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Mason County Park - Goliath reviews
7
1
Beauty and the Beast...and Goliath? 2+ years
Reviewed:
Played on:Nov 2, 2021
Played the course:once
Pros:
Goliath is one of three courses on site at the Mason County Park near Ludington, MI (the others being Beauty and Beast). Goliath is labeled as the "Advanced" course here, but shares terrain (and 18 of 24 baskets) with the "Intermediate" level Beast. As a result, large parts of this review will be copy/paste from the Beast review I just wrote and I will end with a comparison of the two courses.
This 24-hole course plays over rolling terrain near the reservoir for a pumped-storage hydroelectric power plant. The disc golf is challenging throughout. The elevation changes range from none to mild to extreme. There are a great mix of distances, from a couple tricky sub-200' shots through tight woods to several fairly open holes that are longer than 400'. The wooded holes have a nice blend of left turns, right turns, and straight shots.
The baskets are red Chainstar Pros, which I believe is a recent upgrade.
The tee signs also look brand new. They are beautiful - showing the hole layout, distance, par, and even an elevation profile. As a part of this change, the hole numbers have been renumbered 1-24 (previously they were numbered 1-18, with "extra" holes a-f mixed in throughout). I approve of this change - unless "extra" holes can easily be skipped what is the point of labeling them as extra? The signs are mounted to posts which are painted green, contrasting with Beast's blue posts and Beauty's red ones.
The tee pads are all concrete. They vary in size/condition, but for the most part are adequate.
The navigational signage is okay. I used the map uploaded here several times. I would call the navigation slightly more difficult than on Beast, but still acceptable.
There are benches near tees at adequate intervals throughout the course. There is a picnic shelter at the parking lot which has restrooms and a water bottle filler in it. There is also a large kiosk with maps of all three courses on site.
This 24-hole course plays over rolling terrain near the reservoir for a pumped-storage hydroelectric power plant. The disc golf is challenging throughout. The elevation changes range from none to mild to extreme. There are a great mix of distances, from a couple tricky sub-200' shots through tight woods to several fairly open holes that are longer than 400'. The wooded holes have a nice blend of left turns, right turns, and straight shots.
The baskets are red Chainstar Pros, which I believe is a recent upgrade.
The tee signs also look brand new. They are beautiful - showing the hole layout, distance, par, and even an elevation profile. As a part of this change, the hole numbers have been renumbered 1-24 (previously they were numbered 1-18, with "extra" holes a-f mixed in throughout). I approve of this change - unless "extra" holes can easily be skipped what is the point of labeling them as extra? The signs are mounted to posts which are painted green, contrasting with Beast's blue posts and Beauty's red ones.
The tee pads are all concrete. They vary in size/condition, but for the most part are adequate.
The navigational signage is okay. I used the map uploaded here several times. I would call the navigation slightly more difficult than on Beast, but still acceptable.
There are benches near tees at adequate intervals throughout the course. There is a picnic shelter at the parking lot which has restrooms and a water bottle filler in it. There is also a large kiosk with maps of all three courses on site.
Cons:
The Beast course on site plays over the same land as this course. Not next to it, but actually on top of it. As mentioned above, 18 of the 24 baskets are shared between the two courses. Goliath is essentially a layout that plays the Beast baskets in reverse order, with a couple exceptions mixed in. This means that on many holes, you could be throwing directly at someone playing the Beast course - and there are still enough woods here that plenty of those throws are blind. Also, because you are not playing "parallel" to or behind/in front of groups on the other course, it will be much more difficult to be aware of their presence. In theory, players on Beast always have the right-of-way - but how can this rule be enforced, especially when the players could easily not even be aware of each other much of the time? I am docking a full half disc for this safety issue alone. A potential safety issue, is a safety issue!
The other weird issue is accessing the course. The parking lot, along with the kiosk and aforementioned picnic shelter, are inaccessible for about nine months out of the year - anytime before Memorial Day or after Labor Day. This is because they are about 3/4 mile into the park, beyond a park gate which is locked. I have to assume the gate is locked due to proximity to the power plant - the viewing platform for this is only open during the summer as well. Fortunately, you can park in another lot that is near the middle of the Goliath (and Beast) courses, to start your round there without too much extra walking. It's still very strange and inconvenient though.
Several other holes play near or over the park drive. I think there were more holes on Goliath than Beast where the park drive is in play.
The rough here is thick, and completely unforgiving in many places. It also felt like that rough was intruding onto the intended fairway on several holes - and I visited in early November. I think the encroachment was a little worse on Goliath than Beast. You could definitely lose discs here, especially in the summer.
I did not see a practice basket anywhere, and there is plenty of room for one near the parking lot. Especially with three courses on site, one or more warm-up baskets would be nice to have.
A couple of the concrete pads were a little bit too small in my opinion. A couple more were in poor condition.
