Warwick, NY

Brakewell Steel / Warwick Park

4.545(based on 65 reviews)
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Brakewell Steel / Warwick Park reviews

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12 1
jcbnxll
Bronze level trusted reviewer
Experience: 16 years 73 played 23 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Good course but overrated

Reviewed: Played on:Apr 22, 2023 Played the course:once

Pros:

Baskets/Teeboxes: Not only does this course have two baskets and two teeboxes, but each one provides a truly different look. The pro box isn't just 50 feet farther back; it's often a completely different throw. Same with the baskets: the pro basket might be around a corner, up a hill, or just better-defended. Probably one of the best parts of the course.
The baskets: Nice disc catchers. The blue stripes were eye-catching.
Teeboxes: Nice and big with various angles
Elevation change (good): The park is on a hillside and the first several holes play around a craggy ridge. There are some interesting fairways and some well-guarded baskets.
Clean, Well-manicured: This was an objectively pretty course. Always a treat.

Cons:

Elevation change (bad): A couple holes are just "throw up the big hill."
Lacking "wow factor": You might roll your eyes at this, but nothing was incredible. Nothing was awful either! But I never went "Wow. What a hole." The best part of the course was easily how the baskets were guarded. I've never seen a course where that was the highlight. The course felt… surgical? Not sure how to describe it.
Par 3.5's: I felt like some holes were between a par 3 and 4. Either a tremendous amount of luck–such as accidentally getting through a tiny gap or hitting a 75 foot putt/approach–would give you a birdie, but more likely it's going to be a comfortable 3. Granted, some of this could be alleviated by moving teeboxes.
Absurd lines: Some holes had some, frankly, impossible lines. One hole map depicted the ideal route as a high speed turn, fade left, with a sharp finish right. Uh… Hole 18 was laughable in its difficulty. I just think a good course is one where every hole is one that rewards good throws–not lucky ones–with birdie opportunities.
Lots of blind throws: I get that sometimes a blind throw provides a neat hole experience, but I don't think it's reasonable to have to walk the entire hole to know where you're going. There were also a couple of safety problems with this as well. A speedy player caught up behind me, and there was a close call. One hole does have a bell, but there were at least 4 or 5 that could use a similar safety feature.
Navigation: Other people have said this, but the course really was tricky to navigate. The cell service is spotty to essentially non-existent, so that makes things tricky. The baskets themselves aren't numbered, and with two baskets per hole, sometimes it wasn't clear where I was headed.
Popularity: With an overblown rating (see my note below), this course was busy, even for a blustery spring day. Beware of big, slow groups and ignorant newbies cluttering up the fairways.

Other Thoughts:

I always ask myself the question: What kind of player would I be if this were my home course, played more or less weekly? The answer is a pretty good one! I'd have a solid distance drive, complete with skills at throwing uphill and downhill. With the baskets guarded how they are, I might be a shade conservative with my putting if too many of my putts were errant and rolled off down a hill. My approaches game would be weaker than average since most of the holes are either drive-to-the-basket or drive-twice-to-the-basket. I didn't sling a lot of buzzes or rocs off the tee. (I played short boxes to long baskets. Maybe it would be different short-to-short?)

No doubt about it, this is a good course. With 2 more courses within spitting distance, this is well worth your time to visit. However, do not be misled by the 28 perfect, 5-star reviews. If you've never reviewed a course on this site, 5 stars is labeled as "the best of the best." No way. This isn't Netflix circa 2010, people. You can't just dole out 5 stars like they're candy. People make special trips to play courses, so overrated courses are frustrating. Thankfully, there were the two other courses, both of which were solid as well. I would recommend playing at least two of the three if you come up. Make sure you hit up the pie shop, "Shannon's Eyes on the Pies," for some out-of-this-world pie. Key Lime was as good as it is in the Keys, and the Shepherds pie was plate-licking good. Not sure if Shannon herself helped me, but the woman who did was a total sweetheart.
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4 9
MEmond
Experience: 8 played 6 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Very Nice Course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:May 29, 2021 Played the course:once

Pros:

It's a very good course but I'd stop short of calling it excellent. The pros is that it has plenty of parking and that there are 2 tee boxes and baskets on most holes for the more advanced players.

