-Ballou is sixteen years old. Created before the time designers were hungry to design gold level course. Disc golf still wasn't very popular back then. This course feels something like the start of the hardcore pop punk scene. You know, the days where Letter Kills, Alexisonfire, Matchbook Romance, and Boys Night Out were kind of setting the standards for more popular bands to come and be more successful a few years later? Ballou is that type of course. It has a really neat design with a hilly terrain. It has a lot of those course qualities that make it memorable since it has a good amount of elevation, a mix between open and wooded, some short ace runs and some longer holes if you play the blues. It's an older course without being old fashioned.

-Most holes have dual sets of tees. The whites are pretty straightforward. The blues are pretty difficult since they are longer. Five or six holes have only one tee and par is 55 on the shorts and 58 on the longs. Means over half of the longs are longer and more challenging par threes.

-In the middle of the city. Many food options nearby. There's a grocery store across the street. You don't have to plan ahead to play here.

-Nice concrete tees that are long enough. Nice mach pins as well that still seem to catch well.

-The elevation is significant on many holes. A few steep downhills over 25' (#1, #3, #9). Holes #12 and #13 are both significant uphills around 25'. The best holes are probably #15 and #16. They are valley holes. #15 dives down a good 40' before increasing about 15' past the creek that you throw over. #16 long is a sweet par four. Nice downhill bomb onto a slightly wooded fairway past the creek to a steep uphill approach. Great looking hole.

-The elevated rock terrace green on #6 is really sweet. #13's green is very neat too. #13 in general is a very neat uphill hyzer into a breach in the woods with some serious rollaway potential.

-There is some good fairway diversity, even though it seems to favor a little more toward righty backhand throwers. There are no legitimate doglegs, but many holes have some subtle bends. #4's tee is next to the road, but the intended fairway that has you throwing the opposite side of the road is overgrown. I threw a sidearm toward the road and skipped to the right side back in bounds in the open and was left with a pretty simple upshot. Disappointing that the intended fairway is unplayable, but it's nice that this hole can be played in a much more interesting way. Gave another 2006 feel. You know, Tony Hawk Underground? I felt like I was back in 2006 about to see some teens riding their skateboards on their way to see Alexisonfire on their "Crisis Tour" or to the Nintendo Fusion Tour for its final year.

-Neighborhood appears to be pretty rough. Looks run down and possibly a bit dangerous. Several houses with no trespassing signs.

-The briars. I played in a long sleeve shirt and jeans. They prevented me from getting cut by all of those thorns and briars, but they still stuck to my clothes AFTER doing the laundry. While we are at all, Ballou is rough and showing some decay. There is a ton of overgrowth on #4 to the point where you should play this hole down the side of the road instead of its intended fairway in the woods. #5-7 have some overhead branches. #12 has a lot of briars and a dead tree right beside the basket that is in play immediately once you are out of the woods. #15's creek is tough to cross due to the low branches and the walk to #16 is past a big patch of thorns.

-If you are allergic to poison ivy, you better not go big on #18. This is a grip and rip par four in the open, but there is a woodline and it is nasty in there. I lost my ballista (my favorite driver) in the woods. I looked for a while too. There is poison ivy in other parts of the course.

-Holes #8 and #10 seem out of place. They are boring short holes under 200' with crap shoot fairways. #14 is a 162' dinker.

-Tee signs are faded out. They look like tattoos on elderly people. Some of them are just about whitened out as if they were printed blank. It's hard to read the hole info.

-I think Ballou is out of its prime, even though it is a good course. It's like that guy/girl who peaked in high school and stayed relevant up until their early twenties right before they faced some hard knocks in life. Sixteen years later, they are in their early to mid thirties. Divorced with two kids working two jobs left reminiscing how much better life was for them in 2006. Maybe they'll get to relive some of their nostaglic past at the When We Were Tour coming in 2023.

-The blue pads give a moderate challenge for intermediate players. There are quite a few holes that should be birdied pretty routinely for advanced players. Still, some of the holes are quite challenging. #9 is a fun downhill pro par three measuring over 400'. It's risky to throw a driver, but it's also difficult to reach with a stable midrange since it still plays maybe 320'. #11 is a right to left uphill power shot in the woods down a wide fairway to a closed green guarded by several trees. Very hard to reach this one. 369' and plays about 415'.

-Signature hole: My guess is probably #3. Very fun downhill hole in the open to a wooded mouth over a creek. The basket is in the woods by only maybe 40', but if you don't throw it straight through the gap, you'll likely land in the creek. Don't let this hole fool you. It's harder than it looks and a ton of fun! #15 is another prospect since it's another steep downhill over the creek. Since Ballou is in need of TLC and #15 is kind of affected by the roughness. #3 has my vote in being the signature hole. #16, however is my favorite hole here. It's a softer par four over a valley. The fairway is pretty welcoming but you'll need to keep it pretty low in order to avoid some high branches and the likelihood of hyzering out by not keeping it low.

