Halcón
Free At Last
- Joined
- Jul 29, 2012
- Messages
- 12,038
Hawk Hollow is the course in question btw. Forgot to add that.
Just saw the pics of that course. Now I see why you had some pies in the fairway.
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Hawk Hollow is the course in question btw. Forgot to add that.
I will say this. In my opinion the best course that I have played to this point had dirt tees, no bathroom on site, no benches, decent but not great teesigns, and literally had chit in the fairways.
Amenities are great but a course can be great without them
I will respectfully disagree with this. While having a bathroom onsite might be nice occasionally, I rarely find myself having to go in the middle of a round. Taking care of that kind of stuff before leaving home is smart. I could care less about park amenities (bathrooms, water fountains, picnic areas, etc.). As long as the course is great, bathrooms do nothing to affect my view of a course.
But that's me. If you want bathrooms, that's cool as well :thmbup:
Hawk Hollow is the course in question btw. Forgot to add that.
no wonder why we've held steady at 7% female participation for about 20 years.
First and foremost: variety.
-Fairway Types: open, moderately wooded, densely wooded.
-Fairway Shapes: left, right, straight, S-shaped, some weird or interesting ones...
-elevation: uphills, downhills, risk reward pin placements on near slopes/drop-offs, holes that throw over gullies, over hills/rises, and at least a few flat or nearly flat, some holes that can have you putting uphill or downhill based on where your upshot lands.
-Distances: good mix of all kinds of distance, and should have at least a couple of 175-225' Ace Runs, and at least a couple of 500'+ bombers, and all sorts of stuff in between, especially good if there are some holes of similar distance that play quite differently due to elevation.
Until you have ^this^, you can't begin to think about a truly great course - that's square one.
Multiple pins/tees helps (if well executed), but is not absolutely necessary, and won't save a bad course from being bad.
Other factors that determine whether a course is truly great or not:
Basics: Tees, baskets, signs, upkeep & maintenance. I don't care how great the holes are, if people can't find their way, or things are in disrepair, things aren't great. Basics don't have to be incredible - they just have to be good enough to "not be a factor." No one really shoots better because of truly exceptional baskets, tees, or posts, but they can certainly shoot worse when things suck. Good = great as far as I'm concerned on this. If you get this wrong, it doesn't matter what else you get right.
Beauty - a great course is inviting to play and a pleasure to see, would be a nice walk without discs.
Challenge - great courses are challenging, yet able to be accommodating to a variety of skill level. Hard to be great if too many holes are easy (or impossible) to par, which leads me to...
Scoring separation: tougher to do than it sounds. Well designed holes create scoring separation. don't want to elaborate here, search other threads for more info.
Good use of natural elements, especially water.
Flows well from hole to hole.
Fun factor - makes you want to come back.
Bonus for things like: unique holes, hanging baskets, basket in tree, water carries that aren't absurd, charm, and unique touches you often see on private courses which give them personality (as long as things aren't overdone).
Top of the world shots (who doesn't love 'em?).
I'm pretty sure I left some stuff out, but if you used my list to evaluate a given course, and everything scores favorably, you definitely have a great course. How great is a matter of details related to that course and personal tastes.
Hard to add to what Bogey has already stated, but one addition to Variety.....holes that are not all "righty friendly". I play with a few friends that are lefty's, and a really good player can adapt to placing their shots right/left depending on the placement of the basket...however, a great course has a good mix of righty/lefty holes. I'm not saying 50/50; but also not 15-16 right hand hyzer shot holes either, with a few lefty shots added. I've even played some holes that it does not favor either. Also, not having a LOT of holes being dead straight ahead is also good. Recently played a hole (#11 at Va-Du-Mar, Boiling Springs, SC) where it was a 450+ ft hole. You are on top of a hill throwing down, fairway is fairly wide, but is heavily wooded both sides, so an errant throw will cost you. At the bottom of the hill is a creek, so too long and you can be OB. The hole doglegs left, so it does favor a righty more off the tee. However, once down the dogleg, the basket is on the right side, and with a creek running down the entire length of the dogleg. So, it does favor a lefty once you throw the drive. Having holes similar to this (also to add this particular hole was not only tricky, but very pretty as well, and much cooler in the heat of the day once you got into the dog-leg portion) is what makes a course great.
OP said:What makes a great disc golf course ?
It's a good topic, and an old thread.
Have we changed our thoughts in 6 years??
I think, yes.
Being exposed to more and more great courses in the last 6 years should make us re-think the great course debate.
I think length is becoming more and more relevant as the "big" arms are becoming more common.