Donnelly, ID

Tamarack Resort - Meadows

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3.55(based on 8 reviews)
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Tamarack Resort - Meadows reviews

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3 0
The Valkyrie Kid
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 45.9 years 1563 played 1507 reviews
3.50 star(s)

The World's Prettiest Deep Blue Baskets! 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 11, 2014 Played the course:once

Pros:

After reading the previous reviews, some of my questions have been answered about Tamarack Resort. This ski resort is a huge sprawling complex with seemingly everything from a giant hotel, condos, gorgeous homes with panoramic views, golf course and much more. The disc golf course is a little difficult to find. It's way out at the far end of Discovery Drive out past these lovely, large homes where a bicycle trail crosses over the street.
The course plays out into a beautiful pine forest. There is the usual rules of disc golf sign at the start. The tee pads are rubber mats. There are small colored fiberglass tee signs giving you the usual information. Most baskets have 2 or 3 positions and the positions are often 100-150 or even 200' different. Unfortunately, there is no way of telling which position the basket is currently in. A washer indicator like some courses have would be an especially great help here. Another thing that factors in is many of the baskets are blind off the tee so this necessitates walking up ahead on most holes figuring out where the basket is. On some holes, this could be several hundred feet. This was my 4th out of 5 courses played today. I was a little too tired to want to keep adding all these extra steps.
The baskets are this deep, kinda dark blue color. There are extremely shiny and new looking and are just the prettiest baskets anywhere. As pretty as they are, yellow rimmed Disccatchers would be much easy to spot here in the pine forest of Idaho.
The front 9 is shorter and has a few ACE runs of less than 200'. The back 9 definitely stretches things out with several holes 500' plus.
# 18 basket is right near the start of the course. Excellent design here.

Cons:

The mosquitoes had driven off the group before me. However, with my "Deep Woods Off" slathered on, they left me alone.
The beautiful blue baskets, although stunning to look at, are a little difficult to spot in these Pine forests, especially
Some kind of an indicator is needed on the tee signs to show which position the basket is currently in. A small hole drilled through the sign with a screw bolted through and a brightly colored plastic washer attached works well on other course signs.
Even with my map, navigation got a little sketchy at times. At # 13, I played to the # 12 basket again.

Other Thoughts:

I enjoyed those holes on this course so much more when I could see the basket off the tee. I never mind the occasional blind basket position but I don't care for too many on one course. Playing alone, blind holes sapped much of the enjoyment of the course for me.

This is a really nice course with a nice variety between between short and long holes. Having 2 or 3 basket positions of such varying distances practically guarantees that players will continue to find this course challenging and interesting. Now someone just needs to find a way to indicate those A-B-C position.
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2 0
holotone
Experience: 17 played 3 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Definitely worth playing 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 16, 2013 Played the course:once

Pros:

Decent variety, actual signage, fun lines, nice teepads, *awesome* baskets, beautiful scenery, not crowded - In fact, we only saw one other group.

Cons:

Hard to find, not much elevation, overgrown, almost every basket requires that you walk the length of the hole to spot it, inconsistent pin placements (some were 'A', some were 'C', some were 'B'). clearly not maintained and holy sh*t do they have a yellow jacket problem. Some of the fairways have ground nests every 10-20 feet. I got stung pretty bad - You really didn't want to stand anywhere for too long in case you're near a nest.

Other Thoughts:

Some regular maintenance and this would be an easy 4-4.5.
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5 0
PSPerkins
Experience: 11.8 years 16 played 8 reviews
3.50 star(s)

2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 11, 2012 Played the course:once

Pros:

Well engineered course, lots of fun holes and wide variety of throws. Creek oasis near tee box 13, course ends where it begins. Beautiful views of the lake. Lots of Huckleberries to pick and eat during berry season. Good summer course with camping nearby.

Cons:

Could use better signage, most holes the basket was not visible from the tee which necessitated using a spotter on a lot of holes which doubled the walk for some.

Other Thoughts:

I simply must say that this course was a genuine pleasure to play. Great mountain and lake views, rubber tee mats, variety of challenging throws, easy to spot baskets (once you locate them) and cleverly designed course.

