You arent allowed to discuss it.
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Good courses gone bad.
- Thread starter KWK82
- Start date
You arent allowed to discuss it.
- Joined
- Jul 29, 2009
- Messages
- 15,692
Flat Rock in Columbus, GA?
opcorn:
I hooked up with Connor Jones for a round at Flat Rock in Dec 2011, and while it showed some erosion and could have used decent tee signs, it didn't appear to be in sad shape. Have things gone downhill in the past few years?
RIP Ham Lake DGC.
The club acts like high schoolers quite frankly ... at least online in their facebook group. Lots of unnecessary drama in general, but mostly surrounding additional pin positions that were added.
When BennettUA and myself inquired about the new positions and if the original designers or designers in general were consulted, if player and park-goer safety was taken into measure (and other normal questions like that) we were met with quite sudden and harsh defensiveness and aggression ... and no real answer to our questions.
The original pins are still in place and will be used, so it's not like the course was taken out or destroyed or anything. Flat Rock is a pretty good course and on amazing land, so BennettUA and myself just wanted to insure that a quasi-destination course (at least for tournaments) wasn't being entirely changed to something of a lesser caliber.
I haven't played the new pins yet, it's possible they're quite good ... but we shall see I guess. I haven't reviewed Flat Rock on here, but I'd give the original layout a 4. When I get around to playing the new pins, I'll probably review it and compare to the originals.
BennettUA and myself were also banned from the facebook group after that "incident" ... so keep in mind that everything I just typed will most likely be labeled "incredibly biased and untrue" by anyone that was involved with that conversation from the Columbus locals other than like two people who did answer our questions.
- on a sidenote for Columbus: lots of new players, club is active, people willing to do work on a course ... so those are positives for them
... and if you go looking for said drama in their facebook group, you won't find any due to them deleting anything controversial or that would make them appear negative in anyway. You gotta catch them in the act
... which is why I'm glad I took screenshots of the post/conversation that got myself and BennettUA banned.
The niner I cut my teeth on just got a makeover. Hole 9 was removed for a parking lot; what was hole 8 now has three holes crammed in. Very sad.
That's too bad, hole 8 was my measuring stick for my distance progress for pretty much the whole time I lived in the Chicago area. :\
- Joined
- Sep 10, 2009
- Messages
- 585
gah, another reason why we need courses that have the right number of high quality holes (which are NOT necessarily in multiples of 9...)
LOL. My vote would be for Papa John's as the worst. You know the old saying right? Disc golf is like pizza and sex, when it's good its really good, when it's bad it's still pretty good.
mreynolds24
Eagle Member
Hornets nest
I'm hoping the new design will be better, but still sad to see the old one go.
Did I miss something? What are they doing to Hornets Nest? Does this affect both layouts?
DougCrawford
Double Eagle Member
Soon- 1 and 2 will be gone on both layouts- new playground going up on what was hole 2- and the gas company is ripping up trees and ground on 11-18. Pretty much a complete redesign from what I understand
... and if you go looking for said drama in their facebook group, you won't find any due to them deleting anything controversial or that would make them appear negative in anyway. You gotta catch them in the act
According to original designer, they ruined it. Truly was an excellent course, now seems to be that the locals got bored of an excellent layout and changed the course just for the sake of change, and did NOT take into account those issues mentioned above.
Also, the actions of many of the club members on their FB page was incredibly petty, defensive, juvenile, and sad.
I'll chime in some more for Cass Benton in Northville, MI. I was in love with that place when it first went in, and that era was my peak for involvement in the sport. There was a period of 8 years or so that I didn't play it, then returned and was saddened to see its condition.
Man, I just thought of another one, and this one is close to me: Cottonwood Creek in Colorado Springs. It was never the greatest course with it's very cramped layout but it used to be tolerable. It's in a pretty high traffic part of town and it is now so busy it is almost unplayable.
Sadly, this is the course that the most unskiller players congregate at. They aren't begginer's neccesarily, just drunken sidearm flingers with no care about etiquette. They also have a tendency to carry glass bottles (and break them) and mess up teesigns. There are some easily aceable holes and you can tell because people have written all over the baskets and teesigns.
There's a pretty dedicated crew that tries to keep it in check, but even they are overwhelmed by it all. There have been numerous injuries at the course from discs, some pretty severe, and there have been rumblings that the city might pull the course. Many of us in the local club want to redesign into a nine holer (which would be one of the best 9 hole courses in the world, no hyperbole) but that brings up the very real concern that less holes could make the hooliganry worse.
It sucks because it's actually a decent piece of property and clearly is very popular. Just not popular with the right type of people.
Sadly, this is the course that the most unskiller players congregate at. They aren't begginer's neccesarily, just drunken sidearm flingers with no care about etiquette. They also have a tendency to carry glass bottles (and break them) and mess up teesigns. There are some easily aceable holes and you can tell because people have written all over the baskets and teesigns.
There's a pretty dedicated crew that tries to keep it in check, but even they are overwhelmed by it all. There have been numerous injuries at the course from discs, some pretty severe, and there have been rumblings that the city might pull the course. Many of us in the local club want to redesign into a nine holer (which would be one of the best 9 hole courses in the world, no hyperbole) but that brings up the very real concern that less holes could make the hooliganry worse.
It sucks because it's actually a decent piece of property and clearly is very popular. Just not popular with the right type of people.
I don't know if it has gone "bad" but the course at Northern AZ University has gone through some changes that have made the course worse. Some signature type holes were removed for new sports fields. Now there are some definite "filler" holes and a couple spots were some drives get pretty close to other hole teepads.
Owens Field in Columbia, SC was never a great course. But the original layout had a half-dozen very good holes. It's an old story, seen many places, but a number of these were lost to other projects (running track, skateboard park, etc.), further diminishing it.
People still play and enjoy it, but I haven't been back in 8 years. And it's 15 minutes from my office.
People still play and enjoy it, but I haven't been back in 8 years. And it's 15 minutes from my office.
Pardon my cynicism, and without making any judgement about the merits or demerits of the original or updated design, but ... after 30-some years of playing disc golf, I can count on one hand (and have three fingers and a thumb left over) the number of original designers I've talked to who didn't think someone else's redesign DIDN'T ruin their original design.
He walked the course beforehand, was shown where the new pins would go and they were flagged.
When he went to play the new layout, the new pins were not where they had previously flagged, and safety concerns had been thrown out the window.
That's the short answer.
The last five years of drought have caused havoc on the courses of Texas. ALL of them have lost multiple trees (if they had them to start with). I've even witnessed dead mesquite trees in west Texas. I didn't think it was possible.
This year, the rain is back. Everything is green and growing like it's raining Miracle Grow. Good times ahead!
This year, the rain is back. Everything is green and growing like it's raining Miracle Grow. Good times ahead!
DougCrawford
Double Eagle Member
ALL 350 courses in Texas (the number of listed courses on this site) are worse off now than they were five years ago? I'm sure some are, but not each and every one.
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