driver usage

[optowesome]

I find that I am only using drivers on 320+ holes. As said they don't get pulled out tons. Are there just short course around here or is this common.

 

[Star Shark]

If you can get a mid that far, good deal. Many courses out there were designed around older discs and lower powered players. The sport has evolved considerably over the last 4-5 years and courses are only just starting to reflect it. The oldschool courses, while usually tight, funky lines rarely need much more than a Roc or Leopard at most. This is where our sport is gonna have troubles. With so many people throwing farther, longer holes are required to present a complete challenge. As more land is required, it may get very difficult to get parks systems to cough it up for a course.

 

[metal]

If you can get a mid that far, good deal. Many courses out there were designed around older discs and lower powered players. The sport has evolved considerably over the last 4-5 years and courses are only just starting to reflect it. The oldschool courses, while usually tight, funky lines rarely need much more than a Roc or Leopard at most. This is where our sport is gonna have troubles. With so many people throwing farther, longer holes are required to present a complete challenge. As more land is required, it may get very difficult to get parks systems to cough it up for a course.

Actually that was a good point. As we throw longer we do need more room. hmmm.

 

[Frank Delicious]

Some courses around here I only pull out driver two times or less but other courses around here I pull them them out on 9+ holes. It definitely depends on how old your courses are. The older ones around here are now pitch and putts compared to the new ones.

This does remind me that lately I have switched from trying to always throw a certain type of disc inside a certain distance (eg: 250-300 was always a mid for me). I have now looked more at what disc is easiest to shape the line with and have really improved my shooting. This has come after playing some rounds with some good players around here and seeing them powering down on mids and drivers more often then not.

 

[black udder]

Disc golf is still about the cheapest thing to install in parks.

As for original question. You're not alone. There are a couple courses where a driver rarely comes out. As previously mentioned, new technology and better play has made some of the courses not require the distance drivers.

I can remember throwing drivers on a couple courses that I now mostly throw mids and putters. I do know that as new courses go in, people are looking to make longer holes though. Our 2 newest courses have several holes each over 325', some in the 500'-700' range.

 

[Timko]

This does remind me that lately I have switched from trying to always throw a certain type of disc inside a certain distance (eg: 250-300 was always a mid for me). I have now looked more at what disc is easiest to shape the line with and have really improved my shooting. This has come after playing some rounds with some good players around here and seeing them powering down on mids and drivers more often then not.

I've been doing this as well too. We've had a North wind in KC this week, and a lot of the short holes that play with a South wind are playing into the North wind. And I've found myself messing with some drivers thrown low to avoid the wind while still figuring out how to shape the shot, which is tricky considering how little distance the disc is covering. Like you said, you really get some improvement in your shooting from doing this.

 

[emiller3]

This does remind me that lately I have switched from trying to always throw a certain type of disc inside a certain distance (eg: 250-300 was always a mid for me). I have now looked more at what disc is easiest to shape the line with and have really improved my shooting. This has come after playing some rounds with some good players around here and seeing them powering down on mids and drivers more often then not.

I've been doing this as well too. We've had a North wind in KC this week, and a lot of the short holes that play with a South wind are playing into the North wind. And I've found myself messing with some drivers thrown low to avoid the wind while still figuring out how to shape the shot, which is tricky considering how little distance the disc is covering. Like you said, you really get some improvement in your shooting from doing this.

I'll third that. Learning to throw lines with a low risk/reward has improved my scores a lot, and now that sometimes means powering down my drivers and throwing them where I would have been throwing a mid.

I noticed when I looked at taking a trip to VA, all of the courses there are really short! As in, all of the holes are under 300'. Of my three local courses, one has 17 holes with at least half of the pin locations being over 350', another has 14, and the other has 9. The course that I travel to that's an hour away is even longer. So yeah, I use my drivers about 2/3 of the time locally, Teebird mostly.

 

[lamb]

Disc golf is still about the cheapest thing to install in parks.

I do know that as new courses go in, people are looking to make longer holes though. Our 2 newest courses have several holes each over 325', some in the 500'-700' range.

Troof. I couldn't imagine trying to play our newest course without a big D driver.

 

[black udder]

I noticed when I looked at taking a trip to VA, all of the courses there are really short! As in, all of the holes are under 300'.

okay, now as a resident of VA, this is totally false!

