I don't understand Udisc course ratings

[DeanMoriarty]

Someone gave a practice area on uDisc with two baskets a five star rating just because.

That's inherently the problem with uDisc's rating system although I guess the same thing could happen here but if an obvious bad rating gets reported on DGC, it'll get removed.. or if it's just a bad review it'll have 10 thumbs downs and zero thumbs up which tells me all to basically ignore reading that persons review.

 

[ray1970]

Someone gave a practice area on uDisc with two baskets a five star rating just because.

Funny. There's some sort of weird 3 or 5 hole "course" near me that supposedly you have to bring your own baskets or something. I think it was a 3.5 or something. I think it is basically some sort of park. No tee pads or baskets. Not even sure how it ended up on Udisc as a course in the first place.

 

[txmxer]

Funny. There's some sort of weird 3 or 5 hole "course" near me that supposedly you have to bring your own baskets or something. I think it was a 3.5 or something. I think it is basically some sort of park. No tee pads or baskets. Not even sure how it ended up on Udisc as a course in the first place.

It has a beer cart, you're lucky I didn't give it a 4.

J/k

My backyard has 7 baskets, free drinks and a clubhouse with a big screen. I should put it on UDisc. It is members only though.

 

[BillFleming]

Someone gave a practice area on uDisc with two baskets a five star rating just because.

I don't see an issue with that. Does uDisc claim it is a course? Or is it listed as a practice area? Maybe it is a great two basket practice area. At Watson Lake, Prescott Arizona, there's a practice basket/area that I think is awesome. It is on a slope so that you can practice uphill putts, downhill putts, and sideways putts. To me, that makes the practice basket/area very useful and would be a 4 or 5 rated practice area.

 

[DeanMoriarty]

I don't see an issue with that. Does uDisc claim it is a course? Or is it listed as a practice area? Maybe it is a great two basket practice area. At Watson Lake, Prescott Arizona, there's a practice basket/area that I think is awesome. It is on a slope so that you can practice uphill putts, downhill putts, and sideways putts. To me, that makes the practice basket/area very useful and would be a 4 or 5 rated practice area.

It was literally two baskets standing in a flat field with no teepads or anything.

Would you rate that 5 stars?

 

[BillFleming]

It was literally two baskets standing in a flat field with no teepads or anything.

Would you rate that 5 stars?

Not in that case. But then I also don't think that practice areas should be rated at all. I don't know of any discers that go to courses just based on the practice area quality.

 

[DeanMoriarty]

Not in that case. But then I also don't think that practice areas should be rated at all. I don't know of any discers that go to courses just based on the practice area quality.

Tbh I don't know why they exist period.

If you want to practice, most courses have a practice basket right at the beginning or you can always just warm up on the first hole when nobody is around but that's just like my opinion, man.

 

[aphilso1]

The reviewers' opinions mirror those of the app developers', apparently. uDisc claims Chicago is the #2 disc golf metro area, based on "both how many courses each area had in relation to its size and how good the courses were."

https://udisc.com/blog/post/top-disc-golf-cities-usa-2021

 

[BogeyNoMore]

Since I started playing, the addition of Canyons and Fairfield have certainly strengthened Chicago's case as a road trip destination, but I can't even put it in the top 10.

Off the top of my head, I'd say Pittsburgh, Charlotte, Cincy, Minneapolis, and probably Atlanta have it beat.

...and I haven't even played west of KC yet. :\
I'd imagine DFW, Portland, Denver, and a few others would crack the top 10.

But it depends what you're looking for and how you weight things. If you weigh heavily for sheer volume of courses, and think a bunch of crappy niners count as much as destination courses, I can see how Chicago jumps high up that list.

 

[txmxer]

Since I started playing, the addition of Canyons and Fairfield have certainly strengthened Chicago's case as a road trip destination, but I can't even put it in the top 10.

Off the top of my head, I'd say Pittsburgh, Charlotte, Cincy, Minneapolis, and probably Atlanta have it beat.

...and I haven't even played west of KC yet. :\
I'd imagine DFW, Portland, Denver, and a few others would crack the top 10.

But it depends what you're looking for and how you weight things. If you weigh heavily for sheer volume of courses, and think a bunch of crappy niners count as much as destination courses, I can see how Chicago jumps high up that list.

I can't compare courses that I've not played, but if you want to play year round, south is the right direction and definitely a plus in the "best" places for DG evaluation Imo.

 

[DeanMoriarty]

Since I started playing, the addition of Canyons and Fairfield have certainly strengthened Chicago's case as a road trip destination, but I can't even put it in the top 10.

Off the top of my head, I'd say Pittsburgh, Charlotte, Cincy, Minneapolis, and probably Atlanta have it beat.

...and I haven't even played west of KC yet. :\
I'd imagine DFW, Portland, Denver, and a few others would crack the top 10.

