what the heck is "Acre Factor" on the Course Acreage Guide? i can understand the sheet all the way across the page until that column.

The length of the course times the Acreage Factor divided by 43,560 (sq. ft. per acre) yields the estimated acreage needed for the course. The lower the density of trees, the more land required for proper spacing so the Acreage Factor increases. You can think of it as an average fairway width including half of the buffer zone on either side.

Houck and I came up with these numbers from experience and they work pretty well. It's unusual for a course to be perfectly laid out so that no property is unused like a jigsaw puzzle so there's some inflation in the factor that takes 'wasted' area into account.

Hmmm.... I am brainstorming it but cant seem to figure it out.

Based on the chart, our new course (6900 feet) should be on at least 26 acres. However, we are using about 35-40 acres, including buffer area. Seems as though we are within guidelines and probably have room to add alternate pin placements in the future.

chuck, i still dont get it. maybe its too early in the morning. if the acre factor is what you say it is, then what is the simple "acres" column associated with each column.

ex: gold tees, average foliage, P67 is gonna be 9350 feet in length and need 27 acres. but the acre factor is 125.

are you saying the 27 acres number is basically meaningless, and you really need 125 acres to make the course work?

Pat, your example would be :

9350*125= 1,168,750

1,168,750 divided by 43,560(1 acre in feet) = 26.830808 aceres

He's not saying that, although I'm not sure which comes first, the acreage factor or the determination of acreage needs. I'm understanding that the acreage factor is simply a number. It does not represent acreage or footage. It's just some numerical factor used in computing how much land is needed.

This does seem a bit backwards as far as the flow of the course design process. Usually, a designer is given an area of land first. From there, you need to figure out what kind of course and how long. This acreage factor thing seems to begin with deciding how long a course you want to build, then you determine how much land you need to build that course. While that information is still helpful, it's usually not how the process begins, at least in my experience.

I suppose you could be approached with "Hey, I want to have a disc golf course on that 17 acres over there" then use the chart to determine what level of course (red, white, blue, gold) you can fit into that acreage.

I suppose you could be approached with "Hey, I want to have a disc golf course on that 17 acres over there" then use the chart to determine what level of course (red, white, blue, gold) you can fit into that acreage.



That's correct. Or if a certain type of course like a Gold course is desired, it may not work or be too short if you don't have enough land. Or like we've done several times in Minnesota, put 12 good holes instead of 18 shorties on the land available.

The acreage factor really is close to an average fairway width number with padding. Let's say you have a wooded corridor hole that's 40 feet wide with 60 feet of buffer between fairways because there's a 20 ft wide wood chipped walking path paralleling the fairways between the holes. That's half of 60 twice which is 60 plus the 40 ft wide fairway. That adds up to 100 which is the corridor factor for wooded courses. The wooded fairway may be more like 30 and the buffer is not always 60 feet but there's dead space and the space for walking from pin to tee on the next hole to account for.

I suppose you could be approached with "Hey, I want to have a disc golf course on that 17 acres over there" then use the chart to determine what level of course (red, white, blue, gold) you can fit into that acreage.



That's correct. Or if a certain type of course like a Gold course is desired, it may not work or be too short if you don't have enough land. Or like we've done several times in Minnesota, put 12 good holes instead of 18 shorties on the land available.

The acreage factor really is close to an average fairway width number with padding. Let's say you have a wooded corridor hole that's 40 feet wide with 60 feet of buffer between fairways because there's a 20 ft wide wood chipped walking path paralleling the fairways between the holes. That's half of 60 twice which is 60 plus the 40 ft wide fairway. That adds up to 100 which is the corridor factor for wooded courses. The wooded fairway may be more like 30 and the buffer is not always 60 feet but there's dead space and the space for walking from pin to tee on the next hole to account for.



As long as there is a balance between left and right handed shots.

Chuck - Do y'all have sanctioned tournaments on the 12-hole courses and if you do, are there complaints that it is not enough golf for a tourney? I'm all for putting in 12 good holes instead of 18 lousy ones, but just curious about the reaction from players.

They add extra holes for tournaments.

Like Discette said. Most of the 12 hole courses are in parks where there's enough room for extra holes. It's just that the Park Dept didn't want more of the park tied up for disc golf versus other activities for daily use. So, we're allowed to reserve the extra room needed for 6 more holes for events. In some cases, we've run events where 12 are played twice in the morning and afternoon for 48 holes. Or just once in the afternoon for 36 holes.