Are disc golf courses too short for today’s disc golf pro?
I remember back in the day, maybe this is still a topic, is that because of the advancement of discs and of course the advancements of kids playing, throwing farther and farther and getting technically better, does that make a lot of courses obsolete, you know, make them, you know, they’re not challenging anymore. Yeah, it’s being outgrown. But here’s the thing, I also I also hear that, but I also hear other pros saying, I want to play a short course. I want to play an easy course, a birdie or die. What’s wrong with watching pros play birdie or die? You know, I don’t know. There’s a skill in that, too. It’s not just throw it as far as you possibly can and then have a shorter approach.
Do you think courses are too short for the modern disc golf pro?
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4 Comments
The older courses generally are older and shorter, but this is why we have the par system. Just like in ball golf, the pro players aren't going to go set records at every local municiple course they comes across, but weekend warriors aren't going to go lose 30 balls at Pebble Beach. Yes, there is some skill for pros playing shorter courses, but not as much skill as longer more technical courses.
A lot of it is relatability too. I'm not a pro but I can still throw over 400ft as middle-aged man who picked up the sport… I'd love to play a course with multiple Par 5 holes, yet there's not a single >800ft Par 5 hole anywhere within 250 miles of me. How can I relate to some of these monster pro tour courses? I cant. I'd bet over 90% of the courses listed on UDisc are essentially Par 3 average "pitch and putt" courses by today's standard. It's a lot easier to make an 18 hole in a city park when the average distance is only 300ft to the pin. For the average person the modern tour has just become real-life disc golf valley that we'll never get to experience.
Are short courses obsolete? Disc golf is still more of a participation sport than a spectator sport. The money in disc golf is still selling discs to "regular people" and not in selling tickets to watch pros, either in person or online. Most of the people I play with rarely watch pros play ANY course. If our normal courses become "obsolete," and we don't have places to play, we won't buy discs.
Short technical courses are the most fun.