Dynamic Course Design Year in Review and Beyond

It’s no secret that designing and installing a professional disc golf course is a huge endeavor. Anyone you talk to who has undergone the process before will explain that it takes an immense amount of time, hard work, and dedication from start to finish. However, for people across the nation who want an incredible course but perhaps don’t have the resources to make it happen, there’s somewhere they can turn – Dynamic Course Design.

Eric McCabe has been traveling around the nation to help disc golf lovers create the course of their dreams, offering expert suggestions on how to utilize existing land features and educating others about what makes a layout spectacular. We recently checked in with Eric to find out what 2018 looked like as a whole and what this new year has in store.

A Hefty Workload

The time it takes to create a brand new disc golf course is far longer than what many might realize, and yet McCabe has been able to offer his services to people in 11 different states during 2018! A total of thirteen courses have either been completely finished or are well underway and slated to open this summer. Not only does he have his sights set on even more work during 2019, but Eric shared a few of his goals for this upcoming year:

“My goals for 2019 are simple – design more courses! Nothing too crazy, but I’d love the opportunity to design a championship level course in the Pacific Northwest. I’ve always loved my travels through that area and would be honored to put my name on a course out there. I would also like to travel to Europe and design a couple courses as well. At some point, an EMAC course in every state would be a dream come true!”

What It Looks Like

If the concept of Dynamic Course Design is new to you, it’s natural to be curious about the process. Eric works with a wide range of groups to help them discover the best ways to utilize their land, and takes a customized approach to each new project:

“The process when utilizing Dynamic Course Design is typically different for each location, depending on what the customer wants. That said, the majority of my work is done on property. I will travel to the site and spend from a couple days to a couple weeks getting to know the lay of the land. After I have a good idea of the flow and the general layout I’ll start installing ground whiskers and documenting GPS coordinates. After the design is complete, I’ll walk the layout with the customer sharing my vision of the design.”

After the groundwork has been done at the property, he’ll return back later to ensure everyone is on the same page and to deliver expertly designed tee signs and a course kiosk. A final visit from McCabe for the ribbon cutting ceremony or grand opening is a fun way to conclude each project.

The Future Of The Sport

Eric notes that some people have grand visions for a course that their property just simply won’t allow for, but each layout he’s installed this year has been special in its own way. The trends he’s seeing for 2019? “I’ve seen a lot more people requesting 9 hole, beginner friendly courses here lately, which is very important to the growth of our sport in my opinion. Everyone has to start somewhere and a new player trying to learn the sport on a true championship level course can be frustrating,” McCabe said.

If you’re interested in working with Eric to design an incredible course, you can submit your information to get the process started!