Michigan New Course Updates

[ru4por]

Ran into Foz Miller last night at Rolling Hills. He and the park are putting in an additional 24 holes. They have 18 baskets ready to go. Holes are designed and staked out with cutting to begin this week. The 18 will be a new course with dirt tee pads until next season. Intentions are to hopefully fund and pour the extras at Independence Lakes and the new Rolling Hills pads at the same time. He said the park is working on funding for the six additional baskets to beef up the original 18 to 24 holes.

The mini course has baskets for all holes and a tournament upcoming. Foz said to be on the look out for a fall putting league as well.

Ypsi/Ann Arbor/Milford has become huge with these additions, added to the extras as Indy, 9 more holes at Kensington and Toboggan. BRING ON WORLDS!!!!

 

[Innovadude]

Lakeshore A-F back

We've installed 6 replacement holes for A-F at The Ponds at Lakeshore. All have cement tees and baskets. Back to 30 holes again. Plus X1-X2 are super cleared up and cleaner than ever before.

 

[jfrosty42]

Ran into Foz Miller last night at Rolling Hills. He and the park are putting in an additional 24 holes. They have 18 baskets ready to go. Holes are designed and staked out with cutting to begin this week. The 18 will be a new course with dirt tee pads until next season. Intentions are to hopefully fund and pour the extras at Independence Lakes and the new Rolling Hills pads at the same time. He said the park is working on funding for the six additional baskets to beef up the original 18 to 24 holes.

The mini course has baskets for all holes and a tournament upcoming. Foz said to be on the look out for a fall putting league as well.

Ypsi/Ann Arbor/Milford has become huge with these additions, added to the extras as Indy, 9 more holes at Kensington and Toboggan. BRING ON WORLDS!!!!

This is awesome!!! First I've heard about this news. However, I'm not thrilled on the idea of 24 hole courses. I'd rather have 18 longer holes than 24 shorter holes. I'm a firm believer that course design moving forward should be legit par 60+ on 18 holes.

I love that Kensington is two 18 hole courses now. Indy can be played as two 18 hole courses also.

In my fantasy, both Hudson Mills courses would be somehow changed to 18 hole championship courses..

 

[esdubya]

BRING ON WORLDS!!!!

Ann Arbor easily has the courses to support it, but do we have the organization that can pull it off? In other words, who's the poor sucker who will volunteer to be TD?

 

[esdubya]

I'm not thrilled on the idea of 24 hole courses. I'd rather have 18 longer holes than 24 shorter holes. I'm a firm believer that course design moving forward should be legit par 60+ on 18 holes.

Yes, but only on property that can supports that type of course... Course design is essentially just about getting the most out of what you have to work with.

The 24 hole course is the original 18 + 6 new holes that are in between 14 and 15.

The new 18 at Rolling.. I'm hopeful but it is not the type of land that lends itself to par 4 golf. The land for the original 18 is definitely the best they have. That said, there could be an argument to go for a long 12 instead of 18. Talk to Foz and have him show you the course, and make your own determination. I'd be interested to hear what you think.

 

[BogeyNoMore]

Ann Arbor easily has the courses to support it, but do we have the organization that can pull it off? In other words, who's the poor sucker who will volunteer to be TD?

You don't think John Minicuci could be persuaded to do that?

 

[ru4por]

You don't think John Minicuci could be persuaded to do that?

I think a co-op of TD's, like they have for DGLO would be the best route. All I know is I am not capable of such and undertaking!!!!!!

 

[ru4por]

Yes, but only on property that can supports that type of course... Course design is essentially just about getting the most out of what you have to work with.

The 24 hole course is the original 18 + 6 new holes that are in between 14 and 15.

The new 18 at Rolling.. I'm hopeful but it is not the type of land that lends itself to par 4 golf. The land for the original 18 is definitely the best they have. That said, there could be an argument to go for a long 12 instead of 18. Talk to Foz and have him show you the course, and make your own determination. I'd be interested to hear what you think.

Yeah, I agree. I get Jfrosty's point. I too would love some championship level courses in the area (outside of Toboggan), but courses are indeed dictated by the land available. esdubya has a pretty good idea of the potential for this property and a good grip on course design.

