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Kenosha, WI

UW Campus - The Orchid

2.215(based on 12 reviews)
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UW Campus - The Orchid reviews

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7 0
notapro
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 20.8 years 569 played 284 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Intermediate/Expert 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Feb 11, 2012 Played the course:once

Pros:

- Course is set in a hilly prairie area, further away from the main campus of the college. Nothing else going on out here besides disc golf.
- Best feature of this course are the sloping fairways; a good amount of the holes have a good elevation change going both ways. Holes #2 thru #5 play down, up, down, and up, with some big elevated tee shots and some nasty uphill approaches. Even more noticeable from the long tees. A good mix throughout, #13 is another nice downhill mixed among the rest.
- While most of the area is prairie/tall grass, there are patches of scraggly woods and forest to force some line shaping and shot placement. #3 and #5 play tighter close to the basket, with #5 having a large shrub to get around on the drive, placement is key for an upshot past it. There is also some woods on the back half, with four holes that have baskets in or near the woods. #1 and #9 also play near some bigger trees.
- Lots of hazardous areas here, with some really nasty rough in spots, and a little creek to cross on the way to #13's basket. The elevation changes make things even tougher; the downhill shots will punish poor throws that are way off course in eaither direction, and the uphill shots can punish those that aren't accurate or long enough.
- Some big-time hole lengths here, with 7 over 400' from the long tees. Definitely some bombers out here for everyone, of any skill level. Playing the short tees is still a challenge for those without the big arms, a good option either way. Shorter holes help to mix things up as well; most of them are in the woods of course.
- Good signs and baskets, tees aren't too bad either. Navigation isn't terrible, there are some signs, but checking out the map does help.

Cons:

- Even though there are many spots to get in trouble, almost all of them can be avoided. Staying out of the tall grass and the patches of gnarly trees can be pretty easy; throwing a hyzers or straight shot is usually always an option.
- The tall grass here is straight up nasty! I would not want to play here during the warmer months, there is no shade for the most part, and probably lots of time looking for plastic. Especially on the longer downhill shots. Not a big con, but it definitely factors in my decision to play.

Other Thoughts:

- All in all, this is a pretty tough course that challenges you to be long, accurate, and even longer from the back tees. Big time punishment for sprayed shots with the tall grass and thick patches of rough. Playing safe is an option, but the scores will reflect that. Lots of fun thanks to elevation changes and some grip n' rip type holes. Beginners might want to stay away when the foliage is in bloom, or at least play from the red tees.
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9 1
#19325
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 22.9 years 351 played 178 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Long and prarie nasty! 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Apr 1, 2010 Played the course:once

Pros:

This course is very long and challenging. Anyone who can throw 400+ feet will love this course. There are a ton of holes where you can flat out grip it and rip it.

Once we found hole #1 the course was pretty easy to navigate. We had no issues finding the next hole of the 21 holes. The parkside guys do a great job. This course is very new. By the time it's done there it will be clearly marked.

There are quite a few holes that utilize the elevation. There are several fun downhill shots.

Staying on the fairway is a premium. This course will punish you with nasty rough. The fairways are very narrow on many holes.

This course will teach you how to throw drives in the wind.

Cons:

Currently there are natural tee pads.Not sure if there are plans for concrete.

The rough is thick and I cannot imagine playing here in the summer.

I found this course very repetitive and somewhat boring. I need to get back to play it as there were 20+mph winds. I felt there were quite a few 3.5 pars for me. I threw a ton of drives, pitched up, and tapped in. I would have like to seen several more par 4 holes.

Other Thoughts:

Finding hole #1 is a challenge. Hopefully a course mape will be uploaded soon.

This is definitely not a beginners course. I did however seen some shorter tees marked.

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16 0
harr0140
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 15.3 years 1508 played 480 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Fledgling Championship Design and Distance 2+ years

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Mar 27, 2010 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

1) Normally I do not like the prairie type course, but this one does not disappoint because it has enough other natural trees/prairie shrubs (like red twigged dogwood and other prairie type shrubs that there are obstacles in your way even on the open prairie feeling holes.

