Sorry!- This is a long one. TLDR version: I'm asking what is HH trying to be. We are deep into the second summer of new management and I'm curious about what is the specific vision? What is the direction?
I've been going to HH once or twice a year for the past 8 years. Tom has been a huge improvement over JJ but after my second trip of the year to HH I have some questions. I guess it boils down to one big question that I will try to explain. What is HH trying to be?
I most recently played Granite and Blueberry. I was excited to hear that Granite got a second set of baskets but after playing it there are some real head scratchers. I guess when I first started making trips to HH, much of the excitement was around playing the courses from 2007 worlds. But it has been apparent for a while now that time had passed by some of the holes at HH and I was looking forward to an upgrade and was still excited to have the option of throwing the old placements on Granite which are still super fun. Some of the new basket placements are fantastic. Some are most definitely more difficult. Some, like hole 2 don't seem more difficult but at least it is a different and very interesting and fun shot. I love it. Hole 16 however, is a real turd for serious playability. I just don't get it. A small spot of murky gross water OB right before the basket is going to play super flukey and I would be pissed if I lost a disc in that. Also I saw on hole 6 a bunch of brush was being cleared out behind the basket all the way down to the water. I assume the basket is going to be moved down closer to the water and I don't understand what the expectation is on how the hole is supposed to be played. Throw a good shot and get lucky enough to hit a tree not too soon but also not get so lucky that you miss all the trees and go sploosh? Some of these holes I can see being fun if you are cracking beers with your friends and having chuckles with your buddies when a disc goes in the water, but is that what HH is trying to be? I'm not saying that is a bad thing. I'm just confused by what is happening on Granite. A real mixed bag. Like 6 or 7 different disc golfers of various playing skill and design experience were each given 2-3 holes to place baskets without knowing anything else about the rest of the course or what the others were doing. The new baskets on 6 and 16 are aesthetically pleasing, sure. Once they get cleaned up a little more they would probably look great on the Innova calendar but they are going to play terrible.
Another thing that bugged me slightly was some of the grass cutting off the fairways. The grass cutting has been a HUGE improvement over the JJ days, but there are many spots just off the fairway where the tall grass and other low foliage is just terrible. As an example I love the re-design for hole 3 Blueberry but the tall grass could definitely be pushed back and a brush cutter or heavy duty whip could get some of the short stuff off the right side of the fairway. There were many places on Granite and Blueberry that should have had fairway grass cut wider and low shrubbery thinned or removed. I couldn't help but think time spent on clearing Granite 6 and 16 longs would have been better spent trimming some holes better. So again I'm asking, what is HH trying to be? It is certainly still a magical place for hippies to throw frisbees in the woods and it is a fantastic place for a group of bros getaway, which I love - don't get me wrong. However, if it is trying to be a high caliber collection of courses then some of the details like trimming the sides of and off the fairways are important.
So what is HH trying to be? Is there a vision? Is there a specific vision? What are some of the specifics of how that vision will be achieved? Is there a timeline for that vision? Has the process to achieve that vision been thought through and things like time, materials, money, and man hours been estimated? I don't expect an answer to that last question but rather would just like to know if it has been studied and thought out.
It is obvious that great effort has been put in at HH and work is getting done, but I guess I'm not seeing a concerted effort at HH. JJ's mess is getting cleaned up, but it has been a year and a half now under new management and teepads are worn and cracked, tee signs could be replaced (even if temp ones) and while maintenance is certainly good enough for very playable courses it could be better, all the while there seems to be some mucking about going on. I don't expect all of these improvements to happen overnight but for the second summer of the resurrection I was expecting a start on some things like teepad and tee sign replacement.
It takes me a little under 2 hours to get to HH and I go there about once a year. If I knew that HH was trying to become more than a good cleaned up version of what it was under JJ (and knew specifically what that was) then I would probably want to go there more to help support that effort with my money. Others probably would as well.
So, what is HH trying to be?
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