Hollins (Roanoke), VA

Walrond Park - Old Layout

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Walrond Park - Old Layout reviews

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2 0
splatbaseball51
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 15 years 182 played 58 reviews
2.00 star(s)

Could be a lot better 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Sep 25, 2014 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

This course is inside a well maintained county park with many other amenities including a field to practice some drives on when not in use.

The baskets are top quality DISCatchers and are in excellent shape.

Some of the shots on the course are well thought out and are actually pretty fun, although you'll probably only need anything more than a fairway driver on hole 9.

You'll start at the back parking lot, drive past the tennis courts and park on the left. You should be overlooking a small pond below.

Once you know the layout, the course is really fun. If you don't know it, it will not really be a fun experience. My advice is to just make up shots as you go if you don't like my below guide to each hole:

Cons:

The course doesn't have any way of notifying the golfer where to tee off from, on any hole really. Hole 2 and hole 9 have worn paths in the grass, but I wouldn't expect many people to wander around to find them. It isn't intuitive at all.

There are several instances where you'll have to throw shots that cross the walking paths, which are generally highly trafficked. Please be aware of this when golfing.

The woods line is thick and you can easily lose a disc on nearly every hole except 1, 2 and 5.

Holes 5,6,7 and 8 used to have a white pole marking their "tee" however those have since been removed for some reason. I will tell you where to tee off from these holes but honestly you might be better served making up shots for yourself. In general, they aren't far from where the basket is on the previous hole, so just pick a nice flat spot near the last basket and go from there.

Layout:

Hole 1 is past the kiosk/sign but doesn't really have a marker to indicate it. You'll throw from anywhere you see fit at the top of the hill, down to the basket at the first big tree.

Walk directly up the hill towards the box car track to find a patch of dirt marking hole 2 tee pad. Throw from there to the basket at the bend in the path at the bottom of the hill.

Hole three is similar but on level ground. You'll see the basket in the clearing. Walk once again towards the boxcar track and throw from any area you see fit.

Hole 4 is up the hill from 3's basket and plays down to the clearing on the right. I would just shoot anywhere from that path near the bench. Yes, it's the one straight down the hill, a little putter shot.

Hole 5 essentially plays from that basket to the basket between the tree and closest tennis court.

Hole 6 and hole 7 you won't be able to see from their pads. You'll think 6's basket is straight ahead across the path, and it is, but what you see is really 8's basket. 6 is further up to the left and behind the bushes.

Same deal for 7. It plays from 6's basket away from the main section of park (you'll be throwing away from the tennis courts), to a clearing behind the trees. Be careful though, this woods line is very thick. Play back up to hole 8 from the walking path.

Remember where hole 3's basket is? Walk back to there and you might see a small dirt patch to the right of the path across from 3's basket. That's 9's tee. Drive from there back up near the parking lot/kiosk/1's tee. You'll see the basket on the top of the hill.

Obviously this course needs permanent tee pads of some sort, preferably concrete. They also need signs and navigation work. The structure is there, but why they stopped short of filling in the details is beyond me.

Other Thoughts:

This course is suffering from a lot of things but namely an identity crisis. There is unofficially an "alternate" layout, but barring someone telling you where the original layout is, you'd never even know. The "alternate" is a locally known 18 hole version which reuses the baskets currently on the 9 original holes. The alternate course also utilized a 10th basket that, unless you were stumbling around the park, you'd never know it exists.(It's behind the top of the box car track parallel with hole 1)

The alternate 18 is actually really fun, but could never be an actual layout due to the necessity to throw over walking paths and the box car track. It also flirts dangerously with the parking lot on a few holes. But I digress. I tried to judge the park on the existing 9 hole course.

The fact that I have to explain where each hole is in my cons means that this course needs a lot of work. I actually rate it higher than Fishburn because, once you figure out the layout, it's actually more fun.
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1 2
der Turkey Vulture
Experience: 8 played 4 reviews
2.00 star(s)

2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Nov 28, 2011 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

The updates in 2011 that lengthened the course made it more scenic, rather than just back and forth. The additional hazards ('marsh-like') make for a more fun game.

Overall, a rolling, open course. I'd think of this as a beginner-friendly place to play.

Cons:

No ID posts makes for a bit of guess at times if not outright frustrating. Really, signage would go a long way here.
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1 1
jordanferg92
Experience: 12.6 years 43 played 29 reviews
2.50 star(s)

Great for beginners 2+ years

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Jul 6, 2012 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

This is an amazing course for beginners. There are a few places to lose some discs(pond, marsh, woods), but overall its a great starting course. I am down to a -1 best and average 2 on this course. Mostly an open course, if you like woods or difficult obstacles this is not the course for you. Holes are a decent distance away, not too far and also has a couple nice short holes. There is also a playground for the kids while you play.

Cons:

There is one water hazard. If you hit it you're disc is gone forever. However it wouldn't be easy to do, its more of a mental thing. When I play now I hardly notice it's there. Walking path can be annoying but typically there aren't people on it.

Other Thoughts:

There is a map to play this course as an 18 hole course in the links/files. If you play this course a lot it is a great refresher. It includes most of the original holes just with a further tee and a twist of all the holes for the other 9.
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1 3
senorbajo
Experience: 1 played 1 reviews
3.00 star(s)

All Par 3's? 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Apr 17, 2012 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Has anyone established what "par" is for the holes on this course? It appears in the round results that everyone is considering each hole a "3". That works fine for most of the holes, but in my mind there's no way #9 is a par 3.
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3 0
swatso
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 15.7 years 755 played 414 reviews
1.00 star(s)

Soapbox Derby Junior 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Apr 8, 2012 Played the course:once

Pros:

The map is really good - make sure you have a copy of it, because the tees may be hard to find, and you can use the map to estimate the tee locations.

