DGCR v UDisc Rating

[Rastnav]

I can't disagree with this. But this makes U-Disc much less useful in planning roadtrips where time is limited and you're specifically looking for the best courses.

If you're bagging everything in an area, or hitting courses in your area, either site's ratings are basically meaningless, because you're not using them as a consideration in course selection. You're not really selecting one in lieu of some other course. You've already decided you hit that course simply because it's there. At that point, ratings aren't much more than #'s in an online c*ck measuring contest for fanboi bragging rights.

But I think ratings are helpful in creating a short list of courses to cherry pick in a given area or along a route to some destination. That's where DGCR shines compared to U-Disc.

Both sites can help you find courses.
But DGCR is much better at helping you select courses.

Absolutely agree with all this.

The function of uDisc reviews is much more for the casual disc golfer. They may just be looking to play some place locally. They aren't necessarily super committed to playing all the time. They just want to know anything at all about the courses in their area.

I think it's easy to forget that most people are not anywhere near as passionate about disc golf than the median person here.

 

[Mando]

Absolutely agree with all this.

The function of uDisc reviews is much more for the casual disc golfer. They may just be looking to play some place locally. They aren't necessarily super committed to playing all the time. They just want to know anything at all about the courses in their area.

I think it's easy to forget that most people are not anywhere near as passionate about disc golf than the median person here.

Preaching to the choir. Where's Jim and Tammy ?

 

[nothinbuttree]

Both sites can help you find courses.
But DGCR is much better at helping you select courses.

Well stated. I wonder if anyone actually uses Udisc to choose (not just find) courses in an area. I mean every course is what, 4.6 or better? What criteria At least it has Maple Hill as #1, that may be its only rating I agree with.

My typical flow in planning trips is using DGCR to select which courses to play after carefully reading reviews, and once I am at a course, using Udisc to help navigate in case signage is not perfect. I do use Udisc to check very recent reviews for conditions, as popular courses may have daily reviews. I have tried to start updating course conditions on DGCR, only takes a sec and I wasn't doing that for a while.

I use DGCR now to post my rounds, because I like the estimate of round rating it gives out. Even if it is off by 15-20 points per round, it is off for every round, so it is good for tracking purposes. The only time I use Udisc for actual reviews is if there are no recent reviews on DGCR.

Another thing I like Udisc for is the maps, it does help me instantly see how much of a course is open, heavily wooded, or somewhere in between.

 

[jenb]

Honestly, I find dgcr SSEs to be somewhat inflated. Not much, but my info is that they are based on rough categories (length, wooded, elevation, etc.), not empirical results. Still, they seem to get fairly close. Maybe it's because I live in an area with significant wind practically year round, and maybe I'd think they were too low if I lived somewhere with little, infrequent wind.

 

[wolfhaley]

Well stated. I wonder if anyone actually uses Udisc to choose (not just find) courses in an area. I mean every course is what, 4.6 or better? What criteria At least it has Maple Hill as #1, that may be its only rating I agree with.

My typical flow in planning trips is using DGCR to select which courses to play after carefully reading reviews, and once I am at a course, using Udisc to help navigate in case signage is not perfect. I do use Udisc to check very recent reviews for conditions, as popular courses may have daily reviews. I have tried to start updating course conditions on DGCR, only takes a sec and I wasn't doing that for a while.

I use DGCR now to post my rounds, because I like the estimate of round rating it gives out. Even if it is off by 15-20 points per round, it is off for every round, so it is good for tracking purposes. The only time I use Udisc for actual reviews is if there are no recent reviews on DGCR.

Another thing I like Udisc for is the maps, it does help me instantly see how much of a course is open, heavily wooded, or somewhere in between.

Well stated from yourself as well. I plan all my trips on DGCR. Period. It's by far the better of the 2 to do this. It's not even really close tbh.

