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Eastham-Thomason Park reviews
4
0
harr0140
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience:
15.4 years
1508 played
480 reviews
Huntsville 57 sauce (I have no idea what that means) 2+ years
Reviewed:
Played on:Jan 9, 2011
Played the course:once
Pros:
1) Rubber teepads were a lot better than throwing from dirt, although we played after a pretty good day of rain so they were slick in some spots. Better than turf/dirt, but not as good as concrete raised up a couple inches from grade. The rubber was grippy but also a little lumpy in spots, and some spots had settled slightly. All in all a plus but they could have been better.
2) Practice basket available before the first tee and it is also labelled so as to not confuse it with another hole.
3) Big sign at the entrance mapping out the course. Holes numbered, distance marked, and a pretty good map of the park and all of the holes. Rules and safety are also listed on the sign which is customary with a lot of these nicer disc golf signs.
4) Beginner friendly course for the most part, but the distance on a couple holes will challenge beginners.
5) Posts mark each tee also have the Hole # on them along with Par. That is a helpful tool for navigation for first timers.
6) Water is visible although not really in play unless you really miss your line or get a horrible kick off a tree. You can play as safe as you want to avoid the rushing river. It looks like the banks of the river had been clear cut, perhaps they were overgrown but they have been trimmed down now.
7) Chainstar baskets and I think there were a couple homemade baskets or perhaps they were all homemade but copied after the Chainstar's. Sorry but my memory is bad when I play 42 courses in 17 days. Writing stuff down is crucial to me writing these reviews, but I didn't clearly explain it on m pad of paper.
8) This course has a decent variety from mostly open to some tighter technical shots as well as a few through some small little gaps. All in all it will present a challenge to most players, but top level players should be able to eat this course for dinner.
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2) Practice basket available before the first tee and it is also labelled so as to not confuse it with another hole.
3) Big sign at the entrance mapping out the course. Holes numbered, distance marked, and a pretty good map of the park and all of the holes. Rules and safety are also listed on the sign which is customary with a lot of these nicer disc golf signs.
4) Beginner friendly course for the most part, but the distance on a couple holes will challenge beginners.
5) Posts mark each tee also have the Hole # on them along with Par. That is a helpful tool for navigation for first timers.
6) Water is visible although not really in play unless you really miss your line or get a horrible kick off a tree. You can play as safe as you want to avoid the rushing river. It looks like the banks of the river had been clear cut, perhaps they were overgrown but they have been trimmed down now.
7) Chainstar baskets and I think there were a couple homemade baskets or perhaps they were all homemade but copied after the Chainstar's. Sorry but my memory is bad when I play 42 courses in 17 days. Writing stuff down is crucial to me writing these reviews, but I didn't clearly explain it on m pad of paper.
8) This course has a decent variety from mostly open to some tighter technical shots as well as a few through some small little gaps. All in all it will present a challenge to most players, but top level players should be able to eat this course for dinner.
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Cons:
1) Rubber mats as I said are better than turf/dirt but they are lumpy and there are hollow spots that collect water and mud. Since the ground around the tees is beat down and very spotty turf the fine soils settle on top of the tees. That was the problem for us today because it had rained heavily the entire morning before we arrived. There wet muddy puddles all over the rubber mats. Someone needs to come up with a way to mount the mats above grade on some sort of hard surface.
2) All in all the turf on this course is thin, I know it is the dormant time of the year but it sure would be nice if you didn't have to worry about thin muddy spots all over the place. I guess that is just the issue with plaing in the "transition zone" where you have warm season grasses that thrive in summer but the cold season grasses get crowded out. Without overseeding, this will not be resolved until someone comes up with a turf that works in both season. Sorry turf professional speaking here, that probably makes no sense to anyone else.
3) A couple of the basket locations are pretty cool. While #2 is pretty straight open boring hole,t he basket is perched pretty close to the edge of the bank that goes down to the raging river. It makes for an interesting approach. #3 has the basket perched pretty close to the edge also and you really could throw a big anhyzer on that hole where you are over water a good portion of the flight. It is the best angle to come in but the risk is high with stalling out and ending up in the creek. #4 is also a pretty cool basket location because it is tucked into the edge of the woods and it has a downed limb behind it. That can act as a backstop but if you miss and you overshoot the limb you are looking at a pretty good obstacle because it is lying sideways across your putting lane. I like it.
