Is your course getting unusually crowded

[optidiscic]

The growth of disc golf sadly has flooded my local courses with tons of newer players who don't get it.....killing sapplings, littering, throwing on other players, loud radios, huge groups, just tons and tons of problems that did not exist a yr or 2 ago.....me and my buddy were debating what would be the best measure to thin the herd. Would a new fun 18 hole course in the region help or would it be better to add 3 holes to the existing courses to somehow spread the herd out some. What have some other places done to address this problem. I know Cali is big on secret courses, Private courses seem to make more sense, some areas have designed killer difficult courses that ignorant players usually avoid.....I was thinking a course of 27 holes with many different places to start your round to avoid certain 9somes etc might be the way to go....thoughts. I was never against growth until this year....I can't wait for winter.

 

[medicinalfunk]

just do what i do and bring a firearm to the course. clears out inconsiderate groups in a jiffy

 

[sidewinder22]

Chainsaw.

 

[solomon.trenton]

yep, thats why most of the locals go to a nearby pay to play/members course

 

[optidiscic]

Had a dude come up behind me today and put his radio which was playing on the rear of the tee pad as I was teeing off...I am easily rattled and wanted to kick his bag and flip the F out but instead I hit the nearest tree on my drive and had to throw again with his radio as my apparent theme music.....my buddy was laughing under his breath as we have a friendly rivalry when we play and he knows I have zero focus and cant tolerate much......grrrrrr....thats what sparked the new course or more holes on each course discussion.

 

[jhgonzo]

Had numerous issues this past weekend at a sanctioned tourney with people showing up and just playing, completely ignoring the "course closed for tournament" signs. There's 3 courses in the vicinity (even more going half-an-hour out), and 2 were being used over the weekend. We had some guys on one hole that were just holing out, and we knew they weren't playing, so we hollered to them from the tee that the course was closed; one guy kept walking to the next tee, the other marched back towards us on the tee looking all pissed off and was like, "What do you mean it's closed? That's dumb. We were out at the other course and they had a tourney going on there. That's dumb to have 2 tourneys on the same day." We explained it was the SAME tourney occurring on 2 courses, to which he replied, "Well, that's dumb." He just kept saying how "dumb" the whole thing was. We directed him to tourney central to talk to the TD, implying that he should quit shooting the messengers.

A few holes later, a pretty cute girl with 2 younger kids started approaching the tee. We told her that the course was closed, and she said she didn't see any signs, and we told her there WERE signs, and just said, "Hey, we're just informing you. If anyone else you encounter is a dick about it, you've already been warned." So she waits for us to tee off; we barely got to our tee shots, and the two kids were throwing on us!!! We all turned back and just kind of shot her a collective look saying, "Hold the f**k on!" and she kept yelling at the kids to quit throwing (they were each throwing meat hooks about 50' to 60' per toss, but still gaining on us at our slow tourney pace)--while she kept throwing on them--and it kept going on through the entire hole up to our putts. I was lining up for my 6' par putt, saw 2 discs flying at me in my peripherals, and I just stepped back and glared up the fairway at this most inconsiderate group. They didn't follow us to the next hole, but we saw them later on, so they must've skipped us and tried another hole.

But yeah, as far as my local course I don't have an issue since we're a rural community sandwiched in between two cities with very popular courses, so on weekends the more serious players will flow into Cleveland to get away from the two-disc DBs and large groups of kids, which of course I welcome since the most traffic I ever see at LTC is maybe 6 or 7 groups out playing.

 

[medicinalfunk]

in all seriousness though, some dudes threw on me and my buddy yesterday when we were making our putts. my friend took it pretty seriously and almost started a fight with the dudes.

it's pretty ridiculous, really

 

[SAxDrc]

as much as i hate it...pay to play keeps out noobs. see the city of Mount Pleasant, MI

free
http://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.php?id=595

pay to play
http://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.php?id=3417

 

[eegor]

Hot summer days and cold, muddy winter days keep the noobs home in DFW. In the spring and fall (especially the spring), it can get crazy... even the unaware come to the park and wander around the course in the spring...

So far, no pay the play around here... but we do have a lot of courses.

 

[deBebbler]

as much as i hate it...pay to play keeps out noobs. see the city of Mount Pleasant, MI

free
http://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.php?id=595

pay to play
http://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.php?id=3417

God, that CMU course sucks on toast.

I lived there for two excruciatingly long years (well before Deerfield Park's existence) and that course almost killed my love for the game all by itself. If it weren't for frequent trips to Grand Woods, I might have quit altogether.

 

[Friction]

yeah, the local courses are getting silly crowded. Also with school out for summer, fugitaboutit. DG at sunrise is the chit man.

