Overrated courses

[Cgkdisc]

From a practical standpoint, there's probably no such thing as being over-rated in general, but just specific to your standards. Popularity or annual traffic is a factor we can't get direct values on for most courses even though P2P courses know their numbers pretty well. For P2P owners, if their course generates enough traffic versus their costs to make them money, their course rates a 5 regardless of any design, equipment, amenity, maintenance or terrain weakness DGCR reviewers might see.

As a designer, my goal is to produce a course the owner wants but part of that equation is hopefully doing the job well enough it becomes popular enough to justify their expense even if it's not P2P. With regard to traffic in remote locations like Highbridge, it would be producing more traffic than might be expected relative to the distances players decide to travel from populations much farther away.

 

[Tripper]

I played Hippodrome over Christmas this year and feel that the Old Glory Layout at the Hippodrome at that time was unworthy of the 4.05 rating. I know there are different set ups but that day it was very short and all out in the field with ropes to delineate the hazards. Maybe I am spoiled by the actual trees and water hazards in the Raleigh area but it just seemed too gimmicky for my taste.

 

[DavidSauls]

From a practical standpoint, there's probably no such thing as being over-rated in general, but just specific to your standards.

I'd say they're very rare.

My favorite whipping boy, Pendleton King, is rated 3.71. If you filter to reviewers with at least 10 courses played, it drops to 3.06. I'm not certain, but I suspect that is an example of a course with its rating inflated by 1-review locals.

 

[BraveThrower43]

Ashe County --- good but not incredible and far from "the best course in NC." I had huge expectations based on what people said, and was sorely dissappointed, expecting some Flyboy/FlipCity level discing.

Idlewild --- Navigation issues, drainage problems, multiple baskets on some holes but not all and not marked, rules not clearly posted(island green, for instance), etc. I thought it was a good course, but not a top 5. BUT, I will be playing it again in a couple weeks, and may adjust then as I played it 4 years ago.

All other courses --- for being too righty-friendly.

Agree on Ashe. I was expecting much more. The course was solid just didn't blow me away

 

[roggenb3]

I was disappointed with Idlewild. Not that I didn't like it, it's a really great course, but how it is number 6 on this site is beyond me. Better than BRP? Maple Hill? Heck no.

 

[ToddL]

Blackjack, Sugar Grove, NC - I certainly like it, and I'm not trying to speak ill of the designers or owners (I was best friends in high school with them), but it's far from a 4.9* course. Too steep, too rough.

Tyger River, Spartanburg, SC - It's new, so people are really excited about it, but it's not a 4.3* course. I'd give it a 3.75 or so. I like it, I play it, I'm glad that we got a course that has multiple long, open holes -- in the rest of the Upstate we only have a few open, throw the hell out of it holes: Central 6, Easley 10, Greer 15, Shoally 2, and that's really about it. But on the other hand, the open holes are indeed kind of boring, and hole 8 is a safety hazard to 4 other holes.

Hippodrome, North Augusta, SC - Old Glory as a 4* course? Love it or hate it, I guess. I'd give it 2.5. Hogback is a solid 3.5, though.

 

[Mushin No Shin]

I was disappointed with Idlewild. Better than BRP?

YES! The DG play is superior

 

[discNDav]

I played Ashe County late yesterday (from the short tees) and all 27 at Harmon Hill today, both for the first time. The front 9 at Ashe is one of the finest 9's I have seen. The back nine is a beast with all the elevation and alternate pins positions. Harmon is VERY good, top 10?...I have to think about that considering I have played over 320 courses now.

 

[Stardoggy]

I was disappointed with Idlewild. Not that I didn't like it, it's a really great course, but how it is number 6 on this site is beyond me. Better than BRP? Maple Hill? Heck no.

I'll be there in two weeks...can't wait to find out.

YES! The DG play is superior

I've heard from many people that BRP isn't all it's cracked up to be...inflated ratings because of landscaping.

 

[Pbmercil]

I've heard from many people that BRP isn't all it's cracked up to be...inflated ratings because of landscaping.

Shouldn't the awesome landscaping add value to the course?

And hence, why ratings are, and will always be, entirely subjective no matter how many people insist that it is necessary and important that we try to be objective.

 

[roggenb3]

I've heard from many people that BRP isn't all it's cracked up to be...inflated ratings because of landscaping.

I'm really not trying to bash Idlewild, I loved the course. Very memorable shots, and a lot of em.

Maybe I just value aesthetics more than most reviewers. The holes themselves are awesome, but there is vandalism all over a lot of the tees, baskets, and signs, a fair amount of garbage, and the course plays close to walking paths, roads, and soccer/football fields.