 

[BogeyNoMore]

I think a co-op of TD's, like they have for DGLO would be the best route. All I know is I am not capable of such and undertaking!!!!!!

I was kinda thinking the same thing. But when you look at the event listings for DGLO and USADGC, Minicuci's listed as the TD. I figured he'd bring the guys he's been working those events with the past few years on because it's worked pretty well.

That said, I imagine this would be quite a bit more work because the event takes place on more courses, and likely more days.


Hope Paul & you have a good time in the Burgh! :hfive:

 

[rakeyohn]

Courses are in too rough of shape for a worlds bid. We need to get out acts together and clean out our top tier courses. I'll be interested to see how the AMs fair at blacklocust with how overgrown its gotten from the longs. SE MI is the land of wasted potential.

 

[ru4por]

Courses are in too rough of shape for a worlds bid. We need to get out acts together and clean out our top tier courses. I'll be interested to see how the AMs fair at blacklocust with how overgrown its gotten from the longs. SE MI is the land of wasted potential.

Interesting perspective. I have played all over the country and honestly find few areas that have the quality, quantity or maintenance that we have here. Granted....midwest seasons lend themselves to voracious growth in the summer (compared to desert states, where little overgrown is found, due to the climate). We can always hope for more, but everything has a cost. Several courses are completely maintained by clubs and players....ie, Waterworks, Cass Benton....There are always opportunities for player to pitch in and improve the disc golf community. Maybe you are active in course work already, but if not, it seems you have at least one solution to your perceived issue.

Actually, clubs are a great resource. If you are finding significant course problems, maybe reach out to these groups. They generally have a pretty positive relationship with the park systems.

It is my guess that any overgrown of the back tees will be addressed before GLO.

In my experience in World Championships.....the courses being played are groomed to be in the best condition of their existence, for the tournament. I would expect that the same would be part of any plan to hold them here. Worlds would likely be the best thing to happen for our courses in this area.

 

[tbonesocrul]

It is my guess that any overgrown of the back tees will be addressed before GLO.

A bunch of the holes were cleaned up last weekend when the baskets were being installed on the new 9 holes at Black Locust. Off the top of my head I know a lot of work went into 2 and 7. They talked about going back in at a later time to clean up a few other holes.

 

[esdubya]

SE MI is the land of wasted potential.

You sound like Mosier.. By the way, "potential" is something inherently unused. Potential energy is the energy that is not used, but has the potential to be used. By definition you cannot "waste" something that is not used, that is redundant. More correct ways to say this are:

SE MI is the land of potential. OR
SE MI is the land of waste.

In my humble opinion..

SE MI is the land of a thriving culture of disc golf.
SE MI is the land of many good courses.

You don't know how good you have it, bro. Try travelling around a bit.

 

[jfrosty42]

You don't know how good you have it, bro. Try travelling around a bit.

This is the most important part of this post. Sure, there are hotbeds all over, but overall we have it pretty great in Michigan.. not to mention we can play a B tier almost every weekend.

 

[jfrosty42]

Yeah, I agree. I get Jfrosty's point. I too would love some championship level courses in the area (outside of Toboggan), but courses are indeed dictated by the land available. esdubya has a pretty good idea of the potential for this property and a good grip on course design.

I've heard talk of Addison Oaks being redesigned into a championship level 18 hole course, which excites me greatly.

 

[BogeyNoMore]

Just played them, and confirming 2nd course at Kensington's Black Locust location is complete and operational!
1-18 remain unchanged, and IMO should stay as the current Black Locust listing. Tim should simply delete holes 19-27 from that course listing. 8 of the holes have dual tees, 10 have single tees. These holes are decidedly more challenging and hillier than the "original 18." Park has not designated a name as far as I know. I suggest calling it listing Black Locust II, until the park makes up their mind. All the location info is identical to existing course. When I tried to list it, I got

It looks like the course you tried to submit is already in our database. Please contact us if you believe this to be in error.

... so I PM'd Tim& Noill.

I got pix and distances on all the new holes.

