Course Setup

I would like to ask the question of whether any of the courses that you play can be set up to be played anywhere from easy to difficult. While the main course that I play may not be one of those "must play" courses out there, we do have the ability to lengthen some holes or add in some "ace run" holes to completely change the way the course plays. At one point this year doubles league was won by a guy playing Cali who shot 18 under. Last night doubles was won with a score of 8 down which was three clear of three other groups. So obviously the course is set up a bit harder right now and I like it that way because it is a good test of ability. Today I will go out and move one or two holes longer, one hole shorter and one hole to a location that is about the same length. So the course should play about the same overall.

 

Just wondering if the course that you play a lot gets different setups. Can it go from easy to hard?

[david k. reisner]

mackenzie is as hard as a iron wood tree . literally

[LEE CASTRO]

Deming park in Terre Haute has long pins and short ones,fairly easy to shoot under par on the short ones,takes alot more effort to do it from the longs.

[Dan Wilkinson]

Also starting this year we have two PDGA tournaments there. In "The Mother Of The Valley" we had all of the pins in the long positions and this Saturday in "Breeze Through The Trees" all of the pins will be in the short positions.

[david k. reisner]

originally mackenzie had designated trees for baskets . you know the t's to d's but i have made 20 or so wind chime targets that i put out every sunday , and since you can't put a target where a tree is , the course changes a little . not week to week because i always put the clank's in the same place . mackenzie is a state park with camping so about the only thing that might change in a round would be the tee-boxes , in order to keep campers safe from flying plastic .

[Greg D'OHogne]

My home course, Jefferson Barracks in STL, has four pin locations per hole.  A couple holes even have a fifth location.  In its shortest layout, the course measures 4,868 ft, with the longest hole measuring 378 ft.  So, an -18 down is possible, but has never happened so far.  I think there have been a couple of -17 in doubles, but the course is RARELY ever set up with everything in the "A" positions.  There are usually at least a few "B" pins thrown in to mix it up.  In its longest layout, the course measures 7,514 ft.  The course is still attackable here and there, but a 1000 rated player will feel good about coming in under par.  We had it set up like this (for the most part) for the STL Open a few years ago.  Barry Shultz shot a 60, which ended up being his worst rated round ever.  He was not a happy camper.  Before the round he talked about how much he loved the course the year before.  After the round he was giving the course a serious F bomb lashing.  He has never returned to STL since.

 

Variety is the spice of life, so in general we try to keep the course fresh with one of the countless random setups that is available.  Speaking of that, does anyone remember their algebra?  How many possible combinations are there for an 18 hole course with 4 pin positions per hole?

[Jamie 'gr8rocshot' Ruane]

Best answer - A Lot!! 

 

Guessing either 4 to the power of 18 (4^18)  which is somewhere around 91 billion+...the basic calculator doesn't go that high!! Errr

 

or 72^18  ....forget about it!! The best answer is A Lot  Ha!

 

 

 

[Greg D'OHogne]

It can't be that huge, can it?  I guess we will never have a reason to establish any course records..maybe all "A", "B", etc. 

 

I remember Nikko shooting a -17 after missing the first hole.  Crazy.  The course was maybe set up around 6,200.  No cake walk at all.  After the round - "How'd you do?"  "I missed the first hole" 

[Jeff Nichols]

One of my favorite courses in my old home town is a short, but technical course. Only a 9 hole with alternate tees to get 18. BUT, then also 2 alternate pin placements per hole and it gets moved around A LOT. In the normal A pin position, the course gets technical, but not to crazy. In the B pin positions, I can EASILY add 10-12 strokes to my round if I am not careful. Somedays I like it, somedays I want to set the place on Fire.... Lol.

[Daddy_Dragon]

The club that I belong to is Tuscawilla.  They have three tee pads per hole and I think three basket locations per hole.

So I am not good with math, but that makes up alot of different ways to play.  Let's see here.................

"A" pad times three positions, then "B" pad times three positions, then "C" pad times three positions.

That's just the first hole.  Plus if I am not mistaken, there are extra baskets.  They do a great job out there repositions the baskets on a regular basis.

Now my home Course in Debary.  That's easy.  Nine holes, two pads a piece, baskets never move.  That makes 18.  Now Jamie the Pirate Ruane does a good job with temp baskets.  Heck, I remember when he made at least a 1500 foot hole and called it a par three.  That was good for a laugh.  Challenging but fun.  Then he made one about 150 foot, but you had to throw your disc (like a string through a needles eye) through a small azz tunnel.

 

But back to your question........

 

Tuscawilla.........  Hell yah

Debary............. Hell no

[Jamie 'gr8rocshot' Ruane]

1050 Vic...but if you want 1500 it can be done. HA!

[Gbudz]

Tuscawilla has 9^18 possible set-ups and your home course has 2^18.

 

(Think about it like you could play all the holes from Pad 1, Pin A, except the last hole, where you play Pin B... so on and on and on)

 

All these combinations make up the sample space of different holes.

[David Sauls]

Crooked Creek is the only course in my area that has significant multiple pin locations.   But it's not as extreme as hte other examples here; 6 or 7 holes are moved regularly, make perhaps 4-5 strokes difference.  (It already has 2 tees per hole, so you can vary it yourself, if you wish).

 

I'm not a big fan of this, though I know people who are.  It gives variety but in most cases, there is one pin position I like much more than the others, and when it's in one of the "others", I find myself wishing it weren't.  My preference is to find the best place for the basket, and leave it there.