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Fire Mountain Disc Golf Sanctuary reviews
13
1
rustystrings
Experience:
45 played
3 reviews
Beautiful and Brutal
Reviewed:
Played on:Mar 26, 2023
Played the course:once
Pros:
Gorgeous and unbelievably scenic. Nice big tee pads. Excellent signage. Well designed overall, with issues....
Cons:
I\'m all about tight wooded courses, but this course would vastly improve with removing a handful of trees on many holes to open up the fairways. It would still be difficult, but allow you to shape your lines. Take WR Jackson as a comp, it\'s very long, very challenging.... but the fairways are actually fair. I\'d say maybe 5-6 holes could be left alone... the rest really need to be thinned. If you\'re off the perfect line by 8", you kick into the rough. I\'d also say the red baskets should be more beginner friendly. This course has nothing to offer beginners. They gave the advanced players covered with the long pins... throw a bone to your casual players.
Other Thoughts:
A beautiful mountain course, yet surprisingly flat minus elevated baskets and tee boxes. Potential to be a 4.5-5 star course with some much needed tweaks.
31
0
Cerealman
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience:
15.9 years
593 played
179 reviews
Swallowing fire on a mountain
Reviewed:
Played on:Dec 19, 2022
Played the course:2-4 times
Pros:
Just on the outskirts of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the Fire Mountain Disc Golf Sanctuary is an impressive creation that offers fantastic aesthetics, impressive scenery and some of the most difficult disc golf around.
The term sanctuary fits. The course is off the beaten path and you're most likely to hear the rustling of small animals in the woods or the gentle rapids from Raven Fork that is in play on several holes. During the walk to the first hole, there's a bench placed in front of a lovely overlook of the river that divides the trees with the mountains as a backdrop. Upon arriving at the first hole, there's an enormous map with layout and distances for each basket. Strategically placed boulders offer a walkway to the first tee as well as optimal seating at each teepad. Every hole features a detailed sign and a short paragraph related to Cherokee Nation history or folklore. The artistic quality is first class, and it's obvious that much care (and money) was spent to add some excellent touches that contribute greatly to the atmosphere and experience.
Near the parking lot, there are three practice putting areas in the woods with varying levels of elevation and surrounding trees that provide a foreshadowing of the course to come.
The course design is impressive with specific drives required on many holes. Most of the course is fairly flat; however, there are a couple holes that require throwing down a hill. The designer manages to limit the uphill throws by introducing short climbs when walking to the next hole.
Half the holes randomly include a red basket (short but difficult) and a yellow basket (long and more difficult).
The term sanctuary fits. The course is off the beaten path and you're most likely to hear the rustling of small animals in the woods or the gentle rapids from Raven Fork that is in play on several holes. During the walk to the first hole, there's a bench placed in front of a lovely overlook of the river that divides the trees with the mountains as a backdrop. Upon arriving at the first hole, there's an enormous map with layout and distances for each basket. Strategically placed boulders offer a walkway to the first tee as well as optimal seating at each teepad. Every hole features a detailed sign and a short paragraph related to Cherokee Nation history or folklore. The artistic quality is first class, and it's obvious that much care (and money) was spent to add some excellent touches that contribute greatly to the atmosphere and experience.
Near the parking lot, there are three practice putting areas in the woods with varying levels of elevation and surrounding trees that provide a foreshadowing of the course to come.
The course design is impressive with specific drives required on many holes. Most of the course is fairly flat; however, there are a couple holes that require throwing down a hill. The designer manages to limit the uphill throws by introducing short climbs when walking to the next hole.
Half the holes randomly include a red basket (short but difficult) and a yellow basket (long and more difficult).
Cons:
The course is long. Very long.
The course is narrow. Very narrow.
If you depart from the needlelike fairway, you're probably screwed. You will likely be facing jail-like tree groupings and briars in your quest to return to an open area. I'm nearing 500 courses played, and Fire Mountain is top of my list for most challenging. I played it in December; I shudder to think of the ruthless challenge it serves up in summertime.
The course description says Fire Mountain has "tight but fair fairways." That's balderdash. These fairways aren't fair. There are numerous holes that call for a 350-foot drive without flex but also require navigational skills of a precise fighter pilot in order to dodge the trees sprinkled all over the fairway. Consequently, you won't get to use your whole bag here. In fact, you could bring a putter, your most stable midrange and a couple of fairly straight drivers and be fine. Several of my favorite discs never left my bag during two rounds at Fire Mountain. Even though the course demands distance, it's more imperative to throw straight.
The par of 56 on the short version of 6,300 feet is laughable. As one friend said, they created mostly "tweener" holes but decided on a par-3 designation for all of those. Another friend said the course would be so much better if every hole was 100 feet shorter. That said, even if par was 4 on some of the most difficult holes, it wouldn't increase the fun. Like previous reviewer MellowRob said, pars will feel like birdies.
The walk from the parking lot and putting areas to the start of the course will take nearly 10 minutes.
Fire Mountain is in the middle of nowhere. If you want an easier course to lick your wounds afterward, too bad. The next closest course is about a 40-minute drive away.
The course is narrow. Very narrow.
If you depart from the needlelike fairway, you're probably screwed. You will likely be facing jail-like tree groupings and briars in your quest to return to an open area. I'm nearing 500 courses played, and Fire Mountain is top of my list for most challenging. I played it in December; I shudder to think of the ruthless challenge it serves up in summertime.
The course description says Fire Mountain has "tight but fair fairways." That's balderdash. These fairways aren't fair. There are numerous holes that call for a 350-foot drive without flex but also require navigational skills of a precise fighter pilot in order to dodge the trees sprinkled all over the fairway. Consequently, you won't get to use your whole bag here. In fact, you could bring a putter, your most stable midrange and a couple of fairly straight drivers and be fine. Several of my favorite discs never left my bag during two rounds at Fire Mountain. Even though the course demands distance, it's more imperative to throw straight.
The par of 56 on the short version of 6,300 feet is laughable. As one friend said, they created mostly "tweener" holes but decided on a par-3 designation for all of those. Another friend said the course would be so much better if every hole was 100 feet shorter. That said, even if par was 4 on some of the most difficult holes, it wouldn't increase the fun. Like previous reviewer MellowRob said, pars will feel like birdies.
The walk from the parking lot and putting areas to the start of the course will take nearly 10 minutes.
Fire Mountain is in the middle of nowhere. If you want an easier course to lick your wounds afterward, too bad. The next closest course is about a 40-minute drive away.
Other Thoughts:
There are so many things that Fire Mountain gets right. But the implausible and continuous brutality is such a detriment that it affects my course rating. In many ways, this is a 4.5- to 5.0-rated course. However, I'm deducting an entire point because the extremely narrow fairways lead to a punishing experience that doesn't match the promise and plummets short of its potential.
