Beautiful scenery and relatively wide open layout allowing you to air it out on many holes.

Hole 10!!! Whoever decided on the basket placement should never be allowed to give input into designing another hole...EVER!!! Tee Pad on one side of the creek and you have to drive between 2 trees which by itself isn't difficult. Landing in the fairway and looking for where to throw my second shot, I had no idea where the basket was. The hole map said its straight ahead, but where? (I'll get back to this) After my son and I searched for 20 minutes, we found it. It is completely surrounded by 15-40 foot cedar and holly trees with no real access or throwable line to the basket. Just a mess of a hole.

Ok, so the other drawback to this course it that the hole maps found on each tee pad are very vague and some are completely inaccurate (10 & 17).

All in all its a very nice course, but hole 10 needs serious improvement!!!

This course, up until Greenfield was created, was the best course anywhere near Roanoke. You'll immediately be impressed when you step onto the first tee pad and see the shot ahead of you.

The scenery is the main draw to this course. It is set in what appears to be an old pasture but has since been populated with many trees (and baskets!)

The tee pads are actually pretty nice. They're brick, which can be disastrous if done incorrectly, but these are well constructed for the most part and add value to the course.

The fairways are well maintained and as the course is almost exclusively in the open, you'll have nearly zero chance of losing a disc.

You won't have a hard time navigating as the layout is pretty intuitive and since it is so open, you'll be able to see the next hole often times from the one you're currently on.

Unfortunately, there isn't much variety out here. Other than the flip flopping of elevation changes, each hole seems too much like the last. Nearly every hole is mostly open with occasional patches of trees. Not very technical, but will allow a big arm to open up.

Don't be fooled by the mentioning of water hazards on 3 holes. It's nothing more than a small creek for each, two of which is right next to the tee pad so you literally should have zero chance of landing in it. Even if you did, the creek is small enough for a small stride across, so you could just pick your disc right out. There isn't any water that would force you to think about it, which is the main point of hydro-hazards in the first place.

There isn't a signature hole. Sure, many of the holes are picturesque, but none of them stand out on their own merit. You won't leave disappointed by the layout, but you won't be awed either.

There is only one tee pad and one pin position. This is oftentimes a drawback since it will cater to one class of player. In the case of Falling Creek, your advanced and open players will tear this course up, while your green player might feel daunted with many of shots. It's somewhere in the safe zone, but in my humble opinion that's a bad thing. It lacks a distinct identity and suffers from that.

The course doesn't force you to use very many discs. In fact, pretty much the majority of holes are straight ahead, no major dog legs to speak of. With the exception of varying distances and elevation, you'll feel like you're on repeat for most of these holes. Thankfully, most of them are still fun, it just lacks the variety of a well planned course.

This is one of those tweener courses. The beauty of the place is what allows me to bump it from a 3 to a 3.5. As far as a well rounded course goes, it falls short, but the experience is excellent and will trick you into a higher rating.

It's great when you're in the area, but since it is located off the beaten path, you'll likely not drive through often unless you're a local. Likewise, I wouldn't necessarily advise a trip to the area specifically for this course, but if you're traveling between Roanoke and Lynchburg on a dg trip or for any other reason, it will definitely satisfy your itch.

Great tee pads and baskets. Nice assortment of shots. I had to pull out all of my tricks for this one. The locals were friendly and helpful.

When you're out of the woods it is very hot. (I played it in July) More distance on the holes would make this course even better.

I was visiting from Oregon and I was only able to get one round in, but I had a lot of fun playing this one.

Unique Beautiful Brick Tees - good grip
Signs show map, distance, and par
Great use of terrain and elevation changes
Hole placement is good - uses trees to "guard" holes
hole 18 puts you back where you started
Grass is always mowed

Buggy
Holes seem very repetitive
Can sometimes be hard to find the next tee

This is a fun course, however most of the holes are the same. Just throw really straight and far and you'll do great. This is a really nice course, however it just doesn't fit my style of playing. I like more technical courses and this is really just a wide open course.

