Crystal River, FL

The Red Hawk

Permanent course
3.835(based on 3 reviews)
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1 0
aceman
Experience: 17 years 17 played 17 reviews
3.50 star(s)

2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Feb 24, 2008 Played the course:once

Pros:

very aesthetically pleasing,a true grip it and rip it course,nothing really hard if you have a cannon for an arm.

Cons:

GET THE CART! we walked it and that is the dumbest thing I have ever done,can you say loooong also watch for golf balls since you play right with the ball golfers.

Other Thoughts:

to long for me, throwing bombs on every single hole made my arm hurt for days.
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5 0
bazkitcase5
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 19.9 years 136 played 56 reviews
4.50 star(s)

2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Nov 23, 2008 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

This is a beautiful championship level course. Located adjacent of a golf course and the surrounding land, this course is fun, yet challenging. There are 3 sets of tees on every hole; red, blue, and gold, which makes the course fun and challenging for all levels of players. The tees are a mix of concrete tees and the use of a concrete walking path, with hole #1's pro tee using a mat. Every hole has a tee sign, with the distance, but does not tell you where the pin is, so get a course map. In most weather conditions, shooting PAR from the gold/regular tees is the equivalent of shooting a 1000 rated round, so its safe to say that SSA=PAR.

The design is excellent, using 3 par 5s, 6 par 4s, and 9 par 3s. The golf course tees, greens, and the driving range that is along side hole #1 all play as OB. Also as would be expected, all water and some walking paths are also played as OB. If you plan to play the course with proper OB rules, then you can get a course map, OB list, and scorecard all stapled together, inside the clubhouse. The mix of all this OB, as well as the well placed pin locations and tee locations, utilizing the landscape and all the trees that force a large variety of shots off the tee, as well as from different landing zones. Although having a lot of distance helps on several holes, it is not necessary to play this course well, especially if you do not have accuracy to get along with it.

Also, there is the clubhouse, with a bar & grill (the food is good), vending machines, bathrooms, water fountains, lots of tables, chairs, comfortable couches, and several TVs. You can also rent golf carts while you play.

Cons:

This course is pay to play, $5 to play all day or $15 to play with a cart. I only list this as a con because people are used to be able to play this game for free, but I can tell you now, it is totally worth paying to play this course. If all courses looked this good, I would support pay to play courses everywhere.

Being such a long course, that does not loop around at the half way point and does not have any benches; I would also suggest paying the extra fee to rent a golf cart, as it is a lot of walking. There are long walks between holes 6/7, 16/17, and a very long walk back to the clubhouse after hole 18. Also, thanks to being such a large course, navigation can be a bit tricky if you do not know your way around, so get a course map while in the club house. If you plan on playing the shorter tees, they do not have tee signs, so you will have to look for the tees, that are spray painted on the cart paths.

Other Thoughts:

Home of the Players Cup (a PDGA Major), this Plantation Inn is a golf resort, that is home to an 18 hole championship golf course, as well as a 9 hole practice golf course (which is disc golf course is near). I spent several days down there, practicing the course and playing in this tournament and I only wish I could go back already. I have not played the shorter tees, but I saw many of them while playing the course and believe they are also well placed to force challenging par 4 and 5s for amateur level players. Even then, this course is so good that I believe amateur level players would enjoy playing the regular/pro tees, as they try to see how they match up against the scores of the world's best players.

I want to give this course a 5 star rating badly, but there are a few key flaws, such as no tee signs for the shorter tees, that prevent this course from being in the "best of the best" category. This course is definitely a must play if you are ever in the area. I can only hope that the beauty of this course, as well as the legit par 4s and 5s are in the near future for disc golf.
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6 0
denny ritner
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 25.9 years 170 played 113 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Home of The Players Cup 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 6, 2004 Played the course:never

Pros:

This course is located on a beautiful golf course. Much wildlife, including "the" red hawk, can be seen during a round.

Golf carts are available for rental.

Players have the opportunity to challenge themselves on the same layout the pros play each November during The Players Cup.

The course affords many risk-reward opportunities and puts a paramount on good course management in scoring well.

While it definitely rewards the power player, it is possible for the 300 ft. thrower to execute a well-conceived game plan and shoot under par. (The cash cut line for the Players Cup has been within 2 strokes of even par each year.)

Three sets of tees give a wide-variety of skill ranges a fun and challenging experience.

Cons:

There's no question that the course is biased - in favor of the power player.

In order to play the course it is necessary to have and read the course legend. Many of the holes have unique OB situations, which can be confusing the first time one plays the course.

At present, the first hole runs down the side of the golf course driving range, making safety a concern.

There is a very long walk back from the 18th hole to the clubhouse for those that do not choose to rent a golf cart.

There is a long distance between holes 6-7 and 16-17.



Other Thoughts:

A couple quick notes that pertain to all my course reviews:

I don't use a numerical "system" for coming up with a final rating, such as 20% for aesthetics, 20% for challenge, 30% for safety, and 50% for amenities, or the like, except for the fact that I automatically deduct .5 for all 9-hole courses. I've established a base "criteria" based on the fact that more courses will receive a 3 than any other rating. I've created my number standards by grouping "like calibre" courses together and then comparing them to other groups of courses.

A few things that do weigh heavily in my mind are ease of course navigation, degree of nasty schule, likelihood of losing discs, degree of on-course crime, property aesthetics, hole variety, and good score distribution for a standardized gold, blue, white, or red skill level.

Using the 1-5 scale with a "normal" distribution in mind, most courses will fall in the 2.5-3.5 range and nearly all courses will fall in the 2-4 range. I believe that we've yet to create a "5" disc golf course. With that in mind, my highest rating rating given thus far is a 4.5, given to Idlewild. I'll never give an "all par 3's" course higher than a 4 rating.

My reviews are not meant to hurt the feelings of any designers and/or clubs, but I honestly believe that some of our courses do more harm for the sport than good. These courses have received ratings in the 0-1 range.
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