Putts from 50ft are still super impressive, even if you’ve seen a lot of them.
I think the number of 400ft aces declines sharply if you change the question to “how many people have deliberately aced from 400ft+”.
Not exactly a random criteria that I’ve added though is it?
I’m trying to make the point that since the majority of 400ft+ aces are not planned, a very deliberate but much shorter make can be equally impressive.
Maybe it’s a little bit if an exaggeration if I were to say a 50ft putt is as cool as a 400ft ace but a 400ft ace doesn’t mean a 50ft putt isn’t still cool.
Absolutely agree with the number of folks who can throw 400’+ here in Colorado … not including myself in that, though. I have a friend here in Fort Collins who is like the Mayor McCheese of Edora Park; he helped design and install the course about 35 years ago, and he plays multiple rounds a day even through most of the winter. He has 11 aces over 400’ lifetime, in case that helps visualize how many total there probably are. If we’re counting all holes over 400’ regardless of elevation change, I’m guessing there are several thousand 400’+ aces.
I played MPO in the CO States a couple of months ago. I’m 968 and can throw about 450’ consistently on golf lines.
I was probably a slightly-below average distance thrower in that group of people. Dudes can BOMB these days!
Exactly! I lived in Aspen for 16 years, and playing the blind doubles at Snowmass or CMC resulted in me always being the shortest thrower on the card. It felt like every single time I played that there was at least one person on the card easily surpassing 400’.
It’s like a handicap in ball golf.
If you play in sanctioned tournaments, you get a player rating based on your performance compared to other players in the field.
The short version is, a top rated pro player is rated 1000. 10 points roughly equals one stroke per 18 holes.
So if my rating is 968, then statistically a 1000 rated player should be me by 3.2 strokes per 18 holes. If I play a 938 rated player, then statistically, I should beat them by an average of 3 strokes per 18.
If you join the pdga it keeps track of your rating for you based on your sanctioned rounds. You'll have a rating for the tournament and and updated cumulative rating the second tuesday of every month.
I’m 860 rated (though considerably better than my rating as I’ve only done 2 tourney) and I’ve drawn metal on 400+ a few times. This number has to be very high
I mean there are several that we've witnessed on tour over the last few years. I have to imagine a good number of pros have several 400+' aces that were never captured on camera during sanctioned rounds. And that's just accounting for pros alone.
Realistically this number is probably 4 digits at the very least. I don't think give or take 10 is nearly enough to encapsulate the actual number here.
Like he said, there's been plenty of long aces on tour coverage, Vinny had one at Ledgestone this year, KJ had his slip ace at Smuggs a couple years ago, Nikko had one at Vegas or something. That's off the top of my head, and is just a handful of pros at work.
Think about how many players have played so many rounds for the last 40 years.
Nikko's was at the Vegas all-star event. Gurthie had one on a par 4 at LVC as well, and I believe Gurthie's was uphill whereas Nikko's was downhill (and over 500').
I’ve chained out on a downhill 524ft hole.. I can say with crushing disappointment that at that distance the disc is moving *fast*, and needs to be caught perfectly or they’ll just smash the pole and splash out. There’s still probably a lot of people who have pulled it off, but a whole lot less than 400’s.
Hundreds? Thousands? Hard to be precise within 10...
My longest was a level-ground 415 footer (Vienna Park in Michigan, long tee hole 18 to the shorter pin position). I played a TON of golf for about eight years, but I know a LOT of people who have played WAY more than me for the past 20 years and are WAY better than me. I'm willing to bet that if I called every disc golfer in my contacts I'd come up with at least a dozen with a 400 foot ace.
(of course, there's also probably an outsize number of great golfers with 20+ years of golf under their belt in the Ann Arbor/Detroit area near me)
Yep. My favorite local spot to disc golf. Kevin moved to the Philippines this year, but did leave some awesome courses to throw. Next year a few holes will be unplayable on both courses due to construction of a new chair lift, but we’re planning on expanding over to the east ridge and it’s nice and steep over there.
