A brilliant course of holes under 300'.

-Amenities: Neat little round teepads. Slightly outdated signs with #, distance, and map. Deep blue DISCatchers. Excellent next tee signage.

-Navigation: The layout at Wells Branch is spaghetti, but the infrastructure is good enough that getting to the next tee really isn't a big challenge.

-Shot Shaping/Gameplay: There isn't much you can do with a bunch of sub-250' holes, but Wells Branch has just about everything. There are putter shots and a few longer midrange drives, going all ways. Guardian trees, OB path, and some elevation are some of the factors of interest here. It is conceivable to birdie every hole, but there are plenty of mistakes to be made as well.

-Fun Factor: Wells Branch is a blast, because every hole is an ace opportunity. There are lots of chances to try quirky shots.

-"Friendly": My label for the combination of easy-to-play, well kept, and hard-to-lose-discs.

-Multi-Pins: There are multiple pin positions for almost every hole, though this is not reflected on the signage.

-Safety: In my opinion, the number one issue. Fairways are dangerously close, some baskets are right next to other holes', and walking paths wind the whole way through. This means a lot of waiting for groups or walkers on the tee.

-Backtracking: More of an annoyance than anything else is the fact that you retrace your steps several times on hole transition.

-Length: This is a great pitch 'n' putt course. It is not a course for big driving.

-Finding the Basket: There are quite a few holes where it's hard to find the basket, whether because it's blind or because there are multiple in sight.

Wells Branch is a superb short course. In the broader scheme of things, that makes it a pretty Decent/Typical kind of place. Brilliant for an easy round or warm-up, this is rightly beloved as a true game-growing course.

I couldn't pass up playing the course one of the most notable DGCR reviews chose as his name's sake. After seeing the name everywhere on this site, I decided to play an extra course on my day in Austin and throw things from his perspective, and I wasn't disappointed!

After playing Roy G, I was so happy to play a course that was less than half as long. It's short, but it makes a good warm up or warm down round. This 18 hole course tucked alongside a little creek is pretty beginner/tired-arm friendly.

It's kind of a pretty course with the thick woods and the creek, but not as much by the apartment complex and back of a storage facility. But you can get over those.

The short holes make about half this course a pitch and putt, and the other half approach and putt. It shouldn't be hard for an experienced player to shoot under par, or a newer player to make par/get close.

The tee's were well marked, with great hole diagrams. The tee's were large round concrete pads. Kind of unusual, but other than one tilted one and a couple sandy ones, they were fine.

The shortness of the course can be a little disappointing for an 18 hole course. A nine holer has a better allowance for being shorter, but if there's a full 18 hole course being installed you kinda want more than one hole to be more than 300'.

Because of the length, it's hard to do much more than variations on a "throw straight and don't suck" theme. There are a couple right/left holes that are about 250' or so, but the rest of the day is just playing the wind or slight elevation. Or drastic elevation (hole 9 I think).

The baskets, not listed as pros or cons because I couldn't decide how I felt about them, were very uniquely colored: blue pole, red basket, blue chains, blue band with stickers.

Despite being a fairly Decent/Typical course, it was kind of quirky and endearing. The tee's were a shape I'd never really seen before, the baskets were a color combo I'd never seen before, the layout was just a weird triple-eight shape, crossing itself a couple times. It was a busy course, obviously well loved, and just another part of what makes Austin weird.

Albeit a short course, overall it's solid.

Almost all holes are ace-runs, so it's a great course to work on putters/mid ranges off of the tee.

The course has clear signage and is very easy to navigate. Since being cleaned out for overgrowth, the course is even easier to follow and play through.

There are some clever hole designs, despite being short, and some decent elevation/texture changes.

The teepads themselves are small, but very functional.

It can be pretty dirty, between construction and the overall climate of the area/course. Dusty at times, but a lot of grass fairways.

It's well-traveled outside of disc golf, so you need to watch for pedestrians.

It's really not even worth it to bring anything faster than a midrange, so don't expect to be bombing shots all over the place.

It gets ridiculously crowded at times with a ton of mini-events/gathering occurring all the time.

Construction is going on, but I think most of it is done, so that part's good!

The baskets, whatever brand/line they are, are crummy. That's more preferential, but the basket themselves are really strange and often smaller than usual.

Great course for putters/mids, short and sweet.