Being on a beautiful piece of land designated solely for disc golf like BRP/Maple hill adds to my enjoyment of those courses. Same goes for the ridge. Idlewild just feels like a really, really, nice city course to me, not a top10-best in the world-type course.

YES! The DG play is superior

I could see the argument for that over BRP (maybe), but not maple hill in a million years.

 

[shoe59]

Silver Creek in Manitowic, WI left me very disappointed, no way close to a 4 star course.

Oh, I get it -- you're joking.

 

[Nemmers]

I don't think your wrong, but what does any of this have to do with the OP? He asked if anyone felt 4+ courses didn't live up to the hype, then named a few of the most highly regarded courses in the country. What does that have to do with Southeast at all? I've never met a single person who would but that course in the same breath as some of the examples the OP listed?

When I've had a few I usually end up taking the scenic route to my point, but I mentioned Southeast because that was my experience in playing a course that was (near) 4.00 on DGCR but didn't live up to expectations.

The disappointment wasn't even so much the course as it was DGCR itself because we drove five hours to play courses in and around Columbia and hit up Southeast because of it's glowing online reviews. After that round we even joked that DGCR ratings are a lot like Wikipedia: since ANYONE can write one and jack up the rating, why pay them much mind because...hey...how accurate are they really?

This was all before I was savvy enough to figure out that all I should really be reading are trusted reviewers ratings, of course. I learnt mah lessun.

 

[Pbmercil]

The disappointment wasn't even so much the course as it was DGCR itself because we drove five hours to play courses in and around Columbia and hit up Southeast because of it's glowing online reviews. .

I think your big mistake was driving 5 hours to play disc golf in Columbia.

 

[blazerico]

Honesty is always appreciated by strangers (especially on DGCR) .

honesty, without a lengthy review, is highly frowned upon

But for eastern PA nothing disappointed me as much as Tyler. It was a top 10 course when I played it first and it never really impressed me. Noc, Jordan, and Sankanac were all better.

did you play Tyler when all pins were long? it makes a huge difference

I was disappointed with Idlewild...how it is number 6 on this site is beyond me. Better than BRP? Maple Hill?

Idlewild and Maple Hill and quite a few others are better than BRP. BRP and Nockamixon can swap spots and I'd feel a little better

 

[optidiscic]

speaking about overrated courses makes me feel like a snob and a hater

I will say that I have more quality disc golf within 20 miles of my bed than all of my roadtrips that dgcr sent me on a delusional quests over the past few yrs

luckily Ive been easantly surprised as often as disappoiunted

 

[DavidSauls]

This thread demonstrates that, for the most part, it's more a matter of different tastes than courses being "overrated".

Look at the mentions of Ashe County. I place it just a hair below being the best course I ever played. Others here, people whom I know and respect, just see it as good. One person thinks it's great because of the front 9; I think the back 9, or at least the back 8, is the highlight.

 

[blazerico]

I agree, but I'm still going to spend my vacations going to the other highly rated courses.

 

[BraveThrower43]

did you play Tyler when all pins were long? it makes a huge difference
I

I felt the same way about Tyler and felt that if the pins were in longs I may feel different. The layout I played was kinda cool but it sucked to play a 200' pin and then walk the full length of a fairway to see a sweet C pin. Didn't understand why there weren't permanent long pins.

Tyger River, Spartanburg, SC - It's new, so people are really excited about it, but it's not a 4.3* course. I'd give it a 3.75 or so. I like it, I play it, I'm glad that we got a course that has multiple long, open holes -- in the rest of the Upstate we only have a few open, throw the hell out of it holes: Central 6, Easley 10, Greer 15, Shoally 2, and that's really about it. But on the other hand, the open holes are indeed kind of boring, and hole 8 is a safety hazard to 4 other holes.

Facility is awesome but the course itself is defiantly not worth being that high IMO.

I think that parks beauty and the quality of amenities helps that one a lot.

 

[Stardoggy]

I'm really not trying to bash Idlewild, I loved the course. Very memorable shots, and a lot of em.

Maybe I just value aesthetics more than most reviewers. The holes themselves are awesome, but there is vandalism all over a lot of the tees, baskets, and signs, a fair amount of garbage, and the course plays close to walking paths, roads, and soccer/football fields.

Being on a beautiful piece of land designated solely for disc golf like BRP/Maple hill adds to my enjoyment of those courses. Same goes for the ridge. Idlewild just feels like a really, really, nice city course to me, not a top10-best in the world-type course.

Works for me. Honestly, we're probably just nitpicking at this point, and I'd much rather not be at work and out playing any of the courses we've discussed.