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Hawley, MN

River Bend Park

Permanent course
2.635(based on 4 reviews)
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1 0
JunkyBrownie
Experience: 18 played 10 reviews
2.00 star(s)

What's Going On Here? 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 31, 2016 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

Large signs on the highway made it easy to find the course.
Map of the course by Hole 1 is very helpful.
Cement trapezoid shaped tee pads for the advanced course.
Good mix of short and long holes, doglegs, water hazards, and areas of dense foliage.
Restrooms by Hole 1.
Well groomed course with the exception of Hole 6.
Mach 2 baskets that are numbered and look relatively new.

Cons:

The recreational course was quite short in length.
The map of the course at Hole 1 displays 2 bridges for crossing the river, but the bridge by Hole 1 is no longer there. So after throwing your disc to the other side of the river on Hole 1, you will have to walk 500 ft to the bridge by Hole 9, cross over and double back 500 ft to resume play. After finishing Hole 1, you will walk another 400 ft before reaching the Hole 2 tee pad. And Hole 2 is only 260 ft. which is absurd considering the open, unused ground that you covered just to get there. Hole 3 is the same. 400 ft walk to the tee pad, 260 ft to the hole. The only difference between them is the water hazard changing from the right side to the left side. Also, the advanced tee pads for Holes 3 and 4 are slanting downward from a right to left angle, kind of awkward.
Some baskets and tee pads are by the golf course and its hard to stay quiet when you sink a long putt or have a good looking ace run.
After playing Hole 4, you will walk 600 ft to the Hole 5 tee pad.
Hole 6 needs a little bit of maintainence.
After playing Hole 6, you have to walk back down the 250 ft fairway to reach the Hole 7 tee pad. Then you walk another 600 ft to reach the Hole 8 tee pad.
Bugs are very bad on Holes 5,6, and 7.
Rec. course tee pads are roughly 3ft by 4ft, a bit too small.

Other Thoughts:

I would give this course a 3/5, perhaps 3.5/5. But the layout is just unresasonable, as if they designed it this way just to annoy you. So much ground not being utilized. So much walking between holes. But with that being said, I still had a great time playing the holes (once I finally got to the tee pads after walking so long). Drove for an hour to get there and I'll drive again because it really is a fun course aside from all the additional walking. Take pictures of the map before you get started. Hole 2 tee pad is south of the Hole 1 basket. Hole 3 tee pad is on the east side of the large pond, just north of the golf club house. After Hole 4, follow the road and east of the Hole 8 tee pad you will find the Hole 5 tee pad. Keep this in mind while you're walking a seemingly endless path.
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1 0
Anon
Experience: 25 years 35 played 9 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Quiet course w potential 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Jul 3, 2013 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

- New tee boxes. Duals on most holes.
- Amazing signage. Really well done.
- Brand new baskets.
- Pro tees offer interesting and challenging shots

Cons:

- Some of the walks between holes are a bit long.
- No trash cans, bag hooks, etc
- A bit confusing until you understand what is going on. New signs make thing pretty clear.

Other Thoughts:

THE MAP LINKED HERE SEEMS TO BE OUT OF DATE. The new signs at the course make things pretty clear.

This course has a bit of a dual personality.

The 2 sets of tees offer pretty different experiences.

From what I can gather. There are 12 holes when you play from the shorts. But there are only 9 from the longs. I'll break it down as best I can (from a RHBH perspective):

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Shorts:
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#A: Short ~180 over a creek. Pretty straight forward.

#1: ~230 hyzer shot with a few trees in the way. Water 10 feet behind the basket.

#2: ~150 to a pin with water on the right and behind. Trees to the left. A bit of an island green feel.

#3: Easy 200 foot hyzer under a couple of low trees.

#4: Slight anhyzer to a mostly open basket

#5: Long turnover shot into a nice fairway to setup a look at the pin. A huge anhyzer bomb could probably look at a deuce if thrown correctly.

