Hovley DGC reviews
15
0
Irresponsible 2+ years
Reviewed:
Played on:Nov 16, 2014
Played the course:once
Pros:
Decent signage & baskets. Well groomed soccer park.
For me, the ONE bonus of this course was (by sheer coincidence) that it was 900' from where I was staying on a work-trip.
For me, the ONE bonus of this course was (by sheer coincidence) that it was 900' from where I was staying on a work-trip.
Cons:
The Desert Palm dgc is a classic example of misallocated land. The park itself is obviously well maintained. The soccer fields are plush. There are nice picnic benches, water fountains, a rec center and walking trails. But installing a disc golf course on this facility was irresponsible. There wasn't the free space for it.
The design disregards everything generally associated with safety concerns. Every tee is from the lightly broom-finished sidewalk, which, combined with the desert dust, makes for some excellent concrete surfing for those not possessing an abundance of ped-tread. Literally every hole brings a sidewalk or some other park amenity where people congregate into play.
#1's tee starts less than 10' from a picnic bench, employing a semi blind hyzer shot that spikes in toward a sidewalk and brings a soccer goal into play.
#2's fairway is DIRECTLY through a picnic shelter and water fountain station.
#3 is 390' ish but only gives you the width of the sidewalk (10' ?) for a run up. The fairway IS the soccer field.
#4 Was probably the 2nd safest & coolest fairway on the course (I slipped on the tee) but the basket is still on the corner of a soccer field.
#5 simply DARES the player to nail a pedestrian in the face, as it tees down a sidewalk with a semi-blind curve, and a flight window that leaves very little room to craft an effective drive.
At 220', #6 is the shortest and safest on the course. Although it's a blind shot, as the basket sits behind a tree
#7 forces a 330'ish shot straight down the walkway. Again, putting any approaching walkers at great risk.
#8 forces a diagonal run-up to tee between two sections of fence.
#9 allows for 3 different flight paths, all of which offer their own particular brand of safety issue, including a 340' anhyzer carry over a parking lot.
None of these fairways can be played when soccer is in session.
The design disregards everything generally associated with safety concerns. Every tee is from the lightly broom-finished sidewalk, which, combined with the desert dust, makes for some excellent concrete surfing for those not possessing an abundance of ped-tread. Literally every hole brings a sidewalk or some other park amenity where people congregate into play.
#1's tee starts less than 10' from a picnic bench, employing a semi blind hyzer shot that spikes in toward a sidewalk and brings a soccer goal into play.
#2's fairway is DIRECTLY through a picnic shelter and water fountain station.
#3 is 390' ish but only gives you the width of the sidewalk (10' ?) for a run up. The fairway IS the soccer field.
#4 Was probably the 2nd safest & coolest fairway on the course (I slipped on the tee) but the basket is still on the corner of a soccer field.
#5 simply DARES the player to nail a pedestrian in the face, as it tees down a sidewalk with a semi-blind curve, and a flight window that leaves very little room to craft an effective drive.
At 220', #6 is the shortest and safest on the course. Although it's a blind shot, as the basket sits behind a tree
#7 forces a 330'ish shot straight down the walkway. Again, putting any approaching walkers at great risk.
#8 forces a diagonal run-up to tee between two sections of fence.
#9 allows for 3 different flight paths, all of which offer their own particular brand of safety issue, including a 340' anhyzer carry over a parking lot.
None of these fairways can be played when soccer is in session.
Other Thoughts:
Installing a disc golf course at this facility was a spectacularly ill-conceived notion that should never have seen the light of day.
I counted 8 people at the park when I played it at around 4:30pm on an Autumn Sunday. And every one of them could easily have come into play if I wasn't a pro player... or if I decided to throw with my spaz left hand.
The individual holes would be passable, where they in a secluded area, even though 7 of the 9 holes were hyzer shots. The ONE skill that this course could hope to engrain in a player is the patience to wait for an open window between pedestrians or when the home soccer team is attacking the goal on the other end of the field.
Were this course dedicated solely to disc golf, it might have rated a 2.5. But given its myriad glaring safety issues, I simple could not justify anything more than a 1. Were this the only course available to me, I'd move or quit playing.
Not a course to travel TO. But if you're looking to knock down a course along the way to somewhere else, try to pick a time when you don't think people play soccer. just take extra care to watch for pedestrians.
And try to remember that yelling "FORE" will only make your victims wonder why you are counting so loudly before you bombarded them with plastic.
I counted 8 people at the park when I played it at around 4:30pm on an Autumn Sunday. And every one of them could easily have come into play if I wasn't a pro player... or if I decided to throw with my spaz left hand.
The individual holes would be passable, where they in a secluded area, even though 7 of the 9 holes were hyzer shots. The ONE skill that this course could hope to engrain in a player is the patience to wait for an open window between pedestrians or when the home soccer team is attacking the goal on the other end of the field.
Were this course dedicated solely to disc golf, it might have rated a 2.5. But given its myriad glaring safety issues, I simple could not justify anything more than a 1. Were this the only course available to me, I'd move or quit playing.
Not a course to travel TO. But if you're looking to knock down a course along the way to somewhere else, try to pick a time when you don't think people play soccer. just take extra care to watch for pedestrians.
And try to remember that yelling "FORE" will only make your victims wonder why you are counting so loudly before you bombarded them with plastic.
2
1
vondog
Experience:
28.9 years
84 played
3 reviews
Really? 2+ years drive by
Reviewed:
Played on:Nov 28, 2013
Played the course:once
Pros:
Nice tee signs. Some longish holes and a couple protected baskets. Wide open fairways for the most part to let people really grip it and rip it. The baskets are in good working order and play fair.
Cons:
Most of the pad areas are slippery even when dry. Every hole presents a potential conflict with other park users. graffiti is making its way onto the baskets. Plenty of people to help you retrieve your disc when you park a good shot and they think you might want it back. RHBH hyzer shot will get you by on 7 of the 9 holes.
Other Thoughts:
This is not really the park for disc golf. When we played we had a park user conflict at every basket. Although their are 10 or so fields the soccer users played all of the perimeter goals right next to the baskets while the middle remained empty. This is an instance where everyone gets equal use of the park, dg'ers just need to make sure their equal usage occurs when nobody else is around.
