Franklin, IN

Blue Heron DGC

Permanent course
3.185(based on 22 reviews)
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MacDaddy
Bronze level trusted reviewer
Experience: 40.8 years 151 played 22 reviews
2.50 star(s)

New Southside Course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Oct 12, 2011 Played the course:once

Pros:

This course is easy to get to, the park is right off of 31South, about a quarter mile south of IND 144. Pull right into the parking lot and you can see... a practice basket in a nice little meadow with some small trees scattered about. From there it is a short walk to the first tee. There are copious amounts of HUGE grasses growing everywhere, which provide significant hazard on several of the holes. Hole #1 plays down a nice grass fairway with a buttonhook pin placement behind some of the grass and in front of a nice weeping willow by the pond. A nice start. Hole #2, watch out! A fairly narrow grass fairway with water along the entire left side and some MONSTER grass lining the entire right side! The basket is hiding just to the right behind the grass. The rest of the front-9 is fairly similar, in that the holes are pretty open, grassy, have a smattering of trees with other large areas of very stout grasses. Which certainly do influence your game! The designer has done a pretty good job of getting the most "bang for the buck" on this part of the course. A nice mix of shots, and to some extent, distances.
The back-9 starts with holes #10, #11 and #12 playing around a small wetlands. Some nice holes and also some nice pine trees in this area. Then off into the woods for holes #13 and #14. These are two fairly short, but certainly tough holes! The woods here are thick, and are in the process of being cleared. Then back out to the marsh for hole #15, a nice right-to-left sweeeper that ends with the pin in a small stand of river birch trees. Without a doubt, my favorite green on the entire course. Holes #16 and #17 go back into the thick woods. It's obvious that tons of hard work has gone into clearing these holes and they are a nice addition to the course, #17 is a very cool hole! Hole #18 pops back out into the open with a wide open, long pump to the pin, in front of some more big grass. Overall, the course offers a nice variety of open and tight shots, short and long, left and right. And there is minimal opportunity for errant shots to cause problems with other park users. Nice new DISCatcher baskets, no tee-signs yet, but there are some very nice 4x4 posts up, with bag hooks. So I assume there will be some decent, or better, tee-signs appearing soon.

Cons:

No tee-signs yet, so navigating can be a bit dicey. Lots of the pin placments are tucked behind an obstacle and are not visible from the tee. Cool for design, but a bummer when playing (especially the first time) without signs. But, I am sure this will be fixed soon. The wooded holes are still a bit rough. Lots of short stumps around, so watch your footing. The flow of the course works pretty well, until you get to the transition from #12 to #13. Whaaaa!!! How are you supposed to find the #13 tee? Right now you have to walk down the length of #14, from the pin to the tee, and then to the #13 tee!?!? And then, once you get to #13 tee, you play the hole, and turn right around and walk back down the hole to the tee, and then over to the nearby #14 tee. I just don't get it. The flow doesn't seem to work here, at all! Hopefully there is still some more clearing or signs or something in the future. Or maybe I just missed something...
And then there are the tee-pads. They are fairly small, I think about 4'x8', maybe 10' long. That's OK, but the surface is..... sand, kitty litter? I don't know, but it wasn't working at all for me. It is so loose and grainy, like what you might find on the beach. Every step leaves a small pothole and soon the entire tee area is lumpy and uneven. Too easy to catch a foot on a high point or step into a hole. Any player with ankle, knee or hip issues (like me), will find these tees pretty iffy. They were easily my least favorite part of the course.
I also didn't see any water or restrooms, but perhaps I missed it somewhere.

Other Thoughts:

I like this course. It is in a nice park, with a decent design and use of the available terrain. I am sure that as it ages, it will improve. It still needs tee-signs, but those are coming. And it still needs work on the wooded holes, and that will come too. Right now my score is being held down by the wacky flow from hole #12 to #13 and #14. I don't get it. And mostly, my score takes a big hit on the tees. Plain packed dirt would have been better IMHO. The loose sand was just too uneven and unreliable for my likes. Hopefully, it will be replaced with concrete soon.
Other than that, a fun course and a nice addition to the far south-central Indy area. I really wanted to give this course a 3 or even 3.5 rating, but just can't with the current issues.
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1 1
sdtayl
Experience: 15.1 years 11 played 1 reviews
3.00 star(s)

First trip to Blue Heron DG Course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Oct 9, 2011 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

Good mix of holes with hazards, holes in the open, and in the woods. lots of variety. Good job of tucking some of the baskets behind trees or other obstacles.

Cons:

New, so needs more work, in the woods especially. Just getting played more will help.

Other Thoughts:

#2 may discourage some, as discs can be lost to the left and right. It will be interesting to see how the material used for the tees works out. #11 and #12 will be tougher when the wetlands have more water in them. Really enjoyed this first trip. Played 2 rounds, and ran out of light.
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