Link to US Walkability Ratings - Thx for helping!

[Rob Rigg]

As a follow up to the Walkability Ratings thread a while back - I wanted to post the State by State Rankings

Thanks to the help of many people on this site and members of The Walking Golfers Society (and some who are both), over 2 thousand courses have been rated for walkability.

http://www.thewalkinggolfer.com/TWG_Walkability_Ratings.html

I realize there are about 10 thousand to go but it is a good start.

There will also be "Green Only" pages by State and some drill downs by Metro Area and Region - eg) Nor Cal, So Cal, Oregon Coast, etc.

If anyone else would like to rate some courses that would be helpful, I am planning on updating the ratings pages about once a month with the goal of getting most of the courses in the country done at some point.

You may notice that ads are being sold on each page - the goal there is to extend the breadth of the ratings and also use some of the proceeds to support The First Tee Program in cities/states across the country.

Let's get our kids walking when they learn to golf!

[Garland Bayley]

Thanks Rob,

I will go through the list and provide ratings for those I have played, but are not rated.

[Norbert P]

Rob, a terrific idea and I applaud everything you've done to promote walking golf.  

Who and how many people have given the ratings for the colors?   
The course in Oregon that stands out to me is Bandon Crossings in RED. ( ? )  It has exactly two holes that have long walks but nothing worse than Bandon Trails which is a tougher walk overall, but I'm not complaining, and gets a GREEN.  Crossings is very walkable.  

[Garland Bayley]

Rob, a terrific idea and I applaud everything you've done to promote walking golf. 

Who and how many people have given the ratings for the colors?  I hope Joe B.isn't on the committee; he's a bit biased. 
The course in Oregon that stands out to me is Bandon Crossings in RED. ( ? )  It has exactly two holes that have long walks but nothing worse than Bandon Trails which is a tougher walk overall, but I'm not complaining, and gets a GREEN.  Crossings is very walkable. 

Although I have not been to Bandon Crossings, I would note (since Slagbert didn't) that Slagbert's is the clear majority opinion of those who have posted on Bandon Crossings threads.

[Norbert P]

Garlando, me thinks it was Joe Bentham that had the most (IMHO) skewed opinions, but John Kirk and Michael Dugger had the best reports of the place. 

[Rob Rigg]

Hi Slag,

Noted on Bandon Crossings and much appreciated - I tend to average ratings when they are provided by multiple golfers so I will push Crossings to an Orange, and then Yellow if I get another "green". It is nice to get multiple ratings on courses to confirm the original opinion. The original rater did give it a "red" due to several long walks.

Trails gets a bit of a hall pass because it is walking only. I didn't think it was too bad, but I understand why several people have given it a yellow or orange.

Thx for the props on the exercise - it will be great to add a few thousand more courses (wow - that seems like a lot!)

[Jason McNamara]

I've added a slug of courses.  Let's see all the many pro-walking folks on this site send Rob 5-10 ratings for courses presently not rated.

[Ulrich Mayring]

It would be better to differentiate elevation changes and green to tee walks. For me as a walking golfer elevation changes are not a problem most of the time, if they occur on the holes. Because that means that also the holes are more exciting to play and the cart guys take their time as well, because they have to drive carefully. But what I hate are uphill treks on tarmac cart paths just to get to the next tee - and in some cases even have a flat hole then.

So a color of orange wouldn't tell me anything, it could be a course I love to play, because it's a wild up and down ride in the mountains. Or it could be a flat layout with annoying green to tee walks, where everyone has already teed off and is waiting impatiently until I (as the only walker in the group) arrive on the scene.

Ulrich

[Rob Rigg]

Hi Ulrich,

The goal was to keep the rating system fairly simple and straight-forward.

Where notes have been given, a distinction between long green to tee transfers and a lot of elevation change, has been called out.

I do agree with you completely, elevation change within the routing of the holes is not a big deal, it is the long slogs between one green and the next tee, whether challenging by distance or climbing, that really breaks up the flow of a round.

Cheers

[Rob Rigg]

Thanks for all the ratings guys - please keep the coming in if you have a chance.

[Garland Bayley]

Kalen,

Dude! Did you send Rob a bunch of ratings for Utah? Did you walk the courses you rated?

[Kalen Braley]

Kalen,

Dude! Did you send Rob a bunch of ratings for Utah? Did you walk the courses you rated?

I've walked about 1/2 to 2/3rds of em...the others are pretty brutal to walk or not allowed.

