Hollins (Roanoke), VA

Walrond Park - Old Layout

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25(based on 10 reviews)
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Walrond Park - Old Layout reviews

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splatbaseball51
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 15.1 years 182 played 59 reviews
2.00 star(s)

Could be a lot better 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Sep 25, 2014 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

This course is inside a well maintained county park with many other amenities including a field to practice some drives on when not in use.

The baskets are top quality DISCatchers and are in excellent shape.

Some of the shots on the course are well thought out and are actually pretty fun, although you'll probably only need anything more than a fairway driver on hole 9.

You'll start at the back parking lot, drive past the tennis courts and park on the left. You should be overlooking a small pond below.

Once you know the layout, the course is really fun. If you don't know it, it will not really be a fun experience. My advice is to just make up shots as you go if you don't like my below guide to each hole:

Cons:

The course doesn't have any way of notifying the golfer where to tee off from, on any hole really. Hole 2 and hole 9 have worn paths in the grass, but I wouldn't expect many people to wander around to find them. It isn't intuitive at all.

There are several instances where you'll have to throw shots that cross the walking paths, which are generally highly trafficked. Please be aware of this when golfing.

The woods line is thick and you can easily lose a disc on nearly every hole except 1, 2 and 5.

Holes 5,6,7 and 8 used to have a white pole marking their "tee" however those have since been removed for some reason. I will tell you where to tee off from these holes but honestly you might be better served making up shots for yourself. In general, they aren't far from where the basket is on the previous hole, so just pick a nice flat spot near the last basket and go from there.

Layout:

Hole 1 is past the kiosk/sign but doesn't really have a marker to indicate it. You'll throw from anywhere you see fit at the top of the hill, down to the basket at the first big tree.

Walk directly up the hill towards the box car track to find a patch of dirt marking hole 2 tee pad. Throw from there to the basket at the bend in the path at the bottom of the hill.

Hole three is similar but on level ground. You'll see the basket in the clearing. Walk once again towards the boxcar track and throw from any area you see fit.

Hole 4 is up the hill from 3's basket and plays down to the clearing on the right. I would just shoot anywhere from that path near the bench. Yes, it's the one straight down the hill, a little putter shot.

Hole 5 essentially plays from that basket to the basket between the tree and closest tennis court.

Hole 6 and hole 7 you won't be able to see from their pads. You'll think 6's basket is straight ahead across the path, and it is, but what you see is really 8's basket. 6 is further up to the left and behind the bushes.

Same deal for 7. It plays from 6's basket away from the main section of park (you'll be throwing away from the tennis courts), to a clearing behind the trees. Be careful though, this woods line is very thick. Play back up to hole 8 from the walking path.

Remember where hole 3's basket is? Walk back to there and you might see a small dirt patch to the right of the path across from 3's basket. That's 9's tee. Drive from there back up near the parking lot/kiosk/1's tee. You'll see the basket on the top of the hill.

Obviously this course needs permanent tee pads of some sort, preferably concrete. They also need signs and navigation work. The structure is there, but why they stopped short of filling in the details is beyond me.

Other Thoughts:

This course is suffering from a lot of things but namely an identity crisis. There is unofficially an "alternate" layout, but barring someone telling you where the original layout is, you'd never even know. The "alternate" is a locally known 18 hole version which reuses the baskets currently on the 9 original holes. The alternate course also utilized a 10th basket that, unless you were stumbling around the park, you'd never know it exists.(It's behind the top of the box car track parallel with hole 1)

The alternate 18 is actually really fun, but could never be an actual layout due to the necessity to throw over walking paths and the box car track. It also flirts dangerously with the parking lot on a few holes. But I digress. I tried to judge the park on the existing 9 hole course.

The fact that I have to explain where each hole is in my cons means that this course needs a lot of work. I actually rate it higher than Fishburn because, once you figure out the layout, it's actually more fun.
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1 2
der Turkey Vulture
Experience: 8 played 4 reviews
2.00 star(s)

2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Nov 28, 2011 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

The updates in 2011 that lengthened the course made it more scenic, rather than just back and forth. The additional hazards ('marsh-like') make for a more fun game.

Overall, a rolling, open course. I'd think of this as a beginner-friendly place to play.

Cons:

No ID posts makes for a bit of guess at times if not outright frustrating. Really, signage would go a long way here.
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1 1
wvu1867
Experience: 13.9 years 18 played 5 reviews
2.00 star(s)

Enjoyable 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Feb 1, 2012 Played the course:once

Pros:

Easy access off I-81 (within a mile)
Nice area.

Cons:

Poorly marked at moment.

Other Thoughts:

Just a fun course to play.If you are an experienced player it may not be a great challange to play ,yet location and access make it worth playing.
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