The courses main draw is the unique aspect of ground baskets, hanging baskets, baskets on hills, water, out of bounds and other different ways to make an otherwise semi-boring course fun and unique. Most of the woods holes are challenging but I wouldn't call them very wooded and the open holes are quirky but nothing special. This is a place you can have fun with friends and maybe make some gentlemen wagers and such, maybe even the rift card game but this isn't really the place I would go to really challenge myself on all of my golf skills

The land isn't anything special, not really suited for 5 star disc golf but you can still have fun here. There are multiple tee pads for just about every hole but I put this in the cons section because it doesn't really change the hole or add a new perspective it just adds or subtracts length which seems silly to me especially with four courses on site to choose from.

The other thing that really bothered me was trying to find your way around. After playing Tom Tripplet Park in Savannah the day before and seeing the multiple tee pads with the great signage out there it was really disappointing to come here and have substandard tee signs. It was hard to even know which course I played until I matched it up with the pictures that were on here. I never saw a map and scorecards like it was promised to be here.

This place is a little bit of a let down as the pictures here make it look pretty darn cool which it is just not as cool as I thought. It's still worth it to see something new especially for us course baggers who strive to see something new after a couple hundred courses under our belts.

The course plays through a mixture of open areas and tight woods with limited underbrush. The wooded holes tend to be shorter but pretty technical, offering tight lines to hit and punishment for errant shots. The open holes often have elevation changes, and are where most of the creative greens come into play. There are elevated and sunken baskets, and one inside a small fenced in area. Many of these add some fun to otherwise pretty open holes.

There is good distance variety here, especially when you look at all three sets of tees. A mixture of everything from ace runs to bombers keeps things interesting. The wooded holes offer some nice left and right turning lines to hit, and the course felt pretty balanced between right and left turning shots.

So much of the course is pretty wide open that even the fun gimmicks don't totally keep it from feeling a little repetitive. Navigation can be a real issue here, especially since many tee signs were missing and the map online doesn't match up with the numbers on the signs that were still there. The tees are sand, and make for pretty terrible footing, most are pretty loose and rutted out making it difficult to find solid footing.

This course is definitely worth a stop to see the creativity that went into turning a mediocre piece of land into a fun course. With the hanging, elevated and buried baskets, you have to do some creative putting. It does feel a bit gimmicky, and I wouldn't want to play here every day, but I had a good time stopping by. Beginners can have fun from the short tees, there's not too much distance and the lines in the woods aren't too bad. More experienced players will find some challenges from the middle and long tees, especially on a windy day out on all the open holes.

Hippodrome is set on a very nice and spacious piece of land with panoramic views of downtown Augusta in the distance. The course offers excellent variety of hole style with open/wooded, up/down/flat, and left/right/straight. Each hole is also given a unique name. There are 3 sets of tees- so the course can play really short, but the longs provide a good variety of length for those that want it- (works well for a game we play that utilizes all 3 tees where your score on the previous hole dictates which tee to use on the next hole.) There is also the added challenge of mandos, OB islands, ponds, and fences on some holes. The baskets were in good shape, were all there, and were easy to spot from the tee (*see Other Thoughts for more about the baskets).

It is on the same property as Pine Valley offering 2 decent 18-hole courses for the price of one. The land is used only for disc golf, so you do not have to worry about other activities interfering like you do on many parks courses.

Tees are natural and marked by a generic post. Navigation was an issue in several spots for us- the hole numbers did not line up as they got off by 2 for most of the round. A couple of times we had to hunt for the next hole. We were using a map, but it did not match up. I asked a local mid-round and he said they change the layout often but don't mark it well (not sure if this is true, but that is what it was like!)

There is no parking lot- instructions are to park on the grass?- that just seems weird. The kiosk where you pay looked old and rundown. These things don't make this course very inviting when you first arrive. Be sure to bring plenty of water and snacks with you as you will not be coming back to the car for a while.

Cons for some- pay to play, and many baskets not at a normal height*.

