Hackett Park - Old Layout reviews
9
1
I Wish I Was Kidding 2+ years drive by
Reviewed:
Played on:Oct 11, 2008
Played the course:2-4 times
Pros:
A beautiful park with gorgeous views, great elevation, and really cool stone obelisks that line the fairways. 15 of the 18 holes are immaculately maintained. Tee signs on all 18 holes make it relatively easy to find the next tee from the basket. For the most part the course flows logically except after Holes 9 and 10, where you have to be shown the next tee.
Cons:
To me, the worst design errors are holes where you throw at oncoming vehicular traffic or throw at a kid's playground. Throwing at oncoming traffic is a theme at Hackett's, with 8 holes having at least some chance to hit an oncoming car.
Hole 1 starts with a low canopy shot that forces you to throw a lefty hyzer/right flick directly over the main park road. The park road is the only fairway this hole has. Hole 2's fairway is an existing ball golf driving range. After you drive, you walk directly across the driving range into the line of fire of incoming golf balls. I wish I was kidding. Holes 3 - 6 are quite nice, esp. Hole 3.
Hole 7 runs parallel to the main park road with a low canopy keeping most shots to the left away from the road. Anyone attempting a righty hyzer is throwing directly at oncoming traffic. Hole 8 is across the park road but still parallel to it. The park road is more protected from 8's tee shots than on Hole 7. That said, the basket for Hole 8 is only 60 feet from busy Hackett Ave. Hole 8's basket area is also directly across the park road from where the ball golfers park their car when using the driving range. Upshots can easily go into Hackett Ave, or into a parked car near the driving range. Hole 9 is even more baffling as it is parallel to Hackett Ave. You drive directly at oncoming traffic and cars FLY down Hackett Ave. 9's basket is also too close to Hackett Ave.
Hole 10 takes the cake. The tee pad was never graded and was installed "uphill". Standing on the tee, you face directly at a kid's playground only 220 feet away. I wish I was kidding. The main park road lines the entire right side of the fairway and the basket is on the left, just 50 feet from the playground. The hole favors righty hyzers over the road and this is the busiest section of the park road as it leads to/from the main pavilion. Between the uphill tee pad, the playground, and the park road, I'd like to nominate Hackett's Park Hole 10 as one of the all time worst holes in disc golf history. I don't make the nomination lightly. This hole is a lawsuit just waiting to happen. I threw a flick roller as there's no way I'm throwing an air shot at kids that are only 220 feet away.
Hole 11 is a nice hole but as usual, the park road is the right side of the fairway. Hole 12 has the park road as the left side of the fairway. This part of the park road has much less car traffic on it. Hole 13 is semi-parallel to 12 but flows in the same direction. When done playing 12, you have to backtrack and walk all the way back up 12's fairway (or the park road - same thing) to get to 13's tee. I wish I was kidding. After 13, you hope that 14 is a bomb shot down the huge hill, but alas you throw across the hill.
Holes 15, 16, and 17 are where the fun begins and ends at Hacketts. These holes are absolutely gorgeous and by far the best holes on the course. They are also completely overgrown and totally unplayable (figures). The grass/weeds/brush mix is waist high if you're 6' 9''. I'm 5' 8", and I found the grass/weed/brush mix to be shoulder high. It appears the original brush was never cleared, ever. There's no way to drive or do upshots without spotting every throw. And while the signature hole 17 is beautiful, the vines hanging from the trees completely close off most of the fairway. The growth is so thick that it won't be much better in the winter. It appears the only work ever done on these 3 holes was installing the basket. I always thought you cleared the land BEFORE you install the basket. The only local I've ever seen on the course strongly discouraged me from playing these 3 holes. What's that say when locals discourage you from playing the best 3 holes on the course?
Tees are grass/dirt and not wide enough. Tee signs don't contain "next hole" information and mistakenly show the distances in yards. Tee signs don't show you whether the roads are OB or not.
Hole 1 starts with a low canopy shot that forces you to throw a lefty hyzer/right flick directly over the main park road. The park road is the only fairway this hole has. Hole 2's fairway is an existing ball golf driving range. After you drive, you walk directly across the driving range into the line of fire of incoming golf balls. I wish I was kidding. Holes 3 - 6 are quite nice, esp. Hole 3.
Hole 7 runs parallel to the main park road with a low canopy keeping most shots to the left away from the road. Anyone attempting a righty hyzer is throwing directly at oncoming traffic. Hole 8 is across the park road but still parallel to it. The park road is more protected from 8's tee shots than on Hole 7. That said, the basket for Hole 8 is only 60 feet from busy Hackett Ave. Hole 8's basket area is also directly across the park road from where the ball golfers park their car when using the driving range. Upshots can easily go into Hackett Ave, or into a parked car near the driving range. Hole 9 is even more baffling as it is parallel to Hackett Ave. You drive directly at oncoming traffic and cars FLY down Hackett Ave. 9's basket is also too close to Hackett Ave.
Hole 10 takes the cake. The tee pad was never graded and was installed "uphill". Standing on the tee, you face directly at a kid's playground only 220 feet away. I wish I was kidding. The main park road lines the entire right side of the fairway and the basket is on the left, just 50 feet from the playground. The hole favors righty hyzers over the road and this is the busiest section of the park road as it leads to/from the main pavilion. Between the uphill tee pad, the playground, and the park road, I'd like to nominate Hackett's Park Hole 10 as one of the all time worst holes in disc golf history. I don't make the nomination lightly. This hole is a lawsuit just waiting to happen. I threw a flick roller as there's no way I'm throwing an air shot at kids that are only 220 feet away.
Hole 11 is a nice hole but as usual, the park road is the right side of the fairway. Hole 12 has the park road as the left side of the fairway. This part of the park road has much less car traffic on it. Hole 13 is semi-parallel to 12 but flows in the same direction. When done playing 12, you have to backtrack and walk all the way back up 12's fairway (or the park road - same thing) to get to 13's tee. I wish I was kidding. After 13, you hope that 14 is a bomb shot down the huge hill, but alas you throw across the hill.
Holes 15, 16, and 17 are where the fun begins and ends at Hacketts. These holes are absolutely gorgeous and by far the best holes on the course. They are also completely overgrown and totally unplayable (figures). The grass/weeds/brush mix is waist high if you're 6' 9''. I'm 5' 8", and I found the grass/weed/brush mix to be shoulder high. It appears the original brush was never cleared, ever. There's no way to drive or do upshots without spotting every throw. And while the signature hole 17 is beautiful, the vines hanging from the trees completely close off most of the fairway. The growth is so thick that it won't be much better in the winter. It appears the only work ever done on these 3 holes was installing the basket. I always thought you cleared the land BEFORE you install the basket. The only local I've ever seen on the course strongly discouraged me from playing these 3 holes. What's that say when locals discourage you from playing the best 3 holes on the course?
Tees are grass/dirt and not wide enough. Tee signs don't contain "next hole" information and mistakenly show the distances in yards. Tee signs don't show you whether the roads are OB or not.
Other Thoughts:
Hackett's Park is fundamentally flawed. I would love to see 15 of the 18 baskets pulled with a complete re-design. It's a killer plot of land, but a horribly designed course as it currently stands. With so many shots into traffic, the ball golf driving range, the playground, the walk down back down the fairway on 12 and the three best holes being completely unplayable, there's no way this course earns more than a half star. The half star is for the plot of land itself.
