Course Density by State: Complete Stats

[Texconsinite]

midwest represent!!!

2. WISCONSIN (417 sq. mi./course, 41,803 people/course)
4. MINNESOTA (489 sq. mi./course, 41,251 people/course)
35. TEXAS (1,739 sq. mi./course, 144,875 people/course)
48. ARIZONA (6,521 sq. mi./course, 264,115 people/course)

The strange thing about this is that texas and AZ have waay fewer courses for waay more people, but Ive never had to wait as long to tee off in either of those two states as I did on a regular basis in WI or MN. Could it be that there is a more active DG community in the Midwest, or just more players?

 

[JR Stengele]

It must have been the booze talking. Maybe just being in Iowa for 24 hours on a layover to somewhere better. = )

 

[sidewinding]

I was looking forward to weeks of "my state is better because we have better courses." "No my state is better because you're a jerk'" And you went and ruined it with your science and logic and stuff.

And why does Iowa have so many more courses than the states around it?

I just did a nationwide search using the criteria that I think make a great course which are moderately to very hilly, moderately wooded, and 4.5 to 5 disc rating.

Iowa came in first with 5 courses
PA came in second with 3 courses
About 8 states tied for 3rd place with 2 courses

So it sounds like Iowa has both quantity and quality and therefore wins the prize for the greatest disc golf state.

Where the hell is Iowa anyway?

 

[garublador]

Garublador is right about Iowa -- It's as if every small town has a really friendly city council & parks board, and a few thousand bucks sitting around just waiting for a good, warm & fuzzy family-friendly use like this.

I don't have any experience in getting a course started, but I'd guess that one of the big selling points disc golfers use to sell city councils on fronting the money for a course is that it's one more thing they can list as a bullet item in the tourist brochure. Then you get the local businesses to sponser baskets/tee signs and they get some advertising to boot. If I stopped in a small town, played their course and saw a restaurant had donated for a hole I'm sure I'd go there for lunch. All you have to do is give statistics about how the sport is growing, show them information about the big events in Des Moines and refer them to another town that has had good luck with a course and it turnes into an easy sell. You get someone to put in a winery nearby and all of a sudden your lame little town is a nice Saturday afternoon for a disc golfer and his or her family.

I'm sure there's a lot about the history of disc golf in the midwest that contributes to this as well, but I don't know anything about it.

 

[Texconsinite]

Well I guess Iowa had to be best at something

Under that criteria sidewinding, I know MN has several courses that would qualify, WI too (if the courses at highbridge have been rated yet), so I think this solidifies the midwest as the best place for dg. Woowoo!!
It makes sense, though, since MN and WI are heavily wooded, hilly, with lots of lakes. Thats all the geographical elements that make for a fun and interesting course, combined with good desgin, which we have several of in the midwest (Chuck Kenndey, Timmy Gill...). Oh, and there is a LOT of open space to use for courses, unlike the East Coast.

 

[sidewinding]

Under that criteria sidewinding, I know MN has several courses that would qualify, WI too (if the courses at highbridge have been rated yet), so I think this solidifies the midwest as the best place for dg. Woowoo!!
It makes sense, though, since MN and WI are heavily wooded, hilly, with lots of lakes. Thats all the elements that make for a fun and interesting course. Oh, and there is a LOT of open space to use for courses, unlike the East Coast.

Mn was one of the states that was tied for 3rd. I did not include heavily wooded in the search because I personally think moderately wooded hilly courses are funner. I love heavily wooded technical courses but I don't think that's what makes a course great.

 

[Three Putt]

Another thing about Iowa is that a lot of the Clubs up there have bit down hard on the PDDGA dream. One really positive outcome of that for everyone is that if you are looking to host NT's and A Tiers, you are looking to have courses that will challenge the top players in the game. So when a course proposal for a place like West Lake comes around, they were not looking to put in a nice above-average course. They were looking at designing a killer course that could challenge the best players in the game. That results in some top-notch courses. There were already good courses in the Davenport/Moline IL. area so they really didn't need another course, but they wanted a gem. I think they got one.

 

[Texconsinite]

I like moderate to heavy wooded, but I agree, the "best" courses are usually balanced, with trees in moderation. Since i can tell from the walkthrough that the highbridge, WI courses are moderately wooded (some more than others) and i believe them to be 4.5-5.0 stars, and MN was tied for 3rd, combined with the champ Iowa. Those are three states that all border each other, so i submit that this midwest "Tri-state Area" is the apex of DG in the US. Or even just MN-Iowa, since my views on WI are subjective and not as well supported by reviews from others

My point still stands.

