In Memory: The Best Extinct Courses

[shakatak]

My story along those lines:

A township near Des Moines was doing the state a favor and managing a small state park. Nobody used it, so it was a haven for "alternative" happenings. The township got us to put in a course. It was great. Not an awesome course by today's standards, but a cool par-54 woods course. And the ne'er-do-wells were gone. BUT THEN, the "birdwatcher lobby" went to the DNR, claimed that erosion caused by the disc golf was killing the park, and got the course shut down.

R.I.P. M*argo Frankel

I remember playing that one back when I played in the 90s and wondered what happened to it.

 

[chris deitzel]

2 of my old favorites were Allerdale Farms in Medina, OH and Big Rumen Farms in Athens, OH.

Allerdale was a temporary course set up by the Jenkins in the late 90's - early 2000's. It was absolutely beautiful. I have a bunch of pictures somewhere??

Big Rumen Farms was my private course when I was in college at Ohio University. Was so nice walking out my back door and playing disc golf anytime I wanted to.

 

[chris deitzel]

And Big Run in Columbus was a blast also. I played the last ever round there with a bunch of great people. Chuck Custer, Kevin Stewart and a few others. Me and Kevin were the glow-doubles winners of the very last round ever played on that course.

 

[roadtrip]

The old 9-hole Carpenter Park course. Now a completely redesigned 18-hole course (White Clay Creek).

Not exactly a top ten course but it might have been a top ten in its day as far as introducing people to the sport.

 

[b-mart]

My top two courses were both shut down in the same month this summer. Both were private. But since nobody has named either of them:

Dalaiwood: I didn't get to play here until the last day, but the experience was great and Scott was very accomodating. The course wasn't. I probably hit more trees there than I have anywhere, and I LIKE technical courses. I loved it though and wish I could go back.

Spirit Ridge: I could write about Spirit Ridge all day and not get bored. I loved that course. It was short, but challenging enough to always keep you guessing. There were a few ace runs and some nice use of elevation as well. The "baskets" were mostly homemade out of native woods and copper tubing, so they sounded awesome when you hit them. The course was plowed so the owner of the property could sell some lumber. On a positive note, Spirit Ridge Two is in the design stages. We installed 12 holes yesterday before the itch to throw discs got the best of us and no more work was completed.

 

[grodney]

I think grodney had been there right before us as there were a billion Shiner bottles lined up along the porch....

Yep, that was us! I can't believe I can't put my hands on that pic right now. I'm usually better organized with my beer photos.

 

[DavidSauls]

Don't be fooled by the longevity of Bill and Flip City, all private courses are headed for extinction...

Talk about an inconvenient truth.....

 

[Sadjo]

Laurel Spring was in the Mountains of Western NC. About a half hour from Boone. Bill Boylan now lives in Greenville, SC and owns a mulch business. Laurel Spring was a beautiful place. I had the pleasure of not only playing the course, but staying two weeks, in his house, on the property during the fall of 1992 and 1993.

Ken Climo lists Laurel Spring as one of his favorite courses and favorite tournaments. Boylan Family Farms was ahead of their time.

 

[thrembo]

The original Kensington course. I only got to play it once, but it was a great course.

The original Kensington course was cool. Also there was a course off of US 23 inbetween Hartland and Fenton on an old ski hill known as Kandahar. It had awesome elevation changes, for that area of Michigan. It was in for only about a year, and the property was sold to a developer, and sadly the course was pulled to put houses in.

 

[Mando]

Prediction; this thread will die and people will forget about it.

 

[fenixtxfan11]

Tunnel course

The old Kensington course was my favorite. I loved the holes on the other side of the tunnel, especially holes 1 and 18. The new course is built for forehand drives or left-handed players :thmbdown:. Sorry, but I prefer course that demand more than one type of disc. Thanks alot Jim Kenner :wall:

 

[Mando]

Laurel Spring was in the Mountains of Western NC. About a half hour from Boone. Bill Boylan now lives in Greenville, SC and owns a mulch business. Laurel Spring was a beautiful place. I had the pleasure of not only playing the course, but staying two weeks, in his house, on the property during the fall of 1992 and 1993.

Ken Climo lists Laurel Spring as one of his favorite courses and favorite tournaments. Boylan Family Farms was ahead of their time.

I'll settle for just a scorecard.

 

[The Valkyrie Kid]

Lakewood King County Park basically underwent a redesign. Something like 16 of the orginal 18 holes are still there. I don't like the redesign quite as much but it's still a nice course.

"extincted" courses/layouts

Bracketts - Bluff protection and town board turnover
Bailey Road Park - Old Layout - Cause I redesigned it!
Veterans Park, Charlotte - Park Construction led to removal of a few baskets, then some went missing. We pulled the remainder to use as extra baskets at Eastway, Nevin, and Stumpy Creek. Course was outdated anyway in terms of layout compared to other Charlotte courses.

Parma - NY - Old Layout - I liked some of the old holes but the new course is pretty neat.

Lakewood King County Park - WA - Old Layout- Not sure what happened here...just saw it was RIP in my list.

 

[humchris85]

I for one miss Ironside Classified in Burnt Ranch CA. A great course, that not many people got to play before it was taken out.

 

[ashmgee]

Mad river may become extinct if this type of **** keeps up.

Only weeks after Caleb and a couple others went out and did some major cleanup out there.
Really bumming me out that people are that thoughtless.

 

[Norcal]

RIP Albert Schweitzer, aka "Little Africa, aka "the Grove", an object course located in a dense Eucalyptus grove near Sacramento, CA. I understand that this was one of the first permanent disc golf courses in California. Its ratings don't reflect its true glory. It was tough to navigate, had natural tee pads, and no signage but it was a ton of fun to play and it demanded a lot from your game- especially precision up-shots.

http://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.php?id=633

The course was recently removed due to typical NIMBY concerns. :thmbdown:

 

[McJesus]

This thread makes me sad. I'm glad our local course is public but was privately sponsored so the city can't pull the baskets. Even a few websites donated signs and baskets.

 

[Mando]

I'm just wondering whether the last impressions of a course when they go dark, are the amenities/ratings... or the indelible imprints ?

 

[TempleOfDoom]

William R. Mason Park in Irvine. Not the most fabulous course in the world, but a good park course with one of the first par 4s in SoCal. Lasted less than a year and was pulled due to a golfer climbing into the OB maintenance yard to retreive a disc and breaking some part of the sprinkler system which subsequently flooded the park. The course probably wouldn't have lasted anyway as it was in a very crowded section of the park.

 

[humchris85]

Mad river may become extinct if this type of **** keeps up.

Only weeks after Caleb and a couple others went out and did some major cleanup out there.
Really bumming me out that people are that thoughtless.

I'm guessing you saw Jamie's post on the Par Infinity page. Why someone would go out and rip out ferns is beyond me. And like you said right after a group of Par Infinites went out and worked on cleaning along the river, getting us some much needed good PR. It's just sad.