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The Airborne @ WakeMed DGC reviews
3
0
Unique, open, tailor-made for big arms 2+ years drive by
Reviewed:
Played on:May 26, 2019
Played the course:2-4 times
Pros:
The Airborne at WakeMed is an annual PDGA C-Tier event at the WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, NC. The soccer park is home to the local men's and women's professional soccer teams. Jay, Mike, and their team of CADL volunteers, as always, do a great job setting up a fun, challenging, unique temporary course. The dates for the tournament changed in 2019, after skipping 2018 due to the demands of hosting Am Worlds in North Carolina. Prior to 2018, the tournament was in August -- the worst possible time for a North Carolina disc golf tournament at a wide open, nearly shadeless track. This year, the tournament is over Memorial Day weekend. The course is open to the public to play on Saturday morning, prior to the Sunday tournament, for $5 per person. On Saturday afternoon there is a doubles tournament. And then the C-Tier is on Sunday. This track is absolutely worth making plans to play, either the recreational options or at the tournament itself.
+ The top pro, in my opinion, is the unique property and hole design. They use local features, natural and manmade, to throw interesting holes at players with challenging risk/reward elements. There is water in play on a few early holes. There is OB in play throughout. There is an island hole with a giant art sculpture as an obstacle. There are two elevated baskets, including one that is *very* elevated. Tunnel shots, holes to play the skip, holes where you need the disc to settle. One common theme is that the course is mostly open, with scattered obstacles on most holes, and very long. Big arms will love this course, but it has enough technicality for any player to find it fun and challenging.
+ Well maintained property with great facilities (duh, it's a pro soccer park!).
+ Good use of elevation. There isn't a ton of elevation here, but what they have they use. There are some very long downhill holes (including the 800-foot, 1000 for pros, hole number 14). There are a few uphill holes too. And my favorite hole, the island par 4 #9, plays somewhat downhill off the tee, but then the bushes, sculpture, and a slight hill make the approach to the island uphill, technical, and tricky.
+ Good temp baskets and tees. The tees are a combo of sidewalks, pavement, and durable rubber mats.
+ While there is a lot of OB here, it does not feel forced. They wisely used the permanent manmade features -- such as roads and sidewalks -- to mark OB. There are very few places were OB has to be marked by flags or string. This element adds significantly to the challenge and the technical skills necessary to score well.
+ Navigation is easy and intuitive (plus they have course maps at the sign-up desk).
+ There are some holes you can absolutely bomb here. I mentioned #14. It's not the only one, but it's the best example. Is 800 feet too short for you? OK, back up to 1000 feet.
+ This tournament is put on to support the military. Holding it on Memorial Day weekend makes it that much more patriotic and meaningful.
+ The top pro, in my opinion, is the unique property and hole design. They use local features, natural and manmade, to throw interesting holes at players with challenging risk/reward elements. There is water in play on a few early holes. There is OB in play throughout. There is an island hole with a giant art sculpture as an obstacle. There are two elevated baskets, including one that is *very* elevated. Tunnel shots, holes to play the skip, holes where you need the disc to settle. One common theme is that the course is mostly open, with scattered obstacles on most holes, and very long. Big arms will love this course, but it has enough technicality for any player to find it fun and challenging.
+ Well maintained property with great facilities (duh, it's a pro soccer park!).
+ Good use of elevation. There isn't a ton of elevation here, but what they have they use. There are some very long downhill holes (including the 800-foot, 1000 for pros, hole number 14). There are a few uphill holes too. And my favorite hole, the island par 4 #9, plays somewhat downhill off the tee, but then the bushes, sculpture, and a slight hill make the approach to the island uphill, technical, and tricky.
+ Good temp baskets and tees. The tees are a combo of sidewalks, pavement, and durable rubber mats.
+ While there is a lot of OB here, it does not feel forced. They wisely used the permanent manmade features -- such as roads and sidewalks -- to mark OB. There are very few places were OB has to be marked by flags or string. This element adds significantly to the challenge and the technical skills necessary to score well.
+ Navigation is easy and intuitive (plus they have course maps at the sign-up desk).
+ There are some holes you can absolutely bomb here. I mentioned #14. It's not the only one, but it's the best example. Is 800 feet too short for you? OK, back up to 1000 feet.
+ This tournament is put on to support the military. Holding it on Memorial Day weekend makes it that much more patriotic and meaningful.
Cons:
There really isn't anything major worth pointing out here. There are three regular temp course tournaments in the Triangle that I (and most) local disc golfers try to attend (or at least play rec rounds at) every year. I would probably rank this track third out of the three in terms of fun and overall rating, but that's only because the other two are phenomenal and WakeMed is only slightly less memorable. Here are those tracks and my personal rankings:
1A. Downtown Urban Open (most unique, most fun)
1B. Forest Hills / Matt Keatts Memorial (prettiest track, would work best as a permanent course)
3. WakeMed Soccer Park / The Airborne (by far the longest, not only of the temp courses, but of any permanent tracks in the area)
Again, don't view this as a knock on The Airborne at WakeMed. It's just my personal preference and due to the fact that DUO and Forest Hills are superb. I give The Airborne a solid, way above average 3.5 rating.