Cons:

It's not always clear where the next hole is. The ultra high course rating also means you can expect a very busy course at peak times. There wasn't anything about this course I found particularly interesting or impressive. It was just a standard solid course in my opinion.
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2 8
slippingdiscs
Experience: 27 played 27 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Many different configurations 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Apr 27, 2019 Played the course:once

Pros:

Scenic course
Different types of landscape throughout course
Different pad to basket configurations (short to short, short to long, etc.)
Close to another course, Wolfe Woods
Bathrooms

Cons:

Crowded
Not easy finding some of the next tees

Other Thoughts:

This course might be a "4" but I rate it compared to other courses I've played. As a fairly new player, this course has many possibilities to make par. We played on a windy day so with the many open, long holes, it was a bit challenging. I plan to go back and try it again. Hole 11 has a creek - fun but frustrating too. Simple "next tee" signs would be helpful.
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1 13
EWSdiscgolf
Experience: 10.7 years 89 played 28 reviews
3.50 star(s)

I love this! 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Sep 22, 2013 Played the course:once

Pros:

It was great! Two baskets, two tees? I've never been to a course as good as this!
It was very well marked. The silver to silver was for beginners, silver to blue or blue to silver was intermediate, and blue to blue was for advanced disc golfers.

Cons:

Not many. Some places were marked out of bounds that shouldn't have, but I let that go.
Some holes on the silver to silver are a little bit short, too.

Other Thoughts:

They should make more courses around here like this. This places was awesome!
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3 8
StringPeachIncident
Experience: 18.8 years 26 played 23 reviews
3.50 star(s)

They call me Tatter Salad 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Apr 12, 2010 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

*Multitude of different shots and distances to choose from
*Very well maintained and groomed
*Clear signs and nice concrete tee boxes
*Good use of land and lumps
*Requires distance and finesse

Cons:

*Some basket overlap eachother when going for the far pins
*Fileds can be crowded, aswell as the course itself

Other Thoughts:

It starts out kind of slow with the first hole, but then makes up for it right away with some sick shots down through pine trees and then back up to a nice little perched pin on a hill. works its way through more woods and back out arond fields giving a nice mixture of shots and challenges. all in all a very good course and much respect to the guys who maintain this course because it looks great.
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5 3
Taino
Experience: 14.8 years 21 played 14 reviews
3.50 star(s)

A great venue... but... 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Apr 1, 2010 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Excellent facilities: groomed fairways, baskets in great shape, tees sturdy, helpful signs at all tees with distance to baskets, four (!!!!!!) different possible layouts, all concrete tee pads. Very challenging, requiring every shot in your arsenal. Entrance is free!

Cons:

Tee pads were too short. No signage at all from hole to hole. No maps or scorecards. Fairways can be considered crowded together, particularly the ones in the open. Fairways can be busy with families.

Other Thoughts:

The venue is well-tended; fairways are clear, grounds are mowed, and the course(s) layout makes fantastic use of existing terrain including a stream that cuts through hole 11. I've only played a few parks that have either alternate tees or alternate baskets; Warwick has both, undoubtedly leading to some truly epic outings.

Unfortunately, there are a couple things about it that might seem like I'm nitpicking, but they really did factor in my enjoyment.

First and foremost: the tee pads are at least a step too short for me, and surprisingly enough the short sizing appears to be random. Some of the tees are longer, some are shorter, and there appears to be no rhyme or reason as to why. Still, I regularly found myself stumbling off the front of the tee on my first round (silver/silver), and was forced to start my X-step approach on the grass behind the raised concrete for the rest of my time there (blue/silver). Now, I don't have an exceptionally long X-step - three steps total - but I was forced to drastically change my tee shots to compensate for the short tees. Perhaps that will make me a better golfer, but it was annoying as hell at an otherwise excellent venue.

Updated to say: I went to two other courses in the Westchester area since playing at Warwick, and the tees at Warwick are definitely shorter than usual; I wasn't just imagining it. *sigh* It's a shame, really... I mean, the 18th hole has a 900+ foot option. With a short tee, it's a pain to drive effectively.

Updated again to say that I don't particularly want to play here again. The short tees have managed to injure me, and I've had it with this place.

I managed to find my way with a printed map from this site, but without that map I would have been hopelessly lost. There are absolutely no signs pointing to the next tee. On the back nine it's not so difficult to figure, but the front nine is tricky. Throw in the multiple baskets and multiple tees, and it got very confusing.

The fairways on the back nine all go back and forth, and are sandwiched in practically on top of each other. While you likely aren't in any danger, I had two close calls from someone driving off a tee nearby (front nine) and having their disc take a wild bounce, and nearly hit someone else whom I couldn't even see (hole 10).

Lastly, a couple of the holes are located right near 1) a soccer pitch, and 2) a kid's playground. On my second round, I couldn't use the blue tee on 17 due to a soccer practice and family camped out on it, and the blue tee on 16 is entirely too close to the playground for my comfort.

Thanks for the negative review. Makes my day when I'm honest, and someone shits on that honesty.
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