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Journey Church DGC reviews
17
0
Don’t Stop… Believin'!!!
Reviewed:
Played on:Nov 28, 2022
Played the course:5+ times
Pros:
(2.137 Rating) A friendly church course with a few trees and some nice modest sloping terrain.
- SKILL LEVEL FRIENDLY - The thing I like best about this new church course on the North side of Huntsville, is that it will appeal to a wide swath of skill levels. The makers billed this one as a family friendly course, and I think that they have achieved this. It's generally either open or lightly wooded shots and the opportunities to get into major trouble are limited. I think it's a touch too long for beginning players, but they won't be hitting trees often and getting discouraged, thus I think it will be a good course to learn and improve on. In addition, I think this course is a good fit for MA3 players and even to some MA2 level players. As noted, there is some length here. One hole is even over 400 feet long. There are very few easy birds to the average player.
- BASICS - All the required items to have a legitimate course are here. The tees are rudimentary natural surfaces, but they also include a timber at the front of them to clearly indicate a tee line. The baskets are good, being brand new Mach Vs. The signage is also adequate, which I'll touch on more below.
- SIGNAGE AND NAVIGATION - Adequate. No course map on this one yet, but I was able to figure it out without looking at my nav app the first time. All but two next tee posts can be seen from the prior basket, with the exceptions being tees (5) and (8). For tee (5) go west from basket (4) and for tee (8) go north from basket (7). The tee signs are adequate for this style of course being just a number and distance.
So-sos:
- NATURAL BEAUTY - I think the land that the Journey Church course is on is nice looking. It's got some pleasant rolling terrain and some sporadic trees dotting the landscape. I liked the view from hole (2) which has the ridges of the Cumberland Plateau in the backdrop. I grade this category on a curve and put it at about 50 percentile or roughly on par with local courses such as Brahan Springs and New Hope.
- CHALLENGE - I think the ideal target audience here is MA3 level players, which puts the difficulty at around average in my opinion. Light on precision requirements, but the length helps it not be cupcake level. For those at the MA1 level and above, this one will not be a great fit.
- HOLE VARIETY - For a lightly wooded niner I thought the variety was decent. As noted several times, there is some modest elevation present and a few trees need to be dodged. The course lacks a technical prowess, but that's ok considering the target audience. This is currently an all par 3 course and there are no water elements either. I think there's room to add a par 4 which would add a multi-play hole type element. I wish there was a way to add a more wooded element to it, but from looking at the ariel, there doesn't appear to be many substantial chunks of woodsy areas on the entire property.
- SKILL LEVEL FRIENDLY - The thing I like best about this new church course on the North side of Huntsville, is that it will appeal to a wide swath of skill levels. The makers billed this one as a family friendly course, and I think that they have achieved this. It's generally either open or lightly wooded shots and the opportunities to get into major trouble are limited. I think it's a touch too long for beginning players, but they won't be hitting trees often and getting discouraged, thus I think it will be a good course to learn and improve on. In addition, I think this course is a good fit for MA3 players and even to some MA2 level players. As noted, there is some length here. One hole is even over 400 feet long. There are very few easy birds to the average player.
- BASICS - All the required items to have a legitimate course are here. The tees are rudimentary natural surfaces, but they also include a timber at the front of them to clearly indicate a tee line. The baskets are good, being brand new Mach Vs. The signage is also adequate, which I'll touch on more below.
- SIGNAGE AND NAVIGATION - Adequate. No course map on this one yet, but I was able to figure it out without looking at my nav app the first time. All but two next tee posts can be seen from the prior basket, with the exceptions being tees (5) and (8). For tee (5) go west from basket (4) and for tee (8) go north from basket (7). The tee signs are adequate for this style of course being just a number and distance.
So-sos:
- NATURAL BEAUTY - I think the land that the Journey Church course is on is nice looking. It's got some pleasant rolling terrain and some sporadic trees dotting the landscape. I liked the view from hole (2) which has the ridges of the Cumberland Plateau in the backdrop. I grade this category on a curve and put it at about 50 percentile or roughly on par with local courses such as Brahan Springs and New Hope.
- CHALLENGE - I think the ideal target audience here is MA3 level players, which puts the difficulty at around average in my opinion. Light on precision requirements, but the length helps it not be cupcake level. For those at the MA1 level and above, this one will not be a great fit.
- HOLE VARIETY - For a lightly wooded niner I thought the variety was decent. As noted several times, there is some modest elevation present and a few trees need to be dodged. The course lacks a technical prowess, but that's ok considering the target audience. This is currently an all par 3 course and there are no water elements either. I think there's room to add a par 4 which would add a multi-play hole type element. I wish there was a way to add a more wooded element to it, but from looking at the ariel, there doesn't appear to be many substantial chunks of woodsy areas on the entire property.
Cons:
A young course with simplistic lines.
- AMENITIES AND EXTRAS - The course as of this review is still super young. Not even 3 months old yet. As noted under the basics pro, it has the important things like baskets, signs and tee lines, but it is lacking every other bonus item. It would be great to see two or three benches on this course. It's plus 2,600 feet, which is long for a niner and I think many are going to want to sit down on occasion during group play. I think a few holes could use some short tees as well. Hole (6) for example, is not going to be birdieable to almost every MA3 and MA4 level player I know due to the distance.
