Phillips Park reviews
15
0
Jamesmarcus
Experience:
28.2 years
1 played
1 reviews
Best Course in Pittsburgh (City Limits) 2+ years drive by
Reviewed:
Updated:
Played on:Apr 28, 2021
Played the course:once
Pros:
-Beautiful park
-Not very crowded even on weekends
-Utilizes elevation changes in a non-linear way
-Challenging from a approach/putt standpoint because of fast greens
-Beautiful flight lines on many holes that give you multiple angles of attack and similar percentages of success. Very balanced course
-9 Holes so you can quickly get in and out or can replay the shots you messed up the first go around and not spend too much time doing it.
-Not very crowded even on weekends
-Utilizes elevation changes in a non-linear way
-Challenging from a approach/putt standpoint because of fast greens
-Beautiful flight lines on many holes that give you multiple angles of attack and similar percentages of success. Very balanced course
-9 Holes so you can quickly get in and out or can replay the shots you messed up the first go around and not spend too much time doing it.
Cons:
-Some baskets have been damaged in ways that could impact play (bent bottom rims etc.)
-No shots are available for folks who throw far 500+ feet
-9 holes so the fun is limited!
-No shots are available for folks who throw far 500+ feet
-9 holes so the fun is limited!
Other Thoughts:
Full disclosure this is probably the only course review I will ever publish and don't have a reference point for other course ratings. I have however played disc golf competitively all the way from Junior Worlds through Open level NT events.
I played a round a few weeks ago, Saturday afternoon, we were the only players out on the course save for some high school aged lads in their Saturday best and we were able to play 27 holes in about two hours (making some mulligans and alternate shots etc.) How many courses in Pittsburgh have you played 3 times in a row on the same day? It's probably not many, but it's something you can do EASILY at Phillips!
If there's one thing I hope to accomplish with this review, it's to get people to discover this hidden gem in the middle of the city that you either looked at on this site and said "Nah, I don't want to waste my time with a 9 hole course, let's just play Deer Lakes for the millionth time," or played it once, thought "I can't throw my driver on this course, what fun is that?" and never gave it a second thought. I'm here to tell you you are missing out on the biggest kept secret in the Pittsburgh disc golf course experience.
The oak trees in this park are just magnificent, creating wide undulating fairways that are just a joy to watch your disc fly through. Playing amongst the canopies, saving your pars that rolled 50 feet away from the basket on an approach shot and being genuinely challenged on a variety of short holes to make birdie are just some of the joyous experiences that await you here.
The best part about this course is you can just leave your bag at home and bring 3 discs you want to workshop. How about take your least well known fairway driver, your midrange that sticks around in your bag for "technical" shots and the practice putter and play a round with just those discs. Literally that's all you will need to play this course, and stripping down to the bare essentials is as liberating as the joy you felt lacing your first fairway or draining your first outside the circle putt.
The way the course uses the hill is necessary (from a space and design perspective) as well as creative. You play the entire layout on a huge sloping hill, but there is only one downhill hole (#2) and one uphill hole (#8). This creates an accessibility that don't have you climbing up the admittedly massive hill every other hole to be able to play out painstaking uphill grinds and soaring downhill escapes. It plays on a nice middle ground utilizing slight elevation changes forcing you to keep shots low, or carry drives or approaches further than you thought as the hill climbs away from you.
For those who haven't played Philips, I can't recommend it enough. For beginner players and advanced players alike, there's something here for everyone if you just open yourself to experience it.
I played a round a few weeks ago, Saturday afternoon, we were the only players out on the course save for some high school aged lads in their Saturday best and we were able to play 27 holes in about two hours (making some mulligans and alternate shots etc.) How many courses in Pittsburgh have you played 3 times in a row on the same day? It's probably not many, but it's something you can do EASILY at Phillips!
If there's one thing I hope to accomplish with this review, it's to get people to discover this hidden gem in the middle of the city that you either looked at on this site and said "Nah, I don't want to waste my time with a 9 hole course, let's just play Deer Lakes for the millionth time," or played it once, thought "I can't throw my driver on this course, what fun is that?" and never gave it a second thought. I'm here to tell you you are missing out on the biggest kept secret in the Pittsburgh disc golf course experience.
The oak trees in this park are just magnificent, creating wide undulating fairways that are just a joy to watch your disc fly through. Playing amongst the canopies, saving your pars that rolled 50 feet away from the basket on an approach shot and being genuinely challenged on a variety of short holes to make birdie are just some of the joyous experiences that await you here.
The best part about this course is you can just leave your bag at home and bring 3 discs you want to workshop. How about take your least well known fairway driver, your midrange that sticks around in your bag for "technical" shots and the practice putter and play a round with just those discs. Literally that's all you will need to play this course, and stripping down to the bare essentials is as liberating as the joy you felt lacing your first fairway or draining your first outside the circle putt.
The way the course uses the hill is necessary (from a space and design perspective) as well as creative. You play the entire layout on a huge sloping hill, but there is only one downhill hole (#2) and one uphill hole (#8). This creates an accessibility that don't have you climbing up the admittedly massive hill every other hole to be able to play out painstaking uphill grinds and soaring downhill escapes. It plays on a nice middle ground utilizing slight elevation changes forcing you to keep shots low, or carry drives or approaches further than you thought as the hill climbs away from you.
For those who haven't played Philips, I can't recommend it enough. For beginner players and advanced players alike, there's something here for everyone if you just open yourself to experience it.