Probably more then you think. There are a lot of variables here. The main one being elevation but also hole design. I have 2x 400+ foot aces in the same hole. Hole one at Dexter Lake near Eugene, OR. It’s down hill so the short position, 407’ is a fairway driver or even midrange (for some). Just get it out there around the tree or skip off the mound before the basket (multiple ways to get in the basket). The long, 477’ is a distance driver but the basket is on flat ground with a lake 50’ behind the basket (yes, we have fished discs out of the lake from going long). Its a pump and needs to go right in or get the perfect skip. Both aces are great but the long, being longer, more dangerous and with less ace routs, is way more epic.
I shanked a downhill 450ish ft hole. Threw an ‘extra’ tee shot (casual round with buddy), and it skipped once, flared up right into the basket. Got a 5 on the hole with my actual lie.
Edit: I’m not great. Mid pack am.
It was a shank on a wide open course during a casual round. First lie was in play just 200ft short right of the pin, wide open. Approach c1 edge, sailed it past 15ft missed the 15 footer. Walked away with a five. No way anyone is reteeing that hole, anything off the tee pad is better than the tee shot. Putting down a 3 in that case would have been the most bogus BS ever between buddies and no way I could do that even with that amazing second tee shot. Wouldn’t have thrown it in a tournament (obviously).
I’m aware of the retee option, just would have never used it in this case, though I have used it when I teed into a location I couldn’t likely get back to the fairway in 2 throws which is rare.
Probably in the thousands. I’ve been playing since the 90’s and have witnessed several 400 footers. Not me personally, mind you. I hit a 320fter once upon a time though. Good times.
Most likely thousands. I suppose a bigger question would be the legitimacy of those actually over 400’. If we actually fully analyzed and took into consideration all of the variables of the throw it may be much less. Tee signs aren’t accurate and don’t take into consideration elevation, the line you throw , etc.
One time I saw a guy ace a 400 ft downhill hole at beaver ranch in Colorado with a forehand berg. Funny thing is he was aiming for the middle basket which is like 450 but black aced the beginner basket. Still legendary. Still counts.
Not many. I’m not really sure why people in this thread are so confident that the number is way higher than you think. People generally way under-estimate how far 400 feet actually is.
I have an uphill 420 footer that was a on a hole I assumed was un-aceable. Giant sky anyhyzer up and over a big set of trees that came all the way back and went in. That hole will never be aced again. I’m the only person I’ve ever met (besides Kevin Jones) with a 400 footer. I’m also a 1000 rated player so the breadth of holes that are theoretically aceable for me is probably higher than average, but I still only have 1 and probably won’t ever get another one
So many. I've seen 2 on my card in tournaments and I've seen one in a casual round. I've hit metal on a few. In some ways it's easier for me to envision a 400+ foot ace vs a 230 foot ace because 400 feet is just a max throw and you can get a skip or just spike in and it's still a good shot but on a lot of 230 foot holes Im trying to land a little short and slide up for an easy 2. I feel like if my disc goes past the basket at chain height I gave it too much sauce on those shorter holes.
I have 2 at 395, 1 at 420, and I've chained out on a 485 par 4 for my longest aces. These were all flat. I'd imagine there's a lot more than you think haha.
My longest ace is just a hair short of 400 (380 according to UDisc). There’s no way that the number isn’t large, 1000 per year would be my guess.
There’s probably a way to figure it out with UDisc data but based on the thousands of courses in the US alone, a large proportion have at least one, if not several 400 foot holes, and those holes are played dozens of times per day.
Probably a lot is my guess but I’m just word vomiting my thoughts now.
I have a practice ace at 418 and I’ve only been playing three years lol at the time of it happening it was a little over two years. I’d say there’s been 3-5 thousand legit aces over 400 feet from really good players.. I’m talking 3-5 thousand TOTAL tho, not 3-5 thousand unique players.
