Austin & Denver Trip

[New013]

In early May I'm headed to Austin, TX for Psychfest. I'll probably have time in Austin to hit a couple of courses and they'll probably have to be near the airport area because my only transportation will be a cab or thumbing it. I'm going to be with some casual disc golfers who aren't going to want to put a **** ton of time in to playing courses so again at most I'll be able to hit two.

I can see from the map the best options are Roy G, MetCenter, Circle C and East Metro. If you had to pick two out of those with the idea of getting the best experience and variety of Austin DG which two would it be?

Also what other things are there to do in Austin or must places to eat? I'm not going to have a ton of free time in Austin because we'll be heading to Denver afterwards so keep that in mind and that we'll be limited to the general area of the airport.

Now to Denver. My purpose of going to Denver is to visit a very good friend who moved to Steamboat so I'll be spending about 4 days in the area and probably a couple of those in Steamboat. We're going to rent a car and I'm definitely going to force them to head down towards all the goodness SE of Denver.

I want to play one of the private courses down there as well as Beaver Ranch but will probably only have one day devoted to playing dg down there. Is it possible to play a private course in the morning and then go play Beaver Ranch afterwards? If I can only do one it'll be Beaver Ranch. From the reviews I'm thinking I'd like to play Bucksnort out of the privates but would be open to suggestions considering my constraints.

My other question is what are the best things to do in that area of Colorado, I want to see some badass **** more than anything and definitely spend some time in Denver checking it out.

Thanks for any tips and help.

 

[KG505]

I can see from the map the best options are Roy G, MetCenter, Circle C and East Metro.

I havent played east metro, but i have played the other three. If it were me I would hit Roy G and Circle C. In between those to courses is mary moore searight, a really fun course, but it can get really busy. Roy G and circle c are both long courses, so maybe searight and one of those 2 would be a good option. Across the street from searight is disc nation, gotta stop there! Have fun!

 

[biscoe]

if i were going to austin the number one place to hit on my list would be franklin barbecue. open from 11 until sold out.

 

[InnocentCrook]

My bro-in-law and I (plus our wives) were in Denver this past summer.

Talking to some of the locals about how we weren't able to schedule Phantom Falls, i got the feeling that they feel like it's a little overrated. We decided to play Bailey and Beaver Ranch and that was one bada$$ day of Rocky Mountain foothill golf. Challenging, beautiful scenery, just awesome.

As for other stuff to do. The Botanical Gardens were pretty good, so was the Natural History Museum. My favorite part was the microbreweries though. We visited both New Belgium and Odells up in Ft. Collins. (If you can make the hour trip up that way, the NB tour is fan-freaking-tastic. Free beer tasting during the tour and just a really awesome place.) If you can't make it out of Denver, Wynkoop and Breckenridge are pretty solid brewpubs. That's pretty much the extent of what we got to do downtown as most of our time was spent with our wives grandmother and aunt.

Our main reason for going to Denver was for a concert at Red Rocks though. (Old Crow Medicine Show opened for the Avett Bros.) If you can swing it, it's by far the absolute best outdoor venue I've ever been to.

 

[banknwank]

seems to be a massive hole in dg map for se denver.......havnt ventured that way myself. on your way out of steamboat , you might check out ghost town in idaho springs. Seems like most of the mountain courses you r headed to get rave reviews. The most diverse course i have played is badlands/blair witch. May be out of the way, and not the most epic scenery, but very diverse and challenging course. elevation changes, 600+ distance on a few, and crazy wooded on the blair.... Play all 27 and stay even seems to be difficult for average players. FYI , You may also notice your discs behave more stable/over stable @ altitude.

 

[InnocentCrook]

You may also notice your discs behave more stable/over stable @ altitude.

This. I was surprised how noticeable it was. My typical fliptastic Leopard was quite straight. Everything I threw was noticeably beefier.

 

[banknwank]

yep, i played @ +1500 ft late this summer, and my normal stuff became fliptastic, and my normal widy stuff was throwable....... i was getting hyzer flip turn overs , and cant normaly shape stuff to the right at all.

 

[bobmcnelly]

I live in steamboat! Hit me up when your nearby! Hopefully there will be a brand new course for you to play. But in nay that might be a long shot. The conifer area is about 2 1/2 hours from steamboat. So you really need about 2 days just to a couple of those courses in. Are you flying into Denver? Are you renting a car?

 

[New013]

I meant SW Denver, not SE. Thanks for the tips guys.

I am flying in and renting a car. I'm not sure what my flight times are quite yet I haven't booked the flights but will soon.

 

[bobmcnelly]

If your looking to play some unique courses, you really should try to get some of the courses done in the mountains. City park courses bore me to death since playing in the mountains.

 

[bobmcnelly]

Does your friend in steamboat disc? Would he or she be in our league?

 

[banknwank]

If your looking to play some unique courses, you really should try to get some of the courses done in the mountains. City park courses bore me to death since playing in the mountains.

I agree ,for the most part, on city park courses. they can feel repetive at times. thats why i suggest badlands/blair. Its the most diverse city park course i have played. The entire park is a valley with some mature trees, just not as much trees as you might find in the hills. I am planning on checking out some more mountain courses next year. But, part of the reason i switched from ball golf is expense. So local stuff that doesnt take alot of fuel to get to, and no fees is good for me.:thmbup:

 

[jeffmonty]

I was in Colorado in sept., and I played Bucksnort in the morning, left there and played Bailey. Phantom and Bucksnort are 3 min. apart, but tough to do in one day together due to Paulie's tee times.

Realistically, you could fairly easily play Bucksnort, then to Bailey, and still get Beaver Ranch in all in one day. That time of year should give you plenty of daylight. I will tell you though, if you pull this off, your dogs will be seriously barking at the end of this day. Those are some fairly long, up and down mountain courses.
I'm 57, and i've lived at sea level for 10 years now, but I played two of them with no serious difficulty, although I think 3 would have been a stretch. I think growing up in Colorado helps me re-acclimate quicker when I go back. Bailey is seasonal, but should be back in the ground by May.
If you only have a day in that area, I would play those three.

Also like InnocentCrook said, get to Red Rocks if you can, even if there's not a show. It's a great park, too.

 

[New013]

Does your friend in steamboat disc? Would he or she be in our league?

Not really, he plays casually every now and then. He probably hasn't played since he moved.

 

[New013]

Yeah hopefully something good gets booked for Red Rocks on those days I'll be there, I've always wanted to go there.

I figured playing Phantom was out of the question just because it's so many holes. I'll have to talk to the rest of my group at some point and see just what they're willing to do.