Amesbury, MA

Amesbury Pines

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2.615(based on 33 reviews)
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1 0
Wishbone
Experience: 4.7 years 3 played 2 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Great for beginners or fine tuning accuracy 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Oct 13, 2019 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

A short well taken care of course for newer players or experienced players looking to tune technical approaches. This course can be played quickly and both water holes are great for learning how to clear water. Both tee shots on 16 and 18 need to go about 220ft to clear water but have natural barriers behind them so overthrowing isnt a worry. Basically just chuck it and the hill behind the 16 hole or the trees behind the 18th will catch the disc and keep you safe.

Cons:

The course has less replayability as it is very short and simple for the most part. Also, holes are very close together with walking paths criss crossing them. It is common to have to wait for other players or park goers to move even if they aren't on your hole

Other Thoughts:

none
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2 3
Cilleyboy
Experience: 13.9 years 27 played 3 reviews
2.50 star(s)

Great stop for the family 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Oct 8, 2016 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

Would be rated higher as entire facility but I used the rating for just the course.
- The course is easy enough to navigate with all the holes being pretty close to each other
- A couple really nice water shots
- Decent mix of woods and open shots
- Free to play

Cons:

- Holes are too close together and could be a giant pain if it was busy, which I've never actually seen.
- Tee pads are not great, but good enough
- Not that challenging of a course for a moderate level player.

Other Thoughts:

Last time I went I brought my family and was able to play golf while they enjoyed the playground and other facilities. So it's really nice that it's part of the park, however it definitely feels squeezed into the space. It's hard to complain given the price, but it's also not something I'd make a special trip for.
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4 1
jfurbs
Experience: 12 played 2 reviews
3.50 star(s)

2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:May 16, 2016 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

Major improvement over the first few times I played there. Signs were updated to let you know where the next holes were and tee pads were looking great. Baskets were replaced I believe since the very first time I played. The improvements will definitely entice me to go there more often. First time I played a few years ago was bad if you weren't familiar with the course. Now it's much better to navigate and very clean.

Cons:

Some holes are a little back and forth and over lapping, but good use of the space available. Just keep your head up on some holes. People sometimes do not care that you are there to play and stand in the middle of fairways just doing nothing. Mostly children, but it's a free course in a town park.

Other Thoughts:

Looking so much better than the first time I played it. I don't throw over water a lot, but these water holes are confidence boosters while offering some challenge. Especially 17 where too much hyzer or a bad roll will send you into the water (RHBH).
Thanks to the guys improving Amesbury!
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6 1
Average Joe
Experience: 20.8 years 146 played 8 reviews
4.00 star(s)

Not your father's Amesbury Pines 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Sep 18, 2015 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Has had substantial recent improvements:
- Paver tee boxes and new baskets installed within the past year
-Good signage at each tee including direction to next tee
-Tape indicators on baskets point to next tee
- Clean, pretty, well maintained
- Excellent variety of shots.. wooded / open / over water. A little elevation.

Cons:

- Park has a baseball field adjacent to hole 12 and if you make an awful throw, you could wind up in right field. There's a sprinkler park and a playground that are near tee boxes 13 and 18 (but you throw away from the playground), All of the park is open to the public (who have the right of way) who may wander onto some of the holes. In 40+ rounds, I've been delayed just a handful of times.

Other Thoughts:

This course makes absolutely the most of the space available. Fairways are close to one another and 9 and 10 cross which could be a problem if it was busy (which it never seems to be.) 12 holes are completely or mostly in a tall pine grove with a floor of pine needles - so no losing discs, nicely shaded and limited wind. Fairways in the open are always well maintained. The only place you can lose a disc is in one of the ponds. The new brick paver tee boxes replaced awful, dug out gravel or natural tee boxes and are a huge improvement - though a couple of them could be a foot longer. They could have put in fewer holes, but given the low level of use, 18 was the right choice. It is a fun course and one of my favorites.
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4 0
Nickdobro
Experience: 1 played 1 reviews
3.50 star(s)

2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 2, 2015 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

-Beautiful Area to play
-Brand new patio brick tees and chainstar baskets
-Brand new signs for every tee
-The course offers a good variety in both distance and the types of throws you need to make.
-Course is very well maintained.
-Fairways are defined and there are markers the middle of the fairways that show the direction to the basket.

Cons:

-Can be a little confusing to someone who has never played the course.
-Fairways criss-cross each other.
-Some poison ivy but not enough to be a major concern.

Other Thoughts:

This course is a fairly short course to play through it only takes about an hour. I think that one of the best things you can say about a course is that it is fun and this course is just that, fun. Overall, I like this course and I still go back and play there all the time.
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1 4
jnicola
Experience: 14 played 14 reviews
2.50 star(s)

sometimes less is more 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 16, 2014 Played the course:once

Pros:

Variety and challenge.

