Since I've played Idlewild, I'm looking at courses differently.

[optidiscic]

I have adjusted scores in both directions moving some up after playing worse and moving down after playing better

 

[Porkchop]

..... I admire the fact that they have a cross over, and the rating is unaffected by this. That was the reason I mentioned it! I feel the same way about West Lake, and the issues with Park attendee's. The park attendees are to West Lake, as the Cross over is to Idlewild. In my opinion!

I'm not sure how the whole first timer issue came up, but that is really a moot point. I want to know if anyone went back and changed a review of another course because they thought it Better/worse, after playing a top 5 course.

Go convo Russ, I've enjoyed it ......

West Lake has a lot more issues than just the other park users, but that's for a whole other thread .......

And yes I would say that if I did review courses* I'd would edit some, up or down, because of other courses played after the fact .......

*Reviewing (to my standard) takes far too much time so I choose not to do it (I started to then gave up), I simply use this site to log courses played.

 

[RussMB]

Go convo Russ, I've enjoyed it ......

West Lake has a lot more issues than just the other park users, but that's for a whole other thread .......
]

Thank you, and this is true. The Park Goers was just the most common one I saw. I won't get into, why they should have vending machines that sell power bars somewhere along the course! By the time I finished West Lake, I was starving! Actually, I was hungry when we passed 18. I thought, "Bah, How long could 9 more holes be?" I thought wrong! 19-27 should not be played on an empty stomach! Oy Vey!

 

[Porkchop]

Thank you, and this is true. The Park Goers was just the most common one I saw. I won't get into, why they should have vending machines that sell power bars somewhere along the course! By the time I finished West Lake, I was starving! Actually, I was hungry when we passed 18. I thought, "Bah, How long could 6 more holes be?" I thought wrong! 19-24 should not be played on an empty stomach! Oy Vey!

Fixed .... even though it may have felt like 9

 

[tallpaul]

Looks like I'm going to play West Lake again this coming weekend. I think that course in extreme fun.

 

[deBebbler]

I reviewed many of my courses prior to playing Flip, and already had an idea of what did and didn't constitute a good course in (IMO). By the time I played Flip, it was easy to see what made it a 5 and where previous courses I'd played came close or failed miserably in comparison. Didin't really feel a need to go back and change anything afterwards.
.

Agreed. I may not have had Flip in mind 'exactly' when I theorized about what a 5-disc course was, but I knew it when I saw it.

Now I have the ticklish problem of reviewing Mason County Park couses back to back with the Highbridge courses and Branstrom. It's gonna make it look like I rate most courses 4-5 discs. Gotta play more stinkers, I guess.

 

[Technohic]

I just went and played a course thats not one of my favorites, but I had wrote a poorly written review before earning me more thumbs down than up and rightfully so, so I wanted to re-write it more objectively. That and its about the only 18 hole course within 30 miles of me so I was hoping to like it more.

I still didnt entirely care for the course but it is designed ok and I looked at the disc ratings again thinking hard about what it really is, personal preference asside and rated it, then went back through and felt some other courses I had rated a little higher based on how much I liked it personally rather than subjectively and many of them got dropped down to match my new point of reference.

Looks like I had a thumb down switch to a thumb up on the course I revisited but I think I got some thumb downs on my other courses adjusted ratings.

Wish there was a comments section for thumbs so I can see if its an issue with my verbage or just and issue with my rating. The latter I could care less what they think.

 

[RussMB]

Fixed .... even though it may have felt like 9

I can't believe I did that! LOL:doh: But, it did feel like 9 more! the way my stomach was talking to me! Plus when we did it, there was snow on the ground. I didn't think that last hill was ever going to end! lol

Just an FYI, QCdiscgolfclub.com wall papers has some cool wallpaper from West Lake, Camden and one other one.

 

[lazy42]

Those pics of West Lake are deceiving, those throws across the dam are way further than they look. Sure, the pics look sweet and innocent, then you tee up from the longs and re-think it.....

 

[RussMB]

Those pics of West Lake are deceiving, those throws across the dam are way further than they look. Sure, the pics look sweet and innocent, then you tee up from the longs and re-think it.....

You ain't kidding! I had that pic as my desktop, for a good two years before I actually got to play there. What sucked for us, since it had snowed, we could only play from the longs. Because the Tee sign was sticking up next to the teepad. That was the only way we could find it! lol Thank God the lake was frozen! What can you do? lol

 

[lazy42]

Hey, that's a good idea, wait till the lake freezes over and play the longs. Until then, I'll stick to the shorter tee's.:thmbup:

 

[RussMB]

I didn't want to play the longs, So I played no OB! Trust me, it's not like it helped my score! lol

 

[Fred Salaz]

OK I was probably being a bit facetious when I said it has to be perfect to be a 5. There could always be more water, more elevation, more woods, bentgrass fairways, beer girls, or golf carts ...... so no, perfect isn't really that obtainable. I would agree with cydisc that 5 isn't an absolute. When I think of a 5 it has to be a course that has no major design flaws and wows you. I have yet to play a course that doesn't have a design flaw or not missing a key amenity. I think too often people get caught up in the wow factor and are then numb to or choose to ignore the design flaws or missing must have amenities.

