Lebanon, PA

South Hills DGC

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4.015(based on 35 reviews)
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14 0
Ryal
Gold level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 6.8 years 216 played 182 reviews
3.50 star(s)

South Hills With Kindness Kills

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 11, 2023 Played the course:once

Pros:

+ Tee signs are illustrative and informative.
+ Tee pads are all long and wide slabs of concrete.
+ The baskets are color-coordinated for whichever layout you are playing and have more than enough 'next' signage.
+ Very friendly and considerate locals!
+ Impeccably maintained and presented grounds. The upkeep and landscaping are nice. But...

Cons:

- ...Despite all of that other stuff, the disc golfing links themselves look and play disappointingly similarly to one another.
- There isn't much in the way of elevation or other noteworthy natural features, either.

Other Thoughts:

In my six years of playing disc golf, I can't remember any course having such friendly locals like the folks at South Hills. It was a simultaneously refreshing and suspicious experience. It was so busy when I arrived that I thought I had stumbled into a tournament. I approached a group of five or six at link1 to ask, but before I could say anything, they insisted that I play through since I was a solitary player. Wow.
That same thing happened four or five more times during my round, and each time they would volunteer advice and/or warnings about the fairway ahead. I felt like some sort of celebrity.

The venue itself is also very nicely manicured. There isn't much in the way of undergrowth because South Hills plays in a distinctly 'park-style' format. That means that the course has plenty of trees, but the spaces between those trees are wide and accommodating-- almost to a fault. Riding mowers can make quick work of upkeep at this place. You still have to aim your throws, of course, but you can focus a little more on power if you want. Ironically, I liked the optics of link8 because it actually had tall grasses and undergrowth in between the trees on the narrow path. Honorable mention goes to link10 for its tastefully decorated fairway. Playing here is nice for the eyes...

...But it's kind of dull in my mind. Sorry, folks, not much sticks in my mind when I try to think back on it. The course looks lovely. I even chose the long layout to make it tougher on myself and take in more of the course, but there isn't much of a disc golfing challenge beyond distance and tree avoidance. I bet this course would be a nice place for power players to test out their mightiest throws. There are some good moments, to be fair. Link4 might have been my favorite to play because of its nice woodsy downhill glide. And I remember liking link2 for its uphill climb from an open area and then putting among trees. A majority of the holes, in contrast, don't have so much texture. Link17 was my least favorite because it played straight, flat and wide open. Truthfully, most of the back9 didn't do much for me.


Whatever you take away from this review, don't walk away thinking that South Hills isn't worth your time. There are quite a few better courses out there with more adventurous terrain and serious challenges. But sometimes, however, you just want that open park-style ease to let the good times flow either solo or with pals. I warmly recommend South Hills for exactly that experience.

(And there is a fair chance that you'll be warmly greeted by complete strangers, too!)
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15 0
HyooMac
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 6.7 years 415 played 382 reviews
4.00 star(s)

The Ideal Park Course 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 5, 2021 Played the course:once

Pros:

+ One of the very best courses in the "Park" category that I've played. Not a standalone disc golf-only destination course, not a championship-level monster. If this were ball golf, you'd call it a "muni course." It's a well-maintained park setting where you're throwing around and through trees


+ Poured tees, good signage, yellow (short) and red (long) baskets on every hole. The reds add 2000', but the lines are pretty open. It's the basket placements of the reds that create variety and challenge shaping your shots


+ The property isn't hilly, but the layout takes advantage of every bit of elevation change it can find. This usually means a gentle slope up or down with the exception of #4, where relatively speaking, you might feel like you're throwing off a cliff


+ The hole designs range from good to very good. Nothing "great!", but nothing bad. A few memorable basket placements: up on the rocks on #3, and the yellow on #17 sits by the base of towering old growth tree



Other Thoughts:

~ Traffic and shared-use issues like you would expect at a park course: the layout gets lots of play, and some holes border walking paths (be especially aware on holes #10 - #12). The grounds are immaculate and the rough isn't thick, so the course handles player traffic well. But if you can play during low traffic times, these aren't problems.


