This is a very nice course with great terrain for disc golf. Its in a huge park with pretty flat ground and a couple water hazards. Holes are well designed with alot of challenging deuce holes to go with some long holes as well. I really had fun playing this one.
Very fun course with long and short tees. We played the longs and were able to air it out. The tees are very well marked by big rocks painted yellow & red. There is a wide variety of shots required. The park is very beautiful with a nice lake & creek as a hazard. There is also a road that is OB that comes into play on several holes.
I played the shorts on a gorgeous fall day. I want to go back to this course. I also shot my best ever round there. Sounds like you guys had a little road trip today.
QuoteSounds like you guys had a little road trip today.
Yes. 6 courses, 90 holes. IL courses #41 thru 45 for me today.
Just was thinking about this course today. Maybe one of the IOS tournaments could be moved to Aurora in 2006. This is a pretty nice course.
since we have one in kenosha, maybe we should have one at valparasio?
:D
Just got off the phone with the Fox Valley Park District. There are now cement tees for the short tees. They are 12 feet long & flarecd. 6 feet wide in the back & 4 in the front. They are going to be pouring the long tees in the next few weeks.
This course is fun!
IOS#8 in 2006?
I haven't been to Aurora yet but plan to in the next few weeks. Gary Lewis asked me to develop some scorecards with aerial maps. He has been in discussions about holding the Glow-In-The-Dark tournament there. I don't believe it's sanctioned, but it is a lot of fun. As soon as I get the scorecard completed I'll post it.
This tournament is on the 22nd of October...first round at 2:30, then second round when the sun goes down...
What kind of scores do you guys shoot here?
QuoteWhat kind of scores do you guys shoot here?
sounds like fun. its definitely a deuce course for int./adv./pro players.
For all interested, I finally made it out to Jericho Lake. It's a pretty course and Dan's right ... dueceable for int./adv/pro players. I finished the scorecards here's a .jpg file of the map.
W A R N I N G! T H R E A D D R I F T !
Jon, Bruce, Brett ... I'm willing to do maps/scorecards for next years IOS.
Let me guess the Longs in the Daylight round and the shorts in the night round? Looks like some fun I might go.
I got this e-mail from my contact at Auroura.
Brett
Good News!
I just got confirmation that all the pro tees will be finished by mid
summer at Jericho Lake. So for the tournament, we will have all cement
tees!! Secondly, I may try to get some alternate pin placements so we
can change some things up if we need too.
sweet, some of those dirt tees are brutal. What alternates are they thinking of?
I played this course this weekend. Honestly, I dont know why people talk so highly of this place. The cement tees were awful, they were so short. It seemed like half (or more) of the holes were just putter shots. You could play this whole course with a roc and putter, except for a couple holes where they throw in a ridiculous dogleg on a <200' hole and youre throwing 50% with a firebird. The back tees were good, when I could find them. MUCH better than the cement tees. The yellow rocks seemed to be missing from a few holes, judging by the map above. I played maybe half of the alternates and they were all solid.
Overall - Good terrain and baskets, but I thought the holes were too close together and a lot of the shots were really similar. If youre gonna drive all the way out there, dont bother playing the cements.
Could a course local of Aurora take pictures of this course?
If possible they should be taken similar to this ->http://discontinuum.org/course_directory/illinois/fairfield/fairfield-hole1.html
1 from tee
1 from fairway
1 taken behind basket back to basket
ill do it sometime this week...
With the new pin placements flagged at Jericho Lake, #14 will be about 750 feet long from the pro tee.
The #1 pin gets moved all the way back to within 15 feet of Blackberry Creek. And #8 is on the slight slope beyond the wide oak...which could land you in the lake, if you miss.
I'll get a map and upload it under this thread. If you are in the area, look for the flags in the ground. Those are the new secondary pin placements.
After the Ice Bowl, we are going to be placing some 4-5 foot poles in the ground until the park district puts in the alternates so we can get a feel for them and possible tweek them a bit if necessary.
At leagues on the days were at jericho, I'm going to try to play at least 2 of the alternates to get some feedback on them.
