Are courses with water hazards better for the SPORT?
Every time a disc is lost, another is purchased. Every time a disc is purchased it creates revenue for the retailer and the manufacturer. The larger these two respective companies get, the more they can put BACK into the sport. Simple right.
So, lets make more courses around water, lose discs and grow the sport. Simple.
"Go for it, you can reach it!"

water = better = true

the ultralight and odyssey discs from quest all float. i guess innovation will keep us small :)

after the last tourney, one guy went in 20 discs came out...
http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k266/garyE500/twisted%20at%20the%20lodge/twistedselect-18.jpg

a little too much of a good thing...
http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k266/garyE500/new%20folder/juneflood016.jpg

and once in a while it helps set up a good pic...
http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k266/garyE500/okla%20open%2007/okopen07-13.jpg

I like the idea of lost 4ever discs. sry.

Sjur, you sell plastic? Sounds like it.:)

Depends on the course and the hazard.

If the course is your local beginners par 3, water probably should be avoided. A newbie or young family buys a couple of discs and decides to try disc golf for the first time. They promptly lose a disc or two on hole #2, whose fairway borders a pond on the left as a design challenge. "Hey, this sucks, let's go home." Potential new players lost.

A course borders on a large river with strong currents. Young people trying to retreive a lost disc could be putting themselves at risk. Steady Ed warned the people involved of such a situation at a Stevens Point, WI course (on the bank of the Wisconsin River) and the course was redesigned to greatly minimize the potential of a disc going into the river and help prevent a possible tragedy. I suppose warning signs could have been used, but some people would still be tempted to try and retrive their plastic (or other's plastic) regardless.

So, water can add a challenge for the correct situation. But the course player population (is it a beginner course or more advanced) and potentially dangerous situations should be considered. In some cases, avoiding the water would be better for the sport.

Water adds natural hazards and beauty.

However, I do not like water on a hole if there is not a lay up option.

At Cedar Hills in Raleigh, NC hole 7 is a 300 foot turnover over water. Great hole - a great hole that is primarily skipped by every casual player in the town.

There is a lay up option, however a perfect layup still leaves the golfer 150 feet to cross the lake. This shot is pretty simple to most tournament golfers, however, a recreational golfer is faced with a tough decision - a decision that may impact whether he continues to play disc golf anymore.

But, lost discs are goos for the sport, right?
No, I don't sell discs.

But, lost discs are goos for the sport, right?
No, I don't sell discs.



Yes and no.

It is a yes for someone who has 10 - 15 discs and is hooked. They are going to replace that disc that was just lost.

It is a no for someone like me with 400 - 500 discs doesn't care about the disc he just lost.

It is also a no for someone playing for the first time and loses the only disc he has. He has a greater chance of playing again if he still had that one disc than he does of playing again and having to purchase another.

I threw a couple in on 7? at Cedar when I was just a 'ginner. I went in in a sandal and retrieved all the discs I would need for the next 5 years (yeah, back then, nobody had cel phones, and thus no numbers on discs). That got me hooked. Plus, if yu play enough, you'll find other's lost discs, so you may have 1 disc, but chances are, if you play bad enough (by that I mean spend some time in the woods), you'll find a few more.

I think Water is great because it tests the pros who have a very set bag, but it also creates a bit of a lifecycle, and while it's often a bad shot that goes in the water, sometimes, it's just a bad disc, so it's cleansing your bag... ok, that's a reach.

Fish and turtles need discs too.

For aesthetics, you can't beat landscaped water hazards. But my preference would be for all OB water to be clear and not more than 18 inches deep.

For aesthetics, you can't beat landscaped water hazards. But my preference would be for all OB water to be clear and not more than 18 inches deep.



Every city has one, a reflecting pond so to speak. If someone had the money, you could lay at a very cool course with water hazards of this nature like shallow ponds but why would you want to? I like the notion of landscaped O.B. better. You could rope off an area, aka USDGC, and put in all the plants you wanted. Texas States has something a little like this (when it's at Bass) in that there are several wetlands areas that are O.B. Most deep discs stay there though, poison ivy is not fun!

The reason I favor landscaping to ponds is that I think it is more eco-friendly.

I threw a couple in on 7? at Cedar when I was just a 'ginner. I went in in a sandal and retrieved all the discs I would need for the next 5 years (yeah, back then, nobody had cel phones, and thus no numbers on discs). That got me hooked. Plus, if yu play enough, you'll find other's lost discs, so you may have 1 disc, but chances are, if you play bad enough (by that I mean spend some time in the woods), you'll find a few more.

I think Water is great because it tests the pros who have a very set bag, but it also creates a bit of a lifecycle, and while it's often a bad shot that goes in the water, sometimes, it's just a bad disc, so it's cleansing your bag... ok, that's a reach.

Fish and turtles need discs too.



This is from the guy who hates a course in Raleigh with 6 water holes and complains that he lost his favroite disc in the water there :p

if i were right-hand challenged like peckham i would hate that course too.