 

[brokenfixed]

wooo, go new jersey

32. NEW JERSEY (1,628 sq. mi./course, 668,148 people/course)

 

[Donovan]

OK now it is just curiosity, but can you post the raw data you got too?

I would like to know just how many different courses there are in each state also.

 

[Jungle Tim]

woo!

Go Mexico

106.5 million / Course, shame onl;y 15-20 turn up each sunday, must be a 9am thing!!

 

[sidewinding]

OK now it is just curiosity, but can you post the raw data you got too?

I would like to know just how many different courses there are in each state also.

I had to do seperate searches, one for moderately hilly and the other for very hilly then add the numbers together myself. It would be nice if it would pull up all courses that are moderately hilly or more on one search.

 

[Luke@DiscTrips]

Just curious, how many courses did you find in the state of Mississippi. I have been wondering how many there are now. I know a few years ago it was over 30. I know of 4-5 courses added since then.

Thanks for the info, really cool.

For Mississippi, there are 34-35 courses, depending on the source. That's a state I still need to hit..... Good times.

 

[timg]

I had to do seperate searches, one for moderately hilly and the other for very hilly then add the numbers together myself. It would be nice if it would pull up all courses that are moderately hilly or more on one search.

Umm.. why not check both Moderately Hilly and Very Hilly in the browse form?

 

[Luke@DiscTrips]

Those are three states that all border each other, so i submit that this midwest "Tri-state Area" is the apex of DG in the US. Or even just MN-Iowa, since my views on WI are subjective and not as well supported by reviews from others

My point still stands.

Yes, the numbers don't lie: Minnesota-Wisconsin-Iowa is an unbelievably rich region of DG. You have 395 courses in an area three-quarters the size of Texas. It's just insane. Please, go there, or better yet, live there for a few years. (I did for 10.) Once they all get rated, High Bridge, Blue Ribbon Pines and the rest of the Kennedy/Gill courses in the region will finally step into the national spotlight (or at least the DGCR spotlight!).

Ugh, just writing about it makes me miss it... Sitting here in MA with a small number of far-away (but sweet) courses is just not the same...

 

[sidewinding]

Umm.. why not check both Moderately Hilly and Very Hilly in the browse form?

That would have saved me some trouble. I had to break out a legal pad and a pencil.

What a dumbass!

 

[Olorin]

Luke,

Can you compute the population density for each state (number of people per sq. mile) and then compare this to the number of courses?

I've tried this with states like Alaska and Rhode Island, but they seem to skew the results.

 

[Olorin]

I can also post portions of the two separate rankings (size only, and population only) if anyone's interested. (I'm kind of a spreadsheet geek)

Would you please post the population only chart?

Best of all would you email me your spreadsheet? You can send it to <playdiscgolf(at)gmail.com> if you want to send it. I can also upload it to my Yahoo group, DG Course Reviews, if you'd like.

 

[JR Stengele]

As far as Wisconsin, Minn., and Iowa, what is considered the best of the three as far as quality?

 

[sidewinding]

OK now it is just curiosity, but can you post the raw data you got too?

I would like to know just how many different courses there are in each state also.

26 Courses Found


Mt. Crested Butte, CO
Adair Park Corvallis, OR
Arizona Snowbowl Flagstaff, AZ
Beaver Ranch/Conifer Park Conifer, CO
Brakewell Steel / Warwick Town Park Warwick, NY
Bud Hill Millington, TN
Deer Lakes Park Tarentum, PA
DeLaveaga Park Santa Cruz, CA
Ewing Park Des Moines, IA
Freeman Lake Park Elizabethtown, KY
Hickory Hills Traverse City, MI
Idlewild Burlington, KY
Kensington Toboggan Milford, MI
Middle Park DGC Bettendorf, IA
Moraine State Park Portersville, PA
North Hibbing DG Park Hibbing, MN
Pickard Park Indianola, IA
Plamann Apple Creek 18 Appleton, WI
Riverside Park St. Cloud, MN
Riverview Park North Augusta, SC
Seth Burton Memorial DGC Fairmont, WV
Sipapu Ski & Summer Resort Vadito, NM
Tyler State Park Newtown, PA
Walnut Ridge Johnston (Des Moines), IA
Water Works Park Kansas City, MO
West Lake Park Davenport, IA

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