 

[Hector Chain]

Crowded in Omaha

We have a similar issue in Omaha. The oldest course, which is in the center of the city and the most rec-friendly, has gotten nearly unplayable after work or on weekend afternoons due to crowds. It's a good course, but I find I play poorly there because I feel rushed. The local disc golf club is getting more courses built, but it takes time.

For the time being, there are two other courses. One (Cunningham Lake) is a course that is horrible for recs (very thick rough and pretty difficult to navigate). The lack of crowds make it so much better than Seymour Smith, even despite the ticks and thick grass and the possibility of losing a disc.

The other option is technically a pay-to-play (only $1 though) at Treasure Cove across the river in Iowa. It's far enough away that the crowds don't bother making the trip (yet?). And it happens to be a great course.

Anyway, I'm a proponent of pay to play. I think $3-5 is worth it for a round of disc golf with like-minded folks, or no other people at all. I used to live in Massachusetts, and Maple Hill and Pyramids were well worth the $5-6 to play. Granted, you're not going to be building a gem like Maple Hill on any old piece of land...

 

[SAxDrc]

God, that CMU course sucks on toast.

I lived there for two excruciatingly long years (well before Deerfield Park's existence) and that course almost killed my love for the game all by itself. If it weren't for frequent trips to Grand Woods, I might have quit altogether.

CMU is good for what it is; which is a place for large groups of college guys to go and drink while throwing things. Deerfield costs $6 but you don't have to deal with all the shenanigans at CMU. Also Deerfield is probably the best course I have played. (which is only 5 )

 

[Easy Tigur]

There's three courses in the area. The closest is just crowded by inconsiderate college guys throwing Wraiths on 200 ft holes. They don't really know disc golf etiquette (playing through, throwing while you're putting, etc), but for the most part, the guys are nice. One helped me find my disc Course isn't too great though and the park is multipurpose, so lots of joggers and bikers getting in the way.

The other two courses in the area don't have any issues. The really nice one where pros play has really nice people that help you find your discs and play through. Love the people there. And the other one's in an abandoned park with a surprisingly well kept wooded course. I went on a Friday afternoon (should be crowded right?) and the only cars were people playing a game of ultimate frisbee. Creepy course, but nice and quiet and nobody to deal with.

 

[deBebbler]

CMU is good for what it is; which is a place for large groups of college guys to go and drink while throwing things.

Who needs a disc golf course for that? I used dorm rooms, myself.

That course is flat and unobstucted except for a few Charlie Brown Christmas Trees. It has water, but so does Grand Woods in Lansing. It is a worthy road trip, and you will know where I am coming from.

When you come up here to play Avalanche, play Boyne Mountain, too.

 

[simplepmart]

It's getting pretty ridiculous at several of our local courses. Sunday was brutal with 75% of the 27 hole course in our area being plugged up by 2 disc douche-noobs in packs of 6, 8, sometimes 10 people in a group. So, not sure adding more holes to your course would be your answer. More golf holes could just mean more douche-holes. I would seriously consider pay to play/membership (none in my area as of now) if it meant not running into under aged drinking, pot smoking, shirtless, hillbilly, inconsiderate, tardo's that seem to keep multiplying like rabbits in my neck of the woods. Oh, and the difficulty of the course doesn't seem to detour them here either. Today, we were at a tough local course and the same thing was happening...ON A WEEKDAY!! There's no escaping THEM! It is very frustrating!

 

[scarpfish]

I played four pay courses on my trip last month. Two were $5 all day access, and the other two were $3 all day access, so I got all the holes I could play for $16. I know that's expensive by DG standards, but think of how many rounds of ball golf you're going to get for $16. That might pay for a weekday round at your local muni, if you decide to forgo use of a cart.

Fact is, I saw that the riff raff factor (both dingbat players, and non-players) at these courses was significantly reduced compared to the free courses I played, not to mention the courses were nicely mowed and the amenities were so much better, and it still didn't detract from the free flow nature of the game that makes it enjoyable.

 

[deBebbler]

I know that's expensive by DG standards, but think of how many rounds of ball golf you're going to get for $16. That might pay for a weekday round at your local muni, if you decide to forgo use of a cart.

While I was planning my trip to HighBridge last night, I thought of this when I saw that the full weekend rate at peak time was $45 which includes two nights of camping and firewood.

$42 gets you one round of ball golf at one of our crappier local courses.

$42 for one round vs $45 for a full weekend playing any/all of 5-6 courses available at HighBridge.

No contest at all. The gas to get there and back is double the rate to stay and play.

 

[olemiss5931]

Im glad I love in a small area with 5 courses to play. We rarely have any 2 disc douches here in NE MS.

 

[tstack10]

just do what i do and bring a firearm to the course. clears out inconsiderate groups in a jiffy

Yes!!! Mark it foul dude!!!