Cons:

Plays a bit close to some private properties and public waking path. Some hole/baskets/fairways jammed together. Awkward flow from basket-8 to tee-9 - essentially, you walk fairway-4/past tee-5.

Other Thoughts:

Course plays down, up, and within the sloping open space of a multi-purpose park. Elevation changes pose the primary difficulty on about half the holes, which are practically wide open, and a small amount of trees/bushes, usually near the basket, provide the challenges on the open holes. With three holes under 200', and all but two holes under 300', intermediate+ players should have some birdy, and possibly ace, opportunities.

Navigation: The day I played, tees 1, 5-8 had a small pole at the natural tee location. I found worn dirt spots where tees 2&9 seemed to make sense, and I had to estimate the tee spot for 3&4. The most obvious basket from tee-6 is basket-8 - basket-6 is not visible, farther and left of basket-8, behind the trees/bushes. Basket-7 is behind the bushes which are behind tee-8.

The original course was longer, offered two tee locations per hole, but had even less obstacles. Convenient to I81, so possibly worth a visit if you happen to be passing by.
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1 1
wvu1867
Experience: 13.8 years 18 played 5 reviews
2.00 star(s)

Enjoyable 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Feb 1, 2012 Played the course:once

Pros:

Easy access off I-81 (within a mile)
Nice area.

Cons:

Poorly marked at moment.

Other Thoughts:

Just a fun course to play.If you are an experienced player it may not be a great challange to play ,yet location and access make it worth playing.
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2 1
discgolfpioneer
Experience: 46.9 years 14 played 3 reviews
1.50 star(s)

Open and hard to follow 2+ years drive by

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

Pros:

Discatcher baskets are fine, but DGA Mach III's would be better. Easy to throw due to the lack of trees and obstacles. Good amount of parking. If you have a good roller shot in your arsenal, it will come in handy on this course.

Cons:

Wide open, no obstacles to speak of. Very little shade. Relatively boring layout. Does not require a large shot selection.

Other Thoughts:

I flat out could not find Hole #1. I saw some other players and I joined their group. I probably would have not been able to follow the layout of the course otherwise. This course could use some trees. Do not play in any decent amount of heat. There is not much area to retreat from the sun. But, at least it is a disc golf course that I can play for free.
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2 0
germs
Experience: 24 years 107 played 4 reviews
1.00 star(s)

Walrond 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Nov 22, 2011 Played the course:once

Pros:

The only pro I can think of is that there are Discatcher baskets. It could be decent if you're willing to play an odyssey round. Beginners just learning how to throw would enjoy this course.

Cons:

Although there is a small map of where the holes are supposed to be near hole #1, it isn't all that accurate. This course seems nearly abandoned, so there isn't any wear in the grass to show you where the tee-pads should be. Some of them are marked with PVC poles in the ground, but at least 3 of them are missing. I couldn't locate #9 basket at all, even with a picture of the map. The park is constructing new walking paths, and a few holes play directly over the paths. I had to wait for people to walk by on numerous occasions. Almost every hole is short, and completely wide open with no obstacles.

Other Thoughts:

This course could be a lot more fun, with something to mark the tee-pads. A lot more area could be utilized, especially with only 9 holes. Maybe throw in a water hazard and some trees or other obstacles. With the new walking paths being installed, it would be nice to avoid them as much as possible.
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3 0
ntguthrie
Experience: 15.6 years 103 played 10 reviews
1.00 star(s)

Practice Course at Best 2+ years

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

Pros:

- Holes 6-9 make good use of the trees & vegetation
- Scenic, well-maintained park
- Can be played in about 30 minutes

Cons:

- Most of the tee markers (white PVC poles) are gone. Unless you memorize the map near the parking lot or have played several times it's impossible to follow the course layout.
- No tee pads, other than a couple of bare dirt spots left over from the old layout. Since the redesign in summer 2011 it seems like the whole course seems unfinished.
- Several holes (1-5) are very short and unimaginative, can easily be played with a putter
- New course layout feels cramped & doesn't use space available
- Drainage issues around several holes, can get swampy after rain
- Flow from holes 8 to 9 makes no sense, you essentially have to backtrack across the park to get to the hole 9 tee pad

Other Thoughts:

I feel that Roanoke County could do so much better with this course. There is a ton of area at this park that is not being utilized & would create some great holes. It seems like portions of the reworked course were crammed together without any real thought. At least the old layout tested your driving ability on a few of the holes.

I definitely think there is potential here, this would be a great location for an 18-hole course, or even a better designed 9-hole course. However, as it stands now Walrond is little more than a practice/putter course.

In case anyone's interested, I've uploaded an alternate 18-hole layout in the links section. Still not great but adds a lot of distance & allows for different types of shots. Feel free to message me with any comments/suggestions.
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1 3
BrewCrewJake
Experience: 12.9 years 14 played 3 reviews
4.00 star(s)

Great Course! Wish it was 18 Holes! 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Jul 1, 2011 Played the course:once

Pros:

Great hole layout! Really fun course with open area and trees. This course has a good change in elevation and was well trimmed. The disc catchers were is great condition! Also BOB type stroller friendly!

Cons:

Since the course is being redesigned the hole ID posts haven't been installed yet. Once these are installed it will help negate any confusion.

Other Thoughts:

This course is really nice! I am surprised that no one had uploaded photos or reviews prior to my trip today. Overall this is an awesome course! Can't wait to play again and wish there were 18 holes!
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