- Long walk in between holes 5 and 6. (As you can see, I'm grasping at straws for cons here.)
- Very little shade. They will have some tents set up on a few holes, but be prepared and bring sunscreen as there is not much relief out here.
- Very thick underbrush and briars off of a couple of the final few holes. Disc loss possibilities here and on holes with thick hedges.
- Hole 19 is literally set on on packed-in manure. Yes, you read that right. There's probably a 20x20-foot section of the fairway that is made out of manure. It's old and degrading and doesn't stick to your shoes, but still...
1A. Downtown Urban Open (most unique, most fun)
1B. Forest Hills / Matt Keatts Memorial (prettiest track, would work best as a permanent course)
3. WakeMed Soccer Park / The Airborne (by far the longest, not only of the temp courses, but of any permanent tracks in the area)
Again, don't view this as a knock on The Airborne at WakeMed. It's just my personal preference and due to the fact that DUO and Forest Hills are superb. I give The Airborne a solid, way above average 3.5 rating.
- Long walk in between holes 5 and 6. (As you can see, I'm grasping at straws for cons here.)
- Very little shade. They will have some tents set up on a few holes, but be prepared and bring sunscreen as there is not much relief out here.
- Very thick underbrush and briars off of a couple of the final few holes. Disc loss possibilities here and on holes with thick hedges.
- Hole 19 is literally set on on packed-in manure. Yes, you read that right. There's probably a 20x20-foot section of the fairway that is made out of manure. It's old and degrading and doesn't stick to your shoes, but still...
Other Thoughts:
If you're reading this review in 2019, it means you've missed your chance to play the course this year. But look for it and don't miss it in 2020!
Here is a hole by hole breakdown for the 2019 course layout:
1. Par 3, 320 feet, plays over an OB road to a fairway and green area with a good number of guardian bushes and trees. One of the more technical holes.
2. Par 3, 256 feet, straight down a narrow, open fairway with trees lining the right side and an OB chainlink fence lining the other side. Very easy to finish left and OB here.
3. Par 4, 590 feet, plays right to left around a lake. The closer you land to the lake, the more open your approach shot to the green will be. If you play it safer and stay right, trees make the approach much more technical and challenging. Nice risk-reward element.
4. Par 3, 345 feet, plays around the other side of the lake with huge bushes obstructing the safer, right side of the fairway. Play a strong RHBH hyzer to the green area, but don't finish too far right or you're in the thick shrubs around the lake or the lake itself.
5. Par 3, 400 feet, plays straight and downhill. Dotted trees on the right-hand side, a thicker line of trees on the left. No OB to speak of.
6. Par 4, 540 feet, plays over an OB park road, designed like you're throwing over a river to the safe side of the road, but the natural right-to-left finish of RHBH shots will want to carry you OB (for the drive and the approach shot).
7. Par 3, 412 feet, downhill across a dirt parking lot. This would be a great hole to play a roller or a skip, but there are parking space barriers across the whole parking lot, adding a bit of unpredictability to the ground play of your shot.
8. Par 3, 340 feet, playing back up the hill across the dirt parking lot with a wooden fence guarding the basket. There's a good chance you'll have to contend with the fence on your putt.
9. Par 4, 500 feet, across the dirt parking lot again. Finish as close to the road as you can without going OB for your approach to the island green with the huge art sculpture.
10. Par 3, 280 feet, is a tunnel shot across a road, not OB, and sidewalk to a basket with a steep hill sloping down from it into the underbrush. Good hole to play a low skip shot, sticking close to the sidewalk.
11. Par 3, 240 feet, uphill to a basket with an OB road within 10 feet behind it. One of if not the best birdie opportunities on the whole course, but be careful going for it: if you go slightly long, your bridie put turns into a par put from the edge of the OB.
12. Par 3, 354 feet, almost completely wide open, across a flat, grass field. Slightly uphill. Not much to this hole.
13. Par 3, 345 feet, is almost the same as the previous hole, playing back across the same field, slightly downhill.
14. Par, 801 feet from the Am tee, 1001 feet from the Pro tee. This is the big one! It's a gradual downhill, completely wide open, to a super-elevated basket. Definitely a birdie opportunity if you get close enough to run a putt at the elevated basket. I would imagine this is even an eagle opportunity for the super long throwers. I can only imagine...
15. Par 3,305 feet. This is the $5,000/$10,000 ace hole! It's a very pretty, straight, slightly downhill hole with trees and bushes lining each side. It's not wide enough to throw a big hyzer and the trees are enough of an obstacle to prevent you from going over them. You have to go straight up the middle for 300 feet if you want a shot at the $5,000 tournament ace ($10,000 if you make it a disc from Dynamic Discs).