2) This course is truly setup for some championship disc golf. The holes are all pretty long and the shorter ones you feel like you get a break on are densely wooded and bad shots are punished severely if you hit some of those trees. The average hole on this course is 341 (WOW). I felt like I was going to have to throw my arm off to play well, and although I didnt end up scoring well my primary problem was putting and some stupid errant approaches. I do enjoy it when most holes have two shots that need to be considered. The drive and then the approach. There are just not many easy birdies on this course. The distance vary from 181 (tight wooded) up to 505. Some of them will play much longer or shortes depending on where the wind is however. If #4 is downwind, I would expect to see the top pros shoot for the island green . . . even I parked it about 75' short of the pin and then nearly made my hyzer around the trees protecting the island green from the tee.

3) Design of this course truly takes all of a wonderful property into play. It uses the gentle slopes on the first 5 holes to its advantage. Then it works its way into and around a tighter wooded area. Then it opens back up again into the prairie. Holes #10-12 will be tough playing back into the prevailing wind especially with how tight those fairways are. These arent the prairie fairways that do not effect your shot at all, the grasses and other wildflowers are as tall as your arms so you need to keep the foliage in your shot selection.

4) Foliage variety is nice. The prairie holes have a lot of prairie shrubs like RTDW, they have a lot of different grasses and wildflowers. They also incorporate a handful of large mature deciduous trees into the shot selection process. You need to try and go around key trees.

5) #4 is a cool hole with a long drive to just in front of a small nearly dry creek. I assume this is very wet in spring after the snow melt as it is obviously the big drainage area for the wetland higher on the property. You could also go out and around the trees on the right side of the creek to try and park it on the green but you need a cannon to get it there.

6) There are no real weak holes on this course. Even the straighter shorts holes have unique characteristics that will add to the challenge.

7) The setting for this course is beautiful, you are totally removed from most civilization. Although this time of year you can see the next road to the east and the maintenance buildings on 10, 11, 12, and then a few other buildings on the last 4 holes because all of the trees are bare, in season they would be much more hidden and it would feel like you are just out in nature (which is one of the big reasons I love this game). You are so secluded it just feels right! I met one of the designers last week when I was walking the course and he said they had all sorts of issues with DNR and other people concerned about the ecological impact of this course going in over here. More than a handful of times you can see paths for either turtles, deer, or other migratory animals. Please respect that and take care of this course.

Cons:

1) This course has less variety to the other 18 hole course, in that it is primarily set in the prairie. It can be a little repetetive. A lot of the fairways turn, go up over little ridges, or down ridges, so picking your landing area will take some getting used to. So what I am saying is the fairways are actually bigger than you think when standing on the tee, but are still harder to hit because of blind shots, and the gentle turns some of them have. Once you figure the course out you will be able to take much better aim on some of the holes, but a first timer will not know where to aim.

2) This course is not even close to beginner friendly because the fairways are narrow and just off the fairways are 4 foot tall prairie grasses. Not only will beginners be losing a ton of discs but they will also have a real struggle to execute shots through and over these taller prairiew grasses. If you are a beginner and want to try this course go early in the spring before anything has gotten too dense or tall. You will also have no problem finding your discs right after they burn the prairie which I assume they do over here too.

3) Primary challenge to shooting well out here is the distance, and since I am fairly new and I just don't have a big arm it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. It isn't necessarily bad, but I just cannot par many holes over 425 and this 21 hole course has 7 holes at or above about 420'. I liek the challenege to try and get more distance, but I will forever struggle on this course because I just don't have that kind of power. PROS READING THIS REVIEW MIGHT CONSIDER IT A PRO, BUT AS AN AVERAGE DISC GOLFER IT IS A NEGATIVE TO ME.