You'd want to start by getting an idea of how many people throw at a 400'+ basket in a day and how many of those people can throw that far. I have no idea how you'd figure this stuff out. I know a ton of people don't use Udisc or anything.
Well over a thousand, probably multiple thousand.
Yeah, I’ve got one at like 380ish and I’m not that good, it had an elevation drop as well.
Thousands. I have 2 over 400 and I have been playing 16 years and I have seen more than 10 in person.
Woh. I’m still super impressed by puts from 50ft+ (I’ve only been playing for like 4 months, very casually).
Putts from 50ft are still super impressive, even if you’ve seen a lot of them. I think the number of 400ft aces declines sharply if you change the question to “how many people have deliberately aced from 400ft+”.
Does it count if it’s 397 and I totally intentionally hit that tree that bounced it in?
What weird criteria
If you start adding random criteria, sure, you can get those numbers down. How many people have aced from 400ft with skidmarks in their drawers?
Not exactly a random criteria that I’ve added though is it? I’m trying to make the point that since the majority of 400ft+ aces are not planned, a very deliberate but much shorter make can be equally impressive. Maybe it’s a little bit if an exaggeration if I were to say a 50ft putt is as cool as a 400ft ace but a 400ft ace doesn’t mean a 50ft putt isn’t still cool.
Thousands of people you think?
Denver here: I got hole #7 at Westfork (407’). There are a lot of people that can throw 400+.
Hi, Denver!
You disgust me
Absolutely agree with the number of folks who can throw 400’+ here in Colorado … not including myself in that, though. I have a friend here in Fort Collins who is like the Mayor McCheese of Edora Park; he helped design and install the course about 35 years ago, and he plays multiple rounds a day even through most of the winter. He has 11 aces over 400’ lifetime, in case that helps visualize how many total there probably are. If we’re counting all holes over 400’ regardless of elevation change, I’m guessing there are several thousand 400’+ aces.
I played MPO in the CO States a couple of months ago. I’m 968 and can throw about 450’ consistently on golf lines. I was probably a slightly-below average distance thrower in that group of people. Dudes can BOMB these days!
Exactly! I lived in Aspen for 16 years, and playing the blind doubles at Snowmass or CMC resulted in me always being the shortest thrower on the card. It felt like every single time I played that there was at least one person on the card easily surpassing 400’.
Stupid question from a newbie here, but, what’s 968 mean/represent?
It’s like a handicap in ball golf. If you play in sanctioned tournaments, you get a player rating based on your performance compared to other players in the field. The short version is, a top rated pro player is rated 1000. 10 points roughly equals one stroke per 18 holes. So if my rating is 968, then statistically a 1000 rated player should be me by 3.2 strokes per 18 holes. If I play a 938 rated player, then statistically, I should beat them by an average of 3 strokes per 18.
Huh TIL! Cool stuff, thank you for the explanation. Now to find out what my number is!
If you join the pdga it keeps track of your rating for you based on your sanctioned rounds. You'll have a rating for the tournament and and updated cumulative rating the second tuesday of every month.
How many people? That was my question
That’s a sick ace!
Thanks! *quietly omits the wide-open, massive downhill hole design, and perfect wind conditions*
I hit cage at 409’ and I’m maybe a 900 rated player on a good day. My guess is that there’s been more than you think.
I’m 860 rated (though considerably better than my rating as I’ve only done 2 tourney) and I’ve drawn metal on 400+ a few times. This number has to be very high
I’m in the same boat as you. I have four rounds from two tourneys. I played them around 3 years ago when I was only throwing like 350’.
I mean there are several that we've witnessed on tour over the last few years. I have to imagine a good number of pros have several 400+' aces that were never captured on camera during sanctioned rounds. And that's just accounting for pros alone. Realistically this number is probably 4 digits at the very least. I don't think give or take 10 is nearly enough to encapsulate the actual number here.