I played Jericho Lake this morning and took a look at the new pin placements. First off, kudos to you guys for making the effort. Also, Jericho Lake is so tight that I think it's pretty tough to come up with decent alternates without interfering with other fairways and tees. That said, I have a few comments. Bear in mind that my comments are intentionally critical -- I'm trying to offer useful feedback and not just "attaboys":
I have two major concerns. The first is that too many of the alternates become similar righty-hyzer shots. Holes 4, 5, and 6 all become the same throw with the same fade and the hole in the same location tight to the woods near the edge of the creek. 8 becomes the same thing but longer. The second concern is that many of the alternates really don't change the hole much at all. 9, 11, 12, 13 are all pretty much the same shot as now, just slightly longer.
I know you had more than one alternate flagged for some of the holes. Did I see a flag on the other side of the tree line left of the fairway on hole 9? I think that might be a good one. I also liked the added length on hole 7. Hole 16 might be good with an alternate in the grassy area directly south of the line of pines on the right side of the fairway. You also might consider moving alternate 5 up the slope away from the creek and longer rather than towards the creek.
I think the hole 14 alternate is completely unplayable anytime a soccer match is being played -- most evenings and weekends throughout the summer. I also don't like that you have to walk 300' back down the fairway before you can turn off to get to 15.
Anyway, everyone has their opinion and this is just mine. I hope I didn't ruffle any feathers. Thanks!
Thanks for the input Kurt,
I agree that I don't want a course that is nothing but righty-hyzer shots. The front 9, I think will have to be majority of hyzer to straight shots being we were trying to utilize the creek if it could be used. And since the creek is always on the left of the holes this was our only option. To combat this hyzer dominated course, the back 9 is looking to become a straight and anhyzers shots. Also another way we can rid this problem is a few of the holes will most likely have 2 placements being on that could be on the left or right. We could also not move all the pins to alternates and mix it up to keep a good balance of shots.
Our main focus was looking at the potentials pins from the long tees and try to use the trees and roads to make a difficult but fun hole to play, and award a good, accurate drive. So some of the baskets will maybe move a matter of 10 feet closer to the road for example to add some risk, and some holes were just being made a little longer to possibly break up the birdie frenzy.
We tried to have each hole independent of the next hole to create a good flowing course without having much delays of waiting on some group to finish putting before your can group can drive. We had the majority of members wanted holes in places that look great on paper, but would be a dangerous hole.
Now comments about certain holes...
Hole 14 will most likely not be able to be as long as we want it due to the soccer field and the walk back that you mentioned, so it would probably be moved back 40 feet protected by the pine trees which also brings that back fence into play.
Hole 9 will hopefully be able to have the alternate going left over that little ravine. There is a gap that is already made that is about 3 feet wide and protects the basket very well, allowing only great drives and upshots to get the par.
Hole 18 I think is going to be my favorite alternate. The pin is about 4 feet from the creek about 40 feet longer and allows a risk and reward hole. You can go for the duece my throwing a straight drive at the pin and risking getting a kick in the creek or turning it over into the creek.
Thanks for your input. I appreciate your comments, keep them coming if you can.
Ooof. A righty anhyzer is not the same thing as a lefty hyzer. A course that is evenly divided between righty anhyzers and righty hyzers is entirely a righty course.
Quote from: bruce_brakel on January 19, 2007, 01:05:15 PM
Ooof. A righty anhyzer is not the same thing as a lefty hyzer. A course that is evenly divided between righty anhyzers and righty hyzers is entirely a righty course.
amen Bruce lol.
What's the differnce between a righty anhyzer and a lefty hyzer?
Quote from: DougEDawg on January 19, 2007, 01:21:11 PM
What's the differnce between a righty anhyzer and a lefty hyzer?