Let's look at Idlewild. There are 5 disc ratings that list these cons ....
- You have to cross a fairway to get to a tee (major design no no)
- Tricky navigation at times, needs next tee arrows in some spots
- Nothing on the tee sign to signify what pin placement the hole is in
- Overuse of artificial OB at times
- No short tees
- Overly tight for shot shape required at times

These same issues are the only cons the people that rated the course 4.5 listed as well, however they signified this in their rating. These people, like me, see that if there is a design con or flaw it should be noted in the rating ....... shouldn't we all????

Thank you Porkchop for posting the cons for Idlewild. I planned on doing it but haven't had time.
I will try to fix any problems associated with the course. There is only a handful of us left that are trying to maintain this monster. So be patient and if you see inprovements that need to be addressed just post here or let me know and I'll add it to the list. Now to address "the list".

- You have to cross a fairway to get to a tee (major design no no)
You don't have to tell me that it's a no no but we had to get back somehow and we would rather do that than to change the holes that got us there AND it's not as bad as you think. You walk across fairway #11, you don't play across and it(11) plays way over your head.

Tricky navigation at times, needs next tee arrows in some spots
Every hole had a next tee sign at one time or another. For some reason people liked the signs and took them. I just put another one up today for #12 to #13's tee. That one has been mentioned a few times.

Nothing on the tee sign to signify what pin placement the hole is in
Not sure what to do here, I tried putting a magnet on the pin position on the sign but that didn't last long. Any Ideas would be helpful.

Overuse of artificial OB at times
Now this was a labor issue. We used to weedeat a lot of the course so that players could find their discs easier but after a while everyone got burned out. So we made it Ob and we don't have to weed eat and it makes the course a little tougher. You can't make a course tougher by making it longer. Adding more ob did the job. The usdgc does it, why can't we.

No short tees

The Cincinnati area has close to 30 courses 27 are short and made for rec players. This course was designed with the professional or more advanced players in mind.
Hole #3 and #14 have short tees, #2,3,5,6,8,10,12,13,14,16 have shorter pin placements. Not much shorter in some cases but shorter.

Overly tight for shot shape required at times
This is an issue with players game not the course. To play Idlewild you gotta have more than one shot in your bag. I throw lots of forehands and forehand rollers and have good success.

Thanks to all that have enjoyed Idlewild unfortunately we are having a severe drought and it has taken a toll on the course. Hopefully it will bounce back.

"Shameless promotion"
If you survived Idlewild be sure and get your "I survived Idlewild" shirt(longsleeve only) and disc at thenatidiscgolf.com

 

[optidiscic]

tyler and tinicum in pa utilizes dials that show the current pin position ...huge success and the best solution Ive seen yet

typically the best layouts use the same area of land...I'd rather a shorty goofy transition than a long walk or ending on 3 filler holes.

I see the shortage of rec tees as a bonus as it keeps riff raff and the less serious dger off the course

my personal small beef was a matter of preference and I would never want Idlewild to change too much....Ive played tighter and harder courses than Idlewild and Ive played longer but none have that crazy tightness combined with grooming that Idlewild has.

 

[RussMB]

I guess I didn't really notice the navigation, I met up with a local that helps out with the course. I pretty much let him lead the way. (Nick: Known on here as "Ripper") One thing that I really liked about Idlewild was the use of Island holes. I loved it, and I think that is something that is really under used. Plus, the Island holes at Idlewild looked great! I liked the wooded trim around each of the islands. It's things like that, that make a person consider their next shot. It makes the game interesting, with out being kitschy. I know that not everyone is going to agree with me, but hey... If it were easy, it wouldn't be in the top 5. Look at Augusta National, and Bethpage, they were designed to challenge the best Ball Golf players.

So :thmbup: and I'm going to have to look into one of those shirts.

 

[Porkchop]

Nothing on the tee sign to signify what pin placement the hole is in.....
Not sure what to do here, I tried putting a magnet on the pin position on the sign but that didn't last long. Any Ideas would be helpful.

I've seen everything from magnets, removable pegs, bolts, and form of dials. However non of them has anything on the tee signs at Wilbur Young in the KC metro. The tee signs there have a colored tab to coincide with the current pin placement. The entire tee sign hinges up so one can flip over the correct tab for the pin placement. Its actually quite a genius design as it looks like the best combination of vandal proofing and ease of changing out.

Not sure who made them but the graphics look like a Houck Design

 

[Ripper]

Anyone wants to check out some photos I took Idlewild you can go here.

Cluster of Idlewild Pics

If you check out some vids I took at idlewild. You can tell that the drought has taken allot of the beauty never mind the last 30 seconds it's me in a field trying to get good and trying to see how good this little camera does at tracking discs. It's a video camera bought for Scuba Diving but shoots 1080p.

The course is a monster i'm learning really quick. Also, check out Facebook page with broken down holes