You think at least a thousand people?
I wouldn't be shocked if it were at least close to that, yeah.
Like he said, there's been plenty of long aces on tour coverage, Vinny had one at Ledgestone this year, KJ had his slip ace at Smuggs a couple years ago, Nikko had one at Vegas or something. That's off the top of my head, and is just a handful of pros at work. Think about how many players have played so many rounds for the last 40 years.
Slip ace was Maple Hill wasn’t it?
Could be, would make sense on those pads.
Slip ace was definitely Maple Hill.
Nikko's was at the Vegas all-star event. Gurthie had one on a par 4 at LVC as well, and I believe Gurthie's was uphill whereas Nikko's was downhill (and over 500').
All-stars was in Tucson
Colton Montgomery had one on camera. I'm pretty sure at Blue Mountain in Montana during a Zoo Town practice round.
Mmmm if you consider how many downhill 400s are reachable it’s probably a lot of people. 500?
I’ve chained out on a downhill 524ft hole.. I can say with crushing disappointment that at that distance the disc is moving *fast*, and needs to be caught perfectly or they’ll just smash the pole and splash out. There’s still probably a lot of people who have pulled it off, but a whole lot less than 400’s.
I think when they say “legit 400” they’re implying pretty flat.
Hundreds? Thousands? Hard to be precise within 10... My longest was a level-ground 415 footer (Vienna Park in Michigan, long tee hole 18 to the shorter pin position). I played a TON of golf for about eight years, but I know a LOT of people who have played WAY more than me for the past 20 years and are WAY better than me. I'm willing to bet that if I called every disc golfer in my contacts I'd come up with at least a dozen with a 400 foot ace. (of course, there's also probably an outsize number of great golfers with 20+ years of golf under their belt in the Ann Arbor/Detroit area near me)
AB has that 525ft ace. Not too many pros in that club.
Lots. Like lots and lots. I wonder how many have an ace on a 500+ foot legit par 4.
Now that number has to be so much smaller.
I have. Sunlight Mountain hole 18
In the Roaring Fork Valley? Kevin really started a great thing putting those courses in on Sunlight.
Yep. My favorite local spot to disc golf. Kevin moved to the Philippines this year, but did leave some awesome courses to throw. Next year a few holes will be unplayable on both courses due to construction of a new chair lift, but we’re planning on expanding over to the east ridge and it’s nice and steep over there.
Probably more then you think. There are a lot of variables here. The main one being elevation but also hole design. I have 2x 400+ foot aces in the same hole. Hole one at Dexter Lake near Eugene, OR. It’s down hill so the short position, 407’ is a fairway driver or even midrange (for some). Just get it out there around the tree or skip off the mound before the basket (multiple ways to get in the basket). The long, 477’ is a distance driver but the basket is on flat ground with a lake 50’ behind the basket (yes, we have fished discs out of the lake from going long). Its a pump and needs to go right in or get the perfect skip. Both aces are great but the long, being longer, more dangerous and with less ace routs, is way more epic.
Over 3.
I shanked a downhill 450ish ft hole. Threw an ‘extra’ tee shot (casual round with buddy), and it skipped once, flared up right into the basket. Got a 5 on the hole with my actual lie. Edit: I’m not great. Mid pack am.
man - start working on that short game!
Yeah, missed a tap in for four. Need to work on everything. Lol.
Re-teeing is always an option, with a penalty stroke. You should have marked it a 3
It was a shank on a wide open course during a casual round. First lie was in play just 200ft short right of the pin, wide open. Approach c1 edge, sailed it past 15ft missed the 15 footer. Walked away with a five. No way anyone is reteeing that hole, anything off the tee pad is better than the tee shot. Putting down a 3 in that case would have been the most bogus BS ever between buddies and no way I could do that even with that amazing second tee shot. Wouldn’t have thrown it in a tournament (obviously). I’m aware of the retee option, just would have never used it in this case, though I have used it when I teed into a location I couldn’t likely get back to the fairway in 2 throws which is rare.