- The Cedars (although they might be Junipers??). Cedars have to be one of the best disc golf course trees there are. They don't allow discs to penetrate through them, usually stopping them dead in their tacks; if you're in one, or behind one, you're going to be punished; and, they stay green all year long, keeping the course looking great and playing consistently year round.
- Every Hole is there for the Taking, but None are Freely Given. The course is relatively wide open, using trees and the threat of extreme danger effectively to shape shots. If you can hit the gap or shot the course is requiring, you have a great opportunity for a birdie. However, you have to do it... you have to hit the gaps, get around the cedars, and set yourself up with birdie opportunities... which sounds like a no brainer; but, with the cedars guarding most of the pin positions, and shaping the shots on most of the fairways, it's easier said than done.
- Mowing Stylings. The grass fairways were mown as if you were on a ball golf course: tight fairways, thick rough. You definitely wanted to stay in the short grass in some areas... I found three ticks on my leg throughout the round... and, actually just found a 4th baby tick crawling on my arm while writing this review.
- Disc Eating Rough. Not only do the Cedars like to catch discs, but there were several holes that had some serious underbrush along the egde of the fairway. If you throw right on Hole 3, you might as well have thrown your disc in a lake... I love that level of demand.

- Too Straight. The course might have been a little too straight. I don't remember the breakdown, but I'd say more than 12 of the holes were straight, and the others (sans 17) were slightly less than straight.
- Tee-Pads. Obviously the tee-pads took a lot of work to build (8x10' bricks locked together and surrounded by timbers). However, I just don't trust planting my foot on bricks -- I always worry about the some brick that's sticking up is going to grab my foot and break my ankle or tear up my knee -- it effects my drives negatively. The grass growing between the bricks, and sand used beneath the bricks seeping up through the cracks didn't help either.

- Overall. The course was on the edge of being championship caliber, with several really great, demanding, dangerous holes. However, there were other, simpler holes that weren't quite "championship" level, although they still required great shot making. The Cedar (junipers) really enhance what would otherwise be simple holes. I had a good time at Falling Creek Park and would definitely play here if passing thru Bedford again.
- My Score: -1

- Beautiful, well-maintained park complete with picnic shelters & restrooms
- Good signage at all tees w/bag hooks on signposts
- Nice variety of holes as far as distance/elevation change - evergreen trees provide obstacles on several holes but still allow for open shots
- Forgiving course allows for slight errors on drives, several "grip & rip" holes. Open layout allows for multiple options on several holes (hyzer vs. anhyzer, backhand vs. flick)
- A lot of the holes have multiple pin locations that are alternated over time, this can create a little variety
- Practice basket at entrance

- The brick tee pads look nice, but can be a nightmare if wet. Even a little morning dew can make these very slick and it can become difficult to focus on your shot.
- There aren't really any true wooded holes that you typically see on other local courses. However, there are several holes that play into or out of the woods.

Great open course that can be enjoyed by all skill levels. The overall "feel" of this course is similar to playing a ball golf course, mostly open with intermittent hazards & obstacles. Most of the holes provide birdie opportunities if you have a well-placed drive. Favorite holes are 5, 15, & 17. No real "signature" holes but overall an excellent course.

Design
The course is in a beautiful, well manicured park with green rolling hills and scattered large trees, pines, and cedars. I enjoyed holes 8-17 the most because they were more secluded and not as wide open. When you're on these holes it's very secluded, you're surrounded by woods, and you can't see anything but nature, so you feel like you're miles from everything. Ahhh!
*With 2 sets of tees and 2 basket positions there's lots of layout variety with 14 holes having long tees and 16 holes having Alt basket positions.
*Elevation variety is also good with 2 Flat/ 8 Up/ 8 Down. Most elevation changes are moderate, but 6 holes feature bigger elevation changes. Also a number of holes have side sloping fairways and side sloping greens for extra challenge and added interest.
*There's excellent length variety, with most of the holes being on the long side, but there are also 7 holes of 270 or less. In the Regular-A layout the lengths are 1 of 180/ 8 of 200-299/ 4 of 300-399/ 3 of 400-499/ 2 < 550
* For added beauty there's a little bit of water with a small creek in play on 4 holes

Basics
*Tee pads- Regular pads are paver bricks in a wood frame and they work well.
*Navigation is easy and straightforward, especially thanks to a painted spoke on the basket pointing to the next tee.