The amount of people complaining! ^_^
it's the same difference between a lefty anhyzer and a righty hyzer. A righty hyzer all you have to do is throw your disc and it's just going to naturally curve to the left as it slows down (overstable disc of course). For a lefty anhyzer, you not only have to spin it hard enough to get the disc to turn the opposite way, you run the risk of a couple of things 1) disc turning back over, 2) if you can't get the disc high enough to flatten it out and keep going on the anhyzer route, it will spike into the ground and roll the other way making low, line-drive shots almost impossible, and 3) it's a whole lot harder to get as much distance of an anhyzer throw than a hyzer (my experience anyway). I know with my experience you need to have a pretty big arc to get the anhyzer to go off with consistency (throwing a stingray or a roadrunner). The arm angle is all different, we all know that when we throw an anhyzer route.
hopefully that makes sense?
You have to do the same thing for a righty anhyzer ???
which is why a righty anhyzer is not the same as a lefty hyzer. My description was righty hyzer vs. lefty anhyzer... so as a righty if you throw an anhyzer you know why it's not the same shot.
I guess what I'm suggesting, Adam, is that it might be better to focus on requiring different lines and different shots then on trying to make the creek and lake come into play on every possible hole. Just my $.02.
You and I are describing the same location on hole 9, you just did it much better. :)
Being a lefty and having played some of these alternates that we have laid out. I disagree. The anhyzer shots for a lefty are not impossible to make. In fact, they are relatively easy. Most of the holes are still under 350' from the pros. A few are a bit longer. My point is, though, we are trying to make the course something that requires you to hit your lines in order to have a look for a deuce shot. And most of the new holes are open enough that a lefty anhyzer can get there. Either that or learn a forehand shot!
Quote from: DougEDawg on January 19, 2007, 01:21:11 PM
What's the differnce between a righty anhyzer and a lefty hyzer?
A great example is hole #10 from the longs. It is a tough lefty/(R)sidearm shot with the trees defining the left side of the fairway interfering most of the time. But a righty anhyzer gets through the fairway easier and since it wants to flex back left instead of fall right (lefty/R-sidearm) it tracks to the hole better.
Ok now that makes sense, Thanks for the clarification Tafe.
Just because the creek is there doesn't mean you have to bring it in play. I do not like playing courses with a lot of water where one cannot easily retrieve an errant shot.
The difference between a righty anhyzer and a lefty hyzer is a righty anhyzer begins turning right early in the flight path, basically as soon as you release it, and it loses turn and may even straighten out before the end of its flight. A lefty hyzer starts straighter and fades more and more through its flight. It is kind of like the difference between a ) and a J if you turn your monitor upside down.
Righty anhyzers, righty turn overs, lefty fades, and lefty hyzers all go to the right but they take different routes to get there. Depending on what is on the left side of the fairway, a right turning hole might be one or another or more than one of those.
I throw right handed and left handed on well designed courses that include medium to short lefty hyzer and lefty fade holes. Not every righty anhyzer hole has a lefty hyzer route.
I've thought a bit more about your proposed location for alternate 9. That path across the ravine is the only access fishermen and dog-walkers have around that side of the pond (except for walking all the way around clockwise). I'd hate to throw a good shot through the gap only to have it clock a fisherman in the head who was walking back to his car. I think that placement might lead to a lot of non-golfer complaints.
Here's some good resources on design:
Course Design Guidelines for PDGA Skill Levels and Divisions (http://www.pdga.org/documents/2004/PDGAGuides2004.pdf)
Design a Disc Golf Course by "Steady" Ed (http://www.discgolfassoc.com/coursedesign.html)
PDGA discussion on creating score distibution (http://www.pdga.com/msgboard/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=431533&page=6&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1)
PDGA course design and installation forum (http://www.pdga.com/msgboard/postlist.php?Cat=&Board=CourseDesign)
That's hole 9 in general, in the summer there is always somebody fishing along the side of hole 9. When you walk back there and take a look that's not where they fish. they'll fish about 300 feet more left because where the pin is going to be is protected by trees on the lake side.
I think, I'm being misunderstood here. Not every hole where the creek can come into play well come in the play the only holes where we tried to get the creek in play is hole 1 and 5. And not every basket would be moved to alternates all and once its going to be a mix to create the well-rounded course needing an all array of shots. If you have a creek and a lake, like there is at Jericho it would be foolish not to use that. Not alot of courses around here have such features to do so. And good shots should be awarded while bad shots shouldn't be.