The other weird issue is accessing the course. The parking lot, along with the kiosk and aforementioned picnic shelter, are inaccessible for about nine months out of the year - anytime before Memorial Day or after Labor Day. This is because they are about 3/4 mile into the park, beyond a park gate which is locked. I have to assume the gate is locked due to proximity to the power plant - the viewing platform for this is only open during the summer as well. Fortunately, you can park in another lot that is near the middle of the Goliath (and Beast) courses, to start your round there without too much extra walking. It's still very strange and inconvenient though.
Several other holes play near or over the park drive. I think there were more holes on Goliath than Beast where the park drive is in play.
The rough here is thick, and completely unforgiving in many places. It also felt like that rough was intruding onto the intended fairway on several holes - and I visited in early November. I think the encroachment was a little worse on Goliath than Beast. You could definitely lose discs here, especially in the summer.
I did not see a practice basket anywhere, and there is plenty of room for one near the parking lot. Especially with three courses on site, one or more warm-up baskets would be nice to have.
A couple of the concrete pads were a little bit too small in my opinion. A couple more were in poor condition.
Other Thoughts:
This course costs $1/day to play, which also covers Beast, Beauty, and even several other courses in the Ludington area.
Cell service here can be spotty to nonexistent. Plan accordingly.
With the course being relatively open in many spots and close to Lake Michigan, wind can be a major factor. It was whipping when I played on a cold, dreary November afternoon. On the plus side, I had the course to myself.
The par is listed as 3 on all holes. Personally I think that a couple of the 400'+ ones should be par 4 (how many shots does it take YOU to reach a basket 745' away on flattish open terrain)?
As mentioned above, the presence of Beast alone is currently knocking my rating down half a disc. But beyond that, I think Beast offers basically the same challenges as Goliath, and is a better course overall. Sure, Goliath is a little bit longer. But comparing to Beast:
- That added distance on Goliath does not really translate to added challenge. The longest holes on Goliath are just open throws, challenging only your driving distance.
- There are more holes on Goliath that play across the park drive, and it seemed like the park drive fell in a more likely disc landing zone more often here, vs. e.g. being just off the tee on Beast. Also, one Goliath hole (#17, shown as #14 on the map uploaded here) plays straight across a parking lot.
- In contrast to Beast's awesome top-of-the-world hole 1, Goliath lacks a clear signature hole.
- The navigation is a little more confusing on Goliath, and the fairways are a little less well defined and more encroached on by the rough. A few lines felt unrealistic. I have to imagine this is because...
- Beast players (theoretically) always have the right-of-way. If it were a busy day in the park and that rule were followed, it could conceivably take an entire afternoon to get through Goliath.
In short, to me Goliath feels like an unsafe and silly way to add a "third course" to the Mason County Park complex. I very strongly believe that this Goliath course should be pulled - and a second set of tees could be added for Beast in its place. A second Beast layout would keep the allure of a "different" course, while eliminating most of the safety issues.
I gave Beast a 3.5 rating, and I think Goliath is clearly a little worse so that puts me at 3.0. If you are a serious disc golfer visiting the Ludington area, you should absolutely spend an afternoon at Mason County Park! But I would recommend starting with Beauty and Beast, and avoiding Goliath unless you still have time afterwards and there are few to no others present in the park.
Cell service here can be spotty to nonexistent. Plan accordingly.
With the course being relatively open in many spots and close to Lake Michigan, wind can be a major factor. It was whipping when I played on a cold, dreary November afternoon. On the plus side, I had the course to myself.
The par is listed as 3 on all holes. Personally I think that a couple of the 400'+ ones should be par 4 (how many shots does it take YOU to reach a basket 745' away on flattish open terrain)?
As mentioned above, the presence of Beast alone is currently knocking my rating down half a disc. But beyond that, I think Beast offers basically the same challenges as Goliath, and is a better course overall. Sure, Goliath is a little bit longer. But comparing to Beast:
- That added distance on Goliath does not really translate to added challenge. The longest holes on Goliath are just open throws, challenging only your driving distance.
- There are more holes on Goliath that play across the park drive, and it seemed like the park drive fell in a more likely disc landing zone more often here, vs. e.g. being just off the tee on Beast. Also, one Goliath hole (#17, shown as #14 on the map uploaded here) plays straight across a parking lot.
- In contrast to Beast's awesome top-of-the-world hole 1, Goliath lacks a clear signature hole.
- The navigation is a little more confusing on Goliath, and the fairways are a little less well defined and more encroached on by the rough. A few lines felt unrealistic. I have to imagine this is because...
- Beast players (theoretically) always have the right-of-way. If it were a busy day in the park and that rule were followed, it could conceivably take an entire afternoon to get through Goliath.
In short, to me Goliath feels like an unsafe and silly way to add a "third course" to the Mason County Park complex. I very strongly believe that this Goliath course should be pulled - and a second set of tees could be added for Beast in its place. A second Beast layout would keep the allure of a "different" course, while eliminating most of the safety issues.
I gave Beast a 3.5 rating, and I think Goliath is clearly a little worse so that puts me at 3.0. If you are a serious disc golfer visiting the Ludington area, you should absolutely spend an afternoon at Mason County Park! But I would recommend starting with Beauty and Beast, and avoiding Goliath unless you still have time afterwards and there are few to no others present in the park.
