Thompson Park Disc Golf reviews
10
0
A Tale of Three Nines 2+ years
Reviewed:
Updated:
Played on:Jul 7, 2018
Played the course:2-4 times
Pros:
~Clean City Park environment
~Great use of elevation
~Technical course w/ solid variety & various distances
~Restrooms & drinking fountains in numerous locations
~Three distinct 9-hole layouts provides playable options
~Great use of elevation
~Technical course w/ solid variety & various distances
~Restrooms & drinking fountains in numerous locations
~Three distinct 9-hole layouts provides playable options
Cons:
~Concrete tees on front nine are too small
~Tees on the remaining 18 are natural and in bad condition or undefined
~Navigation is very difficult, can lend to lots of back tracking
~Baskets are very hard to see in the wooded areas
~The Outback strongly favors RHBH off the tee, and becomes repetitive
~Tees on the remaining 18 are natural and in bad condition or undefined
~Navigation is very difficult, can lend to lots of back tracking
~Baskets are very hard to see in the wooded areas
~The Outback strongly favors RHBH off the tee, and becomes repetitive
Other Thoughts:
For me this is truly a polarizing course, due to numerous issues. Overall this course is good, and the potential is there for it to become great. Located in a large city park that is both beautiful and welcoming. The park itself offers many amenities for disc golfers to spend a full day comfortably.
The original nine are laid out nicely, starting in the middle field and zig zagging counter-clockwise around well traveled walking paths and park roads. The first nine are fun and provide birdie and ace opportunities while still requiring shot shaping and careful disc selection to avoid mature trees, and out of bounds paths and roads. Small concrete tee pads are on the first nine only and they don't contribute much. Most holes can be played as stand and deliver or you can use the adjacent grass for a full run-up.
All of the holes have wooden sign posts by the tee areas. Old basic metal signs are on all posts, and newly laminated hole signs have also just been installed providing all needed information. All baskets have tape indicating direction to next tee pad and there are some other directional arrows scattered about to help. There are some large walking gaps throughout holes 10-27, and some non-obvious routes to the next hole along the entire course so navigation is another big concern. It takes a few rounds to get familiar with the entire layout.
The middle nine dives into the woods with great elevation changes, tight gaps, and some impressive rock formations. This section is in great need of maintenance and clearing. You can see the potential of awe inspiring holes IF this area was continuously trimmed and manicured. Travel from tee to basket on a few holes is rough due to the elevation changes, bordering on dangerous so hike with caution. You emerge from the woods and play the last three of this section in a more open park setting with nice elevation.
The outback nine is my least favorite of the three. The terrain is similar to the middle section, but is in more need of clearing and maintenance. My biggest issue here is that after the first few holes it finishes out with dogleg left holes playing around a hillside....this becomes repetitive and slightly frustrating. This section needs the most work, but could also become very good with time and effort.
Originally played a casual round of all 27 holes, then visited a week later for a C-Tier Tournament playing two mixed rounds. It's worth playing, but expect some wandering around your first time out trying to follow the layout.
I wanted to give this a 2.5 to 3.0 but feel it's currently closer to a 2.0, however seeing the potential that lies beneath the ground cover and among the trees makes me optimistic. Normal sized tee pads, better navigational aids, a few downed trees here and there, and massive brush/ground clearing would propel this course!
The original nine are laid out nicely, starting in the middle field and zig zagging counter-clockwise around well traveled walking paths and park roads. The first nine are fun and provide birdie and ace opportunities while still requiring shot shaping and careful disc selection to avoid mature trees, and out of bounds paths and roads. Small concrete tee pads are on the first nine only and they don't contribute much. Most holes can be played as stand and deliver or you can use the adjacent grass for a full run-up.
All of the holes have wooden sign posts by the tee areas. Old basic metal signs are on all posts, and newly laminated hole signs have also just been installed providing all needed information. All baskets have tape indicating direction to next tee pad and there are some other directional arrows scattered about to help. There are some large walking gaps throughout holes 10-27, and some non-obvious routes to the next hole along the entire course so navigation is another big concern. It takes a few rounds to get familiar with the entire layout.