~ Relatively easy to navigate, but there are a few spots you might get turned around. The tee for #8 is so far in the direction of an open field that it feels like it's off property (keep walking - you'll see it). The long par 4 has a pedestrian crossing past the crest of a hill, so it's blocked from view. It's indicated on the sign as being 350' away. Even if you don't have to worry about landing at 350', it';s worth taking extra time to walk forward before throwing: the basket is located in grove farther to the right than you might think when standing on the tee


~ Trees, but not "woods." An earlier reviewer accurately compared it to Thompson Park in NJ. Other comparisons from my experience are FDR in NY, Bellevue in DE, or Champoeg in OR.




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10 0
jamespenn
Silver level trusted reviewer
Experience: 4.1 years 33 played 34 reviews
4.00 star(s)

The best municipal course I've played

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Apr 10, 2022 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

The grass is always mowed and there's not a huge amount of weeds/brush

it's hilly, but not enough to really beat you up

There aren't any unusually long walks between holes

It's almost entirely in the shade, yet without being in the woods. It's a park, not woods.

Every hole has an interesting challenge to it and a way to get to the basket even if it seems impossible at first. Except for maybe #14 Red?

There are two baskets on every hole which keeps things interesting (although #12 Red basket was wiped out by a falling tree a few weeks ago)

Cement pads in great shape and decent size.

Very well manicured. At first I didn't like the changes to #8, but now that they're done fixing it up, it's definitely more fun.. They changed it from a 525-foot par 5 with a 3rd shot into a very narrow opening in a grove of trees ,to about a 615 foot hole, still finishing in the same grove but you definitely have more options.

There's usually someone to play with if you don't want to go it alone.

It's very easy to skip around holes and play them out of order if you're behind a larger group. For example, if #1 is occupied, it's usually not a problem to start on #3 which is also close to the parking lot. #6, #7, #9 and #11 tees are also pretty close to the parking lot. You're not very far from your car until you get to #13.

I'm very spoiled in that I live very nearby. This was the first course I went to when I started, and I didn't realize how good it was until I started traveling a bit.

I recently played in a tournament and was paired with two pros and there were several holes where they were debating which way to curve it and which is best and on several holes there wasn't a clear advantage. That's a pretty good design.

Cons:

There's not much that other people haven't already brought up, the main one being that there are some walking paths that are dangerously close and you do need to watch out for people. This would include #1, #10, #11, #12, #13, #15.

The park bench on #12 for walkers is pretty much in the direct line of flight from #12 tee. If someone is sitting there you might as well walk over to the nearby #10 tee and play #12 from that.

The walking path on #13 is blind from the tee and is 360 feet away. If you can throw it that far, and you don't walk up and check first, well, just go check. Otherwise you're throwing blind towards a busy walkway Not a good idea.

Some people don't like the last 3 holes. The first 15 holes are excellent holes, all of which require you hit some sort of gap in the trees. The gaps aren't crazy narrow, but neither are they so wide that you can throw it anywhere. But 16-18 aren't quite as interesting, it's true. Still, they're way better than the worst holes on a lot of other course. #16 is OK, it's still is sort of a tunnel shot and you can go on either side of the row of trees #17 and #18 are wide open though without a lot going on other than the yellow basket is behind a tree. Unlike the previous 16 holes, you really can throw it wherever you want and still have a shot. I have to agree, 18 is the worst hole, a sort of bland uphill shot to the parking lot.

Combining 17 and 18 into one hole would make the finish a lot more exciting through. It would add strategy to both the tee shot and approach. 17 tee to 18 red basket is 650 feet, uphill. They can add a new hole near the pond behind 5 tee. That pond is 280 feet long and 30 feet wide, it's easy to walk around and there's plenty of room to put in a hole that puts the pond a little bit into play, although one reason this course is so popular is you probably aren't going to lose a disc. They wouldn't want to have the basket too close to the pond. but maybe the hole could throw across a corner of the pond.

