Warren, VT

Sugarbush - Base Course

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2.835(based on 9 reviews)
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Sugarbush - Base Course reviews

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0 7
Suresh1008
Experience: 7 years 11 played 1 reviews
0.00 star(s)

Needs overhaul 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 8, 2017 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Nice views. Couple of decent holes on back nine

Cons:

Where to begin. I am a native Sugarbush old timer and this is my first year at disc golf there. Lets begin with up hill first two holes ok if you can find tee pads. Then hole four is 600 plus feet per three! The baskets seems to be just plunked any old place. Tons of high grass hole six a 620 foot uphill tee pads God knows where. Maybe it's early season but to charge a fee for wandering around looking for tee pads isn't acceptable. I even had the dgcourse app and I had to ask local players where stuff was
Thumbs down sugarbush.

Other Thoughts:

Play wrighsville in East Montpelier. This is a course that is taken care of and maybe shorter but loads more fun
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3 0
The Valkyrie Kid
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 45.9 years 1563 played 1507 reviews
2.50 star(s)

I Found Quite A Lot Of Charm In The Base Course! 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 8, 2015 Played the course:once

Pros:

The Sugarbush Base Course starts right near the lodge area where you pay your $15. It features the same ho-hum amenities as it big brother, the Peak Course. That would include, two sets of tees, the longer Blues and the shorter White ones, natural tee pads oftentimes needing some work, the temporary Discatcher baskets with the yellow bands and holes without signs.

I will admit, after my miserable exhausting experience playing the Peak course, the last thing I wanted to do was to set foot on that mountain again so soon. However, the Base course immediately started to charm me in a way the Peak course never did. The 2nd hole was a cool 290' throw up to a basket guarded by three big pines trees. I liked it. Then # 3 was a nice little 180' downhill shot into the trees below. I was like, "Hey, disc golf can be fun again!"
I like the # 9 hole with it's 192' throw across a gully.
# 15 was absolutely a charming little hole. It's just a short 150' ACE run downhill. There's water running off to your right.

And then it hit me with a clunker hole that belonged on the Base course. # 17 is 417' down a road with thick rough on both sides. YUCK!

But then # 18 was another cool hole. It's very short (135') but the basket appears to be perched right on the edge just in front of one of lower lodge buildings. It's very scenic looking from the tee. Upon reaching the basket, I could see that the basket wasn't as close to the edge as I had thought but it was still a charming little hole.

Cons:

Missing tee signs on some holes.

It's short lengths makes this just a little recreational course.

Cheaper baskets.

$15 to play although I heard some people later saying you can come and play this course for free.

Tee pads need plenty of work

Other Thoughts:

I would drive up here and play this course. It easily features enough fun and creative holes to hold my interest. Although mostly short and technical, you'll enjoy the challenge and chasing the possible Aces.

As most reviewers have stated, skip the Peak course and it's grueling drudgery. It's long downhills aren't worth the effort. But unless you're looking for the extreme challenge, you'll probably enjoy your round at the Base. I wish I had skipped my Peak 18 and played two rounds at the Base.
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0 1
StevenFoster
Experience: 13.9 years 21 played 7 reviews
4.00 star(s)

2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Mar 31, 2013 Played the course:once

Pros:

Good solid discatcher pins on excellectly placed greens. Tee pads give you a decent view of the hole and how to engineer your shot. Fairways not overly tight or with splitter trees for that sort of poke and hope style of disc golf.

Cons:

Tee pads need to be raised due to excessive snow which had melted into pools which froze into ice. This can be solved by raising the tee areas so the water runs off before it freezes. This technique also eliminated mud pools in the spring/summer.

Other Thoughts:

I already played Warwick which had the same course architects and see the similarities in design. Excellent pro level golf experience all around.
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3 0
bradharris
Silver level trusted reviewer
Experience: 20.9 years 90 played 46 reviews
2.50 star(s)

2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 14, 2012 Played the course:once

Pros:

The Base Course is definitely the more enjoyable of the two Sugarbush courses. It features some nice elevation change, although not to the extreme like on the Peak Course, and a nice mix of distance. The shorter more wooded holes use trees well to emphasize placement and line shaping while the longer holes use the more open space on the ski slopes to test players' ability to drive accurately over long distances.

The course does well to punish bad tee shots with thick but fair woods lining the fairways on the shorter holes. Pin positions on the more open holes are chosen well so that players are required to hit a particular spot to set up an easy approach to the green. Missing the intended landing area will require an extra shot to get a look at the green.

Cons:

The course has a real rough-around-the-edges kind of feel to it. This is mainly due to the tee pads which are made up of loose gravel in a poorly defined box.

Other Thoughts:

I certainly enjoyed playing the Base Course and I felt it provided a fun and fair disc golf challenge. However there was nothing spectacular about it that would make me want to return.
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0 7
discrun
Experience: 6 played 6 reviews
3.00 star(s)

base 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 10, 2011 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

played with some locals and that was really helpful. I liked the base course much more then the peak. I think this is a fun course with lots of interesting holes. They did a good job at the base by mixing things up so it does not feel like a ski area course.

