Ask John Houck about Course Design & Development

[johnrhouck]

Happy New Year, everyone.

Now here is the answer to a question no one specifically asked: our first two projects of 2014 will be at Lake Abilene -- the first Texas state park to get a championship course -- and in Carrollton, Georgia. The course at what's known as the "Hobbs Farm Property" will be our first municipal course in beautiful Georgia.

Thanks,
John

 

[Tmac811]

VERY cool John. thanks for all you do!

 

[BionicRib]

Through your experience (and I'm not 100 percent sure you have dealt with many different state parks) what is your take on how exactly to sell a course in a state park? Does it vary from state to state? Do local clubs plant the initial seed? Visitors Bureaus? Local residents? What works?........Thanks

 

[CODiscer]

John,

Would you be able to comment on your thoughts about forest mitigation in an extremely fire prone area, and if its worth the sacrifice to the course. Here's a video resembling, almost to the T, the course.

http://www.google.com/url?q=http://...twIwCA&usg=AFQjCNGoJvRm70YBVaC4pbiysIve5Yacmg

 

[johnrhouck]

VERY cool John. thanks for all you do!

Thanks, Tyler. Very excited about both of these new projects.

 

[tkmcdougal]

Hey John,

When is the expected opening date for the course in Abilene? Can't wait to play it.

 

[heartman]

Happy New Year, everyone.

Now here is the answer to a question no one specifically asked: our first two projects of 2014 will be at Lake Abilene -- the first Texas state park to get a championship course -- and in Carrollton, Georgia. The course at what's known as the "Hobbs Farm Property" will be our first municipal course in beautiful Georgia.

Thanks,
John

YAY for GA!!!! :clap:

 

[johnrhouck]

Now a quick commercial announcement:

It's short notice, but we have about 250 GStar Destroyers available as a fundraiser for the 2014 PDGA Amateur World Doubles championships.

We made them available yesterday to players registered for the tournament, and we sold about 200 in a few hours. We are now making the remainder available to YOU. They won't last long.

GStar is Innova's new Star blend that adds extra grip and flexibility to the famous Star plastic. All the profits from this sale will go directly into the event. The discs are $18 each plus shipping and handling. Texas and Kansas residents will also have to pay sales tax.

The sale will open at 3:00 Central today (Sunday) . Once they're gone, they're gone.

Here is the link: http://www.circularproductions.com/wordpress/new_gstar_destroyer/ You can see the information now. If you refresh the page at 3:00, you'll be able to order.

Thanks for your support, thanks to Innova for making this offer possible, and thanks to Discs Unlimited for fulfillment help. Happy shopping.

 

[disc gopher]

http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/showthread.php?t=102032 your take on this situation? You design better and safer courses than this obviously, but it's still something you have to consider. Do you think the course should be pulled, redesigned or what?

 

[johnrhouck]

http://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/showthread.php?t=102032 your take on this situation? You design better and safer courses than this obviously, but it's still something you have to consider. Do you think the course should be pulled, redesigned or what?

Obviously, this is very sad to hear. I'm not going to tell anyone what they should do with their course, and it would not be wise for me to comment on an ongoing trail. You can see from the 12th post in that thread that several reviewers felt that the course had problems. At this point, I just hope that, assuming the lawyer is giving us an accurate assessment of the situation, this woman will eventually find a way to regain her sight.

 

[knettles]

I apologize if this is a stupid question, but have you known any good courses on land that is also used for hunting, or do you think that's something that should be avoided entirely?

 

[Cgkdisc]

The Highbridge courses have closed for a few weeks in November to allow deer hunting.

 

[johnrhouck]

Through your experience (and I'm not 100 percent sure you have dealt with many different state parks) what is your take on how exactly to sell a course in a state park? Does it vary from state to state? Do local clubs plant the initial seed? Visitors Bureaus? Local residents? What works?........Thanks

Bionic, thanks for the question and your patience. It's an important question.