Cons:

Tee pads are often destroyed.
Many to most holes cross each other.
Confusing layout.
Ponds are disgusting. Eats many a disc.

Other Thoughts:

This course would have been vastly superior with greater attention spent on 12 holes versus stuffing 18 in. Its just too much crossover.
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1 3
JY97
Experience: 5 played 1 reviews
2.50 star(s)

Decent course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Mar 23, 2014 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

Good use of space, good hole distances, good obstacles. Variety of shots required, including two holes that play over ponds. Challenging but still suitable for beginners. Probably won't lose a disc, unless it goes into a pond.

Cons:

Tee pads aren't the best. Many of the baskets are pretty old. Sometimes there is litter in the park. Some tees are hard to find.
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6 1
Hector Chain
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 15.8 years 222 played 189 reviews
2.00 star(s)

Criss-Cross Will Make You Jump 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Nov 5, 2013 Played the course:once

Pros:

Located in the corner of Massachusetts, Amesbury Pines is a unique city park with huge, mature pines occupying a chunk of the park.

The first ten holes play in the wooded fairways. The pines are so old that there are no low-hanging branches, so no ticky-tack deflections. There are fairly defined fairways with both right and left-turning shots required.

The later holes move into the open, duck back into the woods, and then throw over the ponds twice. Both are pretty holes, with 16 requiring a 150-foot shot to clear the pond and 18 requiring a longer shot (but having bailout options).

The holes are almost all in the 250-325 foot range.

Cons:

Tee pads are among the worst I've played on: rutted out, exposed roots, and generally not safe.

Navigation is simple in some areas and confusing in others. I'm not sure I ever found the tee pad for hole 6. There are several tee signs that indicate a "winter layout" and don't seem to correspond to anything else. They show distance and a photograph of the fairway with directional arrows, but many were missing the pictures.

Baskets are a mishmash of styles and generally old.

But the worst part is the criss-crossing fairways in the woods. Not a good idea. The fairways that don't cross are almost on top of each other, so a throw that fades too much or goes a little off line is probably in another fairway. The chances of someone getting hit are really higher than necessary. You'd hate to see a course get pulled over an issue that could have been prevented by more sensible design.

Other Thoughts:

I understand wanting some great wooded holes (and I do love these kind of trees for disc golf), but they tried to cram too many holes in the woods. They either should have shortened some of the holes or put a few more holes in the open, or both.
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2 4
shanehague
Experience: 11.6 years 1 played 1 reviews
3.50 star(s)

My Everyday Course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Oct 11, 2013 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

I play this course just about everyday. All the holes have a decent distance anywhere from 250-390 feet. The tee-boxes have been recently fixed up, and are now cement. If you knew the course before these new boxes, you would know how much the new ones improved the course. 13/18 holes on this course are played through woods. Lots of trees, makes it a real challenge. The layout is decent, but unique. Great use of space with the amount given. Hole 17 was recently changed, the basket has moved much closer to the water which makes a real challenge. Hole 16, 17, and 18 all involve water and add a great challenge to the game.

Cons:

Tons of trees, a few tee boxes still aren't great, fairways overlap others.

Other Thoughts:

You will meet a ton of nice people here, everyones friendly and for begginers, there are many experienced players who are more than willing to give you a few tips.
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1 2
Maddog30
Experience: 10.7 years 5 played 4 reviews
3.50 star(s)

2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 18, 2013 Played the course:once

Pros:

Enjoyable course layout. Compact play allows quicker rounds. Clear undergrowth, no chance of loosing discs, unless u drop one in the small ponds.

Cons:

Erosion issues on some tees (safety issue, almost rolled an ankle). Wear boots. While course is 95% clear, there is some poison ivy. Hole layouts are confusing first time thru.

Other Thoughts:

I'll play this course often, met some friendly regulars who let me jump in with them.
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1 1
weencycle
Experience: 11 years 37 played 7 reviews
3.00 star(s)

I'll Be Back for the Back 9 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 3, 2013 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

I've only played the front 9, but I've played it twice. This course is challenging in the trees, and the distance from the standard tees is pretty good. They've got short alternate tees, which is great for beginners.

Cons:

1. Poison Ivy - Wear shoes and long pants. 2. Litter - There is a lot of garbage and litter here with broken glass. Not cool. Again wear shoes. 3. Signage is deteriorating - Looked like the signage was great at one point in time, but it's started to fade and disintegrate, but no bother if you know you're way around.