16. Par 4, 630 feet, another long, slightly downhill hole, dogleg right. There is thick woods and underbrush on each side. Birdie is very doable...but so is bogey if you miss the fairway.
17. Par 3, 200 feet, the shortest hole on the course. You will kick yourself if you don't birdie it. It's a left-to-right hole where a flick or an anhyzer from a right-handed player will do. Very thick woods and underbrush on either side of the narrow fairway.
18. Par 3, 245 feet, flex shot down a dirt road with very thick woods and underbrush on each side.
19. Par 3, 300 feet for the Ams, par 4, 555 feet for the pros. This is the manure hole! For the Ams, it's a straight 300-foot shot very thick woods on either side of the fairway, which is wide at the tee, but narrows near the green. The manure ground is up close to the green. For the pros, back up another 255 feet down the dirt road for a technical, flex shot approach to the tee area for the Ams.
20. Par 3, 370 feet across another parking lot to an elevated basket. There is woods on the right, but it's basically a wide open hole and OB really isn't in play.
Here is a hole by hole breakdown for the 2019 course layout:
1. Par 3, 320 feet, plays over an OB road to a fairway and green area with a good number of guardian bushes and trees. One of the more technical holes.
2. Par 3, 256 feet, straight down a narrow, open fairway with trees lining the right side and an OB chainlink fence lining the other side. Very easy to finish left and OB here.
3. Par 4, 590 feet, plays right to left around a lake. The closer you land to the lake, the more open your approach shot to the green will be. If you play it safer and stay right, trees make the approach much more technical and challenging. Nice risk-reward element.
4. Par 3, 345 feet, plays around the other side of the lake with huge bushes obstructing the safer, right side of the fairway. Play a strong RHBH hyzer to the green area, but don't finish too far right or you're in the thick shrubs around the lake or the lake itself.
5. Par 3, 400 feet, plays straight and downhill. Dotted trees on the right-hand side, a thicker line of trees on the left. No OB to speak of.
6. Par 4, 540 feet, plays over an OB park road, designed like you're throwing over a river to the safe side of the road, but the natural right-to-left finish of RHBH shots will want to carry you OB (for the drive and the approach shot).
7. Par 3, 412 feet, downhill across a dirt parking lot. This would be a great hole to play a roller or a skip, but there are parking space barriers across the whole parking lot, adding a bit of unpredictability to the ground play of your shot.
8. Par 3, 340 feet, playing back up the hill across the dirt parking lot with a wooden fence guarding the basket. There's a good chance you'll have to contend with the fence on your putt.
9. Par 4, 500 feet, across the dirt parking lot again. Finish as close to the road as you can without going OB for your approach to the island green with the huge art sculpture.
10. Par 3, 280 feet, is a tunnel shot across a road, not OB, and sidewalk to a basket with a steep hill sloping down from it into the underbrush. Good hole to play a low skip shot, sticking close to the sidewalk.
11. Par 3, 240 feet, uphill to a basket with an OB road within 10 feet behind it. One of if not the best birdie opportunities on the whole course, but be careful going for it: if you go slightly long, your bridie put turns into a par put from the edge of the OB.
12. Par 3, 354 feet, almost completely wide open, across a flat, grass field. Slightly uphill. Not much to this hole.
13. Par 3, 345 feet, is almost the same as the previous hole, playing back across the same field, slightly downhill.
14. Par, 801 feet from the Am tee, 1001 feet from the Pro tee. This is the big one! It's a gradual downhill, completely wide open, to a super-elevated basket. Definitely a birdie opportunity if you get close enough to run a putt at the elevated basket. I would imagine this is even an eagle opportunity for the super long throwers. I can only imagine...
15. Par 3,305 feet. This is the $5,000/$10,000 ace hole! It's a very pretty, straight, slightly downhill hole with trees and bushes lining each side. It's not wide enough to throw a big hyzer and the trees are enough of an obstacle to prevent you from going over them. You have to go straight up the middle for 300 feet if you want a shot at the $5,000 tournament ace ($10,000 if you make it a disc from Dynamic Discs).
16. Par 4, 630 feet, another long, slightly downhill hole, dogleg right. There is thick woods and underbrush on each side. Birdie is very doable...but so is bogey if you miss the fairway.
17. Par 3, 200 feet, the shortest hole on the course. You will kick yourself if you don't birdie it. It's a left-to-right hole where a flick or an anhyzer from a right-handed player will do. Very thick woods and underbrush on either side of the narrow fairway.
18. Par 3, 245 feet, flex shot down a dirt road with very thick woods and underbrush on each side.
19. Par 3, 300 feet for the Ams, par 4, 555 feet for the pros. This is the manure hole! For the Ams, it's a straight 300-foot shot very thick woods on either side of the fairway, which is wide at the tee, but narrows near the green. The manure ground is up close to the green. For the pros, back up another 255 feet down the dirt road for a technical, flex shot approach to the tee area for the Ams.
20. Par 3, 370 feet across another parking lot to an elevated basket. There is woods on the right, but it's basically a wide open hole and OB really isn't in play.
