Woodland Valley - Black Bear reviews
4
3
Picturesque Maine forest 2+ years
Reviewed:
Updated:
Played on:Aug 22, 2012
Played the course:once
Pros:
-Amazing pro shop with a very helpful staff and a massive disc and accessory selection...I mean huge! Food and beverages available.
-Easy to spot from road with a nice big sign
-2 separate courses, The Grizzly being the longer and more difficult of the two. Black Bear is a lighter, easier course geared toward either a quick play or for beginners. Skilled payers will still enjoy a techy mid range/putter round
-Scorecards with light maps, distances and pars
-Tee boxes in great shape
-Beautiful signs showing hole #, distance, par, a large colorful map of the hole and its obstacles
-Good markers and obvious pathways to next holes
-Beautiful Maine forest containing trees, rocks, pine needles, fallen trees; no bad overgrowth anywhere so you shouldn't lose plastic here
-I've played both courses 4 different times only during summer (I'm from PA) and I never experienced any crowded play
-Combination of tree corridors, bootlegs in both directions, and minor elevation changes, limited open shots
-Course immaculately maintained (as nice as ball golf course) with mowed grass, wood chips in the woods on fairways, clean, tidy pathways, and benches at every hole
-Locals friendly
-Cool stone piles/walls on many holes--adding to scenic feel
-Easy to spot from road with a nice big sign
-2 separate courses, The Grizzly being the longer and more difficult of the two. Black Bear is a lighter, easier course geared toward either a quick play or for beginners. Skilled payers will still enjoy a techy mid range/putter round
-Scorecards with light maps, distances and pars
-Tee boxes in great shape
-Beautiful signs showing hole #, distance, par, a large colorful map of the hole and its obstacles
-Good markers and obvious pathways to next holes
-Beautiful Maine forest containing trees, rocks, pine needles, fallen trees; no bad overgrowth anywhere so you shouldn't lose plastic here
-I've played both courses 4 different times only during summer (I'm from PA) and I never experienced any crowded play
-Combination of tree corridors, bootlegs in both directions, and minor elevation changes, limited open shots
-Course immaculately maintained (as nice as ball golf course) with mowed grass, wood chips in the woods on fairways, clean, tidy pathways, and benches at every hole
-Locals friendly
-Cool stone piles/walls on many holes--adding to scenic feel
Cons:
-No bears (kidding, bears everywhere...this obv not real or a con)
-Sometimes a similar feel hole to hole but it didn't phase me as there was still good use of forest and good variety.
-Experienced players will shoot WAY under par on Black Bear...2's will come often
-Few chances to let em rip; mostly tech throws
-Pay to play but $4 for 18/ $8 for 36 holes with a course this well kept it was well worth it (I always put pay to play as a con since most courses are free where I'm from in south eastern PA)
-No water obstacles but also no way to fix this really
-Sometimes a similar feel hole to hole but it didn't phase me as there was still good use of forest and good variety.
-Experienced players will shoot WAY under par on Black Bear...2's will come often
-Few chances to let em rip; mostly tech throws
-Pay to play but $4 for 18/ $8 for 36 holes with a course this well kept it was well worth it (I always put pay to play as a con since most courses are free where I'm from in south eastern PA)
-No water obstacles but also no way to fix this really
Other Thoughts:
This is a really scenic and well put together double course and I highly recommend it. It was a lot of fun and manageable for all skill levels. Best pro shop I've ever seen. 2 practice baskets to warm up on. Hole 1 and 2 are open field with obstacles in middle of fairway, and hole 18 is a nice long downhill par 4 to kick off and finish an otherwise short distance woods course. Play The Grizzly first if you intend on playing both, since Black Bear is a more relaxing easy follow up especially if some arm fatigue has set in. A new vacation favorite!
4
2
dsm767
Experience:
20.9 years
16 played
12 reviews
Par has changed significantly since last year 2+ years drive by
Reviewed:
Played on:Apr 6, 2011
Played the course:5+ times
Pros:
This is a wonderful course about 40min outside the Portland area. The pro shop here is one of the best in the state and I would have to say pales only in comparison to Sabbatus DGC. The operator Linda is very nice and friendly and is so personable, you can tell that she loves what she does and adds a homey touch to the course itself. They have a wide variety of discs in their newly expanded clubhouse that you can pick off the racks yourself something I think is great when your in the market to literally feel out new discs.
