Okay.
For Jack. The courses in KC are just fine. All of them. For a casual golfer. And if that is the only aspiration for 95 percent of disc golfers, then we are indeed in Xanadu. You could live here forever and never ever have a solid reason to be bored with the courses. From Blue Valley to SMP to Parkville to Legacy to Waterworks to that Junior high in Olathe, there are enough disc golf vistas to keep the brain going for an eternity. So whomever we need to love on for all of their efforts up to this point, come on up and get some hugs fellas! It should also be stipulated amongst the rest of us that no one is complaining about what is already here but what we could have.. in addition.
What Cooper seems to be saying is that we need a Roy G, A De la, A Maple hill, A Fly boy... something that is full-time nasty and terrifying. Blue Valley is big, but it's not scary. Cliff has some tough shots, but again, not terrifying. Blue Springs has some grit, but it's also part time. What I think Cooper is trying to say is that we (the other 5 percent) need something that says "go away or I'm gonna hurt you!" Think, KCDFC GOLD course. The monster we kept describing in that thread. That's what we need. Not a bunch of holes from different courses, but one course that has it all.
The two best examples of public, well maintained full time bad ass parks are Idlewild in Kentucky, and Tyler Park in Pennslyvania. Both have multiple settings - pads and pins. BUT most of the time these courses are set in hard and when they change them, it's not to make them HARDER, but easier. The emphasis here is that the course is always a GOLD with the occasional option for vanilla. Tyler and Idlewild are big boy courses. Casual players can play them and they do, often, but they are designed for beating up on PRO's who can easily walk through a disc golf course eating up its challenges. Both courses stress long holes 450 plus feet per hole, elevation changes and complex OB. There are no short cuts. No cheats. You have to have THAT shot to play the hole, otherwise it's a long day. Down under is close, but it's tiny. Blue Springs is also close, but you have options. The rest of KC courses usually are only tough on "that one hole." Sometimes two.
Swope Gold is tough; what was par for that course? How many people went deep under par on it last year at the Wide Open? SWOPE GOLD will need retooling every year to keep up with demand of the tour. Look at Winthrop GOLD, it used to be tough, now the pro's eat it up. It desperately needs an upgrade (and an "AM" fumigation). When the game gets longer, the courses have to get longer. When the challenges are solved, new ones have to be made. This is the truth found in all sports. How did Tiger Woods change the course at Augusta National with his game?
The tournaments are going to see courses get much longer and narrower and with more OB. In order to keep up, we need to think of doing the same here. We need to surpass that demand before it leaves us in the dust. Let's get ahead of the curve and define it. And course designers need to keep that in mind when they put their courses together. Longer. Narrower. Lots of risk. Emphasize accuracy. Play against the confidence of the player. Challenge their ego.
I like playing in KC. Every time I leave to go play somewhere else, I can't wait to get back home to play.
I wish swope at a thousand more trees, two lakes, two creeks and a live bear wandering the course. Some day someone is going to put in a course down below 13 near the train tracks... Five 450 foot holes down there would be heavenly.
So, thank you, who ever did all this great work.
