6 Hole Course?

[filobedo]

Personally, I'd prefer 9 simply because I'd master 5 or 6 of the holes of a 6 hole course fairly quickly unless they were extremely tricky (like throwing through trees with no openings). However, I think 6 difficult, quality holes with plenty of distance would be better than 9 compressed holes.

8 years ago tomorrow I played the course on HHI, SC when I was at the Heritage and I thought it was 6 baskets with multiple teepads but evidently it was 9 baskets as noted. This is the only course my girlfriend, now wife played with me because it was so short. I also thought there was a 6 hole near Greenville, SC at a college but do not see it anymore. I just played a 3 hole behind the Gamecock baseball stadium last week which was fun but on private property.

http://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.php?id=461

 

[mashnut]

Like a few others have mentioned, it really depends on the target audience. Selfishly I would always rather see 6 challenging and interesting holes over 9 holes of pitch n putt. Then again, if it's mostly for beginners, then having shorter lengths and 9 holes makes more sense.

 

[mattc]

9 easy holes
(then,every day is an ace race)

 

[sillybizz]

THERE IS NO MAGIC NUMBER!

You can make a course 5, 7, 11, 12, 18, 23 holes if you want, it really doesn't matter as long as you get the best possible holes from the land available. I'd much rather play six awesome holes than 9 average holes.

 

[puttlikeablowfly]

There is a six-hole course in Madison (technically in the inner suburb of Maple Bluff) that was redesigned from an original nine-hole course:
http://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.php?id=3728

The old nine had homemade baskets, and the new six has Mach IIs, but even without that, the design is much better and much more suited to the small park. It seems to be plenty popular.

I've designed a seven-hole course:
http://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.php?id=4818

We knew there was not a good way to get nine quality holes in the park, at least right away. We originally designed six holes, but when they did a little more clearing in the woods than we had thought, we found a way to fit in a cool little 134' hole on what originally was going to be a path between holes. The local soccer club uses a portion of the park, and if they are successful in building their own facility, we may get to add two more holes to get to nine.

My vote is for fewer quality holes rather than nine just for the sake of nine.

 

[pauldst]

I like the multiple tees idea.

There is a course in this area at an elementary school (William Yates), that has more than one tee for some of the holes. Those holes have a shorter tee for the kids, and a longer one that makes it more of a challenge for adults. There are also two (or three?) mandos that increase the challenge for adults. What I think is cool about this is that someone could take his/her kids and both can play and be challenged.

Anyway, I would say 6 with multiple tees.

 

[Tjamesd]

My .02 - We have a course that is virtually unused in the winter and has a full course then, but in the summer half of the baskets are taken out when the park is full of other park users.

Is there opportunity to put pin placements in the secion of the park that is well used in the summer, and have a longer course in the winter months?

 

[imurhuckleberry]

Re:

Thanks for all of the feedback. The course is in a small town with an 18 hole course about 25 miles away and two more about 45 miles away.

The park would be for both beginners and hopefully a weekly club. There is no chance of hosting any sort of tournaments here and I don't have delusions of that. We could have community events such as a "Glow Golf" community night. Due to the fact that there really are very few nearby parks to play, I have tried to design a course that is both challenging for advanced player and accessible for beginners. I have a disc golf club I sponsor at the high school, and I expect some of the guys to advance enough this summer to crave a more challenging setup.

Here is my proposed setup:

Hole 1: 180 ft with tree protecting basket. Hole 2: Uphill 450+ ft. with trees protecting right side of fairway. (Am tee with open 250 ft. uphill shot) Hole 3: 400 ft. downhill hole with tree 15 ft. in front of tee but no other obstacles. Hole 4: 300 ft. slightly uphill hole with trees protecting left side of basket. Hole 5: 250 ft. hole with sharp right hand turn. (Am tee 130 ft. with tree front left of teepad) Hole 6: 160 ft. shot with trees in play

I will try to post a pic...a few of the holes have slightly changed from the pic.

 

[imurhuckleberry]

Well, I can't see the image but if you right click and open image in new tab, it should let you view the park. Changes from that pic are to move basket on Hole 3 closer. Hole 4 tee was moved up to the am. tee. The tee and basket on hole 6 were moved slightly, but the idea of a short shot through trees remains. There will also be a practice basket between the #1 tee and the parking lot.

 

[jedeye]

I think 9 short is better than 6 long, just b/c this is golf, after all. Scoring and tourney logistics are problematic with a non 9 or 18 number of holes. This is, of course, if you want to build a popular, well frequented course. If you want to keep it mostly for yourself and a few locals and not host (public) tournaments, go with 6. Mastering "pitch and putts" can be difficult, too, if they are well designed.

 

[mashnut]

Scoring and tourney logistics are problematic with a non 9 or 18 number of holes.

I'd like to hear more explanation on this. I would usually rather see a weird number of great holes rather than the standard number of mediocre holes. Also, I've played a lot of tourneys with temp holes, rounds of 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 25 and 27 were no problem at all for scoring or logistics.

 

[imurhuckleberry]

I'm also not sure how 6 will lead to poor logistics. My thought was...play it 3 times and get a full 18. If you are the only ones out at a certain time, you could play it frontwards and then backwards and then frontwards again to get 12 different holes and 18 total. The only logistical problem I could see with 6 is if there are a lot of groups on the course at once. I can only hope we might have this problem.

Now, I would prefer to be able to put in 18 full holes, but hey...you have to work with what you have. I am resigned to the fact that not many people are going to go out of their way to play this course. I don't think making it 9 shorter holes would change that fact. This course will be for the locals.

 

[scarpfish]

I think 9 short is better than 6 long, just b/c this is golf, after all. Scoring and tourney logistics are problematic with a non 9 or 18 number of holes.

Six hole courses generally aren't built to host tournaments. Scoring on a non 9 or 18 hole course is only problematic for people who can't do third grade math.

 

[bgiggey]

Have you ever played a 6 hole course? Would you?

Obviously, 6 holes is better than no course at all. I'm just curious if you would also rather play 6 slightly more interesting holes or 9 slightly less interesting holes.

I think 6 holes is a GREAT idea. Our firm does a lot of "pocket course" installations. Several of our 18 hole courses came from 3-6 holes start ups. We also do 3-6 hole course for The Mobile Disc Golf Experience tour --- going to festivals, fairs, events, etc. --- and its wonderful cause it gives people a taste without having to make them "commit" to playing 18.

The best way to promote disc golf is by getting people to PLAY disc golf. The largest demographic is beginners, and having pocket courses in parks is progressive.

Even if people complain that your course isn't 9 holes, know that you are cutting edge. Seriously. Keep it up.

 

[imurhuckleberry]

This is just an update for anyone who was following this thread. The course was approved and installed a little over a year ago. Interest in disc golf is growing among the locals. There is almost always someone on the course in the evenings although it is far from crowded. I have enjoyed seeing young guys take up the sport and improve over the last year. We even had a church group put together a free 18 hole tournament that we had a nice turn out for. Community business support was excellent and they provided shirts and many prizes despite the free entry. They added alternating mandos on a few holes to add variety for the tournament. Considering the limitations of the course, I am very pleased with the outcome.

I continue to have about 30 students join the high school disc golf club every year and our favorite event has been glo golf on the new course. Thanks to every one who gave their thoughts and opinions. I have to say that I believe that the 6 hole design was absolutely the best option for our situation.

 

[Mulligan]

Six holes is greater than zero. Kudos for sticking it out and making it happen.

 

[Disc Golf Live]

That's a nice start to a developing local scene. Interest should be there when folks start to consider a "full-sized" course somewhere else in the area. Thanks for the follow-up.