Park has numbered the new course thusly:
was 19... now #1
was 20... now #2
was 21... now #3
was 22... now #4
was 23... now #5
new hole....... #6...338 ft
new hole....... #7... 435 ft
new hole....... #8... 342 ft
new hole....... #9... 300 ft
new hole....... #10... 334 ft
new hole....... #11... 505 ft
new hole....... #12... 420 ft
new hole....... #13... 345 ft
new hole....... #14... 360 ft
was 24... now #15
was 25... now #16
was 26... now #17
was 27... now #18

Shorts = 6487 ft
Longs = 7313 ft

 

[ru4por]

Just played them, and confirming 2nd course at Kensington's Black Locust location is complete and operational!
1-18 remain unchanged, and IMO should stay as the current Black Locust listing. Tim should simply delete holes 19-27 from that course listing. 8 of the holes have dual tees, 10 have single tees. These holes are decidedly more challenging and hillier than the "original 18." Park has not designated a name as far as I know. I suggest calling it listing Black Locust II, until the park makes up their mind. All the location info is identical to existing course. When I tried to list it, I got


... so I PM'd Tim& Noill.

I got pix and distances on all the new holes.

Park has numbered the new course thusly:
was 19... now #1
was 20... now #2
was 21... now #3
was 22... now #4
was 23... now #5
new hole....... #6...338 ft
new hole....... #7... 435 ft
new hole....... #8... 342 ft
new hole....... #9... 300 ft
new hole....... #10... 334 ft
new hole....... #11... 505 ft
new hole....... #12... 420 ft
new hole....... #13... 345 ft
new hole....... #14... 360 ft
was 24... now #15
was 25... now #16
was 26... now #17
was 27... now #18

Shorts = 6487 ft
Longs = 7313 ft

Good stuff, Bogey. Hoping to see a review from ya. They are going to designate the courses blue and green, like Stony Creek. John has stated that they are putting in blue and green Chainstar Pros on the respective courses. So, suppose it will be Black Locust Blue and Black Locust Green. There is also a scorecard posted on the DGLO site on Disc Golf Scene.

 

[jjtwinnova]

Good stuff, Bogey. Hoping to see a review from ya. They are going to designate the courses blue and green, like Stony Creek. John has stated that they are putting in blue and green Chainstar Pros on the respective courses. So, suppose it will be Black Locust Blue and Black Locust Green. There is also a scorecard posted on the DGLO site on Disc Golf Scene.

On the DGLO site, it has it listed as North and South, not green and blue. Here is a link, new scorecards are pictured on there somewhere.

https://www.discgolfscene.com/tournaments/2017_Great_Lakes_Open_presented_by_DISCRAFT_2018

 

[BogeyNoMore]

On the DGLO site, it has it listed as North and South, not green and blue. Here is a link, new scorecards are pictured on there somewhere.

https://www.discgolfscene.com/tournaments/2017_Great_Lakes_Open_presented_by_DISCRAFT_2018

Technically, you're not wrong... but ru4por's right.

The Black Locust Disc Golf Course now features two 18-Hole disc golf courses. Plans are in the works to replace all of the baskets with the new Discraft Chainstar Pros. The South Course (with the new holes) will feature Green Powder Coated Discraft Chainstar Pros while the North Course (The Original course post the Tunnel) will feature Blue powder coated Discraft Chainstar Pros. Unfortunately, these will not be installed until after the 2018 Great Lakes Open. This means that there is currently a mixture of Discraft Chainstars and Mach 3s. A waiver for non-use of common PDGA approved targets in an A Tier event has been granted by the PDGA for this unfortunate condition. Discraft did replace an old Mach 3 during the installation meaning there should be in all, 31 Discraft Chainstars and 5 Mach 3s give or take 1 or 2. I will verify the numbers ASAP and report back if an update is needed.

I guarantee that locally, they'll be referred to as Kensington Blue and Kensington Green, just like Stony Creek.
No one in the area call them Stony North or South.

 

[jjtwinnova]

Technically, you're not wrong... but ru4por's right.


I guarantee that locally, they'll be referred to as Kensington Blue and Kensington Green, just like Stony Creek.
No one in the area call them Stony North or South.

Good info. I have not played any courses mentioned, and do not know what they are referred to locally. Dies that mean they will be North/South on the site, and Green/Blue in person, or...?

Can't wait to play the courses otherwise!