A Golf Course converted to a temporary disc golf course created by John Houck for a tournament in 2016. No rope.
I imagine we’ve all been reading and hearing a lot of discussions about the PDGA World Championships, the courses, and some of the things that happened there. I’m glad that my schedule made it possible for me to spend some time watching and reading comments, so I at least have some knowledge of where we are. A lot of it is very disappointing to me, as you might expect, and I feel like it’s time to speak up to express a different vision. We’ve said a lot in our in-person workshops, virtual workshops, and the annual course design conference Dee hosts.
We understand there are challenges as there aren't enough courses that could host a World Championship in all communities that apply to host the event. However, there is enough time to create and update courses to showcase disc golf at its best.
Maybe it’s time for me to try to reach a bigger audience and comment on a few things. So here are some initial thoughts on open courses with a lot of "artificial OB" like Ivy Hill.
I always start with a disclaimer: I haven’t been to Ivy Hill, and I have no idea what kind of limitations the country club put on the design. There’s no reason to point fingers or say what they should have done differently. I just want to offer a vision of where I think the highest levels of disc golf should be. One man’s opinion.
There are at least five major areas where I think we can do better, all of which came to the fore this past week.
1. Rope or "artificial" OB. A continuing topic for debate, sadly, and one where I have gone on the record. Our best courses should give our players the opportunity to be creative in unplanned-for situations and to show the fans the amazing things they can do. Rope, carts paths, and other “artificial” OB deprive the fans of some of the greatest shots they’ll ever see. And a full stroke penalty for players is insult on top of injury.
For those who say “sometimes you just have to do it,” I would just point to some the highest-rated courses I’ve been involved Harmony Bends, WR Jackson, Hillcrest Farm, Selah Lakeside, Selah Creekside – all of which have hosted majors or world/national championships – have zero rope OB. Zero. And for those who say “ball golf courses need rope,” I can point to two world classes courses I’m working on currently (St. Johns County in Florida and Memphis, Tennessee) that will have – you guessed it – zero rope. It can be done. Sometimes it takes a lot of time and problem-solving. In extreme cases, you might have to say, “I’m sorry, this property just isn’t appropriate for a high-level disc golf tournament.” Our sport has reached the point where we can say no.
2. Dealing with slopes fairly. At last year’s 3DISCgolf Conference at Maple Hill Disc Golf, we spent a lot of time discussing random roll-aways, and here we are with probably the worst examples ever. People say “well, it’s the same for everyone.” Russian roulette is the same for everyone, but that doesn’t make it a fair test of skill. Others say it’s exciting, and I suppose it can be. But if the spectators’ biggest excitement comes from “will it sit or roll?” and “will it roll out or stay in … or roll out and then roll back in?” then we’re not providing a world class experience. And this year we also got the strange experience of hoping a disc would roll out, so the player could putt from the same spot.
One of the most important design goals is to be fair. What is not fair? When two shots are virtually identical, but one rolls and one doesn’t, that’s not a fair result. “Luck is part of the game” is not the right argument. We will always have luck, but the designer’s job is to minimize it. Not so easy but that's the skill level and expertise needed for Championship and even tournament level course designs.
Slopes on courses can be great. If good shots stick and bad shots roll, that’s fine. When the outcome is unpredictable, our players deserve better.
3. Challenging players with obstacles. Unlike golf, disc golf is primarily about what happens in the air. Shaping shots between, over, and under trees is what we’re all about. I noticed a disturbing trend last year that’s getting very little attention, so at the conference introduced the OPT metric. It stands for Obstacles Per Throw. We are seeing a shocking number drive and approach shots – sometime entire holes – where there are no trees to work around, or where the trees are so easy to work around that there’s no risk involved. We need trees, and we don’t need holes with an OPT score of zero or one. ‘Nuff said.
4. Accommodating spectators and cameras. “Woods courses can’t accommodate spectators” and “Woods courses don’t film well” are two myths we need to abandon. The second myth is easy to debunk; there are multiple examples now of woods holes and even courses that look great on video. Watch coverage of any Champions Cup at WR Jackson for starters -- and that course was designed without any thought about video coverage more than a decade prior to that championship. Video cameras can work just fine in the woods.
As for spectators in the woods, of course that’s possible. We just never had any reason to even think about. Now we do, and we’re currently working on several courses that will have spectator areas built into the design. So let that argument go.
5. The message we send. Our biggest events can show the world what disc golf is and can be. I’m shocked by the number of designers emulate what they “saw on TV” to justify holes that throw next to or over roads, trails, and other park amenities. I see so many courses with rope everywhere because they think that today “that’s just what disc golf is.” Disc golf was never an OB fest, and we need to turn around before we turn it into one. It really doesn’t need to be that way. Again, one man’s opinion.
I'm not going to say never, but I'm not putting down any rope anytime soon.
An old golf course in Memphis I'm converting to a disc golf course.
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