#6: 10 foot wide tunnel shot. 225 feet straight.

#B: This one is a bit curious. There is a very narrow tunnel that winds through the trees. This thing has to be no more than 5 feet wide at spots. However, there is a huge window up and to the right. A forehand spike or massive hyzer bomb could probably clear the whole mess. Not sure if this is intended.

#7: 2 options. Hyzer line through a low ceiling of well spaced pines. Big anhyzer line that is much more open.

#8: Open 223ft with a slope to water behind the pin. Nothing too outrageous.

#C: Short anhyzer under some low hanging trees.

#9: Pretty easy finish with a soft hyzer through some trees.

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So that seems to make the 12 of the short course.
On to the long tees.
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#1: 2 options. Safer turnover shot over the creek to an open fairway. Easy upshot for the 3. Or... Bomb hyzer over the creek and spike it in right on the basket. Much more risky.

#2: Basically the same as the shorts but bringing more of the creek into play. 275 into what definitely feels more like an island green.

#3: Low shot with reeds to the left and hanging tree limbs to the right. Fading into the reeds might result in a lost disc. Basically make a straight shot and you can move on with a deuce.

#4: Sharp right hand curve. Might be roller friendly. Easy 3 with a safe turnover, short upshot and putt out. The sign shows a more hyzer line on the right... but with the way the trees were, I wasn't seeing it.

#5: Plays the same as the shorts.Long turnover shot into a nice fairway to setup a look at the pin. A huge anhyzer bomb could probably look at a deuce if thrown correctly.

#6: Again, same as the short... but longer. Tunnel shot is much more difficult with an extra 75 feet. Pitching out from the rough is often the best option if your drive takes a bad bounce off a tree.

#7: The long version of 7 basically combines #B and #7 from the short layout. Definitely a difficult hole.

#8: Same as the short. Open 223ft with a slope to water behind the pin. Nothing too outrageous.

#9: Fun shot out a little tree window, over the creek, to the fairway to the right. Discs that tend to fade run a high risk of fading right into the river which runs along the left hand side of the hole. Forehand/turnover throw here might be the best option,
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So that seems to be the basic rundown. Definitely a fun course and worth playing if you are in the area. The basket numbering seems a bit wonky. A, B, and C as they are labeled on the signs have basket numbers 10, 11 and 12. I'm guessing they just couldn't get signs with letters?

There was also a basket number 13 that was a bit to the right (west) of the hole one tee boxes. I have no idea what it was doing there unless its just a practice basket. But it seemed a bit far from everything else to be just that. Maybe there is an expansion in the works?
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1 1
kungfubear
Experience: 12.2 years 14 played 3 reviews
2.50 star(s)

I would play it again 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 2, 2013 Played the course:once

Pros:

this course has variety and many options to avoid water hazards if you wanted to.

Cons:

it didn't flow well, could use some adjusting. hole 6 needs a path to the seventh tee so players won't have to back track on #6 fairway.

Other Thoughts:

I would like to see this course reworked in the future
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3 1
tampora
Experience: 25.9 years 33 played 2 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Most challenging 9 holes in the area 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 19, 2012 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

New Baskets.
New Trapezoidal Concrete Pads.
Very challenging pro 9 holes.

Cons:

Difficult to Navigate your first time, so print the map from here. No signage except for numbered baskets.
Hole 6 forces you to backtrack 100ft+ down the fairway to get to hole 7.
Sizable walks from baskets to the following tee pads.
No trash cans, benches, or restrooms, unless you visit the ball golf clubhouse.

Other Thoughts:

In regards to the pro 9 holes as a RHBH:

Hole 1: Nice look from the pad over the creek. Difficult choice to 'go for it' with a hyzer bomb over the creek, or, to lay up.

Hole 4: A 328ft hole that, at best, you hope to get 200ft anhyzer for your drive. There is little other choice.

Hole 7: You will see a basket from the teepad, but that is not it. Once you clear the woods, it's another 400ft to the left.

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