Dunno if you can see the courses, but the following courses have a few holes over 300', some a lot:

Loreilla
The Grange
Bryan Park
Ecoff (Goyne Park)
Hawk Hollow
Sherandoh

and I don't even travel that much. Not 17 holes, but a few and many of them are dense/small wooded holes on the courses that don't have long distance. Even our two shortest courses (Gillies Creek and Dorey Park) have holes over 300', just not a lot of them. Dorey has long & short tees and Gillies has a few alternate/long hole or tee placements.

I can guarantee you that if you come to Virginia, you'll pull out your best distance driver a few times

 

[krazybronco]

it really depends on the courses i play

riverview i have a driver out on most of the holes but at penlton king park i will pull out the wraith more than 3 times

then there is a course in athens GA that i pulled out a teebird once all round and they have i think 24 holes only played it once.

 

[emiller3]

I noticed when I looked at taking a trip to VA, all of the courses there are really short! As in, all of the holes are under 300'.

okay, now as a resident of VA, this is totally false!

Dunno if you can see the courses, but the following courses have a few holes over 300', some a lot:

Loreilla
The Grange
Bryan Park
Ecoff (Goyne Park)
Hawk Hollow
Sherandoh

and I don't even travel that much. Not 17 holes, but a few and many of them are dense/small wooded holes on the courses that don't have long distance. Even our two shortest courses (Gillies Creek and Dorey Park) have holes over 300', just not a lot of them. Dorey has long & short tees and Gillies has a few alternate/long hole or tee placements.

I can guarantee you that if you come to Virginia, you'll pull out your best distance driver a few times

Didn't mean any offense to VA courses! I didn't even say that short courses were bad. I only looked at the 4 or 5 closest to where I'll be staying this summer, not "all" of them, as I previously stated. I'd never seen a course that was all sub-300' holes, but there were a couple 9 hole courses that were all under 300', etc. I am looking forward to playing them.

 

[keltik1]

i can vouch for Black Udder about Bryan Park.....i played that park with him about a month ago and that place is loooooooong and wide open.....take a trip to Richmond and check it out.....it's hella fun

but yeah as for driver usage.....as i play more i find myself trying to drive with putters and mids more.....mainly for control....and because the courses i usually play are tighter than a prom date.....

 

[black udder]

I noticed when I looked at taking a trip to VA, all of the courses there are really short! As in, all of the holes are under 300'.

okay, now as a resident of VA, this is totally false!

Dunno if you can see the courses, but the following courses have a few holes over 300', some a lot:

Loreilla
The Grange
Bryan Park
Ecoff (Goyne Park)
Hawk Hollow
Sherandoh

and I don't even travel that much. Not 17 holes, but a few and many of them are dense/small wooded holes on the courses that don't have long distance. Even our two shortest courses (Gillies Creek and Dorey Park) have holes over 300', just not a lot of them. Dorey has long & short tees and Gillies has a few alternate/long hole or tee placements.

I can guarantee you that if you come to Virginia, you'll pull out your best distance driver a few times

Didn't mean any offense to VA courses! I didn't even say that short courses were bad. I only looked at the 4 or 5 closest to where I'll be staying this summer, not "all" of them, as I previously stated. I'd never seen a course that was all sub-300' holes, but there were a couple 9 hole courses that were all under 300', etc. I am looking forward to playing them.

Hey, no offense, just had to make sure you knew there was plenty of distance if you wanted it Also, I forgot about New Quarter Park - lots of distance there, too. Most of the older courses are sub 300' though. The disc golf mecca is Fredericksburg (Loreilla & The Grange). But Richmond and Norfolk/VA Beach have several courses, too.

 

[chunk]

this may have been said before, but i think a lot of it has to do with how well you can throw a disc. i know that having just started playing disc golf less than a year ago i still throw drivers on holes over 250' but less than 300'. i just don't have the skills yet to get a mid or putter out that far yet. less than 250' is a different story though and i usually throw a mid for these and a putter for under 200'.

 

[t i m]

I noticed when I looked at taking a trip to VA, all of the courses there are really short! As in, all of the holes are under 300'.

okay, now as a resident of VA, this is totally false!

