I think it's a helpful review, or at least contains useful information if I'm considering playing that course instead of another. The problem, if you call it that, is that the review probably got 1 or 2 discs less than it deserved for its rating.
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- Thread starter scarpfish
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I think it's a helpful review, or at least contains useful information if I'm considering playing that course instead of another. The problem, if you call it that, is that the review probably got 1 or 2 discs less than it deserved for its rating.
I'll never bash a course a played poorly at. Quite the opposite. Disc golf is you vs the course. I like to go back to courses that were difficult and take new paths and shape different shots, trying to beat the course. If you're getting bogeys on everything, ask yourself what you did wrong or could do differently to shave strokes off that hole(s).
The only course I ever wrote a poor review on, is a course that has not changed over the last decade, teepads are in poor condition (the holes that have a teepad), is littered with broken glass (its at an inner city community college), and all around a poor layout. I shoot very well at that course, but there is a zero fun factor there.
The only course I ever wrote a poor review on, is a course that has not changed over the last decade, teepads are in poor condition (the holes that have a teepad), is littered with broken glass (its at an inner city community college), and all around a poor layout. I shoot very well at that course, but there is a zero fun factor there.
If I'm planning on playing an established course that's new to me, I don't just read the reviews [especially if its rated 0-1 or 4.5-5]. I look at the pictures; I view the course map; I look at its location, and the satellite view. Hole info, and the course details/description can be helpful too.
Here's an example, though, of your exact complaint: Blue Lake in Portland. Its got a 3.68 rating, designed by Feldberg, considered a destination course. But to me, its a vast, open, untended park for big arms, the ambiance is unpleasant [Marine Drive loud on the north boundary, I-84 to the south, and a # of noisy industries nearby], and serious wind is almost a given. Though I spend enough time in Portland every spring/fall to play all the great courses several times each, I've played Blue Lake only twice, 'cause its just not relaxing/fun for me.
Yet if I was reviewing it, I'd give it at least a 3.5, 'cause its got all the things a good course should have.
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Scarp for Prez 2020.
biscoe
* Ace Member *
trash cans and water fountains? really?
I think just the opposite- there are WAY too many 5 star reviews.
_MTL_
Flippy Flopper
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Without a doubt the largest issue I have with the rating system is here is that every review counts the same.
I can't understand why someone like Chuck or Tim or Biscoe's ratings of a course has the same weight as my buddy's wife who doesn't play disc golf.
I can't understand why someone like Chuck or Tim or Biscoe's ratings of a course has the same weight as my buddy's wife who doesn't play disc golf.
I have seen the opposite of the OP too, where a course is nice and well designed, but gets a 1 rating from an advanced player because it "offers no challenge".
Really, there's no way around rating biases. We just have to live with the hope that they all even themselves out, and the truly terrible ones get removed by admins.
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I have some doubt. I think the biggest problem with the rating system is the top ten and the importance many people place on it and the courses that are in it at any given time. If that were to go away, threads like this might go away also.
Ultimately the ratings are going to work themselves out with enough play. If one thing could change, it would be to either put something more useful on the home page of this site in place of the top ten or have the "top ten" reflect the only the ratings given in the current calendar year and reflect something like most discs given in the current year instead of an average.
yes and no... on the one hand all of it does count the same... on the other, we have a filter view available... filter out the reviews... I like to compare the trusted reviewers with the total to see if there is a large deviation.
the issue really only matters on a course with a low review count... there and only there does the aberrant 1-2 disc rating affect the course that is more like a 3-5.
only the obvious ones... I once caught an individual who wanted his home course to get a 4 rating going on under alter accounts just to rate an average course as a 5...
That one was obvious and I was able to prove that it was an alter account... beyond just thinking it was... I had evidence that it was...
If you think a review is an alter or some other manipulation, just report it... we do look into them.
I don't know. I use reviews to decide if a course has those things I look for to make a good course.....to me. I could care less about the rating or the skill level of the reviewer. I have little interest in design analysis. I want to know amenities, traffic, type of course, cautions, local insight, maybe some take on the vibe of the course. I have several personal "trusted reviewers", they seem to enjoy similar courses and give me a good feel as to whether the course is worth the trip. Everybody has their own take on a course, to trivialize some is small minded. Everybody has a different use for the reviews, so to trivialize any is not taking into account the needs or wants of others. Write what you want, I will decide for myself how valuable the information is.
biscoe
* Ace Member *
Much as I'd like to be the arbiter of all things I disagree. The things that matter to me are not the things that matter to everyone and everyone's opinion should be equally valid for a yelp-like system. I for instance could care less whether there are amenities such as benches, trash cans, bag holders, etc and as long as quality of tees or baskets is not so bad they are an over-riding issue I don't care much about them either. Items such as wide open tweener holes and safety problems which drive me nuts may not matter to someone else. (An advanced players tweener hole is a noob's challenging Par 4 after all) It doesn't require much effort to actually read the reviews and parse out the useful info for yourself.
