McHenry, MD

Wisp Deep Creek Ski Resort

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3.065(based on 9 reviews)
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0 0
Smithreyjeff
Experience: 75 played 5 reviews
4.00 star(s)

Fun, Beginner Friendly Course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 4, 2020 Played the course:once

Pros:

Mostly open shots on the bottom 9, a few obstacles, but clear lines. Very easy to navigate without a map, most baskets were able to be seen from the tees, but locals helped with giving my group a lay out of the lower 9.

Cons:

Unfortunately, With the precautions of Covid, we were not able to use the chairlift to go to the top for the upper 9. I would say the bottom 9 is slightly challenging for a beginner in terms of length and slope incline. Challenging and enjoyable.
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8 0
armiller
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 8.9 years 273 played 60 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Memorable for the Downhills 2+ years

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Oct 13, 2018 Played the course:once

Pros:

- disc golf at Wisp
- there are marked tees, baskets (with correct numbers on rims)
- a couple top of the mountain shots
- beautiful surroundings and views of Deep Creek Lake

Cons:

- baskets are worse for wear, especially rusty on some of the upper 9 holes
- navigation is a bit tough on several holes; in particular, the map was wrong on hole 15 (both DGCR map and that handed out by staff)
- tees are dirt, not particularly flat

Other Thoughts:

This course, at the Wisp Ski Resort, felt to me like a combination of two courses. The bottom nine feels like a Youth camp course, and the top nine is a fairly typical ski course. That bottom "camp course" has mostly short, open shots, but with a few decent basket placements and decently fun lines with some mild elevation change. The top "ski course" plays down the mountain, with a few flat and even uphill holes as it cuts laterally across the mountain.

The lower nine were a quick play. Hole 3 was an interesting RHBH uphill hyzer with slope going up to the left, throwing across an inactive ski lift, with hole 4 a nice little downhill. Hole 9 says 192' on DGCR, but felt shorter in person. I nearly hit an ace but my Envy skipped off back cage to give me a 40' come-back. That was one of 2-3 shorter, wide open holes. These nine were not particularly memorable, but I was able to play them relatively quickly before the lift opened (11am on the Saturday I was there).

The top nine holes are reached by a 13 minute ride up Lift 1. To get to hole 10, you walk right past a sign for three black diamonds. This first hole is the first of two "top of the mountain" shots, about 650' down one of those black diamond slopes. Fun shot. The next is a water shot with a long pond along the right side of the fairway. After this, holes continue to play along/through the ski-ways that are cut through the trees. Some of these holes struck me as awkward because they use those "ski fairways" and nearby clumps of trees to create disc golf holes. It worked, I suppose, but wasn't the best disc golf.

Hole 15 (recently changed, according to the map) was probably the best real disc golf hole. It's a gentle downhill tunnel shot into a wooded green, through a wide but definite downhill tunnel. You could have put this hole on any good course in the country and it would have felt right at home. Holes 16 and 17 then play down along a right-turning maintenance/snowmobile path. It's wide enough that there are decent disc golf lines, but not so long that losing discs is inevitable. From looking at the previous map, it looks like hole 15 used to be a longer uphill shot, followed by 16 and 17 as longer, tight, wooded downhills. I haven't seen those older holes, but my impression is that they made a very good change by eliminating the long, uphill "old 15" and replacing it with a pretty solid wooded downhill (current 15). In addition, old reviews make it seem like 16 and 17 were disc eaters when they were longer, whereas now they're pretty reasonable as you cut back to the final top of the mountain shot. The only problem is that the maps aren't updated, so I wasted 10 minutes confirming that I didn't skip a hole (and had to walk up a few hills to do so).

Hole 18 was the final top of the mountain shot. DGCR says around 550', and it's a decently steep downhill. I exercised caution but still threw 5 discs. My Envy got pin high, and I used a beefy Nuke FH and Firebird BH to get close to circle 1. A Teebird shot hyzered out and went 200' long and left. I was very tempted to walk back up and keep throwing, but resisted the urge.

In retrospect, I would have walked uphill quite a ways to make hole 18 even longer (maybe hole 10 as well). On hole 18, this is a real possibility, since there looked to be flat areas about 200' or more up the hill. Next time, I'll definitely check out this possibility. After all, tees are just wooden markers stuck in the ground, so you might easily find better footing somewhere else, with an even more extreme downhill shot.

I also made the mistake of bringing my tournament bag with all the discs I absolutely DO NOT want to lose. I still almost lost my go-to beat Z Buzzz. Yikes! Next time I'll bring my standard molds, but ones that I don't mind risking while emptying the bag on the fun downhills. I recommend you do the same.

