Thinking about building an object course...any/all advice is welcome!

I was thinking about starting to build an object course this Summer up at my cabin, and was wondering if anyone had any good advice in which to share. The property is 30 acres in size, and 90% of it is covered with Norway and Jack pines. Lots of fun minor (20-25') elevation changes, and frontage on both sides of a stream that wiggles its way through the property.

The property is out in the middle of nowhere (around 15 miles from the nearest town...of 800 people, lol), so it would never get much "play" from disc golfers out there. Consequently, it would be more one of those courses designed for me and my friends/family to enjoy than anything (although others would be welcome to play if they are respectful of the property). I've designed 14-15 holes in my day and one course with baskets...but never an object course. Well, not counting the stuff I did as a kid back in the 1970s and 1980s, anyway. :-)

Any advice for me? It'll have to be a putt-and-approach type of course...as the thick woods and slim amount of clearings will pretty much eliminate one's drivers from play. I still do want to make some very tough 3s though...even if most/all of the holes are under 300 feet in length. Thanks!

[Bill Burns]

It reads like you might be able to use existing trees as objects. If not, use round wooden poles. Paint 2 stripes around the pole, or mark the trees somehow, with tape or string, and the target would need to be hit on or between the marks, your call.

Might be cheaper/easier to buy a roll of chicken wire and make ground baskets. No argument about if the disc hit between the stripes, and it invites a fun, different way of putting. I had a course of almost all ground baskets for a tourmanet I ran in 1984, with no complaints about the baskets.

Either way, have fun and make a newbie friendly course.

[Junior]

i like bills thought make some kind of ground basket whether you make them out of chicken wire or get ahold of a metel 55 gallon drum cut it in half and put a couple holes for drainage holes in the bottom. the metal barrel would probably hold up alot better, as far as amount abuse they will take from the disc hitting it

[Disc nut]

A friend and I have a object course,we used poles with 5 gallon buckets on them. nice sound ,no question weather you hit the bucket. Have fun

[Terry "the Pirate" Calhoun]

I've seen this done, with buckets. Maybe on the same course :)

It works. Be sure to remove the wire handles from the buckets, though, as they are more aggravation than they are worth. "I hit it, no you didn't, yes I did."

[Brent L]

I did something like that too. I used metal coffee cans on wooden posts and just use mutple tee pads to throw at the same targets

[mark ellis]

On a private course you don't have to worry about flow issues or crossing fairways (unless you expect to have multiple groups playing simultaneously), so you could make long long holes which play from corner to corner of your property.

If it were my property I wouldn't put in baskets (they don't catch well anyway). I like the idea of posts with plastic buckets on top. I would place the targets in strategic places (clearings, perhaps) and not worry about making permanent tee pads. The thought being that I would change tee locations regularly until such time as I settled on preferred locations and hole sequences.

For a home course the only important considerations are that you like it and that you make a couple holes which force you to learn whatever the weakest part of your game is.

[Mikey]

wow...OK?

[Terry "the Pirate" Calhoun]

Daniel, you lead off your criticism of Derek by writing, "this needs to be said." I disagree.

No, it doesn't need to be said. And if you feel that it does, this is the type of criticism appropriate in a private communication not in a public discussion. It is NOT appropriate in here. It's spot on as an example of the kind of posting this DGRUS network wants to avoid. If there is value in sharing such criticism, it is in sharing with Derek, not the whole world.

I think Derek has replied positively and I'd like the topic to shift away from personalities, please.

I'd actually prefer if you and Derek would remove the posts in question, so this can disappear without a ripple. (Derek I can remove Daniel's post if he doesn't and if you would like me to.

[Derek Tonn]

Done Terry. I didn't think what I said was anything other than poking fun at myself and my own struggles to elevate my game...but I took that original post down (that Daniel replied to)...as well as my subsequent posts. You might want to take Daniel and Tony's posts down too (I don't have permission to do that). I just want to chat about building an object course that is fun/challenging. I've had the thought of willing the land to that community someday so kids in that area could have a course to play on (albeit quite a ways North of town, but not too far from a lake that locals like to hang out at and use)...so I just want to build something solid and fun that doesn't break the bank.

I LOVE the bucket and chime ideas! That's the kind of info I was hoping for when I started this thread. Most object courses I've played simply have tape or spray paint around trees...but putting a bucket/chimes on the top of a pole sounds like a great and relatively cheap idea. I'm even more anxious now to scout-out that land next weekend. Thanks!

[Brandon Swanson]

Hi Derek,

I played a private course in Osseo owned by Don Ticknor and he had a mix of baskets and "chime targets." Eventually he wants all baskets, but the chime targets worked great...I really liked them. They were a pvc pole with a pvc disc on the top that had 6 holes drilled in the edges at regular intervals. Then he took wind chimes and used zip-ties to attach them to the pvc disc. Very satisfying sound when you hit and there's hardly a doubt. He tried to emulate the "sweet spot" on a basket...so there's roughly a foot a across and a foot and a half long...(I think). That's my recommendation.

Here's another idea to piggy-back off of Marks idea of shifting tees around. Paint rocks for the tee pads...and paint the hole numbers on them. That way if you did allow casuals they could find their way around and they'd look nice on a private temp or shifting layout.

[Wicked Dyes]

I like what Mr White did up at his private course. He used numbers that were used to mark houses and made placks that were placed in the ground. looked really neat and clean. Beautiful course and hope to be able to play it again.

[Eric Garlow]

I like this one made out of stove pipe. I haven’t made one yet so I can’t say how well it works but the design seems good. I think that they could be planted directly into the ground or in a 5 gallon bucket filled with gravel to give it a smaller footprint.

Homemade Disc Golf Target