The first 9 were all mostly short and densely wooded with high rough and barely discernible fairways. After playing the first nine things picked up for the back nine as we started to get the course figured out. The fairways are mostly narrow and consist of grasses and weeds that have been moderately trampled by foot traffic. The back 9 play around a mountain bike jump park which was fun to watch - but try not to hit any Mountain Bikers as they fly across the trails that cut across holes 10 and 11. Hole 12 was a huge throw and made the whole back nine worth the trek alone. Tee 13 in the summer months has a shaded creek that serves as a welcome oasis for overheated players who want to wet their heads and shirts to cool off.
The 18th hole ends up right where the first one starts so you end up right by your car when you are done, which was also quite nice.

Something else we noticed was that we all would throw and be under the general impression our tee shots ended up pretty poor, but we'd get to the disc each time with a nice surprise - finding we were much closer to the basket than our tee shot had initially looked like. It was a nice surprise on almost every hole to find our lie was much better than we had thought from the tees. Clever engineering and basket placement all around. I would play this course again for sure. It has tons of personality. I'd like to play it in spring when there is still water runoff in the smaller brooks which were all dry when we played.
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5 0
prettyboyfloyd
Bronze level trusted reviewer
Experience: 13.9 years 16 played 15 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Idaho vacation... 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 27, 2012 Played the course:once

Pros:

- Good directional tee signs
- Rubber tee pads in a place it hardly rains
- Really new blue DGC baskets
- Both short and long holes
- Nobody there

Cons:

- fairly ungroomed
- A bit too many holes between 180 - 220
- Would have been a bit lost without a map

Other Thoughts:

The Tamarack Resort was supposed to be a large, new, ski resort near Donnelly, ID. Then money backed out leaving most noticeably a giant unfinished hotel. You have to drive through the unfinished complex to where Discovery Dr. ends with two giant cement blocks in the middle of the street.

There is a tiny "Disc Golf Parking" sign. I went with my fiances 89 year-old gradfather who had never seen it dg played. I found a path to a hill that led to the first tee.

The first 9 holes are mostly uphill short (180 - 220) through trees and grass. There are nice elevation changes throughout. The last 9 are spaced longer, through fields.

The tee pads, signs, and baskets are new and excellent. The baskets are blue and do stick out. I have no idea how long it takes baskets to age, but these had a lot of shine.

The only course drawback is that it needs to be played on more/groomed in places. It would be real nice, then.

Some don't like a lot to short holes, but I like them to rely on what is a skilled upshot through the trees for birdie. The place looks underused and understandably so, because the place is a bit creepy to drive though. If you're staying in McCall, it's only an hour away. I'd play again.
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1 2
appysdad
Experience: 14.5 years 26 played 6 reviews
4.00 star(s)

2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Sep 2, 2010 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

all around great course bombers ace runs blinds its got em all wide open drives to drives down tight narrow alleys this course is never crowded gorgeous views a fun course for all skill levels

Cons:

its not open year round and the first basket is missing mosqitoes are bad bring pure deet end of summer grass in open meadows can be waist high it may take awhile to find lost discs
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2 0
Rentech
Experience: 14.9 years 5 played 3 reviews
3.50 star(s)

It could have been Should have been... but isnt 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 20, 2010 Played the course:once

Pros:

Great layout, wonderful drives with good diversity, rewards a good trow punishes a poor one. Great scenic course with lots of foliage. Great teas and pins

Cons:

Bring a few friends to spot, the course is no longer maintained and I believe that the first pin is missing to detour players because the resort went bankrupt and they discourage trespassing. Avoid playing in the evening even with bug spray you will be eaten alive. can be hard to find pins due to overgrowth.

Other Thoughts:

If this course had someone to maintain it I feel it could be a top notch course for the northwest but without a owner the bankrupt resort will hide this gem from the world for a while
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2 3
russkins
Experience: 22.8 years 13 played 10 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Tamarack 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Jun 19, 2009 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Alot of different looks everytime you play, not crowded, multiple tee pads and baskets...excellent view of mountains and lake cascade.

Cons:

Not very many people play so open fields getting deep..persistance is a must to find discs

Other Thoughts:

Only course year round so locals are resposible for maintain a clean course so please be resposible!
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6 1
Starwraith169
Experience: 20.9 years 48 played 21 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Tamarack Review 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Nov 1, 2008 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

beautiful location at a ski resort, # of pin placements, diversity of shots, lots of wildlife spotted on courses, lots of technical shots.

Cons:

you cant play during the winter because of too much snow, rarely see other people playing, the resort hardly ever changes pin locations, no water hazards

Other Thoughts:

We recently had the Gem State Championships there and it was a great turnout. More people should play it. Its a great course!!
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