Pros:
For a school/church course, Hampton Park Baptist is one of the better ones I've played. Lots of creativity and challenge in this 9-hole layout.
- For starters, it was an interesting trip to get here. I played Timmons prior to this course. The drive here took me up a mountain (Piney Mountain at either 1,358 feet or 1,450 feet depending on the website that's reporting). You feel like you're in Greenville, then out in the country, and back to Greenville.
- Once here, you start with an excellent opening hole, starting on one hill throwing over the edge of the soccer field to a basket up on a hill on the other side. Unfortunately, the most visible basket from the tee is for #7, but I'll address that later.
- #2 & 3 play down and back up a hill creating two different feels. #3 includes a basket installed on top of a rock, giving the course its signature look. This is the first thing you see when you pull into the parking lot.
- #4 is the easiest hole, presenting an easy birdie chance/potential ace run. It was a simple drop in the basket two for me, and I suspect most experienced players are going to feel anything outside of gimmie range is a major misthrow.
- #5 is the course's longest hole at 472 feet. It starts in an open field before playing downhill to the basket. The approach shot is a blind throw, so it probably presents one of the biggest challenges.
- #8 is the other fun layout. Teeing off on top of a hill, you throw downhill, 364 feet over the edge of the road back to the basket. Long and left of the basket is rough, which I'm guessing is even more challenging during the growing season.
Cons:
Navigation. Navigation. Navigation.
- There is a tee sign at #1. An excellent one at that. And, that's the final tee sign on the course. You do have a pair of yellow rocks indicating each tee pad.
- Here's the issue. The baskets for #1 - 7 are all in a generally close proximity. On the first hole, I played to the basket for #7 only to find it's the wrong basket. After playing #2, I found the tee for #3, and in the process manage to play to basket #5 the first time. I then had to spend time searching for multiple tees.
- A big part of the issue is that the hole number stickers are placed on the back side of the baskets. Even as you approach a basket, you're not certain it's the correct hole unless you walk all the way to the basket.
- Simple solutions would be 1. including next tee arrows, 2. having the yellow tee markers pointed in the correct direction and maybe having arrows on the, and 3. having the hole number stickers visible from the fairway, aka, putting them on the front of the baskets.
- With many holes being close together, this course would be difficult to play if there were a lot of players.
- No amenities. Pack out what you pack in.
Other Thoughts:
- Once I figured the correct layouts for each hole, I rather enjoyed this course. It's a very solid nine-hole layout with lots of similarities to Holmes Park.
- There is a shallow creek that plays alongside or behind the baskets for #2, 5, and 6. It's more of an annoyance having to grab a wet disc out of six inches of water.
- #6 is the one hole that seems as if it got squeezed in. It's the narrowest, most non-existent fairway of any hole. And anything slightly short or to the right of the basket is landing on pavement.
- As stated above, many holes are overlapping. #7's basket is in the fairway for #1. #3's tee is on top of #2's basket, the same goes for the transitions from #5 to 6 and #8 to 9. If there were multiple groups playing at once, this course could be frustrating.
- As it is, I like the course's creativity. I was very impressed this was all done in such a tight area. They nailed getting a wooded course in the only section of trees between the building/parking lot and the main road. Very impressive.
- I'm rating this course as an excellent nine-hole course, which on my scale for 9-hole courses is a 2.5. I'm basing that on being able to play the course without delays or obstacles, without having to dodge discs from other players on the course. At its peak, this offers a solid round or two of disc golf.