Recently I saw a comment about a course that "All players play the same course, so what does it matter how difficult it is." I argued back that good design rewards skill, not luck (ie. too many trees, random OB in the fairway, etc). The return response was not too good... anyway...

What I want to know is if players agree that every player plays the same course so it doesn't matter, or if players think that a well designed course rewards good throws on a high percentage and has a low luck factor.

Skill should always be rewarded over luck. It doesn't matter that everyone plays the same hole, because not everyone will have good luck on a poorly designed hole, even if they have a good amount of skill.

The person who gave you that weak argument may be counting on the "luck factor" to give them a chance against more skilled players. "Luck" holes rarely benefit skilled players and can often harm their scores unjustly.

I don't think that the person meant any harm in their comment. A few years ago I would have thought the same thing, but as I have learned more about the game I have realized that design should be based on skill.

I guess that you could say that a luck design puts everyone on equal ground... but that's the problem. A good design should not put players on equal ground, it should reward those players that throw with consistency and can see the best approach to a hole.

Fortunately I have not run into too many courses with such a luck factor, but there have been some cases.

The statement "everyone plays the same course" sounds logical and defensible....HOWEVER! As you have stated, certain course designs will increase the luck factor and decrease the skill factor. IMO, two key factors in course design must be to 1) make the game enjoyable, and 2) demonstrate a clear correlation between skill levels and resulting scores (this means it must reward skill and reduce the luck factor).

Imagine a short blind hole completely covered by thick trees with a fence blocking all shots directly to the hole. Each player would simply throw their disc up over where the basket is and hope that it fell close to the basket. In this case the luck factor would be significantly increased and skill greatly decreased. The bounces off the tree branches would determine who scored the lowest. Throw in a 2m rule and luck is really the determining factor on this hole. That would be bad course design!