*Baskets- as others have said, many of the baskets at Hippodrome are gimmicky. There are elevated baskets on a mound and on barrels, there are hanging baskets from a tree and a noose, one is located inside of a hog pen, and there is even a half-buried basket. This made for a fun and entertaining round, but I would not want to this to be my home course as it is not representative of 99% of the baskets out there. It was hard to take this course seriously, and I enjoyed the extra details giving each hole some character, but it just reminded me of a miniature golf course, all it was missing was a windmill and a clown's mouth!

It is pay to play (honor system). $5/day might be a little steep to play here regularly, but you can play both courses, and it seemed to deter the casual player to the other local courses. We played on a Saturday afternoon in March with perfect weather and we only saw 1 other group of 3 while we played both Hippo and Pine.

Hippodrome is not a bad course, however, it did not live up to the expectations I had for it based on its famed reputation. Throw in Pine Valley and all the other Augusta courses, as well as IDGC, and you do have a solid disc golf destination overall.

The Hippodrome course's claim to fame is its quirky, craziness and of course the wind that blows over the mostly open fields of the course. On nearly every hole out here, you'll find something that you likely have never before seen on another disc golf course such as a submerged basket, basket on a noose, and on and on... All of these cool features make for a really fun experience, but don't really elevate the course above and beyond the gimmick level in my opinion. Power will play as a huge asset as you weave your way through the course allowing for big hyzers over a few obstacles, but challenging out-of-bounds areas ensure that adequate control is a must as well.

All of the cool features and little added extras go a long way to make an otherwise really boring course really nice. At the same time, Hippodrome fails to convince that it really has holes which elevate it beyond the gimmicks and wind. Was the hole challenging because the pin was elevated up another 10' in the air or was it challenging because it required you to throw a great shot or two? Questions like these kept emerging as I worked through the course. If Hippodrome had the natural features to effectively complement the awesome creativity going on here, they'd have a contender. In the end, the designers did a GREAT job with the land and features they had available and made something totally unique.

If you are a course-baggin' addict like myself, I think this course is a must hit along with Hogsback right next door simply because of their uniqueness. You'll remember both of these as really cool, quirky places to play, not because they were mind-blowing great golf.

I liked the layout, particularly with three sets of pads on every hole. The shortest red pads offer a fairly easy round with the potential for a great score, while the longest black pads make for a very difficult round. This is a great course to go to for a day and play a round from each set of pads.

Hole 18 is the treacherous "Treasure Isle." The hole is only ~300 feet from the black tees but shoots to an island green. The green itself is small enough that almost any IB shot will give a birdie putt, but the OB only ~35 feet in front and ~10 feet behind the basket doesn't leave much margin for error. This hole is just as easy to 2 as it is to 5 or 6, and makes a great finishing hole.

There is so much variety between the holes that you nearly forget that you're playing the same course. And though it might look easy on paper, the course is on the top of a huge hill and you can count on some serious winds on the open holes. Getting up and down from as close as 100 feet, or putting outside of 15 feet, gets significantly tougher.

The baskets. I'd easily rate this course a half or full star higher if they were all regulation height. The buried basket was alright, and the basket on 2 worked because of its position on a hillside. But there were four or five other baskets elevated for (seemingly) no good reason.

Note: I've only played the course for Collegiate Nationals, and the course was in great shape with roped OB on seven of the holes. I don't know if that's always the case, but it was when I was there.

-Course isn't crowded
-Great mixture of open, semi open, wooded holes
-Elevation changes
- No Stupid holes
-Beautiful setting.

- Fee to play
- Raised baskets, buried baskets, baskets between trees, baskets raised high on barrels.
- goofy golf feeling while playing the course.
- too much creativity.

If the review is based on course design, location, and setting, then I would give it a much higher rating. However, I can't get past all the baskets on raised poles and the artificially created greens. I'm not against trying new things(See Stoney Hill) but it seems they went to the "lets be different well" one too many times. Great course and highly recommended, however, be advised that the serious golfer may find the course a little silly. If all the baskets were at regulation height, I've give it a 4 to 4.5.

Also, we arrived at the course via the new interstate 520. It didn't appear on our GPS, but it was on our printed map from mapquest. We took it to the hwy 1 exit and it dumped us off right at the course.