People walking on the 9 fairway or fishing on the edge of the 9 fairway are very visible. I'm talking about the gap across the ravine. The fisherman or dog walker going from the south side of the pond to the parking lot has to walk through the gap and can't see golfers throwing that direction until they are in the gap. Unless the golfer is lined up just so, the golfer can't see anyone aproaching the gap from the other side. It's an accident waiting to happen.
Quote from: can't putt on January 21, 2007, 11:37:42 AM
I've thought a bit more about your proposed location for alternate 9. That path across the ravine is the only access fishermen and dog-walkers have around that side of the pond (except for walking all the way around clockwise). I'd hate to throw a good shot through the gap only to have it clock a fisherman in the head who was walking back to his car. I think that placement might lead to a lot of non-golfer complaints
One of the original plans for Jericho Lake had the course designed to go around the lake. So inconveniencing the dog walkers for one basket might not be that bad. :s-instagib:
But this is the type of stuff that is constructive. I'll bring up your point, and see what the club has to say. If you can think of any other pin placements, post them here. We'll play them and see if they can improve the design.
And the post above yours mentions the water coming into play. I wish! I want to throw over the lake to that island-type area across from #9! I think the landscape unique to any park should always be maximized, not just used for its aesthetics. But the pin placements with water, here, make your discs very retrievable if your shot goes bad.
We will play/try out any suggestions. We want to make it a better course, not just a course to favor our own personal approach to the game.
Quote from: glasspipe on January 21, 2007, 12:03:21 PMIf you can think of any other pin placements, post them here. We'll play them and see if they can improve the design.
That's the thing. Given the size of the park, I'm not sure Jericho Lake is conducive to many alternate pin placements. Some maybe, but certainly not on every hole. I get the impression from Adam's post that a goal is to reduce birdies from the long tees. Why? If you look at the IOS results from Jericho Lake you'll see that par from the long tees on Saturday was a 938 rated round. The SSA was similar to Anna Page West and higher than Anna Page East. It's a lot harder to make par from the longs than from the shorts and that's how it should be. It would be unfortunate if you made the holes so difficult from the shorts that beginning players would get turned off to the course for fear of losing discs in the creek. Your alternates have 1, 4, 5, 6, 12 and 18 all within about 20' of water, some
much closer. Even where the pins are right now I've seen discs go in the water on 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 12, and 18. Yeah, most of those were really bad shots, but alot of people who play the course casually
make really bad shots.
From what I saw, many of your alternate placements are in the brush and stands of small trees. How much brush would be removed around the pin? Would erosion be an issue after cutting the reeds, grasses, and stinging nettle around 1 and 18? Is the Forest Preserve District willing to do this? It's not just about making more difficult holes.
I'm all for variety, and changing that course up a little now and again would be welcome. I could suggest other placements, but they probably wouldn't be very good. I have only been playing for less than 18 months and although I get around, I don't think I have nearly enough experience on different courses to really make a good layout. I don't think many in the Fox Valley Metro club have much more experience than I, do they? Maybe one or two, but that's probably about it. Meanwhile, there are players in the area with FAR more experience and expertise. My suggestion is to get their opinion. I think Gary Lewis was involved in the current Jericho Lake layout, wasn't he? Maybe approach him for an opinion. Brett, if willing, is another possible resource. He certainly has both the skills as a player and experience in hole layout to consider a variety of factors that those of lesser experience like myself might simply miss.
Anyhow, like said earlier, everyone has an opinion and this is mine. I have probably voiced it much more than I should have, so I'll shut up now. Thanks for listening! :)
Those are all good comments; all of that should be considered. The course is being designed to be tougher. Maybe that's what should be reviewed. What is meant by "tougher." Ironically, one night after IOS #6 (before there was a club), Adam and Aaron (the president) and I were talking about these changes; and I said I'd pay for Brett's time to come out and do the design. So, we're on the same page there.
