Last weekend's Challenge at Goat Hill brought us what is, to me, the best "disc golf course on a ball golf course" set-up, by far. So, I thought it might be worthwhile to examine how other people feel about that course vs. others, and what its advantages might be.
Just as a comparison, last year's OTB Open, as well as this year's LVC and Texas States (not ball golf, but still a very open course, that is defined by OB) all finished with the winner at around -10 per round, so these courses all played to a similar perceived difficulty. DDO and Emporia CC obviously played out much differently, but with the hot round on Sunday being -6, the overall scores don't quite tell the story.
In my mind, there are a few key factors that make GH better:
1 - While OB/Hazard clearly defines the course, it's not something that is used excessively to make the course more difficult. Yes, there are holes where OB is tight to the line you'd like to throw, but more frequently it's simply used to properly punish throws that are well off line. Despite this, you definitely need to hit the right lines and angles to score well. Sure, it favors the longest arms, but merely bombing isn't what let's you score. The use of hazard is even better in this respect, as going even farther off line still challenges the next shot more.
2 - The greens get their challenge almost entirely from elements other than OB, and each one feels at least somewhat unique. It's rare to see something that is landing near the pin, but incurs a penalty. OB on the downslope behind the basket, or inside the circle, is mostly avoided. The ball golf greens play a lot like small ponds near the pins, and make a nice visual representation of the danger, unlike string lines.
3 - Aesthetically, it's very pleasing to see the discs fly on this course. You tend to get backdrops on many shots that make a pretty picture when you are seeing the full flight of the disc.
And I think there are two properties of the course that allow these things to happen easily:
A - The prevailing wind is strong and constant. The course could be designed with a specific wind direction in mind knowing that it would make for challenging shots. The effect the wind has lets the spectator see how missing an angle or selecting the wrong disc is punished.
B - The course has plenty of topological features. It is not primarily flat ground, so you get to make use of the hills, in conjunction with wind, to make for interesting and varied holes where the viewer can get a sense of the challenge of throwing a particular shot. They don't mostly have to use the backsides of artificially created greens and bunkers, hemmed in by OB, to make for a challenging shot.
So what do you guys think about Goat Hill?
Just as a comparison, last year's OTB Open, as well as this year's LVC and Texas States (not ball golf, but still a very open course, that is defined by OB) all finished with the winner at around -10 per round, so these courses all played to a similar perceived difficulty. DDO and Emporia CC obviously played out much differently, but with the hot round on Sunday being -6, the overall scores don't quite tell the story.
In my mind, there are a few key factors that make GH better:
1 - While OB/Hazard clearly defines the course, it's not something that is used excessively to make the course more difficult. Yes, there are holes where OB is tight to the line you'd like to throw, but more frequently it's simply used to properly punish throws that are well off line. Despite this, you definitely need to hit the right lines and angles to score well. Sure, it favors the longest arms, but merely bombing isn't what let's you score. The use of hazard is even better in this respect, as going even farther off line still challenges the next shot more.
2 - The greens get their challenge almost entirely from elements other than OB, and each one feels at least somewhat unique. It's rare to see something that is landing near the pin, but incurs a penalty. OB on the downslope behind the basket, or inside the circle, is mostly avoided. The ball golf greens play a lot like small ponds near the pins, and make a nice visual representation of the danger, unlike string lines.
3 - Aesthetically, it's very pleasing to see the discs fly on this course. You tend to get backdrops on many shots that make a pretty picture when you are seeing the full flight of the disc.
And I think there are two properties of the course that allow these things to happen easily:
A - The prevailing wind is strong and constant. The course could be designed with a specific wind direction in mind knowing that it would make for challenging shots. The effect the wind has lets the spectator see how missing an angle or selecting the wrong disc is punished.
B - The course has plenty of topological features. It is not primarily flat ground, so you get to make use of the hills, in conjunction with wind, to make for interesting and varied holes where the viewer can get a sense of the challenge of throwing a particular shot. They don't mostly have to use the backsides of artificially created greens and bunkers, hemmed in by OB, to make for a challenging shot.
So what do you guys think about Goat Hill?