Other Thoughts:

Looks like they've got a dedicated crew looking after this place, who run a lost and found disc. Sign said they had 300 discs! There is a pond on the back 9, which I haven't been able to play yet, but will soon.
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2 0
reposado
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 12.8 years 278 played 273 reviews
2.00 star(s)

HIghway Stop 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 8, 2013 Played the course:once

Pros:

Decent course that is right off the highway and offers a few decent holes. It's solid for new players as it won't offer much challenge.(Well in the throws it demands, tons of challenge in figuring out which basket to throw to.)

The high point is the pond on 16. It's a very good "first" over water attempt: Not to far across and good, clean water that has a slight current. In other words, no matter where you put your floater, it's coming back.

While most of the other wholes are pretty uniform in terrain and distance. The high amount of trees make for a variety of shots with slight elevations and hooks that need to happen at different points along the path.

It's a nice, clean course that can be played quickly and faster if you already know which hole to shoot for.

Cons:

However, there just isn't enough space here to create a really good course. The same space is utilized by several holes, and while there are signs, they aren't clear enough to always indicate which basket is the target. Often, several are visible from the tee. Moreover, the baskets themselves aren't labeled too clearly. More than once I walked up attempt a putt before I realized that it was the not the cage corresponding with the tee I had thrown from.

All of this makes it extremely likely that you wind up in the path of someone else's disc on greens and fairways and even tees. It's just too compact.

Other Thoughts:

If you're breaking up a trip to or from Maine, it's a nice easy stop. It's not a destination.
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4 0
bradharris
Silver level trusted reviewer
Experience: 20.9 years 90 played 46 reviews
2.00 star(s)

2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:May 5, 2012 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Amesbury Pines offers something for everyone. For the experience player, it offers a lot of nice ace runs and birdie opportunities on nearly every hole. For the inexperience player, the clean, brush free floor provides a forgiving setting to hone your line shaping skills without fear of lost discs or added get-out-of-trouble strokes.

The course makes use of two small ponds to create some nice (although short and unintimidating) water carries.

There is a nice balance of hole shapes, no one throwing style is favored here.

Cons:

The course has one of the smallest footprints I've ever seen for an 18 hole course. Each hole feels like it's been shoe-horned into the layout. On most holes, an errant shot off the fairway puts your disc on another fairway, green, or tee.

There are a couple areas where roads or parking lots come into play creating some potential safety issues.

In addition to the roads, other park users can come into play on the later holes. Hole 13 plays along a baseball field and 17 comes in close proximity to a playground and basketball court. Although those particular attractions usually don't come into play, people tend to wander out into the grass without realizing they're on a fairway.

Many old baskets with rusted, single chains provide pretty treacherous putting targets.

Mostly natural tees provide little improvement to footing.

Other Thoughts:

On a quiet day, this is a nice place to get a quick, easy round in. However, as the park gets crowded with other players and other park users, play can get really slowed down, upping the frustration level.

Plan to lose one or two strokes simply from basket spit-outs.
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1 4
chrisq
Experience: 12.8 years 4 played 3 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Fun. 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jan 22, 2012 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Fun course with a nice balance of wooded and open holes, with a couple aggravating water holes thrown in there to keep you on your toes.

Cons:

16.
Overlapping holes can get rather confusing (have played this course 10+ times and still throw to the wrong basket from time to time).
inside of a pretty active park with little kids that can cause hold ups quite a bit.

Other Thoughts:

something about 16 shortens my drives by like 50 ft, it's driving me mad.
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2 0
mled
Experience: 4 played 1 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Home Course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Oct 2, 2011 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

The course has a great combination of long straight shots with a side of hyzer and anyes. A few holes over water definitely make you think about your shots.

Cons:

A lot of the holes are close enough that a shenked through really overlaps over another players path. Also, the tee boxes are so all over the place that it is very difficult to do a full x-step though not completely impossible. There is no practice basket either even though as you pull up to the parking lot you see two baskets (9+11). Another con is the holes that have one chain basket are so much more heavy that a putt that would go in most baskets will bounce out costing you a stroke.

Other Thoughts:

The course gives a nice change during the winter when you play across a couple of the baseball fields and those holes add much more open holes to a nearly all wooded course.
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3 0
swatso
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 15.7 years 755 played 414 reviews
2.00 star(s)

Pine Scented 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 18, 2011 Played the course:once

Pros:

With over 2/3rds of the holes playing in-to, out-from, or within a flattish piece of ground containing extremely tall, scattered pines, the carpet of pine needles makes for a very refreshing play, and discs easy to find. Two tee locations per hole, the shorter marked by white in-ground boards, usually on a direct line between longer tee location and basket.

Cons:

Tee locations were ridge-n-furrow, making x-steps nearly impossible. Multiple chances to negatively interact with others, both players and non-players. Mixture of old baskets, about half of which were single-chained.