The club part is off, though. The members have played tournaments all over the place (IA, KS, MO, FL, MN, KY, IN, MI, WI, CO, etc.). Rob Merkel started playing tournaments in 2001. Gary Tree Camp won the Intermediate Divison at Bowling Green (KY) in 2006. Adam Camp, his son, took second place, in a large field (I might add). Adam Camp has been playing tounaments since 2001. Gary has been playing disc golf since the late 80s. Mike Holmquist (our secretary) runs the leagues in Joliet, and started playing tournaments in 2001. I myself have played over 55 courses, in the last 5 years. Gambled over $800 in heads-up matches. And then there is Kelly Kras who has played all over the place and so on.
You're welcome to come to the next meeting. You can meet everyone and get more of a full picture of what's happening with the club. It's at the Vaughan Center in Aurora on the 13th, I think. We'll be playing in the fieldhouse, afterwards. I'll take you on in a game of PIG for $40. ;) (just kidding!)
Please post any ideas you have. They will all be brought up and played. :hello:
Quote from: glasspipe on January 21, 2007, 03:42:25 PMThe club part is off, though.
I apologize for that assumption.
Jericho Lake now has a sign that reads that the park is open until an hour after sundown. (It was open until 10.)
But when we have the glow tournament, we'll just have to request a permit to keep it open later.
{Also, just as a correction, several of the players I mentioned in the last post have been playing longer than 2001. 2001 is just as far back as pdga.com goes with their tournament stats.}
Just an FYI, they'll be doing construction at Orchard & Jericho Roads in Aurora from early Spring until December.
http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/beaconnews/news/286643,AU07_JERICHO_Web.article
^^^^^^^^^^ Just want to add that the mentioned construction will be a BITCH this summer! They have barely started work and the other day traffic was backed up pretty bad on orchard. If you are coming from the north or east i would suggest taking prairie or galena to barnes, then take it south to jericho and turn left. From the south I would take 47 to jericho and enter from the west.
Is this going to be a problem when arriving at the course at 7am on a Saturday or Sunday?
^^^^^ probably not as 7am is pretty early. But during the day on weekends and during rush hour times on the weekdays could be very bad. Example: I waited about 20 minutes in traffic to travel just a few miles on orchard heading south towards jericho last thursday i believe, this was around 4 o'clock pm. Also, i would avoid taking jericho road from the east altogether as I have waited in traffic for about 3 light changes at that intersection of jericho/orchard (like if you are coming from the oswego course). I suggest looking at a map and figuring out a way to avoid that intersection altogether.
thanks for the info, I figured that would be a snafu
Aurora is still pretty wet, especially by 17 and 18. I see the proposed alternate pin locations for 6 and 16 are not where I originally saw them. I like these positions MUCH better. Thumbs up!
played Jericho for the first time ever today and I was impressed. Pretty decent course. Totally different than my home course Madison Meadows. I liked all the trees and the little elevation, good time, will defiantely go some more this summer
The storm yesterday left a nice temporary obstacle on 4, a good size limb about 20 feet in front of the basket. Hardly anybody's seen it though, I was the only person on the course from about 9:30 until 11:00, when one other group of three guys started a round.
And if you're keeping track, no cicadas between Orchard Road and Naperville.
Not.Even.One.
20 trees were cut down on the back 9. And 10 other trees had large limbs taken away. The cause is insect infestation.
The holes affected were #10, #11, #13, #15, & #18.
There were a lot of sick looking trees when I was there Monday. I was surprised that they hadn't been already cleared out.
The tree removal pretty much took all the trees from hole 11 for a big impact there. There is also a lesser impact on hole 15. Other than that, the course plays the same. Hopefully this action will preserve the rest of the trees.
Quote from: can't putt on July 19, 2007, 11:16:40 AMOther than that, the course plays the same.
Not for the forehand.
#10 is a now a deuce, S-shot around the tree. Coming in from the left-hand side. The tree that was eliminated always killed that forehand.
The tree at #13 always directed that forehand shot for you. Now that it's open, the ability to take it out to the left makes it a much easier shot. I put it by the pin when we played it for the first time. All the other times before, it forced me to settle for a standard backhand shot.
We might have to see about possibly moving #11 back to the 2nd pin position. It's too easy right now. And there again it will make for a good forehand shot (taking it around to the left with a Monster).
