Woodland Valley - The Grizzly reviews
3
0
lowguppy
Experience:
5 played
5 reviews
Almost There 2+ years drive by
Reviewed:
Played on:May 20, 2017
Played the course:2-4 times
Pros:
- High Quality baskets and tee pads
- Good overall layout. Interesting mix of turns in the woods with a few open field holes mixed in as well.
- Good overall layout. Interesting mix of turns in the woods with a few open field holes mixed in as well.
Cons:
- Maintenance is average. It's played heavily enough that the fairways are clear but undergrowth on the fringes gets thick fast.
- Baskets are unmarked and hard to spot.
- There's a number of trees close to tee pads that are just riddled with the horizontal marks of disc impacts. At some point, those should just come down. I don't mind a wooded course, but there's some wisdom of the crowds at play.
- They don't treat for bugs, which is kind of inexcusable in Maine (Most courses around here do). It's far from the wettest course in the state but by far the buggiest (especially in late May when I played, when the black flies and mosquitoes overlap).
- Baskets are unmarked and hard to spot.
- There's a number of trees close to tee pads that are just riddled with the horizontal marks of disc impacts. At some point, those should just come down. I don't mind a wooded course, but there's some wisdom of the crowds at play.
- They don't treat for bugs, which is kind of inexcusable in Maine (Most courses around here do). It's far from the wettest course in the state but by far the buggiest (especially in late May when I played, when the black flies and mosquitoes overlap).
Other Thoughts:
There's a lot to like about the Grizzly. It's a reasonably tough mostly-wooded course that will test your accuracy at a variety of distances and situations without being overly punishing or gimmicky.
It's really quite close to being counted among the many excellent second-tier courses in the state (there's a clear best course) but there's a lot of little things that they don't do that keeps it out of that class. Marking the baskets is the easiest thing on the list, and when you can't do the easiest thing, I can't be optimistic about any of the other things happening.
There's no glaring deficiencies, and if it was the closest course to me I could play it regularly, but I'm not going out of my way for it.
It's really quite close to being counted among the many excellent second-tier courses in the state (there's a clear best course) but there's a lot of little things that they don't do that keeps it out of that class. Marking the baskets is the easiest thing on the list, and when you can't do the easiest thing, I can't be optimistic about any of the other things happening.
There's no glaring deficiencies, and if it was the closest course to me I could play it regularly, but I'm not going out of my way for it.
5
1
Enjoyed my round. 2+ years drive by
Reviewed:
Played on:Jul 5, 2010
Played the course:once
Pros:
Pro Shop plus some snacks, Linda (owner) & Kurt (pro) are big pluses. They will track your rounds for you. Plus 18 more holes on location. Nice score card/map.
Trash cans easily accessible. Good tees. Plus signage both for the holes themselves and directing you to next tees. Baskets all in good condition. Fairways very well kept, both in the woods and also on the grass.
If you like wooded holes, you get them here. Holes are mostly wooded with just a few playing "in and out of" or "out of and into" the woods. Only one totally open hole.
Good variety/pretty even distribution of left & right turning and straight tee shots. Nice use of elevation changes, both up and down. Reasonable width fairways even in the deepest wooded holes. Plus there are a couple "90 degree dog legs" to hit that I haven't seen on lot of courses.
The wooded holes should keep things interesting for an experienced player, in spite of the length not being exceptionally long. For the most part, the length would also allow newer players to enjoy this as an introduction to wooded courses too.
Trash cans easily accessible. Good tees. Plus signage both for the holes themselves and directing you to next tees. Baskets all in good condition. Fairways very well kept, both in the woods and also on the grass.
If you like wooded holes, you get them here. Holes are mostly wooded with just a few playing "in and out of" or "out of and into" the woods. Only one totally open hole.
Good variety/pretty even distribution of left & right turning and straight tee shots. Nice use of elevation changes, both up and down. Reasonable width fairways even in the deepest wooded holes. Plus there are a couple "90 degree dog legs" to hit that I haven't seen on lot of courses.
The wooded holes should keep things interesting for an experienced player, in spite of the length not being exceptionally long. For the most part, the length would also allow newer players to enjoy this as an introduction to wooded courses too.
Cons:
The course lacked the "wow" factor for me. Even after playing a course only once, I can normally visualize most of the holes. Unfortunately, to me, the holes became kind of repetitious and I can only specifically remember a few. And I really enjoy wooded courses, so I'm not just complaining about the trees.
My opportunity to throw drivers here was very limited due to both the length (My typical good drive is about 325'.), and the wooded nature of the holes. I would prefer more balance with even just a couple holes more in the open.
This information does not affect my course review, but be prepared to handle the files. They were "wicked hard core" when I was here.
My opportunity to throw drivers here was very limited due to both the length (My typical good drive is about 325'.), and the wooded nature of the holes. I would prefer more balance with even just a couple holes more in the open.
This information does not affect my course review, but be prepared to handle the files. They were "wicked hard core" when I was here.
Other Thoughts:
There are pictures available if you click on the course sight from the links section here in DGCR.
Personally, I didn't find this course to be any more, or less, difficult than the Black Bear. To me the main difference was that par was set at a very generous 65 on the Black Bear and a very fair 60 on the Grizzly. I thought that the holes themselves were very comparable. I shot a 61 on The Gizzly and a 57 & 61 on the Black Bear.
HIghlights:
At 354' with a severe dogleg left at about 200', I really enjoyed #3. Hitting a narrow, but reasonable, landing zone with your tee shot in order to have a clear shot at the pin made for a cool little hole. #16 is my favorite hole on the course. It's 509' long and turns right pretty drastically. You have a wide grassy fairway with woods on both sides. After a well placed 300' drive, I had about 175' left to a narrow opening in the trees to get to a pin tucked back in the woods a little. This is just a beautiful hole.
I would definitely recommend this course to just about anyone, especially since there's the Black Bear on site too. Plus I had never had the opportunity to see a pro shop like this before with, literally, thousands of discs on display. I did well to walk away with just 2 discs when I left.
I mentioned this in my Black Bear review, too, but feel strongly enough about it to mention it here, too. If you have the opportunity, I would highly recommend playing Boom Field too when you're in this area. It's a totally different type of course and I believe that these courses complement each other beautifully. Enjoy.
Personally, I didn't find this course to be any more, or less, difficult than the Black Bear. To me the main difference was that par was set at a very generous 65 on the Black Bear and a very fair 60 on the Grizzly. I thought that the holes themselves were very comparable. I shot a 61 on The Gizzly and a 57 & 61 on the Black Bear.
HIghlights:
At 354' with a severe dogleg left at about 200', I really enjoyed #3. Hitting a narrow, but reasonable, landing zone with your tee shot in order to have a clear shot at the pin made for a cool little hole. #16 is my favorite hole on the course. It's 509' long and turns right pretty drastically. You have a wide grassy fairway with woods on both sides. After a well placed 300' drive, I had about 175' left to a narrow opening in the trees to get to a pin tucked back in the woods a little. This is just a beautiful hole.
I would definitely recommend this course to just about anyone, especially since there's the Black Bear on site too. Plus I had never had the opportunity to see a pro shop like this before with, literally, thousands of discs on display. I did well to walk away with just 2 discs when I left.
I mentioned this in my Black Bear review, too, but feel strongly enough about it to mention it here, too. If you have the opportunity, I would highly recommend playing Boom Field too when you're in this area. It's a totally different type of course and I believe that these courses complement each other beautifully. Enjoy.
