Best DG in the country.

[Cgkdisc]

However, it's not worth it to live near Blue Ribbon in terms of access to the core group of courses in the metro.

 

[HeavyCritters]

However, it's not worth it to live near Blue Ribbon in terms of access to the core group of courses in the metro.

Yeah, I know. It sucks that there's no way to get Oakwood, Kaposia, Bryant Lake, etc. and BRP into that 25 mile radius.

Speaking of BRP, I'm going to have to get up there in the next week or two. :thmbup:

 

[New013]

I don't know where the X's were placed for the first list because it was done by my sister. For the second list I made a mistake based on my lack of knowledge of Minnesota. When Cgkdisc said St. Paul I thought of St. Cloud which is where I referenced when half of the courses would be in the 50mile radius.

For the second list that I did the marker was actually placed in what appears to be West St. Paul. The closest courses were Kaposia, The Valley and Oakwood which were all in the first 9.99 mile radius. It was positioned there so that Maiden Shade and Axidog Acres barely fit in the 50 mile radius.

 

[Cgkdisc]

I figured West St. Paul would be close to if not the highest ranked marker point in the area. It's not a coincidence that the Am World HQ for motels will be in Inver Grove Hts right next to West St. Paul so it's conveniently centered among the eight courses likely to be used.

 

[New013]

Went back and was looking at the town/suburb closest to the x for informative purposes and also to see if I could refine some areas that were iffy. A few areas had their score upped a tad bit but the only one that it made any difference was Minneapolis which moved up from 10 to 8.

1. 33.9 - Dallas-Fort Worth, TX (East Arlington)
2. 33.8 - Charlotte, NC (Sedgefield)
3. 31.5 - Augusta, ME (Litchfield)
4. 28.4 - Ann Arbor, MI (Wines)
5. 27.5 - Denver, CO (Kings Valley)
6. 26.6 - Worcester, MA (Rutland)
7. 25.5 - Kansas City, MO (Turner)
8. 23.6 - Minneapolis, MN (West St. Paul)
9. 23.3 - Reading, PA (Lorane)
10. 23.0 - Portland, OR (North Plains)
11. 22.0 - Highbridge, MN (High Bridge)
12. 21.9 - Lake Tahoe, CA (literally inside in the lake)
13. 20.8 - Austin, TX (Downtown)
14. 20.1 - Houston, TX (Bridgestone)
15. 20.0 - Des Moines, IA (Ankeny)
16. 19.9 - Ludington, MI (Bass Lake)
17. 19.8 - Davenport, IA (Downtown)
18. 19.2 - Orlando Park, IL (Joilet)
19. 18.9 - Atlanta, GA (Norcross)
20. 18.4 - Tulsa, OK (Wagon Wheel)
21. 17.2 - Augusta, GA (IDGC)
22. 17.0 - Linville, NC (Newland)
23. 16.1 - St. Louis, MO (Florissant)
24. 15.7 - Raleigh-Durham, NC (Hope Valley)
25. 15.6 - Cincinnati, OH (Lebanon)

 

[Cgkdisc]

Highbridge is in Wisconsin.

 

[mj20300]

its always charlotte!!!!

 

[KGroff25]

Interesting that North Plains (where Horning's is located) is the "suburb" used for Portland. Unless you actually live on the property or wanted to become a farmer you probably wouldn't want to move there. It's definitely a podunk little town. Although, North Plains is also home to Pumpkin Ridge, probably the second best ball golf complex in Oregon behind Bandon Dunes.

Most Portland disc golfers prefer to live near Pier or Lunchtime, which are centrally located and near downtown, the breweries, etc. Or many live in one of the suburbs east of Portland to be closer to Dabney, Blue Lake, Milo, Timber and a couple fun short courses.

Horning's, Stub and Trojan are the only 3.5ish+ courses on the West Side, but they're too far away from civilization for nearly anyone to call everyday courses.

In fact, there's actually a thread on our local forums to get something new installed because of the lack of a decent everyday course on the west side.

http://nwdiscgolfnews.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9864

 

[Cgkdisc]

The data above used a 50 mile radius. My thought would be that a 25-mile radius would be better if you were determining places to live. For regular play, my sense is that the course options you have within 30 minutes would be more important. Some major metros would even have two or three independent 25-mile circles that might not even overlap. If West St. Paul is the center of one 25-mile zone, then Rogers might be another one that includes BRP, for example, and the next one going up I-94 would be for St. Cloud.

 

[KniceZ]

I don't think it's going to put it even in the top 20 but if you add Hawk Hallow (it's #22 in the country w/ a 4.63 rating) to the Spotsy VA score what does that do? Biscoe doesn't want to put the actual location in DGCR since it's a private (permission only) course, but it's about 15 miles from Blockhouse.

 

[Steve West]

...
For the second list that I did the marker was actually placed in what appears to be West St. Paul. The closest courses were Kaposia, The Valley and Oakwood which were all in the first 9.99 mile radius. It was positioned there so that Maiden Shade and Axidog Acres barely fit in the 50 mile radius.

...and that's my problem with using radius. No one is going to care about living a couple of miles one direction or another because they can never play Maiden Shade and Axldog acres if it is an inch over 50 miles to get to either.

So, a formula that optimizes the value by fiddling with the farthest away courses probably will not find the actual spot where a player would most like to live.

Back at the long end of the scale, a player living in West St. Paul will sometimes go play those courses that are 50 miles away, so they do make West St. Paul a better place for disc golf. But what determines how often they go play those courses probably has more to do with what events are happening than whether they are 45 or 55 miles away.


Two continuous functions that should help you find optimal points (while keeping the weightings close to your current values) are:

5.5-miles/10 (no less than zero).