[Garland Bayley]

Kalen,

Dude! Did you send Rob a bunch of ratings for Utah? Did you walk the courses you rated?

I've walked about 1/2 to 2/3rds of em...the others are pretty brutal to walk or not allowed.

Awful lot of red in Utah.

[Kalen Braley]

Kalen,

Dude! Did you send Rob a bunch of ratings for Utah? Did you walk the courses you rated?

I've walked about 1/2 to 2/3rds of em...the others are pretty brutal to walk or not allowed.

Awful lot of red in Utah.

I've never claimed otherwise...

Is it hot?  Check
Is it mountainous?  Check

[David Schofield]

Rob,

I have a question about Quality Control of the rankings.  Is there any way to ensure that people don't rank based on likeability vs. walkability?  For instance, Mill Run Golf Course in Eau Claire, WI is a ho-hum walk through a bone-flat old corn field.  I see someone ranked it as "Course only walkable for those who are very fit due to elevation changes or green to tee transfers" with a note "Elevation, long G/T walks".  (I'll note that Mill Run's sister course Wild Ridge deserves it's ranking).  On the other hand, I see that Lawsonia Woodlands in Green Lake, WI a course with several 100+ yard walks from green to tee is rated "Course is Walking Only and/or very walkable for any golfer".

Otherwise, the site is great.  I'll bet it'll gain a following here...

[Rob Rigg]

Hi David,

Thanks for the kind words and feedback.

You nicely point out the QC problem with a ranking that may not have a lot of ratings for a given course.

Some of the better known courses such as Bandon, Pebble, etc. do have 5 to 10 ratings so you can see the patterns and develop what is likely the "correct" rating - for some courses - especially those off the map - the opinion of the person voting is all that matters.

The hope is that raters actually look at what the scale says when rating - ie) a pan flat boring course with greens and tees 20 yards apart is a "green" for walkability, while a severely undulating top 20 course with several long green to tee transfers may be a "yellow" or even an "orange" for walkability.

Over time, I hope that the ratings will become more accurate as additional ratings are provided and that golfers, whether walkers or not, will be able to use the course listings as a great starting point to plan trips to different parts of the country.

[Rob Rigg]

Kalen,

Reds are okay too - feel free to ship them over - walking knowledge is power

[Michael Huber]

Is there any chance this site could be developed into something more interactive like golflink?  The ability to post thoughts and comments and feedback on each course would be tremendous. 

[Rob Rigg]

Hi Michael,

Absolutely - That is the long term goal of the site and one of the reasons that we are trying to sell ad space.

As you can see from the current set up, this is basically a one man show that is, unfortunately, not as well funded or dialed in as I would like.

Over time, hopefully, you will see significant improvements in the quality and interactive nature of the site.

While the main purpose of this part of the site is to provide Walkability ratings for courses, it really is a resource for all golfers to use while trip planning or researching new golfing options around the country.

[DMoriarty]

Great job, Rob.   Hopefully everyone will take a look and start to fill in some of the gaps. 

A quick question and sorry if it has already been asked.

Is the "carts only" designation only for courses that have that rule, or is it also for courses that are unwalkable regardless of the policy? 

[Kalen Braley]

Kalen,

Reds are okay too - feel free to ship them over - walking knowledge is power

Robb,

I see the list for Utah is pretty decent size.  Would you like to get my feedback on the current courses and/or add my thoughts on ones not already on the list?

Kalen

[Rob Rigg]

David,

Thanks for the kind words - "carts only" indicates courses where raters have indicated that walking is NOT an option.

In theory, on "Red" courses a crazy walker could make the hike.

When I sent out the first post about the project some of the guys in the treehouse thought it would be good to differentiate between "red" and carts only since some "green" or "yellow" courses are carts only for no good reason.

Kalen,

Anything you can send me would be fantastic. New courses are great because the list obviously has some holes in it. If you agree with the ratings on the current courses then no need to rate those. I can send you a file that should be pretty easy to use, although you will still have to add a line and rate the new courses.


Thanks!

[Kalen Braley]

Sounds good Rob,

Send it over...I'd be glad to help out with this project.

[Rob Rigg]

Thanks Kalen - I will get you the sheet this evening

[Steve Lang]

BOB,

We have 65 new ratings for you for TX...  i notice your base listing has some NLE's and needed additions.. it looks maybe 7 plus years old

also have some for MI, OH, KY, TN, NC, SC, GA, FL, NM, CA, IN, VA, (in Canada: AB, ON)

will send after a little more internal debate