Dunno if you can see the courses, but the following courses have a few holes over 300', some a lot:

Loreilla
The Grange
Bryan Park
Ecoff (Goyne Park)
Hawk Hollow
Sherandoh

and I don't even travel that much. Not 17 holes, but a few and many of them are dense/small wooded holes on the courses that don't have long distance. Even our two shortest courses (Gillies Creek and Dorey Park) have holes over 300', just not a lot of them. Dorey has long & short tees and Gillies has a few alternate/long hole or tee placements.

I can guarantee you that if you come to Virginia, you'll pull out your best distance driver a few times

Didn't mean any offense to VA courses! I didn't even say that short courses were bad. I only looked at the 4 or 5 closest to where I'll be staying this summer, not "all" of them, as I previously stated. I'd never seen a course that was all sub-300' holes, but there were a couple 9 hole courses that were all under 300', etc. I am looking forward to playing them.

Where will you be staying? I'm guessing around the D.C. area? If so, its true that most of the local VA courses are short. However, Within 60-90 minutes are some AWESOME courses... 27 holes at Seneca that play some long, long holes... Patapsco in MD is over 9000' in the longs. Giles Run in Lorton, VA, longs-to-longs has holes up to ~800, I think. And then the Loriella/Spotsy courses that have been mentioned. Stuff there is up to ~900' at Hawk Hollow. And then we're near places like Iron Hill in DE, which is the hardest course I've played out of the 150-or-so I've played around the country. DC-metro area doesn't have much on courses, but it is an amazing place to stage day trips or weekend roadtrips.

 

[Ode]

i've never really thought about how many holes i throw a driver one, so i decided to tally up which holes i throw what on my home courses pro layout

distance driver:1,2,3,5,7,8,9,11,13,15

roc:6,10,12,16,17,18

putter: 4,14

i guess it is a long course and now im wondering what the total footage is
althought on the am course, i think i could play with just a roc and a putter except for the couple where i attempt a sidearm

 

[emiller3]

I noticed when I looked at taking a trip to VA, all of the courses there are really short! As in, all of the holes are under 300'.

okay, now as a resident of VA, this is totally false!

Dunno if you can see the courses, but the following courses have a few holes over 300', some a lot:

Loreilla
The Grange
Bryan Park
Ecoff (Goyne Park)
Hawk Hollow
Sherandoh

and I don't even travel that much. Not 17 holes, but a few and many of them are dense/small wooded holes on the courses that don't have long distance. Even our two shortest courses (Gillies Creek and Dorey Park) have holes over 300', just not a lot of them. Dorey has long & short tees and Gillies has a few alternate/long hole or tee placements.

I can guarantee you that if you come to Virginia, you'll pull out your best distance driver a few times

Didn't mean any offense to VA courses! I didn't even say that short courses were bad. I only looked at the 4 or 5 closest to where I'll be staying this summer, not "all" of them, as I previously stated. I'd never seen a course that was all sub-300' holes, but there were a couple 9 hole courses that were all under 300', etc. I am looking forward to playing them.

Where will you be staying? I'm guessing around the D.C. area? If so, its true that most of the local VA courses are short. However, Within 60-90 minutes are some AWESOME courses... 27 holes at Seneca that play some long, long holes... Patapsco in MD is over 9000' in the longs. Giles Run in Lorton, VA, longs-to-longs has holes up to ~800, I think. And then the Loriella/Spotsy courses that have been mentioned. Stuff there is up to ~900' at Hawk Hollow. And then we're near places like Iron Hill in DE, which is the hardest course I've played out of the 150-or-so I've played around the country. DC-metro area doesn't have much on courses, but it is an amazing place to stage day trips or weekend roadtrips.

Staying pretty much in the heart of D.C., and I won't be able to make it very far unfortunately. Posted a thread in the courses section and got some good advice, I wish I could make it to some of the courses you've mentioned. I've seen some of them on youtube (disc golf monthly) and they do look awesome.

 

[Timko]

Here's what I used at Rosedale last night. Low score was 49 among the 56 people that played, so the course is set up kinda long.

Distance Driver: 1, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 16, 18
Fairway Driver: 15, 17
Midrange: 2, 5, 10, 14
Putter: 3