Or

6.2 / exp(miles/28.75).

 

[grodney]

Just for fun in the Charlotte area, I used this site (http://www.freemaptools.com/radius-around-point.htm) to draw 25-mile radius circles, and I can draw the following two areas with NO OVERLAP:

Clicking just north of the lake at Winthrop, I get 28 courses including:
Winthrop
Both Elons
Winget
Renny
RL Smith
Scrapyard
Kilborne
Bradley (24.8 miles)

Clicking on I-85 exit 68 (China Grove), I get 19 courses including:
Bradford
Bailey
Stumpy
Reedy
Fox Chase
Nevin
Sugaw
Hornets
Eastway (25.0 miles)

That's all 14 Worlds courses (7 each circle), plus other highlights like Fox Chase and Winthrop.

 

[grodney]

Well, look at that, you can generate a static map out of google maps:
http://maps.google.com/maps/api/staticmap?size=600x500&path=fillcolor:0x00FF00|weight:1|color:0xFFFFFF|enc:}vnvEhwnmNnDe_EnOi~DjZk|Dbe@syDvo@}uD`z@iqD`dA{kDzmAqeDbwAm~C``BqvCnhB}mClpBsdCvwBszBp~BapBtdC{dBdjCiyA~nCgmAdsCw`ApvCat@dyC}f@b{CyYf|CkLt|C?f|CjLb{CxYdyC|f@pvC`t@dsCv`A~nCfmAdjChyAtdCzdBp~B`pBxwBrzBjpBrdCnhB|mC``BpvCbwAl~CzmApeDbdAzkD~y@hqDvo@|uDbe@ryDjZj|DnOh~DnDd_EoDf_EoOf~DkZl|Dce@ryDwo@zuD_z@jqDcdAxkD{mApeDcwAn~Ca`BpvCohB|mCkpBpdCywBrzBq~B`pBudC|dBejChyA_oCdmAesCx`AqvC~s@eyC~f@c{CvYg|ClLu|C?g|CmLc{CwYeyC_g@qvC_t@esCy`A_oCemAejCiyAudC}dBq~BapBwwBszBmpBqdCohB}mCa`BqvCcwAo~C{mAqeDadAykDaz@kqDwo@{uDce@syDkZm|DoOg~DoDg_E&path=fillcolor:0x00FF00|weight:1|color:0xFFFFFF|enc:ehizEv_ujNnDu`EnOy_EjZ{}Dbe@a{Dvo@iwD`z@wrD`dAemDzmA{fDbwAu_D``BwwCnhB_oClpBueCvwBq{Bp~B}pBtdCueBdjC_zA`oC{mAbsCgaApvCmt@dyCig@b{C_Zf|CoLt|C?f|CnLb{C~YfyChg@nvClt@dsCfaA~nCzmAdjC~yAtdCteBp~B|pBxwBp{BjpBteCnhB~nC``BvwCdwAt_DxmAzfDbdAdmD`z@vrDto@hwDbe@`{DjZz}DnOx_EnDt`EoDt`EoOx_EkZz}Dce@`{Duo@hwDaz@vrDcdAdmDymAzfDewAt_Da`BvwCohB~nCkpBteCywBp{Bq~B|pBudCteBejC~yA_oCzmAesCfaAovClt@gyChg@c{C~Yg|CnLu|C?g|CoLc{C_ZeyCig@qvCmt@csCgaAaoC{mAejC_zAudCueBq~B}pBwwBq{BmpBueCohB_oCa`BwwCcwAu_D{mA{fDadAemDaz@wrDwo@iwDce@a{DkZ{}DoOy_EoDu`E&sensor=true

Hmm, that didn't work. How about this: http://tinyurl.com/axzt2c4

 

[grodney]

Anyway, Charlotte isn't 2 halves like the Twin Cities or DFW, but you can still split it and end up okay.

 

[1978]

The lower circle has like 14 9-12 hole E.D.G.E courses right?

 

[grodney]

The lower circle has like 14 9-12 hole E.D.G.E courses right?

Yes, a whole bunch of Rock Hill school courses, though I have no way of knowing if there is any EDGE association.

 

[JeremyKShort]

After a tiny bit of research ill stand corrected on my assumtions of austin.

Austin is a blob of blue inside a red state. Especially inside Austin proper, the suburbs tend to get back to regular Texas culture, but Austin is a very different beast.

 

[grodney]

Updated list of DG meccas:

Standard disclaimers:
- 5 reviews required for 3.75+ and 4.0+ categories.
- 0 reviews required for total courses.
- This list is sorted by 3.75+, then by 4.0+, then by Courses.
- I have previously checked several ZIP codes in each metro to find the one with the best numbers. I didn't do that this time -- I just stayed with the same ZIP. If you can find a better ZIP for a metro, let me know.
- Shut up with your private courses. If it's not listed on DGCR, it doesn't count for this list.
- Searches performed with the 25-mile radius feature. I know it covers more than 25 miles. I don't care to check exactly how many fall within 25.0 miles, as it's just not that important.

 

[New013]

Denver is all lies

 

[AndyJB]

Denver is all lies

I tend to agree with conditions.

The Denver Metro area courses are good, but not great. If you want great courses, you have to head to the mountains: Beaver Ranch, Phantom Falls, Bucksnort, Bailey....All destination courses. The course in Ft. Morgan, northeast of Denver is also a great course. Going South you have the Jelly stone pay to play which is not a destination course but is very good as well.

Denver, being the largest city in Denver by a grip of people, sees the most players and the most traffic. But the truly great Colorado courses are all well outside of Denver.