Udisc is useful for a few things as well. As you mentioned, current course conditions and the maps. Incredibly useful tools when on the road. I also score my rounds on DGCR since that's where I live basically, and like the round ratings too.

As to Rich's point, I agree and disagree. The multiple layouts for, say, Sugaree and Highbridge Hills Gold 9 a couple weeks ago, were really helpful. On the other hand I've come across ten times the amount of unhelpful/listed layout with no map deals on Udisc. I've seen ones with the map not actually being the actual flow, etc. The funniest ones I've ever seen is Oregon Middle School in Oregon WI. It's just south of Madison if you care to look it up. Hilarious. :doh:

They both have their pluses and minuses.

 

[dreadlock86]

Honestly, I find dgcr SSEs to be somewhat inflated. Not much, but my info is that they are based on rough categories (length, wooded, elevation, etc.), not empirical results. Still, they seem to get fairly close. Maybe it's because I live in an area with significant wind practically year round, and maybe I'd think they were too low if I lived somewhere with little, infrequent wind.

i remember Tim mentioning that he can tinker with those and that if you have reliable SSE numbers from local events, he'll use those to make adjustments. still tricky though since DGCR SSE can't take things like the weather into account, especially in places where it can vary widely.

 

[jenb]

i remember Tim mentioning that he can tinker with those and that if you have reliable SSE numbers from local events, he'll use those to make adjustments. still tricky though since DGCR SSE can't take things like the weather into account, especially in places where it can vary widely.

I can't really do much more than point him to recent tournament results where some round ratings were 10 to 20 points lower than the dgcr widget predicted.

 

[pmay5]

Well stated from yourself as well. I plan all my trips on DGCR. Period. It's by far the better of the 2 to do this. It's not even really close tbh.

Udisc is useful for a few things as well. As you mentioned, current course conditions and the maps. Incredibly useful tools when on the road. I also score my rounds on DGCR since that's where I live basically, and like the round ratings too.

As to Rich's point, I agree and disagree. The multiple layouts for, say, Sugaree and Highbridge Hills Gold 9 a couple weeks ago, were really helpful. On the other hand I've come across ten times the amount of unhelpful/listed layout with no map deals on Udisc. I've seen ones with the map not actually being the actual flow, etc. The funniest ones I've ever seen is Oregon Middle School in Oregon WI. It's just south of Madison if you care to look it up. Hilarious. :doh:

They both have their pluses and minuses.

Yep, definitely a "Star" of UDisc!!

 

[denny ritner]

If Udisc removed its 1-5 ratings it would shine on all the other things it does great.

 

[nothinbuttree]

Honestly, I find dgcr SSEs to be somewhat inflated. Not much, but my info is that they are based on rough categories (length, wooded, elevation, etc.), not empirical results. Still, they seem to get fairly close. Maybe it's because I live in an area with significant wind practically year round, and maybe I'd think they were too low if I lived somewhere with little, infrequent wind.

Same-except the wind part. I have looked at scores on PDGA.com for courses I have played in similar conditions and dgcr scores tend to be about 20 points high on average. Still a pretty co tool!

 

[elmexdela]

at least in mn udisc is clogged up with peoples backyard courses only playable by them or pulled courses or object courses or camper exclusive courses

what seemed like a great app at first is starting to show its flaws

udisc is turning into a headache

udisc has minimal/no gatekeeping but dgcr does and does it well

 

[Cgkdisc]

Email sent today by UDisc to course Ambassadors:

"Course Ambassadors are a huge part of improving the UDisc experience, and we're always listening to your feedback. With that in mind, we wanted to let you know about how your input has impacted changes we've made to the course ratings system.

UDisc has teamed up with a group of economists who specialize in ratings to help make the course rating system more accurate and a better way for disc golfers to find the best place to play. The first changes rolling out will ensure your course rating is more reflective of the property's current conditions. That means newer ratings will now have a larger impact, so when you and your local community do the hard work of installing new tee pads, updating signage, or carving fresh fairways you'll see your course's rating improve more quickly. This will also have the benefit of making ratings more relevant to players looking for their next disc golf destination."

