F. Burton Smith Park reviews
4
0
Worth a visit if it's dry, bring a spotter 2+ years drive by
Reviewed:
Updated:
Played on:Mar 12, 2009
Played the course:2-4 times
Pros:
Pretty, natural-setting Florida park. Covered pavilions with grills and a small playground for the kids. Close to the beach, for travelers. Course provides a good challenge for white/blue level players. It requires players to be able to shape shots in a variety of ways. It also provides some decision-making opportunities, particularly when deciding between tighter lower routes and throwing over the top, but putting the disc up into gusting/swirling winds. Allows players a few opportunities to air it out.
Cons:
First, and probably most importantly: this course is a bit of a jeckle and hyde, depending upon how much it has rained recently.
Much of the course can become very soggy/swampy following recent rains. Some of the holes on the front nine become nearly impassible with lots of standing water. It is a much more pleasurable experienced to play F. Burton when the ground is dry.
The routing of the holes is flawed in a number of instances. Right out of the box: Tee #2 is visible from the parking lot, but tee #1 is not. After searching around and playing hole #1, players must walk directly in front of tee #10 to get to tee #2. (head scratcher)
It is very easy to skip hole #7 as hole #6's basket is very close to hole #8's tee, while hole #7 is across the park road without any directional signs.
Hole #17 is played in the opposite direction of hole #18 and must be fully backtracked to play the last hole.
There are several instances where the signage is inadequate. There a few shots where the park road and parking lot come into play and pose safety hazards. (#7, #9, #10) Also, the forced water carry on hole #6 is inappropriately long and many, many discs find the water.
The final 1/3 of the course has too many back-to-back-to-back dinker shots. There could have been more variety in length of holes in that section of the course.
The back nine has many blind shots, with heavy schule surrounding the fairways. I'm not arguing that the holes are unfair or necessarily overly difficult, except for the fact that spotters are virtually mandatory on about 1/3 of the course. There is a strong likelihood of losing plastic on the back nine and this detracts from the overall experience.
Much of the course can become very soggy/swampy following recent rains. Some of the holes on the front nine become nearly impassible with lots of standing water. It is a much more pleasurable experienced to play F. Burton when the ground is dry.
The routing of the holes is flawed in a number of instances. Right out of the box: Tee #2 is visible from the parking lot, but tee #1 is not. After searching around and playing hole #1, players must walk directly in front of tee #10 to get to tee #2. (head scratcher)
It is very easy to skip hole #7 as hole #6's basket is very close to hole #8's tee, while hole #7 is across the park road without any directional signs.
Hole #17 is played in the opposite direction of hole #18 and must be fully backtracked to play the last hole.
There are several instances where the signage is inadequate. There a few shots where the park road and parking lot come into play and pose safety hazards. (#7, #9, #10) Also, the forced water carry on hole #6 is inappropriately long and many, many discs find the water.
The final 1/3 of the course has too many back-to-back-to-back dinker shots. There could have been more variety in length of holes in that section of the course.
The back nine has many blind shots, with heavy schule surrounding the fairways. I'm not arguing that the holes are unfair or necessarily overly difficult, except for the fact that spotters are virtually mandatory on about 1/3 of the course. There is a strong likelihood of losing plastic on the back nine and this detracts from the overall experience.
Other Thoughts:
Overall:
Not the worst course. I enjoy playing it and will make the 40 minute drive there on occasion AS LONG AS IT'S DRY.
Remember: Don't be a dirty disc golfer. If you pack it in, pack it out!
Not the worst course. I enjoy playing it and will make the 40 minute drive there on occasion AS LONG AS IT'S DRY.
Remember: Don't be a dirty disc golfer. If you pack it in, pack it out!