Cost was $19 plus tax to play all 18, including a ticket for Lift 1, but $9 plus tax for the bottom nine. See https://www.wispresort.com/Disc-Golf/ . Pay this fee and get your lift ticket at the Activities Center, a large white tent at the far Southeast end of the resort parking lot (left and back after you enter). This is also where you would get set for zip lining, the Alpine Coaster, downhill mountain biking, and other resort activities. The other activities were much busier that the disc golf, and I may have been the only one riding the lift in the few hours I was around. Resort staff were fairly helpful. The woman at the ticket desk warned me that grass was fairly long up on the mountain and cautioned that losing discs was easy, so be careful. I appreciate the warning but didn't have any issues finding plastic. I appreciate this warning regarding current course conditions and the overall difficulty of the course, especially because many new players may play here while visiting Wisp for other reasons. 3 discs were available to rent, and I did find a pink rental Leopard on hole 18. I feel sorry for the visiting player who was trying to throw a Leopard on a 500' hole that drops ~80' or more...

Rating: The golf doesn't feel all that impressive, the course baskets have seen better days, and navigation isn't a piece of cake. But I really can't justify going below 3.0 for "Good," even if it's just for holes 10, 15, and 18. There don't seem to be nearly as many ski courses in this area as there are in parts of the West Coast (e.g. Lake Tahoe and the Sierra Nevadas, Utah, or Colorado), so this course feels quite special for this part of the world. It's definitely worth a visit.
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1 5
Casey 1988
Experience: 20.8 years 25 played 6 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Worth the play. 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 21, 2005 Played the course:once

Pros:

Good Course, Loved playing all 18, Yes we played all 18. Was $15 all 18 or $9 for front 9 so obvious they wanted people to play the 18. You could play with disc from the place with a $5 or $6 to rent them but I had my own as did everyone else I played with. The Course had on top a XC ski/summer bike path behind one of the holes. The top 9 course was not challenging that much unless the wind was up like I had. The bottom 9 was much more fun for my skill level, I had been playing since 2004 really first full summer of play.

Cons:

The hole you played into at the time in 2005 was a DB-5 portable for the top course unlike now with all the older bad type Discraft Disc Catcher.

The Holes Rough is rough for bottom 9, I had to go down a ravine to get somebody's disc and came up with two other discs that did not have a number on them, one was really rare.

Other Thoughts:

Play is worth the money for all 18 holes, views of the area are worth the additional time it took to find the place. It was hard to find as a few places had Ski Resorts in the area, one was just for snow tubing with Snowboarding half pipe and was the wrong place.
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2 4
Glenn
Experience: 25 played 3 reviews
2.00 star(s)

Uuughh 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 13, 2013 Played the course:once

Pros:

Some nice views and the opportunity to throw a disc 1000+ ft off the top of a mountain.

Cons:

Not super interesting holes. Kind of funky. Front nine isn't even worth playing. Very easy to lose multiple discs. Cost!!!

Other Thoughts:

Careful on 18, that disc will go. Threw one three times as far as I ever had, into the lodge and lost.
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4 0
dm734593
Experience: 12.9 years 9 played 6 reviews
3.00 star(s)

18 Hole Course on Ski Trails 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 27, 2012 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

-Front 9 are very easy and are very family friendly.
-Full 18 hole course taking you to the top of the mountain on a chairlift that provides difficulty on the back 9.
-Hole 10 and 18 are on the top of ski slopes and very fun to bomb throws off of.

Cons:

-Not a free course ($15 for a lift ticket to back 9)
-Water hazard on hole 11 can be a problem since it's located close to the basket.
-Not well maintained...grass is mowed every once in a while and in some spots it is waist high.
-Hole 17 has a cliff on the left side that you can easily lose a disc on.

Other Thoughts:

Overall, it is a good course but it has a bunch of negatives. Great view from the top of the mountain and a chairlift that over looks a "mountain coaster." Mountain coaster was a very fun attraction that you can ride after you finish your round.
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13 0
prerube
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 16.8 years 274 played 235 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Must play...ONCE! 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 4, 2011 Played the course:once

Pros:

Lots of elevation, water hazard on top of the mountain, and plenty of great views.
Food and beer can be purchased in the adventure park building
Lots of activities for non-discgolfing family members.
Bathrooms on site, just outside adventure park building.
Map provided, but it is not numbered.

Cons:

Grass tees are just 2 sticks with a par written on them.
No tee for hole one, started the course with safari golf.
Had to play around dune buggies, segways, and mountain bikers,
Biggest con is that you only get 1 lift for $15, so you can not play the course multiple times.
A few spots where navigation was difficult

Other Thoughts:

It is a must play once, but not worth the $15 a round to play over and over
To give you an idea of the elevation, there is a 15 minute lift ride up to the top of the mountain to play 9 holes
Top 9 is challenging, bottom 9 is a bunch of aceable holes marked par 4 and 5.
You can rent a dx starter kit for $5
Par for the bottom 9 was made for new players, not those with experience.