Beautiful landscape, nice tight fairways with well marked OB. Some of the nicest natural tee pads I've ever seen.

Some repetition, after the 4th elevated basket the "neato" factor wears off. Hard to find holes without a map. Gimmick golf factor got old. Wouldn't want to play a tournament here.

If you're going to be a pay to play course then I expect a few things. One of them is a MAP to the course. I paid $5 to play your course, and was very disappointed that I had to walk around randomly to find the next hole. I actually never found hole 9, and I think I inadvertently skipped 13 or 14, but by that point I was so frustrated from looking that I didn't care. I'm going to try to hold back on that gripe affecting my rating, as the other raters have said that typically scorecards/maps are available. Maybe I just went to early in the season.

This course is on a fantastic piece of property, and could be a VERY solid course without all the gimmicks. I can tell that there is work still being done, fresh plantings, mowing, etc. The gimmick golf isn't necessary! </end rant>

It wasn't all bad, and was really very enjoyable, but if this course had more traditional baskets and continued to work on the landscaping along with adding concrete tee pads it would easily be a 4.5 to 5 star course. It has SO much potential!

Multiple tees (often 4 per hole) including incredibly challenging pro length
Creative design (elevated, hanging, and even buried baskets, use of camouflage netting/fencing to shape fairways and protect greens from errant shots)
Requires accuracy and length
A good mix of straight/hyzer/anhyzer

Grass teepads
Pay to play (It's definitely worth it, but I'm cheap!)

I have heard of the famed Hippodrome course for a couple of years now but always thought it was private or temporary at best. It is not mentioned in the PDGA course directory and until today was not mentioned here. The northaugustahippodrome.com site has no mention of the disc golf course. It has always been some sort of mystery to me. I was playing at Pendelton King in Augusta and asked a few locals about the course and they told me the low-down. It is open for play (at least when the horse facility is open). All you have to do is show up and pay in the drop box! This course is at a large equine/horse facility. I even saw some horses walking near/through the course at one point. I had heard about how cool and difficult this course was and when I pulled up to hole 1 I thought "this looks way too easy" as hole 1 is wide open (but is 385 from the black tees). This did not turn out to be the case though as soon enough you delve into the woods and are extremely challenged while still enjoying the round.

The grass teepads actually were quite nice and nothing like the dirt/mud ones at my local courses. They were quite flat and they were dry so I don't know how they would perform when rained on. I still definitely prefer concrete where possible.

Every woods hole challenged your concentration off the tee box and just about every hole required extraordinary putting skills as there were at least 5 elevated baskets, 2 hanging basket, 1 in a circular fence, 1 with trees within a couple feet of the basket, and several with severe rollaway opportunities or OB nearby.

Several of the open holes required some shape as in hole 17 with a mando that requires a sidearm or a huge anhyzer. There is definitely some OB present on the open holes as well that will keep you from relaxing too much.

The black course seems as though it was put in after the original course as many baskets end near the blue tees for the next hole and to play the blacks you have to walk 300' backwards sometimes just to tee off and immediately walk back. There may be a shorter way around as this was my first time playing here. I didn't have any trouble finding my way around though as there is a detailed map/scorecard at the paybox area. Without the map there would have been a few headscratching moments....

I played this course in ~5mph winds and I can see the open holes becoming much tougher in the wind, perhaps adding as much as 3-5 strokes to the SSA.

I was impressed with the use of different teepads to allow players of completely different levels of skill to have fun here. Even the short tees still require accuracy, they just take a significant amount of length off the holes. I noticed a set of purple stakes on most of the holes that I would guess averaged around 120'. The angles these were placed at still would require creativity and skill and basically is a par 2 putt putt course which would be fun to play or let young kids play from as you played longer tees.

Good scores can be had here as I had 4 birdies and 2 bogeys (one was a spit-through) and it was my first time playing the course.

My sister mentioned to me halfway through the round that it seemed like something I would create if I had the land to do it and I tend to agree. It was very difficult, very creative, and very fun. I think this is why I liked this course so much and would recommend it to anyone. I can't wait to go back and play all the tees!