But it depends what you're looking for and how you weight things. If you weigh heavily for sheer volume of courses, and think a bunch of crappy niners count as much as destination courses, I can see how Chicago jumps high up that list.

The reviewers' opinions mirror those of the app developers', apparently. uDisc claims Chicago is the #2 disc golf metro area, based on "both how many courses each area had in relation to its size and how good the courses were."

https://udisc.com/blog/post/top-disc-golf-cities-usa-2021

Hi. Chicago area bagger here and I can honestly say that like you guys mentioned, there's a few pretty good courses and like a billion bad ones.

So, like bagging really basic nine holes that are in fields? Well, Chicago will keep you busy all year.

A few not-so-often mentioned courses to check out in Chicago area are 50 Acres Park, Fel-Pro, Walnut Hollow out in Cary and Eagle Ridge southwest of the city.

Also, Tim Osmond Sports Complex on the northern border of the state got a recent update and I gotta say within time it's gonna be a great course. I believe the new layout is called Antioch Silver Lochs.

 

[cox3]

Without reading through all of the messages in this thread, UDisc ratings are essentially just an evaluation of course condition/level of manicure/quality of infrastructure. Challenge, design, etc. are essentially irrelevant.

Which is useful by the way... I've come to really rely on UDisc ratings for deciding which short/<18 hole courses I try to play while traveling. In general, if it has a low UDisc rating it isn't worth any time or effort at all. You certainly can't go out of your way to play course with high UDisc ratings though-- that is what DGCR is for...

 

[Mando]

I think DGCR is the exception, not the rule. Most ratings systems today are about "your experience" and are practical, as opposed to the "impractical" ratings system here (impractical in that the vast majority of people care about their experience far more than one site's definition of good course design).

DGCR seems more heavy on "justify your rating" while the majority of ratings system use a "your experience is your experience" philosophy where there's no need to justify the rating because the rating reflects how you feel.

The key is really knowing the difference in the ratings.

I understand the bias towards Udisc ratings, given the incredible amount of time reviewers have invested in this site, but the Udiscs ratings do have value in determining what appeals to the masses, rather than just DG's most upper echelon reviewers.

 

[zendragon]

...

...and I haven't even played west of KC yet. :\
I'd imagine DFW, Portland, Denver, and a few others would crack the top 10.

...

IDK about Portland, Denver has some decent courses, but I can confirm DFW is one of the best places for DG, as is Austin. There are tons of legitimate 4.5 courses in both areas.



But as far as UDisc goes, I don't use it at all. I've always come here for reviews when I'm looking for a new course to play (if I care that it will be fun or not). I get my maps from here, and since I never score my rounds other than against myself anyway, I don't really care about UDisc for scoring either.

 

[chris deitzel]

Udisc reviews are the worst. When the worst 6-hole course you've ever played is rated higher than an excellent 18-hole course, something needs fixed.

Really, anything between 3.0-4.4 on udisc could be of the same-quality or worse in reality.

 

[Luckj]

I've started to post full pro/con reviews on UDisc. I know it's not much but I'm hoping others get the idea. Reviews like "Played well today 5/5" don't really help anyone. I'd like to see UDisc have an "expert ranking" much like Rotten Tomatoes has critics and audience ratings.

 

[DiscGolfCraig]

UDisc = finding courses, getting updated course conditions, and using interactive course maps.
DGCR = finding out the quality of courses and whether they're actually worth playing.

 

[Mando]

UDisc = finding courses, getting updated course conditions, and using interactive course maps.
DGCR = finding out the quality of courses and whether they're actually worth playing.

One reason that Udisc ratings are higher than DGCR's for the same course, is that signage and navigation are no longer a reason to downgrade a course.

 

[Luckj]

One reason that Udisc ratings are higher than DGCR's for the same course, is that signage and navigation are no longer a reason to downgrade a course.

In theory maybe, but honestly it makes a course so much more enjoyable. I played a little 9 hole course the other day. There were 3 tees for each basket, each with a small wooden post. With the entire course contained in a small area I was constantly looking for the right pad and trying to find which basket to throw at. Even though UDisc had that info I still had to roam around waiting for the GPS to point me in the right direction and it was rather frustrating. Some good signage would be a total upgrade for that course.

 

[Mando]

In theory maybe, but honestly it makes a course so much more enjoyable. I played a little 9 hole course the other day. There were 3 tees for each basket, each with a small wooden post. With the entire course contained in a small area I was constantly looking for the right pad and trying to find which basket to throw at. Even though UDisc had that info I still had to roam around waiting for the GPS to point me in the right direction and it was rather frustrating. Some good signage would be a total upgrade for that course.

Not in theory. I watched it happen on my own course, where 90% are using Udisc.