(2.575 Rating) (REVISED - replayed April 2018) A very short beginner friendly course that's attracted a huge following.
- ACEABILITY - Several highly aceable holes. Skilled players will have great opportunities on holes (3,4,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,18) which are all sub 225. Yeah I know, It's a lot. Players are probably 5 times more likely to ace here than at a normal course. I personally rang up the chains 10 times here over a 6 month span.
- TEES - Some of the better tees in all of Austin. They are long (12 feet) and wide (8 feet) with rounded corners. Please note that there is a control joint near the front of every pad. Most local players don't play this as a foot fault, but rather it's to the end of the tee.
- CHARACTER - In addition to the tees, Wells Branch has a bunch of extras. There is a wonderful course map at hole (1). There is great hole signage, most of the tees are well shaded, there is amazing stone seating on every hole and trash cans are at several tees. There is also a practice basket, and multiple pin placements on nine holes, although unmarked on the signage. Holes (1,2,3, 6,7,8,12,14 and 17)
- NAVIGATION - This would probably be an issue except for the combo of the great course map at hole (1) and the hole signage. I recommend taking a picture on the first time though.
- BEGINNER FRIENDLY - This course reads novice level and it's definitely a course I would bring a newer player to. The odds of losing a disc is low, and the fairways are wide and forgiving.
- QUICK PLAY - A single can easily complete a full 18 in under 45 minutes. Groups of 4 usually play in under two hours, sometimes even an hour and a half.
- MAINTENANCE - The course is well maintained by an active local club.
- LOCATION - Literally a five minute drive off of the interstate. Great for disc golf day trippers looking to play a warm-up round before one of the more challenging southern courses.
- NIGHT GOLF - This is an ideal night golf course. Spacious fairways, only moderate overgrowth, few water hazards in play and lots of locals with glow tape and flashlights.

Typical small city park issues.
- LACK OF CHALLENGE - Not much of a challenge, even to Recreational players. They should have no problem being under par, perhaps even 6 down or more. One of my former roommates, a pro player, shot 18 down. Recreational players will be delighted however as it can be a feel good round. It's a great opportunity for those players to rack up aces.
- TIME WAITING - This course gets heavy use and often has mob golfing going on with groups of 10 or more. There are also lots of minis seemingly every day of the week. In addition, the holes on the west side of the creek, (3,4,11,12) all have a well traveled walking and biking path. Rarely will one play a round and not have to stop and wait for these types of park users.
- SPACING - Well below average. Several of the fairways feel partially shared. Discs constantly end up in other fairways. Black aces have happened. In addition, considering that the course is typically full of players, you will always be wise to keep your head up and aware of other groups teeing off. I have seen people hit hard before out here.
- ELEVATION - Really none to speak of. I know that flat courses are common for many parts of eastern Texas, but its typically a bit hillier for the Austin area courses. No more than 12 feet of elevation change on any one hole out here. Basket (16) is elevated.
- UNIQUENESS - The holes themselves are lacking the uniqueness that you'd see on your average 18 hole course. The course is extremely short, probably the shortest 18 hole course in Austin. Many players often state that they just needed a putter. Which the exception of hole (1), all holes are under 300 feet. Most holes are rather straight. Only Hole (17) twists a little bit, perhaps 20 degrees and it's the one blind basket. There are a few windows to hit and a few holes that are guarded by trees. There is a creek that plays threw the course. However a forced erosion control redesign relocated many of the baskets away from the creek.
- LAYOUT FLOW - Not the worst I've seen, but well below average. There is an odd transition heading to (3) tee which requires walking past (4) basket. Next players will have to approach (4) tee from (4) basket. After (11) is another flow stopper, as you have walk past basket (12) to tee (12) and then back again to tee (12) as tee (13) is shared with (12). (16) is the final transition oddity, which also requires walking by the basket before getting to the tee. I'll also add that (18) doesn't finish near (1). It's not too far, but it's still over 500 feet.
- NATURAL BEAUTY - Typical small city park looks. The creek sometimes gets trash built-up from offsite but the club does clean-ups every few months to keep the course in check.
- CHAINS - They are playable but among the oddest I've ever come across. I believe some of them are homemade. I'll add that I rarely missed putts due to the basket factor, I can shank a putt all by myself.
- PARKING - Its street parking and its often lined with cars, all from disc golfers. Be cautious when exiting a vehicle here.
- POISON IVY - During the spring its everywhere, you've been warned.

Wells Branch DGC is a special place to me. It was my first home course back in February 2014, and it's where I get my DGCR username from as I was its 250th member. I've played at least 500 rounds out here and made a bunch of friends here during the time I spent in Austin. I showed up recently in April 2018 after being gone for almost 2 years and got a friendly welcoming and it seemed like I had never left. Although, Wells Branch is personally a favorite of mine, this favoritism is purely sentimental. My rating for this course is how I personally would have seen it, if it had been my typical one and done type course. Through my rating style I find Wells to be a fairly average or typical in nature. It's a great course for beginning players thru novice level. Players looking for a good challenge or exotic beauty won't find it here. For these attributes in an Austin area course I'd recommend Williamson County on the north side of town and Roy G, Circle C, and Bible Ridge on the south side. These are all great Austin showcase courses.
- LOCAL HOLES - There are few local holes of note. Holes (3) and (4) are sometimes played to opposing baskets. ie tee (3) to basket (4) and tee (4) to basket (3). This also often occurs on (15) and (16).

There are some decently technical shots that force you to really hone some of your tight shot skills. It's not a huge course so there is not tons of walking or a full day of disc golf. Nice course to play a quick round.

There are no real drives to speak of. Most of the holes are tunnel shots and/or riddled with trees. You don't need anything more than a Roc or Buzzz to play this course. Also the tee boxes are very well worn which would cause a lot of mud on rainy days.

edit: now has round concrete tee pads, very nice.

Also baskets are painted blue with some red... not sure why they didn't choose something a little more visible through trees, but oh well. They are nice discatcher baskets.

Bring a new and beat up Roc and practice your hyzer, anhyzer and straight shots.