-Needs some work. This course is in the red. You'll especially see it on #4, which is one of the more unique holes at Ballou. #6 appeared to be deteriorating a bit too. It's a really cool valley shot that's being more and more of a mess due to excess branches and high grass on the green.

-Ballou seems to have been a very appealing course. I know that it brought some joy. It's looking rough now . Hopefully it'll come back around.

"We've got a crisis on our hands."

Ballou Park has somewhat of a variety of holes. Most noticeable is the park's use of elevation. Many tees have you throwing down a hill between some huge trees, while there's a couple holes where you can't see the basket because the elevation in front of it. You'll throw into and across many ravines. Distances vary somewhat as well. There are a few long holes between 300-400 feet. Most holes are between 175-275 feet. There wasn't that one hole that really stood out to me, but there were quite a few neat holes. If I had to pick a hole, it would be Hole 5 as you thrown through a ravine, and the basket is up on this very steep hill. Makes for a fun putt if you don't clear the hill. Main pros for this park: well kept, variety of holes, good use of terrain, plenty of bathrooms, and just consistent. It's nothing groundbreaking, but it's just a good, consistent course.

This course is well designed for the most part. The layout can be confusing at times, but not too often. I went with a friend who had played the course before so I didn't wander around, but I would have on two or three holes. There are tee signs at every hole, but not all the signs give you a par! I suggest writing down the par numbers from the hole info. page before you go so you can get an accurate score. Not all the tees where concrete, somewhere like that packed dust/gravel and some of those tees where very small or sloped, which makes throws a little more difficult. None of the cons are a huge disappointment, but show the park could use some improvements.

Overall, the park is pretty good. It's not great, but it's not your typical disc golf park. It's got some neat holes, variety of holes, and the usage of terrain is a lot of fun. It's not like you're throwing over mountains, but for a park on the outskirts of a small city, it's nice. It's a well manicured park, but it could be a very good park if some improvements were made. (ehh hem...get some new tees.) It's a worth a stop if you're looking for a fun place to play that's not anything groundbreaking, but a good consistent course.

Nice setting in an older public park. Lots of elevation changes and some short thows offering a more technical course on a few of the pins. There no long bombs on this course. The park was clean and quiet with very few others playing on a Saturday morning. Easy day trip from NC and close enough to Lake's Edge in Reidsville to hit both.

Some sign markings not clear and not all holes have concrete tee pads yet. I can see improvements being made though. Not a pro level course but just a good intermediate course.

#15 was fun and easy to birdie. I also like #7. All round fun short run course to play. Makes a great course to loop in with Lakes Edge in Reidsville. There is a Subway right across the street from the park which made it easy to grab something after playing. I used the old nine hole course as a warm up to this one.

+There are elevation changes on every hole. Most are moderate, with the greatest a drop of 24 ft. Perfectly balanced with 9 Up/ 9 Down. This includes 9 valley holes that are either down then back up or Up-Down. Add to that nice terrain with a good mix of grass and woods (6 Wooded/ 12 Mixed) and you have a pleasant place.
+Good balance of fairway shapes. 8 Straight/ 5 Left/ 5 Right
+ Mach V baskets

-Tees are dirt and not marked well. The below average tee quality stands out to me as the biggest area that needs to be improved.
-Not many amenities. There's a good bathroom, but no map, no score cards, no warm up basket, no benches, no trash cans.
-It may just be my impression, but the park seemed to be in a kind of shady area of town and several cars in the parking lot felt kind of sketch.

Course Level = White (most suited for Intermediate players rated 875-925)
The course is rather short (4505 ft) with most holes under 300 ft. (4 of 135-199/ 11 of 200-299/ 3>300 are 310, 345, 425), so it's more suitable for shorter throwers. Big arms won't be very challenged.

The course didn't "Wow" me, but there were a few really fun holes, and my enjoyment was above average. It's a pleasant course with nice terrain and lots of elevation variety. I wouldn't go out of my way and plan a trip just to play here, but if you're driving by it's a nice place.