Other Thoughts:

This is really a fun place for disc golf. There's always a shot, you almost never search for discs even though there is quite a bit of trouble at times. Great for beginners, challenging enough for intermediate people and I would imagine even long-time experts would find the place relaxing and interesting. It's just a pleasant walk! They're very busy at times though, busy enough that they could consider putting in a second course. There's plenty of room to do so, around the exterior of the current course.

The course has one tee and 2 baskets on every hole, yellow and red. Reds are the long, tough baskets, and most of the time, if you fire away at the easier yellow basket, you can then pitch up or over or through to the red basket. Both courses offer fun and strategy.

This is the closest course to where I live and I've been watching scores and stats for a while and have determined if you have the ability to shoot even par to the yellow baskets, you'll shoot about +5 to the red baskets, based on the pars on the signs. The yellow course is 16 reasonable par 3s and 2 reasonable par 4s. The red course is much longer, but the par is only 5 higher, 61 instead of 56. But really the red course is about 10 shots harder. The red course features numerous 400+foot par 3s, some of which are uphill. The even par yellow player can shoot even par on the red, but it'll take a lot of good upshots and putts to do it. What I suggest instead is to just change your scoring app to make 5 of the red par 3s into par 4s instead. Then you have a reasonable chance to shoot even par. I'd recommend converting 2, 7, 11, 17 and 18 into short par 4s. If you have 300-foot max distance, you're not getting close to any of those par 3s in one. #2 says 325 to the red basket, but it's right up a hill, through trees. 7, 11, 17 and 18 are all uphill as well. And it's not that easy to get to any of them in 2 if you're a little out of position on your tee shot. Might as well just call them pleasant par 4s and enjoy your day. For the pros though, those are 5 really challenging and fun par 3s. 17 is 450 feet, uphill to the reds, but I saw pros reach it at the PDGA event on Saturday. I really ripped one and had a 130-foot upshot, up the hill. Nice birdie? Par? Doesn't matter, 3 was very satisfying. So 61 is a reasonable "pro par" and 66 is a good "amateur par"

In every division on Saturday, the difference between the red course scores and yellow scores was about 10 shots. The pros shot around -10 (46) on the yellows, -5 (56) on the reds. The MA3 crowd did about the same. Even par on the yellows (56) and +5 on the reds (66). By the way, that's about a 900 rating on both, when it's windy. On a calm summer day it'd be around 870.

Anyway, it's not a place that will beat you up, but even par on the reds on a windy day is a challenge for sure.
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13 0
itsRudy
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 7.7 years 73 played 62 reviews
4.00 star(s)

Lengthy Community Course 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 21, 2021 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

South Hills has good vibes right when you park (on State Drive) and tee #1 is right there. This course is well worth the visit if you can catch it at a time it's not absolutely busy.

This is a really excellent open course, with enough trees to be shaded against the sun but few low branches. There is only some tertiary forest otherwise, bush only plays a role on one tee off and at the end of several baskets in the beginning. It's on rolling hill PA terrain and elevation changes are typically moderate. Water plays almost no role here, woo-hoo! Length is noticeably greater than a typical area par 3, with 300-400' range distances especially after #7. Navigation is a breeze with the basket arrows. It was mowed well for late June, prime growth season.

The course makes full use of the park land given, which translates to it really zig-zags back and forth. Usually by a hole or two, the layout will landed you right back where you were back minutes previously. Sometimes multiple times so in the same spot. After #10, it's a run of several straight holes going south, then back north to end near the parking lot.

Consistently two baskets per hole, yellows short, reds long. Reds don't only just add distance but often make the hole a more interesting trajectory.

The star is obviously #13, it's starts off several hundred feet towards a tree on a ridge blocking the middle, crosses the asphalt walking path, then one long downard run totalling 615-770 feet.

But my favorite was #1, another downward with the (yellow) basket on top of a mound. I hit the chains on my layup but ended up overshooting by 20' on the backside.

This is a perfect in-betweener for the typical community course and the monster length courses, typical at State Parks, or if you just don't want to deal with water, heavy woods, bushes or disc loss at the moment.

