400 holes in a day?

I've been messing around the the data from the 12/31/2008 PDGA Course Directory, finding the shortest paths that hit enough disc golf courses to play 400 or more holes.

Guess where the best results were, then go here to look:

I know it's a little out of date, and the "miles" I calculated are direct, not driving miles. There may also be some courses that don't have the proper longitude and latitude in the directory. So, if anyone seriously needs the information, it will take some more work.

[Steve West]

Link: http://stevewestdiscgolf.com/400holes.aspx

[mark ellis]

Are you hoping to blow out your shoulder in one day? Couldn't you just try to knock down a big, thick brick wall with the same shoulder and save yourself the gas money?

[Chris Perkins]

thats a great idea Mark. next time i try something stupid ill do this
instead....lol

[David Turner]

I'd get tired after 400 putts, let alone 400 drives 400 putts, and 200-400 upshots....


dont even think there would be enuff sunlight to throw that many times.

[slowRoll]

There is a crazy 8 event here in town each year. Guys start playing at 6:30 in the morning and play till 8:00 at night just to fit in 8 courses in our area all in one day putting around 155 miles round trip on their cars.
That's 144 holes in 13.5 hours, less than half of what you are talking about doing.
Good luck Steve. I have a feeling you're gonna need it.

[Bill Burns]

DFW, Twin Cities and Cinci look like the likely candidates. I would stay out of Chicagoland, with the traffic, same with Houston. Most courses have curfews, so that would have to be arranged beforehand.

I played 8 rounds in one day on one course once, and 4 more on the same course the next day, but that was when I was less than half the age I am now, and the heaviest thing I was throwing was a 165g Midnight Flyer. If a greyhair such as yourself is even considering such a feat, the best to you.

Being in DFW, it would be easy to pick here, but if you were planning everything out, you would have Chuck to help you out, and the farther North you are, the more dayliight you would have, so I would recommend the Twin Cities area around the summer solstice.

[Donny Olow]

Sounds like Alot !!

[Steve West]

mark ellis said:

Are you hoping to blow out your shoulder in one day? Couldn't you just try to knock down a big, thick brick wall with the same shoulder and save yourself the gas money?

Good idea. I'll try that. No, wait...

I think the legs would give out first. If each hole is 300 feet, plus 50 feet to the next tee, you'd be running a Marathon that day - even if you could drive up to the first tee and last target.

Alan Hansen Begg did 380 holes in one day, and he told me it was the legs that were weakening first.

Anyway, I'm NOT considering it. (Although it might be fun to be part of a tag-team event.) I was more interested in which area would get bragging rights for the "most holes".

As for Daylight, in the Twin Cities, you'd have from 4:49 am to 9:41 pm (almost 17 hours) on June 20,21, or 22. Chicago would have 39 minutes less, and Dallas 98 minutes less.

Run/Walk 30 miles at a pace of 17-minute miles, drive 175 miles at 20 miles per hour, and there's your 17 hours.

[Boom Boom Dino]

We did 102 holes in one day on three different Islands having to take 2 ferries. We did 54 holes on Pender Island, BC Canada, ferried to Saltspring Island were we did 36 holes and ferried to Vancouver Island where we did 12 just before dark at Bowen Park in Nanaimo where our British Columbia Provincial Championships a PDGA B event will be held Labour Day weekend in Sept.

[Peter Lindstrom]

Its funny this topic has came up. Me and two friends are going to attempt to break the old world record for distinct holes played in a day (380) and courses played in a day (31) on June 10th of this year. We would be happy with anything that could break the record but our goal is 500 holes and 40 courses. The reason why we are aiming higher than the old record is that we will be using the entire 24 hours of a day. We have light up discs and will begin at midnight and be finishing at midnight. We will be playing from the St. Cloud are down throught Twin Cities and end up in Fairbault. After subtracting driving time we figured we will have to average 90 seconds a hole. Wish us luck, we are going to need it!

[Steve West]

Your plan seem well-thought-out, and just about at the limit of what's possible.

I tested my system by working out a plan for 500 holes and 40 courses in 24 hours. For details go to http://stevewestdiscgolf.com/400holes.aspx.

The trip starts in Sauk Rapids, MN and goes through most of the courses in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. This trip doesn't go any farther south than Apple Valley. It takes over ten hours of driving (320 miles), plus I estimate 33 miles of playing/walking between holes at a pace of 2.39 miles per hour. You get 1 minute and 41 seconds to play each hole (and get to the next tee).

Your longest "break" (car ride) would be about 21 minutes at 10:23 AM, with other breaks of 15 minutes or more at 2:47 AM, 4:35 AM, 5:21 AM, 7:50 AM, 3:15 PM, and 6:11 PM.

By the way, this still doesn't include Elm Creek Park Preserve's 14 holes; I haven't heard that it is open yet.

[Steve West]

Amendment: I ran it though another optimizer and reduced the driving by 27 miles, down to 293. This gives you another 3 seconds per hole. Perhaps more importantly, it bunches up the short drives, so you get one 48 minute bread, and more 20 minute breaks. Going from south to north puts the long drives more toward the end of the day, when you'll need them.

The new plan is now up on my website http://stevewestdiscgolf.com/400holes.aspx.

I agree with everyone that this would be very tough to do - nearly impossible and brutally punishing. But, doesn't that describe most attempts at greatness?

Just remember, Peter Lindstrom and his friends are the crazies who are trying it, not me.

I just find it interesting to live in an area where you COULD theoretically play 500 holes in one day.