What do you think about this 12-hole Course (GERMANY)

[Zyro]

Hi Everyone,

because we don't have many courses here in Germany and I searched for a training-ground in my new town, I discovered an area for free-time-activity located besides an open-air-bath. Every time I have been there yet (bad AND good weather) it was not crowded at all, so I thought this might be a nice place for a DG Course.

So I looked around, planned a little, made some cheapy gfx within photoshop. And now I want to know what you think of this idea? (I will post some photos later this week to get a better impression)

Highllghts:

Hole2 - You have to throw through a small gap between the Mando-Tree and the Bushes on the other side. Will be difficult to birdie.

Hole 3 - You play between many small trees and have the choice between lay up before a small pond ore try to get over it. Basket is just 4 Meters behind the water. Maybe I will put a mandatory there, so you dont throw over the walking-path (you will see that better with photos).

Hole 4 - Most difficult Hole on the course! You have to play little uphill through a very tight gap with low ceiling before it opens up (where the tennis-court is). After that it is very straight-forward. But a par is not given by any means!

Hole 9 - Long open drive with a low ceiling at the beginning. Maybe wind can come into play because the open area is a little exposed. If you go to far its nightmare in the bushes!

Hole 10 - Very tight window to hit with many bushes/trees left and right. Little bit uphill.

Hole 11 - Short but fun. Downhill, reachable for anyone. But some trees are in the way.

I tried to avoid throwing at roads, walking-paths or areas where it might be a little more crowded (beach-volleyball-field). Hole 4 is the only Hole with a blind shot. Maybe its too dangerous without a spotter.

So, what do you think?

 

[TimSyl]

Not having seen the actual property makes it a little tough to evaluate. My initial impressions are hole 4 is too close to the tennis court and hole 9 basket appears to be too close to 10s fairway. Also, walk from 11 to 12 seems excessive.

 

[Steve West]

You see all those bendy arrows where you hope people will go around something? A lot of players won't do that.

 

[sisyphus]

I'm a big fan of course flow....
The walk from any basket to the next tee should rarely be more than 30 to 50 meters, because I'm there to throw disc golf, not walk fairways and paths. I'd be very tempted to see if it could be played 1, 2 (reversed), 3, the last half of 4 over towards 7, 7, 8, 9, 10, 6. That's a fair nine hole course. I wouldn't even try 5 (folks will just throw the direct line), 11 (sorry, too far from the loop), or 12 (over what appears to be a popular parking area).

 

[Texconsinite]

Agreed on flow.

One way to improve flow would be to play hole 3 after hole 1, and play hole 2 between 11 and 12, since you have to walk by it anyways after 11.

A few questions? Is the area to the right of hole 5/tee 7 available for use, because if so, it might help the flow, and safety to tweak like so.

Instead of the holes 5 & 6 as you had them:
Have hole 5 tee off along the path between basket 4 and tee 11, playing towards that light gray box to the right.

Then, you can have the next hole tee off from somewhere along where you had 7's fairway, and play back towards the path (like reverse 5). Then play your hole 6.

The way you have them routed, it seems like you will be backtracking alot, and walking back down a fairway to throw a hole. Not ideal.

If there is a pond in play on hole 3, depending on the size of pond and what the area looks like beyond what your map shows, perhaps you can use it again for a hole throwing back over the other side of pond after hole 11 (tee by tee 4), again, since you have to walk that way after 11 to get to holes 2 & 12

Hope that helps, hard to tell much more specifically without seeing the land from ground level.

 

[Zyro]

Not having seen the actual property makes it a little tough to evaluate. My initial impressions are hole 4 is too close to the tennis court and hole 9 basket appears to be too close to 10s fairway. Also, walk from 11 to 12 seems excessive.

On Hole 4:
Yes. I think I have to rethink the whole idea of this hole after my visit of the property today.
The initial thought was that the players have to shoot through this tunnel (blue line) from this photo (shot from Tee 4; Basket is way behind the trees). But most of them might try go over all these trees (red line). Maybe shorten the hole (put the basket right after the tunnel) is better here. Or split Hole 4 into two holes. I dont know yet.

