This little track is one of the style of 9 hole courses I believe every town should have. Quick playing, interesting and a great place to both learn the game or unwind after a long day.

It's near the back of this little park near a middle school that has many people using the walking path and a busy playground. Most of the holes have two teepads the longer blue and shorter red pads, the pads are all pavers, but well put together and pretty grippy. The shorter pads are generally pretty accessible for lower powered players with the distances being in between 160-250 and though it's generally wooded the short tees cut off a decent portion of the more challenging shot shapes.

From the longs it stretches to 250-400 and brings in more unique shot shapes and challenges that can make it difficult to score even for a more advanced player. There are so many tight trees that you could throw the perfect shot and clip a branch and take a 3 instead of the birdie your shot may have deserved.

Good signs and bag hangers on every hole, and many holes have benches as well. They also have directions to the next hole after many of them as well.

Decently hilly and some good use of the hill and valley in the middle of the course. For a small property it works very well, there are no safety concerns.

Baskets are Mach Vs I think and I'm pretty decent shape.

It's fairly simple and straightforward but the design is good enough I can't knock the hole design much. The main issue is most of it is around a creek/swamp that is super wet and terrible right now. I don't even know how dry the green of 3/4 and 7 could ever be and the walk down hole 8 is basically under water currently.

I also would have loved to see a basket with some color on it for a wooded track like this because you can lose them on several holes.

The one safety concern is hole 2 and 9 cross super close to each other and you could potentially get a disc into the adjacent fairway even on a half decent shot.

Fun little spot to get a round in and I would be interested in seeing what it looks like dry.

1. Signs have par and distance along with bag holders.
2. Blue and White Tees
3. Tees are easy to spot
4. Trashcans
5. Shaded

1. Bugs
2. These trees are heavily traveled so navigation from hole to hole can be tough.
3. Saw a copperhead when we played
4. Baskets are hard to spot

This course is a great one for beginners. I personally felt like the pars where too high except for hole 9. I enjoyed this course but I would not play it again in the summer without bug spray. For a quick 9 round I would recommend this course.

Actual baskets are always a plus, solid lanes, water hazards, decent elevation change, marked tees complete with bag hangars, trash cans on site. Also, this is a great beginner course as it is short, entertaining, and it flows really well. It's very easy to follow, and it has some solid elevation change for such a short course.

Graffiti and natural tees are about the only downside. The graffiti doesn't bother me but, if you play with kids, there are a number of trees painted with giant dicks. As for the natural tees, they are especially bad for two reasons. A) There are roots grown up through them that require that you watch carefully on the run up. B) Some of the tees are situated so you can't run up. For example, one of the holes has the tee markers, and the box is literally like four feet deep and backs up to a bench, so you really have no room to work with.

All in all, this is an entertaining course, great for beginners. You won't really find a chance to open your arm up if you're a big driver, but it's a GREAT warmup course for Bryan or Gillies. Also, it's laid out well enough that it's easy to follow, and beginners do well here, as the holes aren't terribly long. This course is also a great place to practice placement, as some of the holes do require precision. The water hazard is entertaining...it's deep enough to be there, but not so deep that it swallows discs, and the creek definitely adds character to the course. The course was also quiet, and very clean. If you're in Richmond, Gillies, Bryan and Dorey are where it's at, but this is worth a quick trip if you want to warm up or strictly work on placement. As someone else mentioned, it's like playing putt-putt.

The course is short but makes great use of the space given it. Many of the shots weave in and out of a tiny creek making for some challenging shots and approaches at times. The fairways are pretty wide open for the most part with the trees thinned nicely.

The course does not offer a variety of shots as most holes are fairly straight from tee to basket.
The tees are just little blocks of wood on the ground, with many missing or in disrepair.
The tee posts are just that...a 4x4 in the ground. Some of the posts have the tee number on them, some don't. some have the par number, some don't. Some have the distance to the hole on them, some don't. Most baskets you can see from the tee, which is a good thing because you are given no signs or diagrams for direction.

Overall, this course would be good if it was just better maintained and if better tee posts were put in. I took a friend who was new to the sport, and so it was a good introduction and place for him to practice different shots. However, this is not a course I plan on revisiting.

-dual tees on 2, 4, 5, 8, 9
-the creek comes into play on 75% of the course
-hole 7, short but the almost the entire fairway is over the creek and the basket sits right at the creeks edge
-quick and fun
-used to be 18, and all the holes are from the original course
-easy to follow and bright blue signs at ever tee so they are easy to see

-closed during school hours because it is sometimes used for the middle school gym classes
-easy to lose discs under leaves because they never get raked anywhere, so watch your flight paths
-some tees (like 2 long) force you to awkwardly take your run-up around roots that stick out of the ground
-8's fairway and the area immediately in front of 9's tee get VERY muddy after it rains
-no distances or maps on tee signs

Dunncroft used to be 18, so what you're playing are the holes that were left over after they built the new middle school. It is one of the most legit 9 hole courses I've ever played due to the fact that it used to be a full course.