4) There are also a couple of good lanes on the next few holes. Hole #5 has a nice little throw across a path with a pretty small gap to hit. The trees are about halfway up the fairway so if you hit something you are left with a pretty decent distance approach still forcing accuracy to be the most important part of this hole. Hole #6 is a good tight little fairway near the tee that opens up slightly as you get closer to the basket. I really enjoyed that throw. Hole #7 is also a pretty decent little lane because you have the option to throw a high hyzer to try and get it close to the basket. There really isn't much of a low flat throw to the basket you almost need to elevate the shot to get it to dig right intot he small fairway. There are clumps of trees that really guard the basket. All in all pretty creative little holes for this fairly plain park.
5) #8 is kindof a silly hole. I assume that the open field is considered a mando to stay out of there, but it is almost undefinable where the mando actually is. There are a lot of young trees out there so I assume they want us to throw around all of those trees but it is just not obvious.
6) #9 is also a little goofy hole because it comes very close to playing through Hole #4 fairway. I don't like holes that pass so close together especially when they come in at different angles, that is when people get hit without even seeing anything coming.
7) The posts marking the tees are actually in a really bad spot. I never like to see posts at the end of the tee especially on the left side. That is where most people are throwing from that front left corner of the tee and I would be afraid someone might follow through right into the posts.
8) The course is a little segmented because you need to walk all the way around the river after hole #3. Perhaps a bridge could be put it, if you wanted you might be able to shimmy across the watermain pipe that is visible but I do not recommend it.
9) The holes also cross a walkpath once or twice which could be an issue if it is busy.
2) All in all the turf on this course is thin, I know it is the dormant time of the year but it sure would be nice if you didn't have to worry about thin muddy spots all over the place. I guess that is just the issue with plaing in the "transition zone" where you have warm season grasses that thrive in summer but the cold season grasses get crowded out. Without overseeding, this will not be resolved until someone comes up with a turf that works in both season. Sorry turf professional speaking here, that probably makes no sense to anyone else.
3) A couple of the basket locations are pretty cool. While #2 is pretty straight open boring hole,t he basket is perched pretty close to the edge of the bank that goes down to the raging river. It makes for an interesting approach. #3 has the basket perched pretty close to the edge also and you really could throw a big anhyzer on that hole where you are over water a good portion of the flight. It is the best angle to come in but the risk is high with stalling out and ending up in the creek. #4 is also a pretty cool basket location because it is tucked into the edge of the woods and it has a downed limb behind it. That can act as a backstop but if you miss and you overshoot the limb you are looking at a pretty good obstacle because it is lying sideways across your putting lane. I like it.
4) There are also a couple of good lanes on the next few holes. Hole #5 has a nice little throw across a path with a pretty small gap to hit. The trees are about halfway up the fairway so if you hit something you are left with a pretty decent distance approach still forcing accuracy to be the most important part of this hole. Hole #6 is a good tight little fairway near the tee that opens up slightly as you get closer to the basket. I really enjoyed that throw. Hole #7 is also a pretty decent little lane because you have the option to throw a high hyzer to try and get it close to the basket. There really isn't much of a low flat throw to the basket you almost need to elevate the shot to get it to dig right intot he small fairway. There are clumps of trees that really guard the basket. All in all pretty creative little holes for this fairly plain park.
5) #8 is kindof a silly hole. I assume that the open field is considered a mando to stay out of there, but it is almost undefinable where the mando actually is. There are a lot of young trees out there so I assume they want us to throw around all of those trees but it is just not obvious.
6) #9 is also a little goofy hole because it comes very close to playing through Hole #4 fairway. I don't like holes that pass so close together especially when they come in at different angles, that is when people get hit without even seeing anything coming.
7) The posts marking the tees are actually in a really bad spot. I never like to see posts at the end of the tee especially on the left side. That is where most people are throwing from that front left corner of the tee and I would be afraid someone might follow through right into the posts.
8) The course is a little segmented because you need to walk all the way around the river after hole #3. Perhaps a bridge could be put it, if you wanted you might be able to shimmy across the watermain pipe that is visible but I do not recommend it.
9) The holes also cross a walkpath once or twice which could be an issue if it is busy.
Other Thoughts:
Not a bad little course here in Huntsville. We had some spare time before the Texas Prison Museum opened and the rain let off just as we arrived so we got in a quick round here. There are some cool redeeming holes out there, but there are also a few maintenance issues and amenities that leave a little to be desired. I would say this is average, but I cannot downgrade it that much because of how many cool unique holes and shots there are. I am giving it a 3 but it really deserves about a 2.75. I just cannot group it in with all the other 2.5's I have rated.