- SEASONAL OVERGROWTH - From May thru October, there are three or four holes where missing right will lead to some long searches. Holes (4), (5) and (9) all had 3-foot tall vegetation along the right side of the fairway. On my first round here, I spent almost 10 minutes scouring the tall grasses right of basket (4). Discs could become lost for those not willing to put in a half hour search when a disc finds a good hidey hole.
- WIND - For those accustomed to the nil wind factor of local courses Mastin and Brahan, this one has the potential to bat a disc around. The landscape here is among the most open in town and it's perched a bit higher than the surroundings. Discs will have the potential to fly well off course.
- NO NIGHT GOLF - <span class="italic">to a tune "When the lights go down in the city and the sun shines on the" valley.....</span> This is the time when one can start playing this course. No night golf is allowed.
- AMENITIES AND EXTRAS - The course as of this review is still super young. Not even 3 months old yet. As noted under the basics pro, it has the important things like baskets, signs and tee lines, but it is lacking every other bonus item. It would be great to see two or three benches on this course. It's plus 2,600 feet, which is long for a niner and I think many are going to want to sit down on occasion during group play. I think a few holes could use some short tees as well. Hole (6) for example, is not going to be birdieable to almost every MA3 and MA4 level player I know due to the distance.
- SEASONAL OVERGROWTH - From May thru October, there are three or four holes where missing right will lead to some long searches. Holes (4), (5) and (9) all had 3-foot tall vegetation along the right side of the fairway. On my first round here, I spent almost 10 minutes scouring the tall grasses right of basket (4). Discs could become lost for those not willing to put in a half hour search when a disc finds a good hidey hole.
- WIND - For those accustomed to the nil wind factor of local courses Mastin and Brahan, this one has the potential to bat a disc around. The landscape here is among the most open in town and it's perched a bit higher than the surroundings. Discs will have the potential to fly well off course.
- NO NIGHT GOLF - <span class="italic">to a tune "When the lights go down in the city and the sun shines on the" valley.....</span> This is the time when one can start playing this course. No night golf is allowed.
Other Thoughts:
I could see the Journey Church being the daily course for disc golf addicts that live within 5 minutes of here. There are no other courses within a 5-mile drive from here and all the closest ones offer a similar heavily wooded theme. The course is a reasonable play to me that will appeal to several skill level sets. Ideal for MA3 players, that is also forgiving enough to new players and long enough for MA2s. It's most similar to local courses Asbury and New Hope. For those outside the area, I don't think it's destination level or a must hit. I would personally rank it behind all the local 18 holers. However, among the courses with 9 or less baskets, I would slot it second, behind Asbury and ahead of Ken Johnston. I've also played around 30 church courses now and would put the Journey Church in my top ten among those courses along with the local Ashbury Church Course. I could see this course making a run for the best niner in town if more amenities were installed, especially concrete tees and extra tees. I think there is more land available here to use as well. I could see another 3-hole loop set up between (5) and (6). There is potential here to elevate the complete package quite a bit. I'm looking forward to playing it again and have already logged 5 rounds in 3 months.
- TIME PLAY - This one is going to take much longer than your average niner. Figure at least 30 minutes solo. I consider it long, for a par 27 niner. At least three quarters of a mile of walking.
- ADDITIONAL NOTES - The welcome sign indicates that players are to refrain from cursing, smoking and drinking alcohol here. A big Thank You to Journey Church for letting us play your course.
- TIME PLAY - This one is going to take much longer than your average niner. Figure at least 30 minutes solo. I consider it long, for a par 27 niner. At least three quarters of a mile of walking.
- ADDITIONAL NOTES - The welcome sign indicates that players are to refrain from cursing, smoking and drinking alcohol here. A big Thank You to Journey Church for letting us play your course.
16
0
Thank god for a decent church course.
Reviewed:
Played on:Nov 5, 2022
Played the course:once
Pros:
1. Elevation, a sinkhole, corn/beans/cotton (before harvest), and nice scenery.
2. Good wind practice on the day I played this course. Church property sits on a hill. May be windy often.
3. Minimal opportunities to lose a disc after harvest.
4. Whatever is planted in the fields will take the pucker factor up several notches.
5. I found the design to be fun. At hole 2's basket, I was disappointed the basket wasn't closer to the sink hole. Then I played hole 4 and it delivered!
2. Good wind practice on the day I played this course. Church property sits on a hill. May be windy often.
3. Minimal opportunities to lose a disc after harvest.
4. Whatever is planted in the fields will take the pucker factor up several notches.
5. I found the design to be fun. At hole 2's basket, I was disappointed the basket wasn't closer to the sink hole. Then I played hole 4 and it delivered!
Cons:
1. Natural tee pads currently.
2. Only 9 holes, but a really good 9 holes. Wish there was room for more.
3. Every shot was a RHBH for me.
2. Only 9 holes, but a really good 9 holes. Wish there was room for more.
3. Every shot was a RHBH for me.
Other Thoughts:
This course was surprisingly enjoyable. New and experienced players will enjoy this course. I will definitely play it again when the fields have crops. Looking forward to the thrill of staying out of the fields.