The middle nine dives into the woods with great elevation changes, tight gaps, and some impressive rock formations. This section is in great need of maintenance and clearing. You can see the potential of awe inspiring holes IF this area was continuously trimmed and manicured. Travel from tee to basket on a few holes is rough due to the elevation changes, bordering on dangerous so hike with caution. You emerge from the woods and play the last three of this section in a more open park setting with nice elevation.
The outback nine is my least favorite of the three. The terrain is similar to the middle section, but is in more need of clearing and maintenance. My biggest issue here is that after the first few holes it finishes out with dogleg left holes playing around a hillside....this becomes repetitive and slightly frustrating. This section needs the most work, but could also become very good with time and effort.
Originally played a casual round of all 27 holes, then visited a week later for a C-Tier Tournament playing two mixed rounds. It's worth playing, but expect some wandering around your first time out trying to follow the layout.
I wanted to give this a 2.5 to 3.0 but feel it's currently closer to a 2.0, however seeing the potential that lies beneath the ground cover and among the trees makes me optimistic. Normal sized tee pads, better navigational aids, a few downed trees here and there, and massive brush/ground clearing would propel this course!
7
0
Disorganized & Underwhelming 2+ years drive by
Reviewed:
Updated:
Played on:Jul 6, 2013
Played the course:once
Pros:
This course contains a very large variety of hole lengths and levels of woodedness and difficulty, meaning there's something for everyone. The front nine would be great for playing a round with someone new to the sport, and personally, I don't think they're total throwaways, either: there's enough variation in elevation, obstacles, out of bounds, and pin placement to keep you going, even if there's nothing particularly memorable about them. Holes 10-15 play in dense woods, and 16-17 across a broad, sloping fairway before 18's relative openness. I didn't make it to 19-27, unfortunately.
Amenities (water fountain, bathrooms, and parking) are very accessible.
The staff that we met were very nice and eager to help.
Amenities (water fountain, bathrooms, and parking) are very accessible.
The staff that we met were very nice and eager to help.
Cons:
I feel that there are a lot of drawbacks to this course that impede the overall experience.
First and foremost, navigating the first 9 is indeed horrendous. We had several extended searches to find the next hole, causing the front 9 to take at least twice the necessary time. Perfect course flow isn't always possible, especially in a more open area that lacks obvious directionality; that said, the layout on these holes is a downright head-scratcher that can easily frustrate. The fact that these holes play across the park's central field also has the potential to lead to major conflicts with non disc golfers. There was no visible attempt in the course's layout to avoid such a problem, when there seemed to be space to do so.
There were several kinds of tees on this course, but all had their problems. Most if not all of the front 9 were concrete, but they were exceedingly short and narrow, making them unusable for me (and I don't have a big run-up by any means). Furthermore, their positioning often prevented me from driving in the grass next to them. This hindered my ability to play and enjoy these holes.
The tees for holes 10-15 had a completely different problem. They were natural tees that felt unsafe for a variety of reasons: 10 was at an absurdly steep angle, 11 was from atop a slippery (at the time I was there) rock overlooking a steep drop off, etc. This kept me from getting any legitimate run up on my drives, severely limiting how I was able to play these holes. I understand that it's harder to establish quality tees within a wooded setting, but seemingly no effort was made to do so on these holes. I've seen it done elsewhere in the area (Orange Crush, Moraine, etc etc) enough to know that it's more than feasible. The poor quality of these tees really detracted from my experience here, since I couldn't play these holes to the best of my already-tenuous ability.