Yeah, that makes sense. Admittedly I look at things in a backhanded way. >:D
Here's the tree they took away on #10. Ron Miller is walking toward the basket. The tree that was once between Ron and the basket, is now in the back of that truck.
I'll put another 2 pictures in a 2nd post.
This is Aaron from the teebox of #10. And from #11.
It's not clear, but you can see the edge of the basket on #11. Just past the bushes. It's a wide open shot now.
There's Miller-Time about to go on in that 2nd shot!!
Bruce says that in another 20 years we won't have any trees left in the world because of infestation. But then he's a pessimist.
Quote from: Jon Brakel on July 23, 2007, 02:16:34 PM
Bruce says that in another 20 years we won't have any trees left in the world because of infestation. But then he's a pessimist.
Yeah, the Hayward, WI course got infested a few years back & they had to cut so many trees that it's not the same course.
Do palm trees get these or a similar insect that eats/destroys them? Maybe we just need to move to a warmer climate... >:D
Went out to play Jericho Lake for the first time the last week... shot a +4 from the shorts and +10 from the longs... not exactly good by any stretch of the imagination. I am looking to sign up for the IOS tournament, and this will be my first action in competitive disc golf. I think i want to avoid AMIV.... is rec what i am looking to sign up for?
Any suggestions would help, thanks...
yeah, REC would be the way you would want to go in this case. Hope you can keep improving on the scores!
When we run leagues out at Jericho, the average score for INT is around -5 from the shorts and about -1 or even from the longs. I would also recommend playig REc as well. There is no shame in playing REC, especially for your first tournament!! ;D
Actually, AM4 may be right up your alley... if you're a pdga member. Otherwise Rec is a good place to start.
I am not a PDGA member because i will not pay for it this late in the summer. I just started playing disc golf in june... so i am planning on joining next year. Thanks for your input, i'm gonna pre-reg for REC.
If you are planning on joining next year anyway, then join after September 1. Usually you get the end of this year plus all next year that way.
If anyone makes it out to Jericho Lake today, can you post a condition report? Storms might hold off long enough this evening to get a round in after work.
Hopefully, 3 and 17 will be the only ones where you have to wade to your shot in the middle of the fairway...
Quote from: rev rick on August 24, 2007, 12:16:53 PM
If anyone makes it out to Jericho Lake today, can you post a condition report? Storms might hold off long enough this evening to get a round in after work.
Hopefully, 3 and 17 will be the only ones where you have to wade to your shot in the middle of the fairway...
A friend of mine already called and said to go to Eagle Ridge tonight.
The creek rose, and flowed all the way from the #4 basket, across to the #1 fairway. The #2 & #4 teeboxes are under water. The #3 basket is 1/4th under water. And he said the back 9 looks pretty bad too. I forgot which ones he said were affected; but probably all of them along Blackberry Creek.
I'm going to assume that not much water has drained off the course being that the ground is one big sponge right now, but if anybody was out there today is there an update?
Might play eagle ridge if thats ok, and looking to play something else out that way....
Quote from: glasspipe on August 24, 2007, 01:03:26 PM
Quote from: rev rick on August 24, 2007, 12:16:53 PM
If anyone makes it out to Jericho Lake today, can you post a condition report? Storms might hold off long enough this evening to get a round in after work.
Hopefully, 3 and 17 will be the only ones where you have to wade to your shot in the middle of the fairway...
A friend of mine already called and said to go to Eagle Ridge tonight.
The creek rose, and flowed all the way from the #4 basket, across to the #1 fairway. The #2 & #4 teeboxes are under water. The #3 basket is 1/4th under water. And he said the back 9 looks pretty bad too. I forgot which ones he said were affected; but probably all of them along Blackberry Creek.
I went out there last night, and the entire back 9 is flooded, it was pretty crazy. Front nine werent in good shape either. But the back nine was ridiculous, it just looked like a big lake.
FYI: Jericho Rd between Lake & Orchard is blocked off with a detour. It doesn't take you too far around, but if you've got the option to take a different route I'd suggest doing that