 

[glassila]

Email sent today by UDisc to course Ambassadors:

"Course Ambassadors are a huge part of improving the UDisc experience, and we're always listening to your feedback. With that in mind, we wanted to let you know about how your input has impacted changes we've made to the course ratings system.

UDisc has teamed up with a group of economists who specialize in ratings to help make the course rating system more accurate and a better way for disc golfers to find the best place to play. The first changes rolling out will ensure your course rating is more reflective of the property's current conditions. That means newer ratings will now have a larger impact, so when you and your local community do the hard work of installing new tee pads, updating signage, or carving fresh fairways you'll see your course's rating improve more quickly. This will also have the benefit of making ratings more relevant to players looking for their next disc golf destination."

I would love to see this happen with DGRC! :clap:

 

[elmexdela]

i forgot

is there a top in the state/us that we can search

(i only have the basic/free version of udisc)

 

[ray1970]

Email sent today by UDisc to course Ambassadors:

"Course Ambassadors are a huge part of improving the UDisc experience, and we're always listening to your feedback. With that in mind, we wanted to let you know about how your input has impacted changes we've made to the course ratings system.

UDisc has teamed up with a group of economists who specialize in ratings to help make the course rating system more accurate and a better way for disc golfers to find the best place to play. The first changes rolling out will ensure your course rating is more reflective of the property's current conditions. That means newer ratings will now have a larger impact, so when you and your local community do the hard work of installing new tee pads, updating signage, or carving fresh fairways you'll see your course's rating improve more quickly. This will also have the benefit of making ratings more relevant to players looking for their next disc golf destination."

While that makes a lot of sense, it won't correct the human factors involved.

5 stars- "My buddies and I had a great time ace running everything at this little six hole course at the local elementary school!"

1 star- "I don't understand why people love Maple Hill so much. I lost two discs that day and there weren't any holes under 200'."

 

[glassila]

The typical 1 or 2 sentence reviews on UDisc will never be as useful as the lengthy reviews found here.
And a 1 click ratings are even less useful.

Personally, I use DGCR for deciding what courses to play and I use Udisc for finding courses and keeping score.

 

[dreadlock86]

so... course ratings will be able to jump from 4.1 to 4.9 in a jiffy

 

[dreadlock86]

I would love to see this happen with DGRC! :clap:

strong disagree

 

[ray1970]

strong disagree

Thumbs down. No explanation of why you disagree.

Seriously though, if there was a course that had issues and generally got poor reviews for a lot of years and that course was improved and revamped into something deserving of a good review you don't think leveraging the more recent reviews of the course would be fitting? You're saying a good course deserves to have an overall low rating because it wasn't a good course in the past?

 

[dreadlock86]

if a course is genuinely improving, then ratings will as well. it already speaks volumes when you have 10 critical reviews that are older and then 2 newer ones that describe improvements and give a higher rating.

increasing the weight of newer reviews just means that drive-by reviews and udisc style reviews can manipulate ratings in an unwarranted manner. and the fewer reviews a course has, the greater the issue.

IMO, we shouldn't reward people who don't even read reviews and only go by the course rating. imagine a course built in the late 90's with 30 reviews. 20+ plus of them are highly critical with low ratings but the most recent handful describe vast improvements and 3.5+ scores. clearly, it's worth checking out. if someone ignores a local course in their own area because it's rated under a 3 but hasn't read any of the reviews to see how it has gotten better, that's their problem not DGCR's.

courses with more reviews will take longer for the rating to go up. but the above situation describes how the user can understand what's going on there pretty easily. courses with fewer reviews are prone to rating manipulation.


at best, i might be in favor of this idea only if the course has reached a certain number of reviews and has been around for a certain number of years. absent those conditions, there's too much risk of rating manipulation.