I wish that I'd been able to play this course when it was 18 because I've heard it was amazing. If you're looking for a challenging course for your over your lunch break, then Dunncroft is the choice.

There are bathrooms (clean), water fountain, playground, and a picnic pavilion by the parking lot.

Bag hangers on the tee posts.
A decent amount of benches (I want to say 5 out of 9 tees had a bench)
Orange center poles on the baskets make them easy to spot.
Holes range from 110' - 510'
Heavily wooded course. Good place to work on accuracy, if not on distance.
Course loops around on itself, so the 9th brings you right back to the beginning.

Not enough trash cans. Needs some clean-up. I wouldn't say the place is trashed, but an obviously abandoned bike laying by a tree around the 3rd or 4th hole sticks in my mind.

Natural Tees.
It's only 9 holes.
Tee posts let you know where you are, but not where you're going. There are very few distance markers, and no maps. The 8th tee was hard to find (see course info for directions to 8 & 9).

Theoretically there are blue and white tees - most markers were in the same spot. White tee markers for 3 and 9 were non-existent (or at least we couldn't find them)

The creek winds throughout the course and comes into play on many holes. Bridges are provided. But don't worry about losing a disc in the water. Even after a week and a half of steady rain it's not that deep. It's not that pretty, but it's not that deep.

At only 9 holes this course is a tease. It's over before you know it, and leaves you wanting more.
If I lived closer I would probably play this course more often, but nothing about it is so phenomenal to make a special trip. But if you're going to a concert at Innsbrook Pavilion (about 10 minutes away - if that) plan a little extra time to throw a quick round at this cute course.

The first noticeable pro to this course is that its in a nice neighborhood. The soccer field provides a nice place to throw a few practice drives, so long as there isn't a game going on. The baskets (and many hazards) are marked with orange paint, which makes them a little easier to find. The course is very wooded, with some holes requiring specialty shots that you don't usually have to throw at other area courses (Bryan, Gillies). There are several tight tunnel shots for added difficulty. Playing over the stream is nice, as are the changes in elevation - all but 1 or 2 of the holes play either uphill or downhill.

While playing in the woods has it's advantages, this course is a bit much. The fairways are hardly fairways at all - more like paths through the woods. Holes like this can be fun to play but some variation would make for a more enjoyable game. Playing here will improve your short game for sure, but you will be hitting a lot of trees. The course was also quite muddy - it would be best to wait a few days after a heavy rain.

Not a bad park. I'm sure I'll play here again, but mostly because it's not too far out of the city. All things considered, though, if you want to play at a nice wooded course it is worth it to make the longer drive out to Dorey where the holes are more varied and you can play a full 18.

UPDATE (4/12/09): I have been back to this park several times since writing this review, and today was the best experience I've had. Even just yesterday it was very muddy, but it has since dried out and I found it much more enjoyable. Having become familiar with the holes helps as well - this course is really great for your short game. There actually are some chances to rip long drives, provided you can make it around the many obstacles. Playing here more has really improved my drive placement, and my scores here are much better now!

Initial Rating: 1.5
New Rating: 2.5

Interesting holes around and over the stream, benches and places to hang your bag at most holes, pro and am tee pads, nice paver tees.

Only nine holes, all in the woods.

You have to cross a wide field to get to the first hole at Dunncroft-Castlepoint, so it's a good idea to warm up by flinging your long range drivers from the parking lot to the first tee. You won't get any more looks at a truly open, let 'em fly shot at this nature trail style course.

That caveat aside, however, the course at Dunncroft-Castlepoint (DC) is an interesting little course that has improved greatly over the years. Once a very tight, very challenging woods course, the current course is only nine holes, entirely in the woods, but mostly reasonable in its challenges and making good use of the natural landscape. Only the first hole is overly wooded, but it's also very short; after that control is still key, but the fairways are well defined and realistic. The course plays around a good stream, and four or five of the holes are made more interesting by the stream. In addition, the course plays downhill (to the stream), uphill (away from the stream), and has a couple of flat holes (along the stream). Finally, DC now features nice tee pads and short and long tees for eight of the nine holes. So in reality, if you have the control, you can break out the long range drivers for the long version of a few holes. Veer off course and you may suffer, however. DC is still an unforgiving course.

Overall, Dunncroft-Castlepoint is still a course for if you need some practice or a change of pace. The short tees are good for beginners to intermediate; the longs are more intermediate to advanced. The course demands control throughout, features a decent bit of up and down, and the stream and the holes incorporating the stream are certainly unique to the area. The course scores well for amenities and playability and is well worth checking out.

Favorite Hole - #7 - straight shot down narrow alley crossing bends in the stream for most of fairway.