The fairways are well groomed and there are benches at every hole with trash cans. The Tees are cement at every hole as well, always a nice touch.
In addition this is a course I would go to if your interested in getting opportunities at hole in ones since their are 3 holes back to back that are under 200ft. The first two should be easy RHBH aces and the second an slightly harder side arm ace shot, good luck shooting.
The course is great, last year was my first time playing the course and I made it out a handful of times in the early to late summer time, so I was surprised to see that the par was changed when I returned here this year. The par has been dropped about 8 strokes I believe the old par was a 65 and is now a 58, so this course now has a little more of a challenge to it, even though for beginners this course was still a hard challenge before they changed it; I've heard rumors of locals complaining of easy rounds too often as a reason for changing the par, but don't hold me to that. I played 2 rounds and got a 58, and 56 playing a few good conservative rounds, so, thats how I would approach this course now with the new par, at least until you get your barrings on the course again, their are some challenging shots in the woods after all that can always change your score at the drop of a dime; so play cautiously.
Besides that the new par here had me playing better then ever at this course and encouraged me to really take my time with every shot since this is a short course, all par 3 and 4's now with the change, every shot really does count as there are not many holes to pick up multiple strokes on.
The fairways are well groomed and there are benches at every hole with trash cans. The Tees are cement at every hole as well, always a nice touch.
In addition this is a course I would go to if your interested in getting opportunities at hole in ones since their are 3 holes back to back that are under 200ft. The first two should be easy RHBH aces and the second an slightly harder side arm ace shot, good luck shooting.
The course is great, last year was my first time playing the course and I made it out a handful of times in the early to late summer time, so I was surprised to see that the par was changed when I returned here this year. The par has been dropped about 8 strokes I believe the old par was a 65 and is now a 58, so this course now has a little more of a challenge to it, even though for beginners this course was still a hard challenge before they changed it; I've heard rumors of locals complaining of easy rounds too often as a reason for changing the par, but don't hold me to that. I played 2 rounds and got a 58, and 56 playing a few good conservative rounds, so, thats how I would approach this course now with the new par, at least until you get your barrings on the course again, their are some challenging shots in the woods after all that can always change your score at the drop of a dime; so play cautiously.
Besides that the new par here had me playing better then ever at this course and encouraged me to really take my time with every shot since this is a short course, all par 3 and 4's now with the change, every shot really does count as there are not many holes to pick up multiple strokes on.
Cons:
The par is now in the mid 50's at this DGC which has two course much like Sabbatus, which I compared their pro shop to earlier. Just like Sabbatus this course had a beginner-intermediate course (The Black Bear) and a expert course (The Grizzly). Both were challenging in their own ways The Grizzly is still a very challenging course that will make you use every disc in your bag, but with the change in the par on The Black Bear its like having two courses that are expert only courses, reserved for league players and nothing below the am tournament players. I brought my girlfriend and brother for a relaxed late spring game and was the only one to have a chance at greatness, a wooded course requires a little more skill to have a good round, and they couldn't handle the new par as well as I could so just be careful before heading out expecting an outcome like last year, it just may not happen.
Besides the change in par theres not a lot to complain about here, they pack down the snow in the winter and have the pro shop open almost year round as far as I can tell and even will give you knee high boots to wade around the course in the snow in the winter time, they'll find a way to make you happy.
In summer bugs are BAD though so bring high DEET bug spray!
Besides the change in par theres not a lot to complain about here, they pack down the snow in the winter and have the pro shop open almost year round as far as I can tell and even will give you knee high boots to wade around the course in the snow in the winter time, they'll find a way to make you happy.
In summer bugs are BAD though so bring high DEET bug spray!
Other Thoughts:
If you live in Portland the drive is about the same distance as if you were to drive to the Brunswick of Auburn courses so why not swing out here every so often, Its like playing a smaller version of the beast and beauty combined where there are a lot of technical shots, overall a pretty fun course and worth a shot or two.
They record your rounds in their computer and the number of rounds you play as well after you play ten rounds here the eleventh round is free, but if you pay for all day you can only accumulate 2 rounds a day for that promotion. nice perks!
They record your rounds in their computer and the number of rounds you play as well after you play ten rounds here the eleventh round is free, but if you pay for all day you can only accumulate 2 rounds a day for that promotion. nice perks!
