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Vincennes, IN

Hillcrest Park

Permanent course
2.85(based on 10 reviews)
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Hillcrest Park reviews

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2 1
jobwilson
Experience: 14.9 years 73 played 13 reviews
2.00 star(s)

Fun Beginner's Course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 11, 2012 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

Hillcrest Park is a decent sized city park that is fairly secluded considering its accessibility and distance from US-41.
This course utilizes 9 baskets and 18 teepads and plays mainly in the shade of mature cedar trees.
The 9 Innova Disccatchers are in great shape, free of rust or structural damage.
The tee signs are very large and easy to read. They list the hole number and the distances to the "A" and "B" locations.
The teepads are concrete and measure in length of 5 X 10.
This course has some fun, beginner level shots on it. Hole 5 is a 166' RHBH downhill hyzer. (I hit the basket, just inches from the ace!) Hole 16 is a 251' straight shot with a low ceiling that is greatly rewarded with an accurate drive. Holes 8/17 are sweeping hyzers (230'/190') that will tempt an aggressive run, but will punish the overly aggressive.

Cons:

Calling this an 18 hole course isn't really an accurate description. It's really a 9 hole course with two tee pads. Most of the shots aren't unique enough to call the shared baskets separate holes. Along the same lines, I had no idea which location these pins were in. I just assumed everything was in the A position.
While the tee signs are large and easy to read, they aren't informative enough. There is no map or information showing which pin the holes are in. (The course is short enough that you can see everything, but a couple holes it would have been nice to see some information.) Also, the tee signs are not consistently facing the same direction. You may play a hole with the sign facing the tee pad, and on the next hole it is facing away from the pad.
The concrete are pads are not level. They follow lay of the land as opposed to having an area cut out or dirt built up.
This is a beginner's course, so more advanced players may find it too easy.
The course was littered with down branches, hanging branches. For example, there was a downed tree across the tee pad of 14's tee pad.
I personally felt like the design on several holes didn't make sense. The holes that stick out to me are holes 1, 4/13 & 6/15.
On hole 1, the line to the basket was blocked by a hanging branch. It didn't appear to be a design issue as much as a clean up issue. But the basket location didn't make sense. There is an area with a diameter of about 33' inside of a nice circle of trees that should be the green. Instead, the basket is behind some tree on some weedy area. It took away from aesthetics and playability.
On holes 4/13, there really didn't seem to be a line to the basket. On hole 13 especially, it seems like the line to the basket is to throw down along the road, past the basket and come back to it? There need to be some trees cleaned out and made into a real hole.
The guardian trees on holes 6/15 don't make a hole interesting. It's not smart golf to walk up to a hole, assess the situation, and then make the decision to throw your disc at the leaves/branches so the disc falls, leaving you with a 6' putt. That's the kicker... this wall of trees were no more than 6' in front of the basket.

Other Thoughts:

All in all, I think Hillcrest has the potential to be a fun beginner's level/Saturday evening beer round. There are a lot of neat throws that don't require more than a midrange or putter. The course could greatly benefit from some cleanup and design tweaks. As far as replay value, I'd play it again if I were passing through town, mainly because it plays so quickly.
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