you could put a hot tub, grapes, harem and free drinks at all the short tees and hackers will still insist on playing the gold tees and then half of them will complain that the course doesnt cater to them
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Iron Hill. Please Read Before You Play
- Thread starter jimimc
- Start date
Royal Hill
Eagle Member
I like what Jimi's written from a philosophy point of view - even though I've never been there, never played it, only seen video coverage. (ok likely all the coverage thats out there on it, so I do feel like I've been there)
But the philosophy I like is not really about Iron Hill at all - its the concept that a club or area can differentiate use through its courses offerings, and allow for specialization. The idea that each course is part of as Jimi says, the puzzle. One color on the palate, one instrument in orchestra.
I understand the intent when an area wants any given course to be all things to all people, but I really like it when an area has the luxury of offerings to allow for each piece to be what it is, and be proud of it, no apologies.
I will add something I've said before as a tangent - I am not fond of courses that have elements that are not playable by many skill demographics, but I'm just fine with them not being "scorable". Not playable means - forced water carries, not alternatives afforded, or where an equivalent hazard precludes a skill level from physically completing. (imagine a theoretical tall wall only certain power groups could complete) Scorable is different - that hinges on some obligation that people feel a certain way about their number at the end.
But the philosophy I like is not really about Iron Hill at all - its the concept that a club or area can differentiate use through its courses offerings, and allow for specialization. The idea that each course is part of as Jimi says, the puzzle. One color on the palate, one instrument in orchestra.
I understand the intent when an area wants any given course to be all things to all people, but I really like it when an area has the luxury of offerings to allow for each piece to be what it is, and be proud of it, no apologies.
I will add something I've said before as a tangent - I am not fond of courses that have elements that are not playable by many skill demographics, but I'm just fine with them not being "scorable". Not playable means - forced water carries, not alternatives afforded, or where an equivalent hazard precludes a skill level from physically completing. (imagine a theoretical tall wall only certain power groups could complete) Scorable is different - that hinges on some obligation that people feel a certain way about their number at the end.
I've found completely the opposite. If you put nice signs and well defined paths from the pin to the short tee and make people do extra walking to get to the longs, chuckers never bother playing them and stick to the shorts. Somehow people are surprised when chuckers take the easy way out and play from the most obvious tee or the one they come to first.
LetsPlayGolf
Par Member
"I was told when Iron Hill was first put in to put up a sign like they have at Bethpage Black. IRON HILL IS AN EXTREMLY DIFFICULT COURSE WHICH WE SUGGEST TO ONLY HIGHLY SKILLED TOURNAMENT STYLE PLAYERS. That's it. That's what it was and is designed for. I've said it before and I'll say it again, it's not fun and wasn't meant to be."
I hear you 100% The Champ Course at Disc Side of Heaven is not meant for mere mortals either, but a lot of locals want to change it up because it is 'no fun'. There are three tee boxes, Gold, Blue and White and everyone wants to play from the Golds and it just kicks everyone's butt (mine included)... but I enjoy the butt kicking.
I wanted to incorporate this sign from the very beginning. It is hard to read in the picture, but I scratched out "Black" and wrote in "Gold" and I added "Disc" to "Highly Skilled Golfers". People love it and everyone takes pictures of it when they come to Disc Side of Heaven.
I hear you 100% The Champ Course at Disc Side of Heaven is not meant for mere mortals either, but a lot of locals want to change it up because it is 'no fun'. There are three tee boxes, Gold, Blue and White and everyone wants to play from the Golds and it just kicks everyone's butt (mine included)... but I enjoy the butt kicking.
I wanted to incorporate this sign from the very beginning. It is hard to read in the picture, but I scratched out "Black" and wrote in "Gold" and I added "Disc" to "Highly Skilled Golfers". People love it and everyone takes pictures of it when they come to Disc Side of Heaven.
Last edited:
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Iron Hill was designed around the longer tougher Golds so your point is moot
Even so jmc has done a great job of making the short tees and baskets flow and its not just merely walking past the gold tee on the way to the blue tee and routes from the baskets to next tees do not always pass by the gold basket
the point is players go to iron hill to meet a 950 or 1000 rated course and they choose the gold regardless
Then don't complain that chuckers are playing the golds if you design a course around the golds. You want the best of both worlds, and that's not going to happen. My point was that if you don't want chuckers on your long tees it's not hard to design things so that doesn't happen.
i dont think they dont want chuckers on the long tees. they just want them to not review the course.
That's pretty inevitable when you put a gold level course on public land (which I still can't believe park districts let us do when that caters to a tiny subset of users). If you want an exclusive experience, build that course on private land and don't let the chuckers play it, then you won't have those reviews. It's public land, those two disc hackers have every right to be there and they have every right to say that it's not a good experience for them.
I played long pad to long pin, short to short, and short pad to long pin. The course was not hard to figure out, nor where the positions of the various baskets and pads (after the first walk through). I enjoyed the challenge of the longs. It also pushed me to do more field work after the experience. Equally so, I enjoy the other layouts tried.