NOTE: Look in the "Links/Files" section for my files with Hole-by-hole evaluations, and a more detailed Overall review. You can also read more of my reviews and rating notes at the Yahoo Group, DG Course Reviews

excellent layout with lots of wooded holes (i like wooded courses). the course also uses the topography of the park well and has lots of elevation change. you will get a work out if you're into that (i am).

each tee pad has a sign describing the hole and the direction to the next hole so it is easy to follow.

see below for a discription of each hole. this course is very challenging and will test your skills. i especially liked holes 5 and 14 even though i lost a teebird on 14.

ballou park is a nice park and it is very well maintained. it also evident there is a strong disc golf club in the area and each hole has a sponsor.

in general natrual tee pads suck and these aren't any different. depressions are starting to form and since it had just rained the tee pads were very slick. i often had to tee off from behind the tee or to the side.

also poison ivy is everywhere in the park and in one place it was waist high. if you come in the spring/summer where long pants.

lastly i had trouble finding this course inside the park. the 9 hole is easy to find but i could find no signs pointing me to the first tee. i ended up asking a maintenance worker and he pointed me in the right direction.

again this is a challenging course with a lot of variety, if you like trees. if they add some concrete tee pads and a few benches this course would be a 4 or 5.

i live in norther virginia and come down every year for the bbq contest in may, and i will be bringing my discs again fer sure.

tons of elevation change. good tee signs.

Could use at basket next hole direction(lots of courses are painting one of the arms on the basket). Tee pads could be gravel or better defined. woods fair ways could be more defined.

Park is a really nice older park, all the amenities are on this side with play ground bathrooms ball field. The elevation is the big killer on this course, walking up and down. The tees signs take a sec to get yourself oriented. Woods are tight. Ends up being a long walk

well placed baskets to make the course interesting. it's an awesome course compared to the little work they put into making it and upkeep. Some holes seem like they are too much in the woods with no good shot at the hole, but upon closer inspection i found a good line that I hit. It's somewhat hilly, although not as bad as i've seen. only one hoe over 400 feet. for the more advanced player, it's easy to shoot well under par on your first round (i shot 8 under my first time through) because some of the holes are set for people who can only drive 200 feet max. good mix of shots though. I love the course.

could be much clearer on the map, and where to start once you get into the park. There's a 9-hole course in the same park, and some numbered picnic sights, so i didn't know if those were the tee numbers at first or what. The tees are grass, but they are in good spots (not a spot where it gets really wet, although one tee is tight in-between two trees); if they were concrete it would work just a little better, but grass works fine.

1-slight turn to the right through a lot of trees on a hill that slopes down left with a stream at the bottom. 2-over a hill and around an apple tree. You need a good putt to birdie this hole. 3-longer downhill shot into the side of another hill. be careful not to throw it high, as i've almost hit a house across the street once. 4-longer than it looks. over the stream in a valley up into trees. Throw it further than you think you'll need as long as you can miss the trees. 5-sweet hole. getting past the first few trees are tough, but if you can get it up onto the hill where the hole is, then you can eagle this nicely. If you don't get onto the hill, a hammer/tomahawk is a good choice for a second throw to get up onto the hill. (this is where i'm not sure which hole is which) 6-play this as straight as possible, because if you don't you'll be playing through trees the rest of the way to the hole. 7-the tee is right between two tees, but the hole is close. don't end up too far left of the hole-it's really rough getting out of there. 8-this is a good hole. straight for 280, then a good left to finish. don't get in the rough on either side of the road. 9-try to stay out in the open on this one, as usual. it's a good hole to birdie, or eagle, but if you get caught in the woods you won't do either. 10-the one with no good path to the hole (seemingly). if you walk a foot to the right of the tee, you can see that a forehand has a pretty clear path to the hole. Just put it through there and sink the put. 11-I honestly don't remember this hole, but the rest are right. 12-this hole isn't likely to be bogied, but it's a little tricker to birdie than it seems. you can approach it any way around that huge bush/tree right in front of the tee, but don't lose focus of placing the shot well-although placing the shot well does involve getting around that thing. 13-this hole is basically impossible to ace, unless you are just ridiculous. up the hill 70 feet, 135 to the left about 45 degrees, and then up the hill straight again for about 10 feet. good luck have fun. 14-easier than it looks. get your "drive" near the hole and it seems to just gravitate toward the pole. placement is the key. 15-i got an albatross on this hole my third time through. it's a par 5, but it's 285 feet. it's over a pretty big gorge, but it still shouldn't be a 5. just forehand it through the path a little left of the hole, and let it float back right. it's fairly easy to eagle this hole-once i played with 5 friends of various skill levels and we all got an eagle. 16-another albatross-able hole. put your drive up near those trees going back across the valley and hope it misses the trees at the top-even though they're not too punishing if you miss them. this hole has a lot of grass, so if you're down in the valley a good hammer will place you near the hole, and the small hill right behind the hole will keep you within 10 feet. 17- over in the right behind the trees on the hill. throw it with a bit of right-curve and let it slide down the hill on the right, or put it way right and let it pull back left. either way works well, but neither way works all too well. 18-425', longest hole on the course, but it's not too long. if you can roll well, then this is a good hole to roll on, even if the hole is hilly. keep the drive low to miss the branches on the huge tree. if you miss them, you'll end up well. the main thing is keeping the drive low and fast, and setting your approach shot near the hole, because the grass doesn't let anything roll or even skip really on this hole. Have fun!