Santa Margarita KOA DGC reviews
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Fun if you are already in the area 2+ years
Reviewed:
Played on:Nov 16, 2016
Played the course:once
Pros:
We were given a map at the KOA office, and this was important since there are no signs.
When you leave the office, walk up the road past the swimming pool (on your left) to a dirt road that immediately forks. A rubber tee pad is up the hill (~150 ft) in the grassy area to your left. The distances listed below are based on the Google Earth measuring tool and where I think we teed off and the pin location, so accurate to within 30 ft or so.
Hole 1--280 ft. Rubber tee pad has "Hole 1" and an arrow painted on it. There was a stock trailer in the middle of the fairway with a large goat in it, and three bee boxes/hives just past that. The pin is actually right in front of a chicken coop, which is covered in wire and is a backstop to aggressive upshots or putts.
Hole 2--180 ft. Rubber tee pad had no writing on it, and I think this had been moved from its placement according to the KOA map (we found it near the bee hives). We walked down to the lower building and the adjacent goat pen, which is where the KOA map indicates the tee for hole 2 should be. We could find on pad down there, so we went back up the hill to the unmarked tee pad. RHBH hyzers go over the cow pen, which is guarded by a big dog, who was chained up (thankfully!).
Hole 3--250 ft uphill. Rubber tee pad on right side of little ravine, and the basket is up the hill and in front of a tree. Area had been mowed recently, but some areas had waist high dry grass and small thorny shrubs. Tee 4 is back down the hill and closer to the barbwire fence.
Hole 4--230 ft uphill. Tee is near barbwire fence, and another uphill drive. Mowing really helped with finding discs. Walk up hill past end of barbwire fencing for tee 5.
Hole 5--295 ft downhill. Top of the hill is flattened and has tee 5 and tee 7. Downhill shot with motor homes and trucks behind the basket, which is near a cluster of rocks. Beware of wind pushing discs wide of pin.
Hole 6--300 ft uphill. Pin is on a very steep slope but the shot is wide open. Continue up slope for tee 7.
Hole 7--265 ft downhill. Tee pad is on flattened top of hill and this is the second of the three downhill shots. Pin is near a big drop off, and RHBH hyzer shots can easily be pushed by wind all the way to the bottom of the hill and the volleyball courts (40 ft drop or more). Fencing has some mesh on bottom to catch discs, but there are gaps and the safety net is low to the ground.
Hole 8--225 ft downhill. Not as steep of a drop off as holes 5 and 7, but similar kind of shot.
Hole 9--240 ft. The pin is hidden behind bushes and the shot crosses a small ravine. You end up very close to where you started.
When you leave the office, walk up the road past the swimming pool (on your left) to a dirt road that immediately forks. A rubber tee pad is up the hill (~150 ft) in the grassy area to your left. The distances listed below are based on the Google Earth measuring tool and where I think we teed off and the pin location, so accurate to within 30 ft or so.
Hole 1--280 ft. Rubber tee pad has "Hole 1" and an arrow painted on it. There was a stock trailer in the middle of the fairway with a large goat in it, and three bee boxes/hives just past that. The pin is actually right in front of a chicken coop, which is covered in wire and is a backstop to aggressive upshots or putts.
Hole 2--180 ft. Rubber tee pad had no writing on it, and I think this had been moved from its placement according to the KOA map (we found it near the bee hives). We walked down to the lower building and the adjacent goat pen, which is where the KOA map indicates the tee for hole 2 should be. We could find on pad down there, so we went back up the hill to the unmarked tee pad. RHBH hyzers go over the cow pen, which is guarded by a big dog, who was chained up (thankfully!).
Hole 3--250 ft uphill. Rubber tee pad on right side of little ravine, and the basket is up the hill and in front of a tree. Area had been mowed recently, but some areas had waist high dry grass and small thorny shrubs. Tee 4 is back down the hill and closer to the barbwire fence.
Hole 4--230 ft uphill. Tee is near barbwire fence, and another uphill drive. Mowing really helped with finding discs. Walk up hill past end of barbwire fencing for tee 5.
Hole 5--295 ft downhill. Top of the hill is flattened and has tee 5 and tee 7. Downhill shot with motor homes and trucks behind the basket, which is near a cluster of rocks. Beware of wind pushing discs wide of pin.
Hole 6--300 ft uphill. Pin is on a very steep slope but the shot is wide open. Continue up slope for tee 7.
Hole 7--265 ft downhill. Tee pad is on flattened top of hill and this is the second of the three downhill shots. Pin is near a big drop off, and RHBH hyzer shots can easily be pushed by wind all the way to the bottom of the hill and the volleyball courts (40 ft drop or more). Fencing has some mesh on bottom to catch discs, but there are gaps and the safety net is low to the ground.
Hole 8--225 ft downhill. Not as steep of a drop off as holes 5 and 7, but similar kind of shot.
Hole 9--240 ft. The pin is hidden behind bushes and the shot crosses a small ravine. You end up very close to where you started.
Cons:
-No signs.
-Animal pens and vehicles could come into play on holes 1, 2, and 5.
-Rubber tee pads not always on level ground, so footing was treacherous a few times.
-I would have rated this 2.5 except for the animals and risk of going into a livestock pen.
-Animal pens and vehicles could come into play on holes 1, 2, and 5.
-Rubber tee pads not always on level ground, so footing was treacherous a few times.
-I would have rated this 2.5 except for the animals and risk of going into a livestock pen.
Other Thoughts:
We checked in at the KOA office and the helpful lady gave us a map and generously waived our parking fee due to it being the slow season (November 16, 2016).
The disc golf course is located on a piece of property above the KOA campground that is an active farm, with goats, geese, chickens and cows in pens and cages, and even a few bee hives. While it is cool to see such a variety of animals, unfortunately their holding areas are scattered throughout the fairways of holes 1 and 2. There is also a variety of farm equipment and several old vehicles and motorhomes. If you lost a disc in one of the pens, you might not get it back. And a very large dog (looked like a Great Pyranees) was chained up next to the cows and barked at us while we played hole 2 (which had part of the fairway over the cow pen). I think the tee pad for hole 2 had been moved away from the goat pen. It makes more sense to dive from down there, but we saw a tee pad just before the chicken coop and opted to play from there to hole 2. Once you get to hole 4 the animals are out of the picture, and you basically play up and down a small hill for the rest of the holes except hole 9.
If you look at Google Earth and compare satellite photos through time, you can see the motor homes move and land use shifts. Maybe now that the disc golf course is in this happens less often.
We saw no one else out there.
The disc golf course is located on a piece of property above the KOA campground that is an active farm, with goats, geese, chickens and cows in pens and cages, and even a few bee hives. While it is cool to see such a variety of animals, unfortunately their holding areas are scattered throughout the fairways of holes 1 and 2. There is also a variety of farm equipment and several old vehicles and motorhomes. If you lost a disc in one of the pens, you might not get it back. And a very large dog (looked like a Great Pyranees) was chained up next to the cows and barked at us while we played hole 2 (which had part of the fairway over the cow pen). I think the tee pad for hole 2 had been moved away from the goat pen. It makes more sense to dive from down there, but we saw a tee pad just before the chicken coop and opted to play from there to hole 2. Once you get to hole 4 the animals are out of the picture, and you basically play up and down a small hill for the rest of the holes except hole 9.
If you look at Google Earth and compare satellite photos through time, you can see the motor homes move and land use shifts. Maybe now that the disc golf course is in this happens less often.
We saw no one else out there.
