Custom Google Map of MN Disc Golf Courses

Not sure if this belongs in the "road trip" category of the forum, but I thought I would let folks know that I just launched a custom Google Map of all Minnesota disc golf courses, and I would LOVE it if at least a few fellow discgolfersR.us members would "kick the tires" and let me know what you think. Feel free to use it to "road trip" up to our fine State too, and see what a little disc golf action is like in Minneapolis Saint Paul, the Mississippi River Valley, the Prairie (Southwestern portion of the State) or the North Shore (Lake Superior). Minnesota has some TREMENDOUS disc golf courses to play and enjoy...and we'd love it if more people from other regions of the country could spend a little more time here...enjoying what we've got to share. The Minnesota Majestic is coming up 5/30 to 6/1 too...which would be a GREAT excuse for more Pros to check out a few of the other courses in the area too.

Thanks!

Derek

[Scott Holter]

Derek,

Thank you for this...This is the type if info I am looking for in the Electronic directory file I am building for Portable GPS devices! If I could can I take this info and Import it into the file I am building (Check the forums for Electronic directory).

Also if I may ask what are the coordinates based on? the first tee or the parking lot??

Thanks again!
Scott

Scott

[Derek Tonn]

Scott,

It's kind of a mish-mash of starting points. It's always the first tee if I could pinpoint it. If I didn't have that information available to me, then it is either parking or the middle of the course (worst-case) if that's the best I could do. There is one course up in Aitkin, MN that I know if geographically off a bit, but all of the other courses should be within FEET of actual, as opposed to being off by thousands of feet or even MILES in some of the other pre-existing resources. The coordinates are MUCH more precise though than what is currently found on PDGA.com or other sites...as that was the thing I paid more attention to than anything else: pin-pointing course locations and Hole 1 tees. With around 115 courses though, the quality of information across all those courses ranged from excellent to poor. What's in that Google site though is as good as I could possibly do with the information I had available...and even includes two courses that aren't in PDGA's directory yet.

As for you using the information, I don't have any problem with it whatsoever. It is a free resource designed to help people get to the courses as easily as possible...not to generate $$$. However, know that I did use a lot of PDGA information in building that, and I did need to secure their permission to include that information in the resource. If you haven't already, you might want to run your use of that data by them...."just in case."

I hope that helps! If you have any ideas for how I can make that resource better going forward, I would love to hear them! We'll be adding more/better information to that service as it becomes available, but it's pretty good even in its initial state, IMHO. :-)

Thanks!

Derek

[Yup Me Again]

I checked the map out and it is sweet!!! I wish there was a map like this for each state. I like the feature of clicking on the course name to the left and all the info coming up on the map window.

I'm sure I could figure out how ya did it and start working on Ohio Courses. Hmmm....

[Derek Tonn]

Dizzy,

The hardest part, quite honestly, is just gathering, checking and re-checking the accuracy of all the data. PDGA.com obviously gave me an EXCELLENT start! However, I wanted to be MUCH more precise in pinpointing course locations than I could get from the information that was available on their web site...and it would sometimes take me 10-15 minutes/course to feel confident enough to drop the placemark down on the map. I wanted it to be as good as was possible though, so that things like driving directions and GPS devices would have as few issues as possible related to navigation.

If you are a customer of Google (Google AdWords, Google AdSense, etc....or maybe even simply a gmail.com email user?), you should already have the ability to create your own custom Google maps! If you don't have a ton of web development experience, it might give you a bit of trouble to make it look nice/right. However, I was able to build that entire resource in roughly 40 hours (over half of which was gathering info and checking accuracy). If you aren't a Google customer and you still wanted to get something done related to Ohio courses, we could always work out a barter too. It wouldn't be the first time I've been paid in "plastic" for doing something related to disc golf....and I'm sure it won't be the last. :-)

[Scott Holter]

Dizzy & Derek,
This will hopefully be the full output of the GPS file I am building.....and yes I am in contact with the PDGA...Please look and respond to the Electronic Course Directory forum post...I am including a lot more and maybe you all could help with the ‘details’ as explained in the post on this site for your local areas…

I would also agree with the assessment on the previous efforts...I found one instance where the course was in the middle of the lake!! So I have actually had to go to the PDGA site and follow the directions in roads etc and pin point the location?

I can actually import the KML file directly into my file and program…so I’ll let you know how this goes!!

What I am curiuos about is what does the 1st tee get you in GPS terms vs the Parking lot...if you don't have a handhelp GPS??
Cheers

[Rev. Noah]

here are two similar maps that other people have been working on. http://www.referential-integrity.com/DiscGolfCourseGmap/
http://discgolffusion.com/GoogleEarth/index.htm

the first one is web based the second loads into google earth.

[Scott Holter]

The Disc golf Fusion was the effort that I spoke of above...not sure why this course was in a lake..but I am sure it’s the info provided to them for this file...I had a couple of courses that were also way off?

Thank you again Derek for this effort..It took me a while to figure out how to convert and make the file work for import into the application I am using! Fabulous work and I really appreciate it!!!

Again if anyone wants to help with the main file please email me or respond to the course directory posts on this site...I have over 500 now in the file and I need to confirm quite a few on locations etc!

Scott

[Rizbee]

The course waypoint might have been in a lake from a simple typo in the data entry of the lat/lon. on one of you other points, I find the parking lot to be much more useful than tee #1. Most GPS users will integrate this info into a turn-by-turn driving program. If the first tee is a few hundred feet away from the parking lot the software may run into problems figuring out how to give you turn-by-turn directions to somewhere off-road. My son and I ran into this problem a few times last year on our Tour de Rizbee road trip.

[Scott Holter]

Exactly my point...what type of GPSr do you have? I have been trying to QA the file and adjust it as I go to the parking lot....but now with over 500 courses it's going to take a while...

[Rizbee]

We use Microsoft Streets and Trips on a laptop with a USB GPS antenna. A bit cumbersome but it gets the job done.

[Scott Holter]

Rizbee,

Would you mind if we took this over the Electronic Form file so others can see our thread?

Also I took the file and mapped the parking lots of streets that were the closest to the 1st tees..Wow these look like some great courses from the air...LOL

Derek Can you send me an email with your contact info..I'd like to include your work as a contributor to the file

Scott
[e-mail]

[Yup Me Again]

You just gave me the answer I needed to get the GPS stuff onto the comp. Time to check into prices and see what deals i can find to get the USB GPS Antenna :)

BTW This will help with finding the courses for myself as well...I carry my laptop everywhere and when asked I tell them it's my most awsome biggest badest MP3 player I could afford at the time :) The antenna could be mounted onto my van. Hmmmm...

Thanks for the idea.