- - - - - - - - -- -

Hole by hole

1. Short flat open hole, currently with no tee pad.
2. Uphill wide open 180 foot shot
3. 200 foot down hill shot, easy hole, but easy to over throw. Road on the right. (marked par 4)
4. uphill 262 foot wide open shot (marked as a par 5, but obviously a 3)
5. 216 foot hole starts with a wall of trees with a decent sized window to throw through, then opens up to wide open hole. If you fade left the hole goes steep downhill.
6. 200 foot wide open with steep downhill on the left.
7. Wide open 276 foot downhill
8. 141 foot putter shot, wide open.
9. Bag empting 186 foot downhill shot towards a pile of rocks and 2 trees with about 30 feet of elevation change. Last hole before 15 minute lift ride.
10. Awesome top of the world shot over 600 feet with probably 100 feet of elevation change.
11. Slight right dogleg with water on the right. (probably around 250-280ish feet)
12. Blind basket tucked behind a patch of woods with 3 possible paths, a left S, wide right, or very tight tunnel up the middle. (under 300 feet)
13. Clear fairway slight uphill S shot
14. Hole is on the edge of a massive drop, but you play parallel with the drop, so elevation only comes into play if you fade right or your putter rolls right.
15. 15-20 foot fairway with thick brush on both sides.
16. slight down hill down a 15-20 foot wide fairway with a drop off and thick brush on the left, and thick woods on the right.
17. Downhill dogleg left, similar to hole 16 with far greater chance of disc loss and brutal thorns on the right.
18. Another top of the world shot about 600 feet with over 100 foot elevation change. Basket slightly left, but you could see where people overthrew the basket by 200 feet to land on the roof.
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8 0
Kenny53691
Experience: 14.1 years 82 played 1 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Good, but not Great 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 18, 2010 Played the course:once

Pros:

The first 9 holes are great for either a warm up, someone wanting to try out the game, or for something that whole family can do. There is only one hole that goes through a section of woods about 10' wide and the rest is in an open area. Hole 10 was a lot of fun because it was a drop down a big hill with a great view of Deep Creek Lake. Hole 11 is a little jog around a small pond which was a nice little water hazard. Hole 12-13 are nice because the baskets were behind a patch of woods with a path open on both sides, so you are able to use which ever curve you are most comfortable with. Hole 18 is another long downhill and open shot just like 10, but without the view. The fairway was well maintained throughout the whole course which made it really easy to find your way around.

Cons:

Hole 1-9 are very little challenge, so probably wouldn't be much fun if you had some disc golf experience under your belt. Hole 14 has grass on the downhill side that would swallow any disc that gets near it. Hole 16-17 are nothing but a pain! The fairway is about 30'-40' wide with the rough not forgiving at all. The right side of the path is a steep uphill that has a lot of underbrush that would make it easy to lose a disc. The left side of the hill is a very steep hill with a lot more underbrush than the right side. If your disc goes off the fairway on the left, you will most likely either lose it in the underbrush or it will roll down the hill where it would probably never be seen again. Hole 16 also has a mountain bike trail that is not that noticeable until you go to throw and all of a sudden a guy goes barreling through the fairway on a mountain bike. It's not too bad, just a little distracting. The rough is ridiculous on the back 9 holes. I have never seen so many thorns, ferns, and any kind of plant that you could think of that would make your disc hard and annoying to find.

Other Thoughts:

The cost for the front 9 holes is $10. The cost for all 18 is $15 which included the lift pass to get you from hole 9 to 10. There is a $5 deposit on the disc if you rent some there. The $5 includes a putter, a mid-range driver, and a long range driver. It is almost worth spending the extra $5 to have their disc to use on hole 16 & 17 so you don't have to worry about losing your own disc.
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3 1
cbowl06
Experience: 8 played 4 reviews
4.00 star(s)

Do you have the throw? 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:May 23, 2009 Played the course:once

Pros:

Its a beautiful course. Front 9 is the easy section, back nine is the hard section and has 2 sets of tees. Beautiful views from the back nine of the top of the mountain. Fairways were mowed and you could follow them easily to the next basket. Really tests your throws. Makes you work on your down hill drives. esp on the 2 600 ft+ holes

Cons:

When they say rough, its really in the rough. Try and stay out of it as much as possible. Luckily i'm not too allergic to poison ivy, because it is very abundant.

Other Thoughts:

Loved driving downhill. Holes 14-17 are very unforgiving if you stray from the fairway. If you go into the woods on 16 or 17, you can pretty much kiss your disc goodbye.
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0 8
blackskies
Experience: 24.9 years 7 played 7 reviews
2.00 star(s)

One of the forst courses I played 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 9, 2003 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

You take a gondola to the top of the mountain. Amazing views of Deep Creek Lake and surrounding areas. Good place to practice your down hill driving

Cons:

It's on a ski mountain. So pretty much everything is downhill.
Not really a local community of players

Other Thoughts:

It's worth the trip for the views alone.
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