Do You Like Hybrid Ball Golf/Disc Golf Courses?

[Treeplant]

Seems like most people I run into really like playing hybrid ball/disc golf courses, or tournaments set up on a ball golf course for a weekend etc.

It's a bit of a thing of mine that I really hate these layouts and it drives me nuts when a good tournament is hosted at a ball golf course. I think maybe it's because I'm a semi-serious ball golfer as well, but the whole process feels bastardized.

My main thing is that ball golf courses are architecturally designed to funnel each tee to the green. The 18 greens are the focus of the entire layout, and as disc golfers, we're not allowed on them. It's like going for dessert at the Cheesecake Factory and being told that the cheesecake is off limit and that you're not even allowed to look in the display case.

If baskets were on the greens I'd feel differently, but every layout I've personally played has the greens as OB and the baskets tucked into the fairway/bush lines for the most part.

Also, in my experience disc golfers are absolutely horrendous with golf course etiquette, and while I'm not normally a big etiquette guy, the last couple of rounds have driven me a bit nuts with people not allowing others to play through, taking multiple throws from the same spot in the fairway, driving their carts literally everywhere (including somehow onto and over elevated tee boxes) and generally not having any understanding/appreciation of/respect for traditional ball golf course etiquette.

That said, I played a course in Washington (Tall Firs) that was an old golf course that was purchased and redesigned into pure disc golf course, and I loved that. As ball golf declines and more courses are sold off around the country, I'd love to see a few bought and converted to true disc golf courses. Those would be great places for tournaments.

Wondering how others feel about this? Am I just turning into a curmudgeony old man?

 

[Streets]

It definitely makes for boring tournaments to watch.

 

[elmexdela]

It definitely makes for boring tournaments to watch.

Its almost as boring to play.

 

[spinachd]

Depends on the course, but it sure is fun playing DG a golf cart.

 

[Doofenshmirtz]

One of my favorite disc golf courses is on an abandoned real golf course. It is possible to do it well. Real golf and disc golf seem to coexist pretty well at Wild Horse DGC in Las Vegas and the course is fun one to play.

 

[BraveThrower43]

I've only played about 3 that I would play again.

It's really hard to design an interesting difficult layout on most of them because they are so open.

 

[JC17393]

My feeling depends 100% on the design of the course.

Disc golf on a ball golf course that more or less follows the layout of the ball golf course or only utilizes the open space of the ball golf fairways...gross.

A disc golf course that is designed without regard to the ball golf layout (except, of course, where safety and flow is concerned) can be good. At that point, it's really no different than a course anywhere else. If it was set up competently and is maintained properly, you'll get no complaints from me (and probably repeat business).

 

[Orioles_Lefty]

When watching DG on ball golf courses, I find the the golf green and sand trap OBs to be stupidly random to how a good hole would be designed. Also, many of the courses on ball golf courses tend to place too many baskets on inclines/knobs and often near OB in addition. Leads to too much safe play.

I'm not sure if any courses require a player to use a cart, but I like to walk when I play and like the health benefits of walking.

I'll probably never play a disc golf course located on a ball golf course because I have zero interest in being affiliated with ball golf and its social history. Golf courses also waste huge amounts of water and contaminate biosystems with chemicals (better products are being used more now) which I find to be a problem for a sport that has a stiff penalty for destruction of living plants. I guess I should give some credit for the 2-for-1 benefit of a ball/disc golf course as compared with using land to build an entirely new course.

Repurposing abandoned ball golf courses as disc golf courses sounds likes an excellent idea.

 

[jeffmonty]

We have one here https://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.php?id=8981, but I don't care to play it much. I think it's a pretty good course, and I'm glad it's available for those around here that do like that type of thing, but wide open, long, somewhat boring (to me) holes are just not my cup-o-tea. Give me a nice wooded course with some fair lines any day.

