Pros:
(2.585 Rating) (RE-EVALUATED) A lightly wooded ball golf conversion course.
- UPGRADES - Due to Mr. Frosty's recent review, I decided to update my review as it appears there have been enough upgrades to raise the score. Apparently it's now 18 holes, along with duel tees at two thirds of the holes. For reference, I played when there was only 9 holes and there was just a single set of tees. For these reasons, I decided to bump the score a half disc.
- CHARACTER - With all of the noted upgrades, the basics and extras now exceed the average course. 18 DISCatcher baskets with flags on top. Concrete tees measuring 10 feet long by 5 feet wide. Shelter, restrooms and a drinking fountain near the start of the course. Although not disc golf related, there's a solid playground here as well
- MAINTENANCE - Great course and park upkeep. I didn't see any trash and the grass was mowed through-out on my visit.
- NAVIGATION - High quality course map and tee signs.
- TIME PLAY - Like most lightly wooded compact courses it plays quick. There is also an easy option to transition after hole (4) to tee (12) if time is an issue.
Cons:
Too lightly wooded for me.
- UNIQUENESS - 65th Infantry Veterans DGC is a ball golf conversion course. I've played on 5 of these in Florida and haven't been impressed by really any of them. The typical open landscape takes away a lot of the variety options and imagination available for the course designers. Add in the fact that the course is relatively flat doesn't help either. The one nice feature that this course does have however is water... and it's used thankfully. Overall I'd put the hole variety at about 40 percentile.
- LOOSE DISC OPPS - I'd say the disc loss potential is greater than normal. Couple in the fact that you can't go into the water due to the alligator risk doesn't help. There is also a risk to throw into fenced in yards on a few holes.
- MULTI USE HAZARDS - Walking paths come into play on a few holes. Only a very minor issue.
- WIND - A very open layout, so expect wind on most days. I was personally greeted with gusts over 20 mph.
Other Thoughts:
As noted in the intro, I felt the need to update my rating due to the most recent review. I can only think of one course that ever added 9 holes and became worse (Bonita Springs DGC). From reading Mr Frosty's excellent review, I can tell that this is not the case and the course deserved a re-evaluation. With the update to 18, I suspect this course gets much more local play and has probably developed a nice local scene of Novices, Recs and Intermediates on the southern side of the Orlando metro area. Not Orlando's best, but it deserves a re-look for those in town who haven't been here in a couple years.
- NATURAL BEAUTY - The maintenance aspect is the best attribute in this category. Too lightly wooded IMO to score higher the average though.
- CHALLENGING - I think the ideal audience is Recreational players (900 - 850 player rating). Thus I think difficulty is average. The course will favor bombers over precision masters. 950 rated Advanced players will murder this course.