I apologize in advance for the long rant. Unfortunately that is my style and this topic is somewhat near to an irritant of mine.
I think it is perfectly fine for everyone to review a course differently. If my girlfriend was reviewing here she would give short little Alex Clark (Mckinney, Tx) a 4.5 because it is pretty and the holes are relatively easy. She hates Turner (Grand Prairie, Tx) because of the "stupid" length. With her 180 ft drives the course just isn't any fun to her. She has been playing just as long as me, but is not ever going to bomb drives. Because I can throw 450 but not accurately I tend to like courses I can bomb. So I like Turner a 4.0 or 4.5.....but my GF gives it a 1.5. Whose rating is more "legit"? The one that you identify with.
Point is, most of the people here are avid discgolfers and most are pretty good. But why should a person who isn't as skillful like/enjoy a tough course like Turner or for that matter Blueberry Hill? Why SHOULD she give a high rating just because of things like "had to use all the discs in your bag" or " technical course with great elevations". She hates all that and carries 6 discs so those aspects, often prized by people here are not important to her. Basically I am saying this site is like a bunch of snobby film critics. Sorry but some people don't like that artsy, well acted movie and want a retarded movie like Transformers. Sure we look down on them, but that doesn't make their opinion worth any less.
My GF would likely hate every single course in the US over a 4 rating due to its length and she should. It is no fun throwing 7 times when everyone is parked in 2 on a 550 ft hole. Would you suggest she not write reviews? Stop playing? No. The solution is to only judge course reviews by people that like courses you like. Just like movie critics. There are critics I hate and critics I love. I choose which to follow. That's how this should be. Right now there is a feature to only look at reviews from the top reviewers. I think that would pretty much cover most of the people here that get butthurt by the reviews. That feature is great. Just look at those reviews, please, if you have an issue with well written reviews. Erasing reviews you do not like smacks of Nazi Germany IMHO.
A true solution might be the ability sort reviews based on status: Occasional/ Beginner, Experienced, Pro. Big arm/small arm. Or even backhand/right handed vs lefties/flickers. Maybe even a separate rating for all those aspects? Maybe even a rating on aesthetic beauty of the course, which is very very important to many people. Maybe that's too many ratings but you should be really able to sort reviews based on max drive length. I think this could cover most of the differnces between beginners and pros and would take the guesswork on how people classify themselves as players. It also should be easy to implement from a software standpoint. Reviewers could update their status and old reviews would self populate. People under 250 ft drives flat out should be liking, and playing different courses than experts. It is extremely frustrating to watch budding beginner players get discouraged by the antics of experienced players. Whether it is reviews that don't fit them to Rec divisions in PDGA where everyone on their card throws 400+ ft and shoots under par to the obnoxiously rude pro who is angered by casuals who have no real reason to understand course etiquette anymore than you understand dinner etiquette in Indonesia. Disc Golf as a sport in general often does a terrible job turning the occasional player or junior player into a regular player. For the price and accessibility of DG particularly here in DFW with its million courses, I cannot believe there are so few junior and woman players playing. Why not let your juniors play free in tourneys with sign up of dad or mom? Noone wants to pay $15-$25 for their kid to play in a division with one other kid at the most for 1 day when a soccer league is like $50 for the season. Leave the trophy and players packs at home and let the kids play for free. I don't care if you have to set up a temp course. Let's do the same for players girlfriends while we are at it. Make woman's novice be $5 with entry of your partner and make it possible for me to play more tourneys as my lady can go with me and have fun without having to pay $25 for the pleasure of getting beaten by 40 strokes by some half male chromosomes Advanced monster. And the TD are always like, the novice/rec woman/youth just aren't signing up....its because of the prices and beatdown effect. I promise you let them play for free or $5 they will show up and show up with more serious players.
Seems like easy steps to get more people involved and I think it starts without being so snobby about what courses are "good" or not. Believe me, you will get more tough courses to play by getting more noobs to play....in the long run....as the number of regular players increase, so will the number of courses that YOU want to play....just know my girlfriend's favorite courses need respect too for what they are.
