Bettendorf, IA

Devil's Glen - Old Layout

3.085(based on 13 reviews)
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6 1
mashnut
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 22.2 years 831 played 777 reviews
2.50 star(s)

Fun and tough 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Apr 10, 2010 Played the course:once

Pros:

The course plays through a multi-use park with lots of nice elevation changes that are used well on many holes to add some challenge and interest with some nice downhill shots and some tough uphill holes. Some of the park plays through mature trees with grassy fairways, some plays through denser woods with thick underbrush, and a couple holes play along the river for some nice risky shots out over the water.

There is pretty good variety here with some shorter ace run holes and some with some pretty good distance, especially with multiple pin placements that often change the hole quite a bit. The holes force a decent variety of left and right turning shots throughout the course, and it felt pretty balanced for a righty or a lefty.

The signs that were still there were great with hole layout and distance, with a marker for the current pin position. The baskets were in good shape and caught well.

Cons:

The course felt neglected. The wooded holes had brush fallen on the fairways, and definitely needed some clearing and cleaning up. Many of the signs were broken or missing.

The tees were temporary rubber ones just laid on the ground, so many were not level or smooth. It looked like preparations were in place for concrete tees, that will make a big difference, but at the time the wooden forms were in the way of many tees. The navigation was a little bit tricky in spots, especially without signs to see from a distance on many holes.

Other Thoughts:

This is another nice little course in the quad cities area that's worth a stop if you're in the area, but don't go out of your way for this one especially instead of one of the many better courses in the area. It's a little tough for beginners, especially the rough holes in the woods. More experienced players will find some good challenges here, and some nice risk-reward holes by the river.
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8 1
xsjunkie
Experience: 14.8 years 31 played 15 reviews
2.50 star(s)

Awesome 12 Holer! 2+ years drive by

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

Pros:

-Great picnic area with shelter and grills
-Great Smallmouth fishing if you're into that. I watched a guy land a decent fish while playing #3
-This course offers some of everything, ob, tight fairways, woods, hills, water, and some fairly open shots
-Great signage
-Every hole has 3 possible pin placements
-Pin placements are color coded and there's a washer hanging on the post by the tee pad telling you which placement is being used
-soon will have concrete tee pads

Cons:

-worn rubber tee pads (forms are in place and it looks like tee pads will soon be concrete)
-there is quite a bit of fallen timber in the woods portion and some brush piles. Could be cleaned up a little bit
-Some signs are missing
-An errant shot could hit a pedestrian, aim carefully

Other Thoughts:

This is a great course. I wondered if it would ever be expanded, but not sure there's room. My favorite holes are #2, #3, #4 and #10. Something about a good hyzer, the water, the scenery and a tight wooded fairway that make those stand out. Come play the Duck Creek courses, it makes for a great day. Besides, even if you have a bad golf day, that's better than a good day at work!
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5 2
bygwyllay
Silver level trusted reviewer
Experience: 17 years 93 played 78 reviews
2.50 star(s)

dastardly 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 20, 2009 Played the course:once

Pros:

first off, the signage is badass. the graphic for each one has a devil coming out of a chainstar holding some discs, and his earrings say "Q" and "C" for quad cities. fukken sweet. holes are layed out nicely, a few against the bank of duck creek, a few going through some woods. elevation definitely comes into play as with any of the QC courses.

Cons:

only twelve holes. holes along the river are dangerous; if your disc hits the drink, it's done for. no fishing it out. R.I.P. Star Boss. so that's 14 bucks i have to spend again. some of the signs were ripped down, which was a shame. course guide signs would have been nice; i had some trouble finding some tees, but in the end it made sense where they were.

Other Thoughts:

hard to give this one more than 2.5. I dunno; the other courses in the area are just better. there's nothing really wrong with Devil's Glen. it is a tough course, and i played well on it, but it didn't grab me like Middle Park or Eastern Avenue. I met some locals out there and we played the round together. Zach, Nick, and Eric: this Keystone Light is for you!
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10 1
hognosesucker
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 25 years 443 played 87 reviews
2.50 star(s)

A hair short of being a good course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 4, 2009 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

Lots of pros here
-park has good amenities i.e. shelters w/elec., good bathrooms, drinking fountains, ample parking for the little bit of traffic the course receives.

-three pin placements per hole really diversify the types of shots thrown...shorts are pretty easy, some of the longs are crazy hard. Pin placements are all layed out on the excellent sweet signs and the current pin location is marked with a washer on the sign post...really cool setup.

-good use of elevation and natural settings- hole 2 is a short downhill, 3 and 4 play along duck creek to the players left, watch out rightys :), 5 starts at the bottom of the hill and plays over the crest and down, 6 and 8 play down and up a ravine 7,9,10 are tight woods shots, 11,12 are placement shots, so to say this course is relatively flat is not correct. It has good elevation changes.

Cons:

A LOT of O.B. 1,2,3,4,11 and 12 all have it. I don't mind O.B. but on some of the holes the difference between a good shot and an OB shot is several feet. Also on 2,3, and 4 the bike path that runs along the creek is in play so BE CAREFUL, especially on 3, and 4 where you have OB creek on the left and OB bike path on the right. Errant shots can be dangerous for pedestrians.

-Tee pads are rubber flypads. When threy are wet they are dangerous. Many of them are torn up or uneven and very short. They need to be replaced and reset.

-The layout in the woods can get a little hairy...lots of nettles and I don't think the stuff is usually kept short even in the fairways, although some of it was when I was there for a tourney. I have no problem with nasty vegetation in the rough , it is disc golf after all, but not in the fairways.

-Layout can be hard to follow in some places. No arrows between baskets and tees. 2-3, 4-5, 5-69-10 could all be a problem, but I just looked for the cool signs the first time I played the course

Other Thoughts:

Really nice 12 hole park, one of three dg courses along the same creek (see Middle Park and Eastern Ave.) I would say this falls into the middle of the QCA DG courses there are quite a few better courses and quite a few worse courses. But if you have time after playing the signature courses (West Lake, Camden 1 & 2, Middle) and you are in Bettendorf it'd be worth your while. Just be prepared to be frustrated by discs in the creek and nettles irritating your skin.
I feel like this course could deserve a better rating because it is challenging, especially in the longs, but the cons outweighed the pros for me at least, it could easily be rated a 3.0 though for some people.
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