It wasn't a complaint. The player in question didn't just go based in numbers, but was definitely not excited by the long bomber holes and in-the-city setting. Milo was rated higher but also more desirable based on reviews, course description, etc. Well worth the extra driving time.
Dear DGCR, thanks for all the reviews, even the ones that keep reviving these discussions.
I'd really like to see a way to assign a rating without writing a review.
I will take my favorite local course as an example.
Milo. 67 reviews. Most going back YEARS (only 3 in the last year). The most recent low score (3.5) is 6 years old. And from a dude who said a CON was how bad his score was. Or another 3.5 (there are only 3 ratings that low total) where the guy says "I only played 9 of the 27 holes".
I have nothing really to add to what has been said about many local courses, but I play a lot of DG, I travel to different parts of the country to play DG, and I'd like to offer a rating on MANY courses I play, but have no desire to write reviews on courses that have been talked to death. I'll review a course with very few reviews or where I completely disagree with the general sentiments.
I give Milo a 5. But I don't get an opinion, right Stardoggy. #gottaplay100first
I will take my favorite local course as an example.
Milo. 67 reviews. Most going back YEARS (only 3 in the last year). The most recent low score (3.5) is 6 years old. And from a dude who said a CON was how bad his score was. Or another 3.5 (there are only 3 ratings that low total) where the guy says "I only played 9 of the 27 holes".
I have nothing really to add to what has been said about many local courses, but I play a lot of DG, I travel to different parts of the country to play DG, and I'd like to offer a rating on MANY courses I play, but have no desire to write reviews on courses that have been talked to death. I'll review a course with very few reviews or where I completely disagree with the general sentiments.
I give Milo a 5. But I don't get an opinion, right Stardoggy. #gottaplay100first
Orioles_Lefty
Eagle Member
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Can a user review a course without leaving a rating?
The rating and review serve different purposes. There's value in a review that says "this was the wrong course for my skill level," though that's going to be an experience that's hard to rate/rank (in a way that is useful to others). People seem really concerned about the numerical rating (and preserving the rating's validity). The ranking captures something very different than the description of one's experience. And it's not like we don't experience courses subjectively and in different scenarios (ex., wind v no wind), so it's folly to imagine we are all working from and responding to the same rubric.
The rating and review serve different purposes. There's value in a review that says "this was the wrong course for my skill level," though that's going to be an experience that's hard to rate/rank (in a way that is useful to others). People seem really concerned about the numerical rating (and preserving the rating's validity). The ranking captures something very different than the description of one's experience. And it's not like we don't experience courses subjectively and in different scenarios (ex., wind v no wind), so it's folly to imagine we are all working from and responding to the same rubric.
biscoe
* Ace Member *
That is how I judge the quality of design but not necessarily how I would judge a course. Case in point- one of the designs I have done that does the best job of maximizing the property is the Betty Queen Center in Louisa,VA. It is a small 9 hole course that squeezes a lot out of a small section of wooded land. It is probably rated no higher than 3 on here which is about what I would say it deserves. I designed Loriella much earlier in my work as a designer and it has some noticeable flaws to me in the design ( lack of shorter holes in the long setup for instance). i don't think many people would argue that Betty Queen is a better course than Loriella, imo it is a better design under your criteria though.
But here's what you miss playing it only twice.
It is built in wetlands that are stopovers for all manner of migrating birds and prime hunting ground for raptors.
There's no traffic on Marine drive in the mornings, especially on weekends, and the wind doesn't usually come up until noon or later. So morning rounds are quiet and calm.
It is long enough and has tight enough OB that you wont see many new(er) players out there, so it is rarely crowded.
Oh, as for "untended", it is mowed weekly throughout the summer and has about as clean fairways as any I have ever seen anywhere. The rough is rough. It is also OB. So, if you stay in bounds, it is perfectly tended.
Also, I-84 is not anywhere near the course. South of the course is a lake and residential neighborhood (not zoned for any industry).
I hardly played it for years, living only a few miles away (and having Milo 45 minutes away), but once you learn its magic, it is unbeatable. I play it several times per month now, knowing when to play it and when to avoid it.
^^^It is true I did play it in the first few months it was in the ground, when it was yet to be maintained on a regular basis.
Only 9 out of 27 might be enough to be pulled. If u didn't play the course is one of the things that are on the reason to get pulled list. Pretty sure not being able to play a few holes because of work being done or maybe not playing the last 2 holes because you ran out of daylight isn't going to get one pulled. However, saying that you played the first half and that it sucked and you left with playing the back 9 seems totally different, especially with how many reviews that are titled " A tale of two 9s".
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