Other Thoughts:

The course plays primarily within a copse of large pines, and secondarily in the open space containing two ponds, of a small, multi-purpose park. The holes, in and of themselves, were fine, with distances from the low 200's to the upper 300's, fair throwing lanes, minor elevation changes, and a variety of subtle turns needed from the tee. However, with the crossing fairways, parallel fairways and tee locations in close proximity to each other, the walking paths and gazebo in the midst of the pines, and the popularity of the open space/water with non-players (a birthday picnic was being celebrated in the middle of fairway-17 the day I played), there will be plenty of chances to yell "fore" and/or dodge discs.

Navigation: The blue posts marking the long tee positions were fairly easy to spot, and the photos of the hole atop them were quite helpful. Plenty of "next tee" signs in the wooded part of the course to aid in navigation. When playing to basket-9, note basket-11, to the right. After finishing number-11, cross the parking lot to find tee-12, with basket-12 alongside the walking path which leads to some baseball fields. Tee-13 is near the playground.

Upgrading thee tee areas and baskets, and playing at a time when the park isn't being used much by others, would be ideal.
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2 0
jkdisc
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 15.5 years 117 played 108 reviews
2.00 star(s)

2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Apr 17, 2011 Played the course:once

Pros:

This is a decent course that has some fun holes. Most of the holes are in a wooded (tall pines) area but there are open holes with water hazards.

Other Pros:
- 2 tees
- variety of turns
- alternate holes

Cons:

You need the map, bring it! There are confusing spots especially with the alternate holes.

Other Cons:
- crossing fairways
- play near playground
- 16 & 16A play near the road which is bad because they are water throw overs
-some of the natural tees had ruts

Other Thoughts:

The park is located right in the middle of town, it's convenient to get to where you need to go, but I prefer a quiet park away from it all.

I would have liked to see 16's tee moved to the middle of the hill and then throw over the water, that road to the right had many cars going by. Improvements can be made here.
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4 0
dugmar
Experience: 17.8 years 12 played 4 reviews
3.50 star(s)

My daily course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:May 1, 2011 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Nice mix of woods and open field shots. Two great water-crossing shots get the pucker factor up. Nice use of space and good elevation changes. Plenty of parking. Holes that stand out: Holes 4 and 15, if you overshoot your putt or approach shots on these holes you may find yourself down the very steep hill in the road, or the neighbor's yard to retrieve your disc. Some choose to lay up here instead of going for it. Holes 16 and 18 are great water-crossing shots. 16 is a bit easier to clear. On 18, do you lay-up or go for it? Holes 3 and 4 have a cool little valley you need to clear. Hole 4 tee-box, look for the bottle opener. Nice touch!

Cons:

In summer the park can get quite crowded. The proximity to the high school can often be an issue with vandalism and trash. Could be a 4 star course if tee boxes and baskets were updated.

Other Thoughts:

No facilities here, no bathrooms and not many trash cans. There are some great pubs in town though to visit after your round. Also, Amesbury Skate and Sport on Route 110 carry a small selection of Innova discs for sale.

I recently created and added laminated tee-box information cards to each hole, they are the same images that I uploaded to this site. Hopefully they last the summer. Enjoy and I hope they help.
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1 2
ratmloud
Experience: 13.8 years 18 played 1 reviews
3.00 star(s)

ratmloud 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Dec 17, 2010 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Free
Has parking.
Fun, Close, has a bit of everthing- water, open and woods.

Cons:

Tees in pretty bad shape
Little to No signage.
just needs TLC (clean up after the teenagers who like to hang out in the wooded areas)
Some baskets are in bad shape.

Other Thoughts:

tee pads/signs as well a a few new baskets and you would have a GREAT course.

As it sits now you have a good course if you a local. Within an hour drive its deff. worth a try.

Winter layout is in now couple extra open bombs baskets are now numbered.
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2 0
smalcome
Experience: 42 played 9 reviews
3.00 star(s)

great use of space 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 26, 2010 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

-full 18 holes
-challenging fairways as the first trees to avoid are typically 50 yards away and the gaps aren't that wide
-parking lot
-holes fairly well marked
-the last three holes are fun and give you a chance to burn a few bogeys off your score with some birdies
-not too many places to lose a disc (two water shots, but just throw a floater if you're scared!)

Cons:

-hole 6 and 8 are switched for some reason, but the t markers don't reflect the change
-some older home-made baskets, but i'd rather throw to them than nothing! (plus, when playing against other people it's an even playing field since you're all using the same basket)
-not PDGA worthy since there are a handful of home-made baskets

Other Thoughts:

i'm in massachusetts, so i can't let myself give a course worse than a 3 star rating- there are only a handful of courses out here and you really have to be thankful to have a place to play at all! it's not the best course, but if you're local or close, it's a place to throw 18 holes.
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