Bennington, VT

Willow Park

Permanent course
2.335(based on 20 reviews)
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8 0
Pizza God
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 36.1 years 1717 played 566 reviews
2.50 star(s)

What the heck 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 14, 2016 Played the course:once

Pros:

Tee signs
Several good holes
Good use of elevation and some natural features on several of the holes
Good baskets
Very scenic park

Cons:

Has a few ridiculous holes that are flat out unsafe and almost unplayable.

Other Thoughts:

Ok so this web page had this course listed at a 9 hole course. When I arrived I found out that after 3 years, someone finally added 9 more holes for 18.

Cool right? Well, when you get to those new holes they are horribly designed. You can tell they were designed by an amature that has no idea about safety and the flow of a course.

Ok, so lets go over this course
Hole 1 is a great starter hole a little farther from the parking lot than I would like, but it i a good uphill hole with a few trees making the shot fun.

Hole 2 is great little turnover shot (for right handed players) with a well defined green and trouble all around it.

Hole 3 Another good hole up a nice tunnel shot.

Hole 4 is a decent downhill hole with some rocks and trees making it fun.

Hole 5 is a pretty wide open shot with the baskets tucked under the edge of a tree stand with trouble behind the basket.

Hole 6 was great, long tunnel shot down an old lane.

Hole 7 Short little shot on the edge of a hill with a few trees guarding the basket.

Hole 8 Elevated tee down across a field. Good hole for how open the area was.

Now we get to those ridiculous holes.

Hole 9 was just a start basket is tucked into the rough. Your best off just throwing to the sign then laying up to the basket. If you go for the basket from the tee, you looking forever.

Hole 10 was so crazy, I didn't even bother playing it. frst off the tee was WAY TO CLOSE to the #9 basket. Then you had no fairway to the basket, it is a throw and pray you can find your disc.

So I walked over to 10 and could not find the basket for a long time, it was a crazy shot into the woods with no fairway. This area was not as overgrown as the last 2 holes, but it would still have taken a while to find my disc if I had thrown it. I skipped it too. I didn't have the daylight left to go hunting for a disc.

Hole 11 Horrible horrible horrible you should NEVER be throwing across a parking lot and into an area of soccer practice. I was lucky no one was around. If it were not for those things it was a good hole with the basket tucked way up on the side of a hill with a lot of rough around it.

Hole 12 Another hole to loose your disc on. Worst part, the tee for 13 is too close to the normal flight path of a right hander.

Hole 13 Your run of the mill throw across a field. Hope no one is having soccer practice or you will not be able to play this hole.

I honestly can't remember if I got all the holes correct. I think I skipped 14 and 15 due to it getting close to dark and they were more holes in the rough.

Hole 16 Horrible fairway, you should never put a fairway down a walking path, specially next to a ball field.

Hole 17 Simi short wide open birdie hole.

hole 18 Nice finishing hole, slightly uphill with a few key trees defining the fairway.

Ok, I know I was in a hurry to finish up before dark, but this course has a lot of potential. about 1/2 of the holes are great, then you hit those "new" holes that are almost unplayable if your in a hurry. They were not fun to say the least. The land is there, a little tweaking and this course would be great and deserve a much higher rating.
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4 0
The Valkyrie Kid
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 45.9 years 1562 played 1507 reviews
2.50 star(s)

I Learned A Lesson-Park Over By # 9-Take The Long Walk First! 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 5, 2015 Played the course:once

Pros:

Everything at Willow Park felt a little old and used to me. I take that this park has been here for generations. I know for a fact that Ethan Allen, himself, built these baskets by hand in his little shop down on 4th Street back in 1785 or maybe 86. Of course, double chains weren't invented until much later.

The course plays around the perimeter of Willow Park. I think the designers did an admirable job with this design.The course has these big old tee signs which are quite faded. I thank the person who used his sharpie to record the distance and par on them. There are standard pads. Some holes are using the sidewalk (#1) or exciting concrete slab (# 2) while most are just natural surface. Some had a front board.

# 4 & 5 were both fun downhill throws. The basket on 4 was tucked in behind a couple of trees and four large rocks making this 317' downhill toss even more interesting. # 5 was interesting, too. It's 292' to a basket just in front of the woods, Then 6 & 7 play down this tight little path. # 8 is a fun, short 187' Ace run and then you finish with # 9's 455 toss across fields to a basket just in front of some tall grassy area.

Cons:

Some more legible tee signs would be nice. Kind of like giving your house a fresh coat of paint!

What's with posting the Disc Golf Rules sign at # 4? That's kinda strange.

And of course, you gotta mention the tee pads.

Other Thoughts:

My GPS lead me through the gate and I parked above # 1. So when I finished, I had this long walk and this was my third course played of the day. I spotted some locals parking down by # 9 and walking up to # 1. Ah, park there and take the long walk when you're not so tired. Put your faith in the locals!

I liked this course for the most part. I could see myself playing it on a regular basis.
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4 1
StevenFoster
Experience: 14 years 21 played 7 reviews
2.50 star(s)

Not as bad as these reviews 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Feb 20, 2013 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

Some of the holes had nice wide open downhill/uphill shots, woods fairways were good, I think some of these really bad reviews are from a previous layout. Signs showed me the flight path and length. View of the mountain and the Monument were great. It's actually a nice park.

Cons:

baskets are very old and beat up, one basket I could not find (missing??) but they catch. I normally don't play 9-hole courses but have decided to play every course in northern/western New England to see what's around.

Other Thoughts:

Just moved to the area from the midwest and am having fun exploring the courses around here. I probably won't be back to this one though as it seems there are other better ones to be explored.
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8 1
VenV
Experience: 14.7 years 25 played 7 reviews
2.50 star(s)

Around the Park 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 14, 2011 Played the course:once

Pros:

Tees are sometimes on pavement, other times well built natural tees. Tee Signs for every hole had par, distance, and a good map. Clever path in one big circle around the park. Holes 2, 3, 6 and 7 are woodsy. Holes 1, 4, 5, 8 and 9 are open fields. Good placement of baskets with natural obstacles.

Cons:

The next tee indicators were not easy to read or remember: they were on the last tee sign. Only one long hole, #9. Only one real short ace run hole, #8. Long walk between #9 & #1. No clear indicator where to start. Billboard introducing the sport is at hole #4. Walk from #4 to #5 is back up hill on south side of playground.

Other Thoughts:

The low course rating from older reviews should be disregarded because recent improvements elevate the variety and difficulty. The photos on this website have the old hole #s: Old 1, 3, & 6 are no more. Old 2=5 now, 4 = 7, 5 =9, 7=1 sort of, and old 8 = 2 now.
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