Amenities
The course has almost all of the amenities that I look for:
*Course Map and scorecard (online) are basic but sufficient
*The bag holders on the tee sign are a nice touch
*Excellent warm up basket, good message board, and a few park benches scattered around.
*Nice, clean, new restrooms

The course is really fine as it is, but there are a few small things that could be improved to make it even better.
-Long tees: Right now they're only a white board in the ground marking the front line, and they often take some scouting to find. They could be better marked with at least a small sign with the hole length. Ideally, they could also use the brick tee pads.
-Score cards: It would be really nice to know the hole lengths from the long tees. This should include the lengths to the Alt basket positions.
-Alt baskets: they need a system to let you know if the basket is in the Regular or the Alt position.

Regular tees Course Level = White (most suited for Intermediate players rated 875-925)

You be the judge-
My favorite hole: 8. Downhill fairway, over a creek to a beautiful green.

The terrain is mostly open grass with scattered trees, so the holes lack some terrain variety. (1 Grass/ 17 Mixed / 0 Woods). Being rather open the majority of holes are straight (12 St/ 3 Left/ 3 Right), and that's more straight holes than I prefer. The terrain was just a bit too open for my taste, but I might enjoy it more if I threw 350 ft instead of my typical 280 average. Even though I played on a perfect Fall day, at the peak of the changing leaves, the "Wow Factor" just wasn't that high for me. My rating reflects my personal enjoyment, but I could see how some players, especially longer throwers, might rate the course a 4.5 or above. All in all, Falling Creek is a good solid course that has very little that needs to be improved.

NOTE: Look in the "Links/Files" section for my files with Hole-by-hole evaluations, and a more detailed Overall review. You can also read more of my review philosophy and rating notes at Disc Golf Course Reviews

Beautifully maintained park. Play area for kids, exercise trail/stations for non-playing adults. Bathroom. Water available from adult, child, and dog-level drinking fountains! Scattered bamboo poles to help retrieve discs held hostage by the cedars on the back nine.

Long and wide brick teepads. Very nice signs at each hole, with pegs to hang bags upon. Top-quality baskets, easy to see. Coloured spoke on basket to point you towards next tee. A few stone benches scattered about the course. Was simple to navigate - didn't even need the map my first visit.

Single tee/basket.

Update Oct-09: Now multi-position/multi-tee (new,longer natural tee areas marked by board with blue paint one end.

Holes 1-8 and 18 play on a very gentle sloping hill. While fairly open (#2 is wide open), these holes do have you deal with some scattered trees enroute and/or near the basket, and some small changes in elevation. Holes 4 and 7 have the tees not very deep in woods, and hole 8 has the basket in the woods, but not very deep. The grass on this part of the course is kept very low.

Holes 9-17 are also on a gentle slope, and have you playing in a "rougher" part of the park. The wild grass is allowed to grow knee-high, but very generous fairways are cut throughout. Holes become a bit longer, and rows/scattering of cedar trees increasingly come into play on most every hole. Somewhat-wooded holes at #17 - a 300' drive down a narrowing but open fairway, followed by a sharp right turn towards the basket another 125' into the woods, and #9, a 300' hole, starting and ending in trees, with a clearing in between.

Favourite hole: #16. Longest hole at 550'. Rows of cedars lining generous fairway on both sides. Basket somewhat guarded by two large hardwoods. View of hillside in background makes you feel as if you are miles from anywhere.

This is a good course for beginners who want to take it up a notch, say from nearby Peaks View, and experience a longer course. Intermediate/advanced players who are throwing well should have an ample number of birdie opportunities. Fives holes 400' or longer, average length about 325'.