Pros:
Eagle Landing is a long and open nine-hole course. It's designed on an old golf course, with water hazards, sand traps and putting greens still visible, and in play.
- The course is pretty straight forward: it follows the old golf/walking path and is mostly long and mostly open. Unlike most courses in the region, big arms actually have a chance to air it out here.
- Good use of limited obstacles throughout the layout. Baskets are placed near/behind trees (best example is #1), or behind water hazards/ponds (#2 & 8). #2 is a fun hole especially that makes players either go for the basket, or lay up short of the water. The first time I played this hole, my tee shot sailed left. Without a water hazard, I could have been aggressive, and maybe ended up 40 - 60 feet from the hole. With water, I knew my disc would probably end up wet, so I had to lay up short, essentially wasting a stroke. The water clearly played a factor, punishing me for a poorly placed tee shot.
- The designers did a good job incorporating the old course's putting greens into the layout. Several holes have baskets on the old putting greens (#2, 3, 7 & 9). It gives the psychological feel of actually putting, or having an approach shot land on the green. We often have a vague concept of 'putting greens' in disc golf, so it's cool to see actual greens when putting.
- There are some good risk/reward holes here. The water holes are the most two obvious examples of this. On #8, from the long tees, you either have to play a dogleg right shot to avoid the water, or throw over the water, and play it as a dogleg left. The same water hazard comes into play on #2 & 8, and talking to the main course designer, he said plenty of discs have already been retrieved from this hazard. The course hadn't officially been opened yet, and already people were paying the price for being too aggressive. #3 is another good risk/reward hole, with a separate hazard coming into play.
-Great practice course. You can use some of the longer open holes (#4, 7 & 9) to practice throwing. You can use some of the 'putting green' baskets to practice short approach shots. *The old 'putting greens' have golf course dynamics that aren't seen in disc golf greens - mainly having more elevation variety than a standard, flat disc golf green area.* And you can practice shots over water by going back and forth to #2 & 8's baskets.
Cons:
This course is still considered a work in progress, so some issues are still temporary.
- Signage could be improved, even things as simple as where to park. Driving into the neighborhood, I first saw the old golf course clubhouse and it's parking lot, figuring that's where I needed to park. No baskets in sight. I drove a little further and saw a basket, but no parking spots. I drove a little further; saw another basket, but still no signage. It ended up taking a little time to figure out which side was the first hole versus the middle of the course. Once I did, it was pretty straight forward.
- One other suggestion was to have signage markers to water hazards and greens. When you're throwing on wide open holes, depth perception can be an issue. Knowing the basket is 300 feet versus 250 feet, especially when throwing over water, is greatly appreciated.
- This course is somewhat spread out. You cross the road twice - going from #4 to 5 and then from #7 back to 8 - so there's more walking than most nine holers.
- Some people are going to think the course is too repetitive and not enough challenge. From the long tees, there are no holes less than 300 feet, and only three less than 300 from the short tees. If you don't have a big arm, you might not enjoy open holes that are more than 700 feet.
Other Thoughts:
This course was much better than I expected. It's the best addition to the Charleston disc golf scene in a while.
- There's a definite feel of Trophy Lakes here, especially with the water holes. If only this was 18 holes, it would easily be the second best course in the area, behind TL.
- Talking to the course designer, there are talks of adding holes. One idea is a separate, very short (think pitch-n-putt) nine hole course for kids and beginners. Another is trying to find a way to make this 18, without a dramatic drop-off in quality with additional holes. Still, at the point, enjoy the nine holes that are here.
- The course is 10 minutes from Park Circle, so you can get a solid one-two punch in one afternoon. This is the longer version of Park Circle with fewer streets to cross.
- It's great Charleston keeps adding courses; it would just be nice if some would be 18 holes instead of nine. That said, it's one of the best nine-hole course I've played anywhere. After Trophy Lakes, this is probably as much of a 'must play' as there is in the Charleston region.