In general, the wooded holes felt built around a desire for pizzazz more than quality; they came off as gimmicky and lacking of substance to me. Yes, the playing environment is gorgeous, and potentially interesting, but this portion of the course seemed very raw. There was an absence of lines and general effort to shape these holes or provide them with any form of a path or fairway. Paths/bridges/etc were also missing, which would go a long way to making this section disc golfing friendly. As is, I had some precarious moments trying to navigate the severe elevation and unsure/rocky footing. I'm fit and experienced at hiking through rough conditions, so if my sense was that the environment these holes play in was dicey, I can imagine that they'd be impassable for more than a few disc golfers. I can think of a lot of folks I've played with who I wouldn't take through here. My complaint isn't so much the natural topography as it is the lack of any visible effort to improve the conditions.
Based on the size and proximity of the creek that cuts through 11, I'd guess that it would flood after a decent rain. In such a condition, I imagine 11 would be wholly unplayable, and other holes might be affected, too.
The fact that none of the holes I played (1-18) stood out to me is itself a pretty bad sign.
First and foremost, navigating the first 9 is indeed horrendous. We had several extended searches to find the next hole, causing the front 9 to take at least twice the necessary time. Perfect course flow isn't always possible, especially in a more open area that lacks obvious directionality; that said, the layout on these holes is a downright head-scratcher that can easily frustrate. The fact that these holes play across the park's central field also has the potential to lead to major conflicts with non disc golfers. There was no visible attempt in the course's layout to avoid such a problem, when there seemed to be space to do so.
There were several kinds of tees on this course, but all had their problems. Most if not all of the front 9 were concrete, but they were exceedingly short and narrow, making them unusable for me (and I don't have a big run-up by any means). Furthermore, their positioning often prevented me from driving in the grass next to them. This hindered my ability to play and enjoy these holes.
The tees for holes 10-15 had a completely different problem. They were natural tees that felt unsafe for a variety of reasons: 10 was at an absurdly steep angle, 11 was from atop a slippery (at the time I was there) rock overlooking a steep drop off, etc. This kept me from getting any legitimate run up on my drives, severely limiting how I was able to play these holes. I understand that it's harder to establish quality tees within a wooded setting, but seemingly no effort was made to do so on these holes. I've seen it done elsewhere in the area (Orange Crush, Moraine, etc etc) enough to know that it's more than feasible. The poor quality of these tees really detracted from my experience here, since I couldn't play these holes to the best of my already-tenuous ability.
In general, the wooded holes felt built around a desire for pizzazz more than quality; they came off as gimmicky and lacking of substance to me. Yes, the playing environment is gorgeous, and potentially interesting, but this portion of the course seemed very raw. There was an absence of lines and general effort to shape these holes or provide them with any form of a path or fairway. Paths/bridges/etc were also missing, which would go a long way to making this section disc golfing friendly. As is, I had some precarious moments trying to navigate the severe elevation and unsure/rocky footing. I'm fit and experienced at hiking through rough conditions, so if my sense was that the environment these holes play in was dicey, I can imagine that they'd be impassable for more than a few disc golfers. I can think of a lot of folks I've played with who I wouldn't take through here. My complaint isn't so much the natural topography as it is the lack of any visible effort to improve the conditions.
Based on the size and proximity of the creek that cuts through 11, I'd guess that it would flood after a decent rain. In such a condition, I imagine 11 would be wholly unplayable, and other holes might be affected, too.
The fact that none of the holes I played (1-18) stood out to me is itself a pretty bad sign.
Other Thoughts:
I feel obliged to further highlight that I did not play the final 9 holes: we ran out of light, unfortunately. I initially hesitated to review the course because of this, but I had strong opinions on the safety, playability, and organization of the course that I wanted to share. The last 9 holes had little chance of impacting these opinions. In general, I would not recommend this course to others if they asked me: it's not terrible by any stretch, and it has some potential, but it also has some real problems IMHO. Coupled with the fact that there are such quality courses nearby that offer better versions of the same basic experience - if you have a hankering for woods then play Two Mile Extension, 11 miles away - I doubt I'll make an effort to try Thompson Park again next time I'm in the area. As always, YMMV, folks.