There was a comment about Iron Hill not being on a perfect piece of land. I think that is the beauty of so many disc golf courses, much less pieces of nature.
I would not avoid a course because it is difficult. Just need to have the right mindset about it.
There was a comment about Iron Hill not being on a perfect piece of land. I think that is the beauty of so many disc golf courses, much less pieces of nature.
I would not avoid a course because it is difficult. Just need to have the right mindset about it.
Royal Hill
Eagle Member
"I was told when Iron Hill was first put in to put up a sign like they have at Bethpage Black. IRON HILL IS AN EXTREMLY DIFFICULT COURSE WHICH WE SUGGEST TO ONLY HIGHLY SKILLED TOURNAMENT STYLE PLAYERS. That's it. That's what it was and is designed for. I've said it before and I'll say it again, it's not fun and wasn't meant to be."
I hear you 100% The Champ Course at Disc Side of Heaven is not meant for mere mortals either, but a lot of locals want to change it up because it is 'no fun'. There are three tee boxes, Gold, Blue and White and everyone wants to play from the Golds and it just kicks everyone's butt (mine included)... but I enjoy the butt kicking.
I wanted to incorporate this sign from the very beginning. It is hard to read in the picture, but I scratched out "Black" and wrote in "Gold" and I added "Disc" to "Highly Skilled Golfers". People love it and everyone takes pictures of it when they come to Disc Side of Heaven.
This is beautiful proactive management of perception. Shape the experience - let the thing that could be the turn off develop into the draw! Now, don't be cheap and make a new sign with the words you want - if people are taking pictures - do it up right. Make a monument!
In the NW, the RIP Dalaiwood course had a section of very tight, nested holes, with brutally and beautifully obstructed lines. A signboard set the stage, and managed expectations with a welcome to the Furious Five - you would almost read it in your mind as if it was being said in a raspy pirate voice - you know... "Lo, terrible things await ye..."
can u read?
do you understand anything other than your ego and limited point of view
I merely stated that players travel to iron hill and choose to play longs
its sort of what its known for and despite the best efforts at creating flow and essentially a separate short course the only time the blue tees to silvers are played are when a tourney forces them too
I dont knw why you are hellbent on trolling
Iron Hill is a great challenge that is meant to match true 1000 rated ssa to par
and sometimes its a painful round when pars feel like birdies and bogies feel like par but in the end its a personal enjoyable challenge to those who enjoy a challenge
Your idea that a course must cater to everyone typically makes for a bland course with many inherent problems
Also chuckers playing the longs do a champ course a lot damage that as domeone who has built n designed a few well respected courses I can empathize with
.....and DGCR is designed for a variety of players to rate and review courses based on a variety of opinions as to what constitutes a good course.
If a few of them visit Iron Hill and describe it as "good, not great", it doesn't matter that it wasn't meant for them.
It would skew the purpose and usefulness of this site if only people for whom a course was meant were allowed to review it.
I like the warning sign.
At a gentler level, but with the same principle, one of our local courses includes this caution on its website:
"One of the more challenging courses in South Carolina, geared toward Pro & Advanced players, with a wide variety of open, tight, elevation, and O.B. SSA (1000-rated round) is around 59 on the diamond layout.
(We do not recommend this course to beginners, or those who can't throw a minimum of 220 feet with some degree of accuracy, as you may lose discs or otherwise find it frustrating. Though you're still welcome to try.)"
At a gentler level, but with the same principle, one of our local courses includes this caution on its website:
"One of the more challenging courses in South Carolina, geared toward Pro & Advanced players, with a wide variety of open, tight, elevation, and O.B. SSA (1000-rated round) is around 59 on the diamond layout.
(We do not recommend this course to beginners, or those who can't throw a minimum of 220 feet with some degree of accuracy, as you may lose discs or otherwise find it frustrating. Though you're still welcome to try.)"
Ironic post is ironic.
I never once said that. I very much prefer true blue and gold level courses that challenge me on every single hole, and I think that course designers should pick a skill level and design a layout that has a consistent difficulty throughout. I love the gold layout at Iron Hill. I just think it's silly to design a course like that on public land then complain about the public using it and having an opinion about it.
If you want chuckers to play the short tees, make them attractive to chuckers. If you don't want chuckers on your course don't build it on public land. It's unreasonable and unfair to use public land then tell large segments of the population that the land isn't intended for them to use, whether or not you think it's appropriate for them to be there.
Just to clarify; I don't think anyone from Iron Hill complained about low ratings. Correct me if I'm wrong.
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Halcón
Free At Last
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depends on how you define "from" iron hill. i dont think the designer or anyone official was complaining
ETA: after all this, i need to rethink my travel plans.
how long does it take to play iron hill, relative to other courses?
chrishysell
* Ace Member *
if you play straight through without stopping you can play all four layouts in under 12 hours.