Cons:

benches and a little work on the tee boxes would be helpful

Other Thoughts:

I'll be back
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4 23
ESPNEWS
Experience: 16.3 years 84 played 2 reviews
0.50 star(s)

The designed is bad. 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 21, 2010 Played the course:5+ times

Other Thoughts:

I would give both Sugarbush courses such as Base and Peak 0 star because these courses are extremely hazard to play there. I can imagine if there was actually rain (the weather was quite hazy the whole time), there would be mudslide on the Peak course. You must bring a spotter with you all the way from first hole to eighteen holes.
My friend got a lot of poison ivy on both of his legs from knees to ankles. He did not enjoy playing there. As for Base course, from 1st hole to 8th holes, it was virtually impossible to play these holes because you have to walk on the uphill and we were already worn out. As for Peak course, there were some areas that were virtually impossible to play and this course is definitely suitable for highest level of professional players; we were certainly not at that level of profession YET. We were already worn out at the beginning of the course. Do you know why? Because when you throw your disc, it would go downhill with the steep downhill and that made you go downhill and look for your disc at almost every hole. Each player in each group had the same problem and we all had to waste time looking for each other's discs because the holes were all downhill. Additionally, we had to pay 15 dollars to lift us to the top mountain and we lost discs in there. I am glad nothing happened to me during the Peak course. I can't imagine if something happened to one of us during the Peak course; that will be responsible for injured players? We should choose courses that are safe for us to play at. Honestly, I don't think I will ever go there and play at the course again unless they redesign the course to avoid the hazard areas. These courses are very physically demanding. There were some players that resigned the tournament due to these reasons and that did not motivate us to continue playing the whole tournament.
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4 2
zapplayer12
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 25.9 years 149 played 40 reviews
4.00 star(s)

Balanced complement to Peak Course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Jul 4, 2010 Played the course:once

Pros:

· Choice of Pro/Am tees

· Newer baskets in great shape

· Elevation changes on practically every hole

· Decent balance of right/straight/left throws

· Nice mixture of open/wooded holes

· A number of challenging pin placements (up hills, next to drop offs, etc)

· Some picturesque views of surrounding mountains/terrain

· Well maintained with moderate disc loss possibility

· Maps available onsite along with next tee signs/arrows made navigation a breeze

· A pleasant and gentler alternative to the peak course

· Appealing to the more casual/newbie disc golfer as well as more experienced players

· It's in a ski area so amenities are on site: food, drink, discs for sale, accommodations; plus other activities (zip line, mountain biking, etc)

Cons:

· Pay to play

· Tees are natural/gravel (expect 'better' on a pay to play course)

· Ski lifts, buildings, equipment, etc. are an eye-sore on & around the course

· Area below was loud (can hear it on several holes) and busy w/people (course however was not)

· Even from 'pro' tees, some holes were just too short (9 holes of 250ft or less)

· Course could use additional and/or alt. pin positions to add more variety/challenge/length

· Seasonal/limited hours of availability

· Unbalanced - front 9 was a high-quality physical challenge (climbing and throwing uphill with 6 'pro tee' holes over 300ft - half of which were over 500ft) while the back 9 was lacking in this respect (only 2 holes over 300ft with the rest under 235ft)

· No sign at #1 pro tee (however this was only tee that had a rubber pad so I guess it's a trade off!)

Other Thoughts:

The base course seems designed to appeal to newer players, casual disc golfers and perhaps as a warm-up for more advanced players before they decide to tackle the peak course (or as an ego booster after getting smacked down by the peak course).



The first several holes are mainly longer, more open and play up or across the lift areas/base of the mountain and either begin or finish in the woods. These holes present more of a physical challenge but are not necessarily technical.



The second half of the course is mostly short and wooded providing opportunities for birdie chances and ace runs. These holes aren't as physically demanding as the emphasis is on accuracy. Even with errant throws, par is achievable as most holes are extremely short and punishment isn't too severe off the fairways



I appreciated what the front 9 design strived for - a longer more physically demanding play where you felt you earned your score. Somewhat disappointing was the back 9 where the physical demands were less, length was drastically reduced (even from the 'pro' tees) and the woods holes weren't overly technical. However all this is understandable as the appeal is more for the masses rather than the more experienced player who would be better off playing the peak course if they're looking for more difficulty.



Overall the design and flow was very fluid and intuitive making it by and large an enjoyable round. While on its own not a destination-type course, coupled with the peak course it's a balanced compliment and worth the time to play.
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1 5
JHill
Experience: 29 years 32 played 3 reviews
5.00 star(s)

Great layout. 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 21, 2009 Played the course:once

Pros:

Excellent scenery and challenging elevation along with tight lines on some wooded holes make this a challenging course. There are at least 4 "ace" holes, tight line downhill less than 200. Definitely a professional caliber course, although its not as challenging as I was expecting.

Cons:

Pro shop closes at 4, its the only place to get course maps/scorecards (unless a friendly golfer hooks you up!) PEAK COURSE ONLY OPEN FRI-SUN!!!

Other Thoughts:

Unless you're obese or have heart problems, you'll have minimal trouble hiking the course.
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0 6
fbrookes
Experience: 20.1 years 121 played 6 reviews
4.00 star(s)

physically and technically challenging 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 11, 2008 Played the course:once

Pros:

great changes in elevation,course map well marked and holes easy to find,beautiful scenery,interesting wooded holes,nice dg swag in pro shop

Cons:

very physically challenging going up and down ski slopes;very wet in August,lots of small streams make for some difficul maneuvering
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