city park. governments are hard to deal with in NY and it takes a strong effort to deal with them to get a course approved on public lands. i know the albany area club has played a very active role in getting a course approved by a town govt (joralemon park is a great course which was recently expanded to 27 holes) and have established a good example to work from when dealing with other local governments.

I can imagine it is even more difficult to get a course in the adirondack state park as there are lots of restrictions and hoops to jump through when dealing with any of the land in there. but hopefully in the next year or two there will be a larger number of DG courses spread throughout NY.

Are you referring to that awesome object course in Schenectady ?


Wazzup, G ?

J-Park is the chit now............ 27 holes of plastic-punishing fun !!!

 

[prerube]

Western NY has some of the best Disc Golf Courses I have ever played.

Ellison and Baker farm are 2 well known courses in Rochester
Beaver Island, Chestnut Ridge, Como Lake, Emory Park are all courses near Buffalo that would put most of Maryland (my current state) to shame.

Western NY doesn't just have quality, they rank high in quantity also, it's just the rest of the state hasn't caught up. with in 15 miles of Rochester are 7 18 hole courses. If you click on the word Buffalo you can see 11 courses pop up. There are 50 Courses in the state, but remember The Adirondacks are bigger than Yellowstone and Yosimite combined, they take up a good chunk of the state and contain no courses.

TimG is from Western NY need I say more

 

[CaptainAnhyzer]

The Adirondacks are bigger than Yellowstone and Yosimite combined, they take up a good chunk of the state and contain no courses.

Hyzer Creek is not technically in the Adirondack State Park but damn close and been there since 2002.

The two courses that ghova mentioned along with the course that Skot Hanna is designing at Hunter Mountain will bring the eastern-upstate NY course total to 5.
If the hippie tree-hugger freaks in Woodstock would've researched things before getting all NIBMY we'd have 6..........

 

[prerube]

If you were to take a vacation to Western New York you could spend 3 days playing quality courses.
While you are playing, non playing family members can go to Letchworth State Park, Niagra Falls, Strong National Muesem of Play and at night Silver Lake Twin Drive In.

I'd give you a suggested itinerary, but then this would turn into a trips and destinations thread

 

[prerube]

Hyzer Creek is not technically in the Adirondack State Park but damn close and been there since 2002.

The two courses that ghova mentioned along with the course that Skot Hanna is designing at Hunter Mountain will bring the eastern-upstate NY course total to 5.
If the hippie tree-hugger freaks in Woodstock would've researched things before getting all NIBMY we'd have 6..........

I would LOVE to play Hyzer. It looks like it would easily make my personal top 10.

Also people need to remember that a lot of New York is buried in snow 1/2 the year and there are still more and better courses than some areas.

I think there are more states that wish they were up to NY's standards. Alabama has only 35 courses, and Arizona has maybe 30, so lets pick on them

 

[simpletwist]

No love for my home course? Joseph Davis SP!!! While it's not as technical as some other local parks It does have 27 holes, and it rarely gets crowded. Personally I think it beats the hell out of Chestnut Ridge. And then there's Wilson-Tuscarora SP. Far enough from Buffalo and Rochester so that it's never crowded. But close enough to both to easily get to from either.

And as has already been mentioned, Emery Park is a championship caliber course. Emery is an Erie County Park. And Como Park is either a Town Park or County Park.

I feel quite lucky to be living so close to so many courses from Championship to Pitch and Putt all within 30 minutes of my front door.

And we have the best weather in the country.

 

[prerube]

No love for my home course? Joseph Davis SP!!!

No offense. I have heard great things, but I can not promote the course because I have not played it. Everytime I plan on going there is a storm or our trip is cancelled for some other reason, but I will play it by this summer and I'll have to look you up.

 

[simpletwist]

No offense. I have heard great things, but I can not promote the course because I have not played it. Everytime I plan on going there is a storm or our trip is cancelled for some other reason, but I will play it by this summer and I'll have to look you up.

Sounds like a plan. Just let me know when you are coming up to God's country. And if for some reason we don't connect ahead of time, I'm there every weekend at least once. I'll be the short, portly, old hippy that walks with a limp accompanied by a tall, young, hot hippy chick.