The Best Course in Indiana

[Bruce Brakel]

Kelsey and I played the best course in Indiana this weekend, the Indiana University of Pennsylvania course in Indiana, Pennsylvania.  This course has two tees and two basket positions on every hole.  It is a ski hill course where you play a couple of holes up to the top, a few holes around the top and a hole or two back down each nine.  It has a better mix of holes than I've seen in a long time, everything from 200 feet in the woods to 800 feet out and 100 feet down.  The long-long is a brutal course like the Tobbogan and the short-short is the kind of course where guys like me can feel pretty good with a 54.  It is about an hour northeast of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, so you'll probably never play it, but it is truly a gem.  It is something worth taking an extra day for on the way home from the Pittsburgh Flying Disc Open if you ever were to play that one. 

[Mukey]

lol, Bruce I take it you're saying the state of Indiana has crappy courses, eh?

[SIUFrolf]

Or just the best course in the town of Indiana.  Which happens to be in PA.

[Chainmeister]

Hoosier guide to this course?

My buddy from Toledo just took a job at the University of Pittsburgh. If I ever get a chance to visit him I will have upgraded from Ottawa Hills which is not much of a course. Thanks for the report.

[Bruce Brakel]

I wasn't saying anything bad about Indiana, Indiana.  It was just a funny thing to be driving east on I-80 out of Ohio seeing signs saying "Welcome to Pennsylvania" and "New York, New York  This Lane " when we were on our way to Indiana.  For the Pennsylvania State Championships.  At Indiana University.  Of Pennsylvania. 

I like courses with big elevation holes, and lots of different challenges, and lefty/righty balance.  8 Long-Long, for example, pretty much requires a downhill lefty anhyzer [right forehand anhyzer] to hyzer out at the end to reach the basket.  And if you got that in your arsenal, the hole is a snap.  18 is 800 feet long and the good pros were getting 600 to 700 foot drives with midrange discs.  But throw an overstable driver and there's lots of trouble on the left. 

There were several lefty power holes and lefty touch shots but the designer is a low power rhbh kind of guy.  The course design was way smarter than my first impression of the course designer, perhaps because in my first impression I was not as smart as I like to think I am.  I only took three or four lefty drives per round, depending on the tees and basket positions, but if I had lefty power skills and lefty downhill skills, I think the course would be 50/50.  Each hole was like a different charm on a bracelet.  For most of the holes, standing on the tee of one hole you could not see or guess what the next hole might be like. 

[Bruce Brakel]

Hey Bruce, what did you think of the Indiana course?  Did you get a chance to play any of the other awesome courses near Pittsburgh?  (Moraine, Knob Hill, or Deer Lakes)  Probably my three favorite courses right there.  I haven't yet had a chance to play the Indiana course but I hear great things.  I got down to Peoria this past weekend and played McNaughton for the first time.  After playing the courses out east it just doesn't compare .  That's what we get in the Midwest I guess.  I do look forward to seeing whether you can post any 1000 rated rounds at the IOS this year. :-D

We did not have time to get to any other courses.  The locals said lots of good things about Moraine and Knob Hill. 

I think McNaughton is a great course.  I think anyone who likes McNaughton will like these other courses too.  IUP was tough like McNaughton, but also had the ski hill shots.  McNaughton just has a couple of bunny hills. 

One of the things that made that 1000 rated round possible was that I did not have to make any putts longer than 20 feet.  20+ I was shaky all weekend.  So Monday night I was practicing my putting.  Once you've cleared the seven-foot bar, you want to clear it again, maybe even do it often.  I hope to shoot another 1000 rated round at an IOSeries. 

[pickax]

Of course, Bruce, your IL rating is about 15 points below your official rating, so that 1000 round at an IOS will be that much harder.

[Bruce Brakel]

Mike, are you kidding or did you actually run the numbers?  I wouldn't be surprised.  It seems like i'm always stinking up the course at IOSeries tournaments and playing my good rounds everywhere else.

This is interesting:  before my big round Kelsey and I were playing warm up catch while standing on balance beams.  The object of the game was to throw a good throw to the other player without falling off.  Kelsey whupped me at the game, but it might be a good exercise for balance deficient folks like me. 

[pickax]

I have you at 919 using the local tournament data set.

[Bruce Brakel]

The elves have spoken.  I'm playing intermediate at Lombard.    

[Chainmeister]

The elves have spoken.  I'm playing intermediate at Lombard.    

Those are Keebler Elves which means they come in a bag.  Baggin' elves I say. Anyway, cookie elves are bad for your diet.  If you play interrmediate you are sure to gain weight!

[paulpriest]

Again, awesome job Bruce.  More putting practice=always good advice.  From the Pittsburgh locals the Knob Hill course is a little less difficult than IUP with Deer Lakes and Moraine being harder.  Both Deer Lakes and Moraine (and Knob Hill for about 5 holes) have PUNISHING rough.  If you are off the fairway you basically have to pitch straight out and add an extra shot to the hole.  Trying to play through the rough only results in astronomical (80s and above) scores.  It is too bad you weren't able to get out for the tournament at Moraine (same weekend as IOS 1).  Once you've played the course once you will go back to play EVERY chance you get.  The nice thing is that if you are headed east Moraine is only 15/20 minutes from Interstate 80.  A quick (two hours from the longs at least) pit stop.  Hope to see you out on the course soon...hopefully both with putts of less than 20 ft (about my max as well).

[Bruce Brakel]

...

[Bruce Brakel]

We played this course again this weekend for the Indiana Open.  Kelsey finished 2nd in Intermediate and I won in Advanced. 

[roman]

Did you get a chance to check out Moraine or Deer Lakes this time around?

[Bruce Brakel]

Unfortunately, no.  We drove right by Moraine but it was getting dark.  Sounds like the kind of course Brett would like to see developed in the Lake County Forest Preserves. 

[roman]

Paul dragged me out to PA about a month ago, and I'm telling you, those courses ruined disc golf for me. No course around here is the same anymore. I was just telling Brett the other day he has to go out to the Pittsburgh area and try those courses out. I think I liked Deer Lakes even more than Moraine Park. They were both great courses though.

[Mike Clark]

Paul dragged me out to PA about a month ago, and I'm telling you, those courses ruined disc golf for me. No course around here is the same anymore. I was just telling Brett the other day he has to go out to the Pittsburgh area and try those courses out. I think I liked Deer Lakes even more than Moraine Park. They were both great courses though.

Finally someone who feels my pain. Sucks doesn't it. I get Disc Golf Depression everytime I come home from traveling and play my home courses.

I also like Deer Lakes better that Moraine Park.