4) Tee areas still need a lot of work. There were grape vines or Ivy vines in multiple places right where you were trying to tee off leaving the footing to be very unsure. There were also a few that had ruts in them creating a physical hazard and a confidence issue when trying to tee off. I KNOW THESE WILL BE TAKEN CARE OF AND I WILL ADJUST MY REVIEW WHEN I SEE THAT HAS HAPPENED.

5) Hole #7 back in the corner is supposed to be a split fairway around a large evergreen and some sort of densely branched scrubby tree (some sort of box elder or something). The fairway to the left seems almost unhittable from the teebox and the right side is clearly a bigger opening to hit, but if you dont get it far enough you will be in jail behind the tree. The best throw would be a throw out to the left that even if it ends up in the tall prairie grass you still have a shot at the basket. It just seems like they need to cut two more branches off the tree near the tee to open that gap a little bit.It seems almost unhittable, although perhaps a LHBH thrower could do it. The alignmen of the tee could also be changed to make the either route a fair challenge.

6) On multiple occassions we ran across patches of seriously nasty thorny bushes. SOme of these are within 5 feet of a fairway and those are the types of plants that should be able to be removed with maintenance over time. I am not saying to clearcut the course, but selectively go in and cut this nasty stuff out. It isn't good for the game or the design, all it can do is draw some blood. I guess I do have a connection to a course that has spilled my blood. Here is has happened, all the Florida courses with sawtooth palmettos, and a few other places I have walked into the wild rose bushes without realizing it.

7) The flow of this course is a little broken up for 2 reasons. After hole #5 you have to follow a path way to the corner of the property. This happened because of one of those migratory areas. You can see you walk right over a natural drainageway and you can even see little trackes and tunnels through the grasses of turtles and rabbits and such. It is a slight flow problem, and truthfully, you could almost add another hole there to get you to the far corner. Then after #9 you head back past hole #5 basket to find 10-12. A little confusing area. Then after #12 ytou have to head back across the road to the other 9 holes that have been in for a year.

Other Thoughts:

DISCLAIMER: I am rating this course on its current setup. It has been int he ground for 2 weeks only so I am sure things will be tweaked often in the coming months. It has no set tees, no tee signs (only posts in the ground to mark the general area), no benches or garbage cans. They started to bury a post in the ground at the tee and paining an orange lines across the front of the teebox but only did that on 2 holes I think. It also is currently missing #11 basket as there must have been a mixup of somekind. I know they will be getting signs eventually (the other course has great signage) and I hope they want to put in concrete tees, although it remains to be seen if they will do dual tees or not as there are not even forward tees visible. (This course will be at least 1/2 disc higher when it gets signs, concrete tees, directional signage, and it gets worn in a little bit (the rough will be brutal until people begin to walk through it more to search for their errant drives). I will be here often enough that I will gladly edit my review as the other amenities begin to improve. But hey for now they have another 21 holes on top of a great 18 holer already. Another huge benefit . . . it is open all winter . . . so if I have an entire day to kill this winter I would much rather come here and play 39 holes thna go anywhere else. It is worth the drive to get here. I simply wanted to get some info up here to help anyone who may be travelling during the holidays as it is a really nice course, and definitely one of the better ones that will be open from now through the winter.

One other tidbit I got from one of the designers is that when you are standing on hole #16 (the long hole shooting slightly downhill) if you see the mound in the distance, they are considering putting basket out there . . . something like 1000' away from the tee. You can see they have been scouting that location out because they have mowed a path back there. They also were going to make the #17th tee further back from where it is closer to that mound on #16. Those two holes would be extreme and too mcuh for me, but to improve the challenge of the course I can see why they would want to add those ideas.

One other point of reference that isnt necessarily a pro or a con is that they have a walkway mowed between you and the fairway . . . which usually begins about 50-100' off the tee. I like the feel of tha, because it makes you think more about your shot maybe and truthfully even the plant material can get in your way if you throw too low for the first 100' or so. It jsut gives a clearer definition as to where the fairway begins and ends, the walkway is only to get you to the fairway.
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