We don't normally "sell" courses; our role is to design the course once the property owner has already decided to put in a course (which may be due to an education they got from local players). I can tell you that dealing with the design part varies wildly from state to state. In Massachusetts, the people were great, but they have an awful lot of rules and regulations. We are just now starting on the first championship course in a Texas state park. They've been great to deal with, but even here we're going to have to go through layers of approval and deal with multiple departments.

On the other hand, there are places where most of the courses are in state parks. That's the case around Buffalo, where I grew up. I wasn't involved in getting any of those courses put in, but I know a little about it, and it seems the players have a very comfortable and easy relationship with the state parks there. Mississippi has a high percentage of its courses in state parks.

I also know that the motivation for putting in a course will vary from state to state and from park to park. Some parks are definitely looking to increase revenue from daily or seasonal passes, and some are really only interested in providing another amenity for users. Some, like the ones around Buffalo, have amenities and maintenance similar to those in city parks, while in Texas, state parks tend to be a lot more rustic.

As for funding, we are working with one state park that's interested in a championship course and is working with the tourism people in the adjoining town to increase economic impact, so those partnerships can happen.

I guess the bottom line on your question, as is often the case, comes down to two words: "it depends." I wish you good luck and hope you're successful with whatever it is you're working on.

 

[Curtis_Valk]

I apologize if this is a stupid question, but have you known any good courses on land that is also used for hunting, or do you think that's something that should be avoided entirely?

It may be that my hunting buddies are jacking with me since I didn't go this year, but they said they saw a tee sign beside where we usually camp. This is on Type 2 land in Texas (public land, but you pay $52 per year for access permit) and there are certain access restrictions.

Regardless of that I know there are many uses for this land besides hunting, including equestrian trails. Riders and others accessing the land for other purposes during hunting season must don the required hunter orange vest and cap.

I hope it is true about the DG course though! LOL

 

[DavidSauls]

I apologize if this is a stupid question, but have you known any good courses on land that is also used for hunting, or do you think that's something that should be avoided entirely?

I can think of at least one pretty good course that's also used for hunting.

Though I suppose you might want to clarify "used for hunting". I suspect there are plenty of private courses that are also used for hunting, at least at times, but access is well-controlled. Land that's open to the public for hunting, on the other hand, raises a lot of issues.

 

[knettles]

I can think of at least one pretty good course that's also used for hunting.

Though I suppose you might want to clarify "used for hunting". I suspect there are plenty of private courses that are also used for hunting, at least at times, but access is well-controlled. Land that's open to the public for hunting, on the other hand, raises a lot of issues.

Ya, I ask because there's this wooded area practically next to my house that I think I could put in an amazing 9 holes. However, it is used for hunting. I figure if you wore bright orange playing it, that would make it a bit safer, but still don't know if it's worth the risk. And like you said, it is open to the public unfortunately.

 

[DavidSauls]

I wouldn't play where people are hunting, not even wearing an orange jumpsuit covered with Christmas lights. Hunters aren't going to want the human activity spoiling their hunt, either.

 

[Curtis_Valk]

I wouldn't play where people are hunting, not even wearing an orange jumpsuit covered with Christmas lights.......

I don't blame you, I'm even nervous hunting where people are hunting.

 

[JeremyKShort]

I think the course would need to be straight up closed during season. That won't stop chuckers from showing up and playing, even if you posted signs telling them to stay away.

I sure as heck wouldn't go to the course during season. When we plan hiking or backpacking trips during deer season, we are extremely careful where we go. We don't want to get anywhere near that.

 

[jrawk]

Question about NAGS. What is less desirable?

1) 50-80ft NAGS zone that has a basket closely guarded and overly guarded by trees that basically eliminates a chance of hitting chains?
2) 80-120ft NAGS zone with a basket that is wide open?

I read through the old NAGS thread and didn't really find an concensus.