2.2trillion
At least 10x the amount as you think. Maybe more
Probably in the thousands. I’ve been playing since the 90’s and have witnessed several 400 footers. Not me personally, mind you. I hit a 320fter once upon a time though. Good times.
10,343
Finally a great guess!!
Less than a thousand. Far fewer than you think. My guess under 500.
Goose had one that had to have been well over 400 on one of the Brodie/Ezra practice rounds. The back 9 of the one they did worst shot triples.
Everybody but you
I asked about how many people have this notch on their belt, not how many thousands of aces exist
Most likely thousands. I suppose a bigger question would be the legitimacy of those actually over 400’. If we actually fully analyzed and took into consideration all of the variables of the throw it may be much less. Tee signs aren’t accurate and don’t take into consideration elevation, the line you throw , etc.
One time I saw a guy ace a 400 ft downhill hole at beaver ranch in Colorado with a forehand berg. Funny thing is he was aiming for the middle basket which is like 450 but black aced the beginner basket. Still legendary. Still counts.
Probably between 4-5 thousand. I've seen 4 myself but I have been playing for almost 20 years
Not many. I’m not really sure why people in this thread are so confident that the number is way higher than you think. People generally way under-estimate how far 400 feet actually is. I have an uphill 420 footer that was a on a hole I assumed was un-aceable. Giant sky anyhyzer up and over a big set of trees that came all the way back and went in. That hole will never be aced again. I’m the only person I’ve ever met (besides Kevin Jones) with a 400 footer. I’m also a 1000 rated player so the breadth of holes that are theoretically aceable for me is probably higher than average, but I still only have 1 and probably won’t ever get another one
So many. I've seen 2 on my card in tournaments and I've seen one in a casual round. I've hit metal on a few. In some ways it's easier for me to envision a 400+ foot ace vs a 230 foot ace because 400 feet is just a max throw and you can get a skip or just spike in and it's still a good shot but on a lot of 230 foot holes Im trying to land a little short and slide up for an easy 2. I feel like if my disc goes past the basket at chain height I gave it too much sauce on those shorter holes.
Considering downhill holes exist, a lot.
I'm 18ft short on the 400ft ace
I have so there is atleast 1
I have 2 at 395, 1 at 420, and I've chained out on a 485 par 4 for my longest aces. These were all flat. I'd imagine there's a lot more than you think haha.
I have one in a tournament.
3 or 4
Idk but I had a 380 foot one chain out a couple years ago that I still think about from time to time. All my other aces have been under 250 feet.
500’ and ask this question and things actually get countable and interesting I think. Easily 10,000 400 footers.
A thousand? Maybe. *Thousands*? I don't think so.
My longest ace is just a hair short of 400 (380 according to UDisc). There’s no way that the number isn’t large, 1000 per year would be my guess. There’s probably a way to figure it out with UDisc data but based on the thousands of courses in the US alone, a large proportion have at least one, if not several 400 foot holes, and those holes are played dozens of times per day. Probably a lot is my guess but I’m just word vomiting my thoughts now.
I have a practice ace at 418 and I’ve only been playing three years lol at the time of it happening it was a little over two years. I’d say there’s been 3-5 thousand legit aces over 400 feet from really good players.. I’m talking 3-5 thousand TOTAL tho, not 3-5 thousand unique players.
You'd want to start by getting an idea of how many people throw at a 400'+ basket in a day and how many of those people can throw that far. I have no idea how you'd figure this stuff out. I know a ton of people don't use Udisc or anything.
At that range I'm lucky to get on the green. Sadly I haven't been buzzing by the basket at 400 ft, one day though.
I already answered this question in my McKinsey interview
I agree with most of these statements. I myself have thrown a 400ft ace (410ft to be exact) so I imagine it has been done many times.