Course Flow and Design - Changing a 9-hole course to 18

[DeadOn]

I've been helping a local parks department to re-design and grow their 9-hole course to a full 18-hole course. I've met with the local group to figure out what they would like out of the re-design. They already had a "back 9" layout where they threw from alternate "pads" to the existing 9 baskets.

The city is willing to move the existing 9 and then add another 9 to squeeze a full 18 out of the space. I say squeeze, because the park is not huge, but it can accommodate a full 18 of short to medium length holes. The locals and I created a new 18 hole layout with best use of the roads, paths, small creek, and trees throughout the park.

I would like input on how the course flows and any safety concerns that we may have missed. The park is not very busy, but we made sure to avoid the playgrounds and any areas that have more foot traffic as much as possible. Please see the google drive link and let me know what you think! I have aerial screenshots of what we were able to create.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bz6xrKLqumhaSFpYNHhqYm1aRU0

Thanks!

 

[DeadOn]

Memorial Park - Cushing, OK

https://www.dgcoursereview.com/reviews.php?id=3090&mode=rev

 

[DSmith]

Seems like one of the issues that came up with the park vs disc golf on the reviews was how busy the park gets with other park users. I know you said it doesn't get very busy but alot of parks have slow days and other times super busy.

 

[Aim For The Chains]

Sounds like there are issues already from reviews... Anyway to just add another 9 hole course at on different plot of land? Doesnt sound like this course needs more baskets and your mapped holes are not good. Current design sounds bad enough re: safety.


-pedestrian dangers! this course is a little too close to some areas where children play and there seems to be a good amount of foot traffic around the course. could be dangerous. be careful when you throw. You don't want someone's introduction to disc golf to be a whack in the head.

-tees too close to baskets. another danger is having people teeing off while discs are flying in. To play it safe, you will have to wait for the group in front of you to move on before you tee off or risk hitting someone. Not a safe design....

#3's basket is only 10-15ft away from #4's tee, for me its just not a good thing. I don't see this course being crowded but safety while putting and teeing off needs to be factored in when designing a course. This also happens again on #7's basket and #8's tee, so please be careful.
There are a couple of roads that come into play on some holes so watch out for passing cars..

For the most part, the course is located in the central parts of the park with only a few slightly secluded holes. When playing, I usually skip certain holes or have to wait a few minutes to avoid the risk of hitting others in the park. It may not be the ideal course for a first time player with the potential anxiety when the park is busy, and could leave a bad taste for the sport in their mouth.

 

[DeadOn]

Thank you for the feedback. This is the first draft of the re-design. The issue with #3's baskets and #4's pad would be eliminated with the new layout. I'm totally open to going back to the drawing board in order to make it safe for everyone. A big unknown about the park and potential space for 18 holes is the city's plan to remove some of the older tennis courts and busted ball fields. This could open up other areas of the park to help space the holes out a little bit.

The city has already installed another 9-hole course at Northwest park across town. It was apparent that the parks committee was fresh out of ideas to improve on the park and decided to throw 9 baskets in there. The memorial park course is not too bad of a course to play (fun) and is popular among the locals.

The city has also expressed an interest in reviving a forgotten lake nearby with open minds about a course there. IF an additional 9 holes at memorial park becomes a forced issue, I'm confident that they would be willing to shift their effort toward the lake. They've asked me to develop a 1, 3-5, and 10 year plan for disc golf in the area.

I will give an update once I'm able to make another visit and work on other layouts.

 

[esdubya]

Honest opinion, putting 9 more holes in a park that already has safety issues is a terrible idea. I looked at the maps you posted and almost every hole has a safety issue whether it's close to a pool, playground, or crosses a road. Maybe it's better to keep it at 9 and make the existing holes safer.

A novel idea would be to make a par 2 or "tiki" course where holes are in the 100 ft. avg range, then maybe you could do 18. This to me is the only way to fit disc golf into this park.

See if you can get an experienced designer to help you out.