Hole 9 Basket is on the other side of dense bushes of 10s Fairway. I dont think that is a problem. But maybe I have to change 10 after all, because I think that hole is not that fun to play and more of a gap-filler.

You see all those bendy arrows where you hope people will go around something? A lot of players won't do that.

I know. I tried to think of all lines possible but I think I have to make more adjustments and changes untill it is a design which could be done in reality.

I'm a big fan of course flow....
The walk from any basket to the next tee should rarely be more than 30 to 50 meters,
because I'm there to throw disc golf, not walk fairways and paths.

One one hand I agree with you. On the other, I really like when you have some walking time to think about your play sometimes. And the walks you have to do in this course-design are not very long. It might look longer on picture. But everytime I walk around the (yet fictional) course I dont think it has too long walkings. (sorry for my bad english, but you'll get the point).

I'd be very tempted to see if it could be played 1, 2 (reversed), 3, the last half of 4 over towards 7, 7, 8, 9, 10, 6. That's a fair nine hole course. I wouldn't even try 5 (folks will just throw the direct line), 11 (sorry, too far from the loop), or 12 (over what appears to be a popular parking area).

2 reversed is not possible. The Mando-Tree is there for a reason. If you throw it reversed, you would throw (not directly) at a playground, some picnic tables and a walking-path. Its just too dangerous.

Because of what I have written above about hole 4, your idea of "last part of hole 4 to 7" might be interesting. Only bad thing about that is, that you would throw in the direction of the beach-volleyball field where there might be some groups of people you could hit. But have to evaluate that.

On 5: Yes, people will try that. But it is a little risky if you are not an advanced player, because if you land in that soccer field, you are OB. And if you go too far, you will have a difficult put (through bushes) Its a short but technical hole, where you have to think about risk-reward or playing it safe.

Hole5-Drive:

Hole 5-Basket:

Maybe I try to change the design and 11 and 12 because they dont really add to the course.

Here is 12s Fairway:

I have never seen anyone parking there. Might only be on some special occasions? And there is a very big parking-lot just across the road. So there wont be cars in maybe 90% of the time.

And to end this first reply, I have shot some photos today (could not shoot every hole, because of heavy rain after I passed the first couple holes). Here are some impressions:

Hole 3-Drive:

Hole 3-Basket:

Hole 7-Drive:

Hole 9-Drive:

 

[sisyphus]

:thmbup: Great pictures! They help a lot. Hope more folks chime in with ideas now.

 

[Zyro]

Agreed on flow.

One way to improve flow would be to play hole 3 after hole 1, and play hole 2 between 11 and 12, since you have to walk by it anyways after 11.

Good Idea, if I keep holes 11 and 12 where they are atm.

A few questions? Is the area to the right of hole 5/tee 7 available for use, because if so, it might help the flow, and safety to tweak like so.

I don't really know if that area is suited for a DG course, because there might be some more people around. That "grey-box" is a small roofed fire-place and there is also a beach-volleyball field. That are the reasons, why I have not thought of including that area in my plans. But maybe I have to visit that place more often on sunny weekends to tell if a fairway is possible there.

The way you have them routed, it seems like you will be backtracking alot, and walking back down a fairway to throw a hole. Not ideal.

I know. It is not ideal, and I am not really pleased with it either. Maybe shorten the hole course down to only 9 holes would give each hole more room and less backtracking in general.

If there is a pond in play on hole 3, depending on the size of pond and what the area looks like beyond what your map shows, perhaps you can use it again for a hole throwing back over the other side of pond after hole 11 (tee by tee 4), again, since you have to walk that way after 11 to get to holes 2 & 12

Yes. I am thinking a lot about that idea with a second hole across the pond too. There might be some interesting possibilities there for a short but tricky fairway (maybe 50-60 meters).

Hope that helps, hard to tell much more specifically without seeing the land from ground level.

I know. I will try to shoot as much photos as I can over the next days. But the weather is really crappy at the moment. We even had some serious thunderstorms, hail and heavy rain in the last weeks.