Pros:
The first thing you'll notice about Calvary Chapel's disc golf course is the large sign out on highway 101 reading "Public Disc Golf Course." Pretty welcoming, I'd say.
The course plays around the church in Sequim, up on highway 101 on the Olympic Peninsula. Sequim, in some kind of a geographic anomaly, sits in a sun belt on the rain forest, (heavy on the rain) part of Washington state. For some reason, known only to weather forecasters, Sequim recieves far less rainfall than the neighboring cities.
The church's property is a fairly tight fit between the highway and the property surrounding it giving the course tight out of bounds on most holes. The terrain is flat grassland with just enough scattered medium sized (20 feet tall) mostly pine trees to add to the difficulty. The course is long enough to be difficult with only # 2 playing under 275'. # 6 is listed as a Par 4 and plays an estimated 600'.
The pads are natural and a few are getting fairly rough and uneven. The signs are homemade and basic giving the hole # and par. I'd like to see the distance on them. The baskets are a pretty fair homemade copy of the real thing. They're made of all thinner guage materials. They stand a few inches taller and although they're double chained, they don't have the offical number of chains. I'm sure they'll spit a few putts out. They wouldn't stand up to the vandals in a public setting but here on church property, I think they'll be just fine. They also have the hole number cut out of the metal plate on the top.
The length along with the tight OB's make this course challenging. 1-7 play along the front (Highway) side of the church. Then # 8 plays along the back of the church and # 9 plays along the street right in front of the church and ends right at the # 1 teepad.
# 9 was my favorite hole. It's probable 275' but you're teeing off from a slightly elevated box. The basket sits just underneath a Weeping Willow tree with OB close on the left, a parking lot OB on the right and a wetland area right and front of the basket.
There's no room for error on your tee shot here.
Cons:
The natural teepads are rough in places and will only get worse with more play. Replacing them with patio blocks would be great! The baskets are kind of strange looking. They're not vandal proof. I'm sure they won't catch as well as regular ones but.......I bet the church saved a few platefuls of offering coin by fabricating their own.
The course is pretty tough! I could play this course a lot and never par it. I know, I suck! But, what I'm saying is, This is no easy Pitch and Putt! But I wonder about the church youth groups or beginner types playing this course. It's really designed with their skill level in mind.
Other Thoughts:
I don't know how much of a disc golf community there is up here on the peninsula. There is a course in Port Angeles, just a few miles up the highway, and one not so far down the highway south in Chimacum so maybe the sport is gaining in popularity up here too. I hope so.