 

[da Crippler]

I've only played one, and that was at Ledgestone last year (Sunset Hills). Every time I picked up my disc, it was covered in wet grass clippings.:thmbdown:

 

[wellsbranch250]

I've played 3 of them.
The Preserve, in Ocala Florida was pretty good.
the other two were awful.
the commonality of the 3 was lack of shot shaping, which is less than ideal for my personal preferences.
the golf cart availability was a great feature.

 

[Moose33]

They are fine I guess, but very expensive sometimes and rarely would rate better than a 3.5 on here.

 

[scarpfish]

Anyone remember multipurpose baseball/football stadiums? Ever notice that we're getting away from that?

Yeah, let"s not repeat that mistake.

In many cases, disc golf courses are going on ball golf courses because ball golf courses are struggling for revenue or because parkland is so scarce, that there's no other place for a dedicated disc course.

 

[DavidSauls]

I've played on 2, and each only 1 time, which is pretty much my answer.

Though one of them was on good enough land that a good course could have been built there, but it might not have meshed well with the golf course.

 

[BrotherDave]

When watching DG on ball golf courses, I find the the golf green and sand trap OBs to be stupidly random to how a good hole would be designed. Also, many of the courses on ball golf courses tend to place too many baskets on inclines/knobs and often near OB in addition. Leads to too much safe play.

I'm not sure if any courses require a player to use a cart, but I like to walk when I play and like the health benefits of walking.

I'll probably never play a disc golf course located on a ball golf course because I have zero interest in being affiliated with ball golf and its social history. Golf courses also waste huge amounts of water and contaminate biosystems with chemicals (better products are being used more now) which I find to be a problem for a sport that has a stiff penalty for destruction of living plants. I guess I should give some credit for the 2-for-1 benefit of a ball/disc golf course as compared with using land to build an entirely new course.

Repurposing abandoned ball golf courses as disc golf courses sounds likes an excellent idea.

Great post. I can't remember if I've played on any others but I have played The Rock at Stonewall and it does require you to use a cart. I'm 50/50 on whether this is a pro/con because the course is extremely hilly and would wear out a walker but the design of the DG course and the hilliness again makes the cart a pain in the butt sometimes when trying to figure out a place to park it w/o making you do unnecessary walking.

I voted hard no but only b/c I loathe watching DG played on ball golf courses and want it to stop, for practically all the reasons Orioles_Lefty listed. I don't mind playing them occasionally but they're not my preference, and I'm a youngish player that can throw decently far-ish. If the Rock didn't have so much fun elevation change and was more like your typical ball golf course, I wouldn't have enjoyed or rated it nearly as high as I did. And it's still not a course I'd want to play regularly (I'd much rather play Rolling Pines et al for free than the Rock for ~$14-20).

 

[discNDav]

Depends on the course, but it sure is fun playing DG a golf cart.

This times a 1,000. I've played DG with a golf cart in OH, PA, AZ, IN and MD, it's always fun and you don't get as tired so two rds are a lot easier when you are older.

 

[DavidSauls]

This times a 1,000. I've played DG with a golf cart in OH, PA, AZ, IN and MD, it's always fun and you don't get as tired so two rds are a lot easier when you are older.

Hmph. If you threw as short as I do, you'd find it a nuisance climbing in and out of the cart just to roll 200 feet. Or less.

But.....it does mean you get to tote around one of the most comfortable benches in disc golf.

 

[DavidSauls]

Couldn't answer the poll.....I'm somewhere between the last 2. I don't care for them, and don't want to play a tournament on one. On the other hand, I don't think they're awful, and have no qualms with their existence for the people who like them.

 

[Steve West]

Hmph. If you threw as short as I do, you'd find it a nuisance climbing in and out of the cart just to roll 200 feet. Or less.

But.....it does mean you get to tote around one of the most comfortable benches in disc golf.

With built-in shade and it carries your bag for you.

 

[New013]

I'm mostly #2, I don't mind paying but I mostly don't seek them out because it's not my preference. They're fun every now and then. I've only played 2 worth repeat plays.

The Rock at Stonewall mostly just for epic elevation shots.

Whispering Pines temp course because Barry Shultz designed it and there's a ton of water and some elevation.