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Porcupine Mountain DGC reviews
8
0
Fun, but underwhelming 2+ years drive by
Reviewed:
Played on:Aug 5, 2017
Played the course:once
Pros:
-Scenery - plays through nice shady woods, and up ski runs, with a gorgeous view of Lake Superior
-Mach V baskets with the deep cages, looked nearly new
-Gravel tees on every hole with plenty of run up space
-Signs on every hole, showing number, length and hole layout.
-Good variety of open vs. wooded
-Good distance variety - no par 4's or 5's, but all different distances from 180' all the way to upwards of 450'.
-Straight, left, right, flat, up and down holes
-Challenge - hit your line, or get into the thick rough
-A pair of signature downhill holes (14 and 17). You can rip the fairway drivers and watch em' glide on these two, but don't get too crazy cause there's high potential to fade or turn off to the side into the thick brush.
-Navigation - very intuitive, the only place that seemed to need a next tee sign, there was one present.
-A darn good workout
-Mach V baskets with the deep cages, looked nearly new
-Gravel tees on every hole with plenty of run up space
-Signs on every hole, showing number, length and hole layout.
-Good variety of open vs. wooded
-Good distance variety - no par 4's or 5's, but all different distances from 180' all the way to upwards of 450'.
-Straight, left, right, flat, up and down holes
-Challenge - hit your line, or get into the thick rough
-A pair of signature downhill holes (14 and 17). You can rip the fairway drivers and watch em' glide on these two, but don't get too crazy cause there's high potential to fade or turn off to the side into the thick brush.
-Navigation - very intuitive, the only place that seemed to need a next tee sign, there was one present.
-A darn good workout
Cons:
-Long grass on back 9
-Flow - the front 9 feels essentially like a completely different course - mostly wooded with a couple more open holes, lots of short ace runs. The back 9 is basically all open, following decently wide ski runs up and down. A lot of the front nine seemed linear, with the tees being right in line with the last basket, seeming to follow one straight line. Just a little weird.
-Repetitive and below potential back nine - basically every hole (with the exception of 16) plays along the middle of open ski runs. They're not a mile wide, but wide enough to feel like you're playing the same hole over and over again, just going up and down. Basically 7 of 9 of the back holes are the exact same width, and it gets boring.
-Basket locations - it seems they tried to make them precarious, but it just didn't jive. The only thing they did was put every other basket literally a foot or two from the edge of thick trees and bushes. Otherwise, they were just in the open. Many baskets were leaning and not level.
-Gravel teepads - I liked them, but will list as a con as well. They can get a little shifty at times, had a few friends slip while throwing; they hated them.
-WASPS AND HORNETS - I know we can't control nature, but this needs to be listed. I have never encountered so many wasp/hornet nests in my life. It is partially due to the time of year we visited, but we had two seperate occasions where two different people from our group were stung by ground nests in different spots (hole 16 left side and 17 right side). There was a MASSIVE nest on a lift tower on 17, and on holes 1 and 10, you throw by a maintenance type shed, and there were swarms of wasps flying in and out of the grate on the front, and tons of smaller, very active nests along the edge of the roof. There were multiple on the edge of the roof of the chalet, including another large, football or bigger sized one. It would be nice for someone to do some spraying or extermination, cause it felt like everywhere you turned there were wasps. Be careful out there.
-Flow - the front 9 feels essentially like a completely different course - mostly wooded with a couple more open holes, lots of short ace runs. The back 9 is basically all open, following decently wide ski runs up and down. A lot of the front nine seemed linear, with the tees being right in line with the last basket, seeming to follow one straight line. Just a little weird.
-Repetitive and below potential back nine - basically every hole (with the exception of 16) plays along the middle of open ski runs. They're not a mile wide, but wide enough to feel like you're playing the same hole over and over again, just going up and down. Basically 7 of 9 of the back holes are the exact same width, and it gets boring.
-Basket locations - it seems they tried to make them precarious, but it just didn't jive. The only thing they did was put every other basket literally a foot or two from the edge of thick trees and bushes. Otherwise, they were just in the open. Many baskets were leaning and not level.
-Gravel teepads - I liked them, but will list as a con as well. They can get a little shifty at times, had a few friends slip while throwing; they hated them.
-WASPS AND HORNETS - I know we can't control nature, but this needs to be listed. I have never encountered so many wasp/hornet nests in my life. It is partially due to the time of year we visited, but we had two seperate occasions where two different people from our group were stung by ground nests in different spots (hole 16 left side and 17 right side). There was a MASSIVE nest on a lift tower on 17, and on holes 1 and 10, you throw by a maintenance type shed, and there were swarms of wasps flying in and out of the grate on the front, and tons of smaller, very active nests along the edge of the roof. There were multiple on the edge of the roof of the chalet, including another large, football or bigger sized one. It would be nice for someone to do some spraying or extermination, cause it felt like everywhere you turned there were wasps. Be careful out there.
Other Thoughts:
This place is very scenic, and a great round no matter what, but there seems to be a lot of missed potential. There are so many cool holes that could be made, but they settled for just plopping baskets and tees at the end of already made ski runs. The front 9 is a lot more technical, and in my opinion better than the back. I feel like I would just rather loop the front 9 multiple times than do a full 18. The only real exciting holes are the big downhillers on 14 and 17.
Nonetheless, it's nice to have an 18 hole course on such a gorgeous ski hill, in front of the most gorgeous lake in the nation. Will always make for a pleasent day of discing.
Nonetheless, it's nice to have an 18 hole course on such a gorgeous ski hill, in front of the most gorgeous lake in the nation. Will always make for a pleasent day of discing.