Cons:

If you don't like crowded courses, avoid it on the weekends or other high times. I played here years ago but needed another playthru to write it up. Since then, I drove out here five more times, usually on weekdays, but only got my second round in now. There always seemed to be a crowd here, so many groupson the field that I opted to go to alternative courses. Lucky for me, I found new places to review rather than go home disappointed.

Have some energy, due to the design, you're walking red's distance no matter what, 7000+ hilly feet, which is greater than a typical community park.

As others said, there is no real wow factor on any single hole. The terrain simply doesn't lend itself to it. Just 18 holes of very solid and consistent feeling Disc Golf without gimmicks, although the last third / back six can start feeling too similar in spots.

Yellows will feel bent towards RHBHers while Reds become more agnostic with an even distribution of left/right baskets.

On #13, the park path bisects this hole in half at about the 350' point and is completely hidden at the tee. You're shooting completely blind. I wonder if pedestrians been dinged by discs here?

I didn't see any water fountains or bathroom amenities. On the Parks map, they are quite a ways away, much closer to the main parking lots.

Other Thoughts:

The same course designers also made the nearby Jackson Recreational Park course, a water park in comparison, or the more wooded Lenni Lenape course.
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1 5
DCriola
Experience: 22 played 16 reviews
4.00 star(s)

fun course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:May 4, 2021 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

Funs shots

Cons:

It can get really crowded on nice days

Other Thoughts:

This is a fun course with a bunch of different shots
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1 7
Skookkid
Experience: 66 played 6 reviews
5.00 star(s)

Wonderful Course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Feb 22, 2020 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Concrete tee pads with two baskets per hole Yellow being short and red being longs. Easy to navigate and follow.

Cons:

Only issue I found is the people walking on the walking path can get in the way. If its busy you might be waiting a bit before it's safe to throw.

Other Thoughts:

Amazing course to play, one my favorites to play in the area.
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5 2
crabfoot
Experience: 4.8 years 198 played 5 reviews
4.00 star(s)

No complaints 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Dec 6, 2019 Played the course:once

Pros:

Great pads. Great signage. Course was easy to follow, even without a map. Well maintained. Very nice variety of medium length ( 250 - 300 foot holes ) and longer ( 500 - 600 foot ) holes. Nice mix of open and wooded holes. Elevation changes made for a fun round. No risk of loosing plastic.

Cons:

None from my perspective.

Other Thoughts:

I love park courses and this one is the nicest one that I have played, up to this point. Whenever I am in the Lebanon area, I will play this course.
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6 0
mahbagel
Experience: 2 played 1 reviews
4.00 star(s)

South Hills 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 30, 2019 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Great tees, Red and Yellow course tee options
Course maintenance, beautiful tree coverage
Signage to next tee
Facility scorecards
Good mix of shots

Cons:

Course could be seen as easy or repetitive by highly skilled players

Other Thoughts:

I love this course. The park is beautifully maintained, and it's a great spot to work on throws or learn some new techniques. The tree coverage is wonderful on a hot day! I love bringing friends to play here as it's a fun course that makes great use of the park landscape while allowing newer players to have a great time.

The park's walking path comes close to some of the holes, so it's important to be aware of where the others using the park are walking. Those who are quite talented at disc golf would probably get bored here, as it doesn't have many very hard or very technical shots. Sometimes the gnats are annoying.

Overall, I come here as often as a can, and bring others here as well. Keep up the great work South Hills maintenance crew, you're efforts are noticed and appreciated.
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4 2
PRC90
Experience: 7.7 years 20 played 18 reviews
4.50 star(s)

A hidden gem 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Jul 23, 2017 Played the course:once

Pros:

2 layouts that do actually change the difficulty(gold and red)
Excellently maintained
Hole variety (checks almost every box except for water crossings)
Compact and Logical layout (each holes pin plays close to the next holes tee)
Excellent signage

Cons:

A few holes are slightly generous with par ratings, but still reasonable.
Parking is okay, lot seems a little small but wasn't bad when I was there.

Other Thoughts:

I played this course on a whim, as it was inbetween me and our day trip destination and did minimal research on the course apart from location and boy was I shocked when set eyes on the course. It is nothing short of Picturesque, who ever maintains this place does an amazing job. The course layout is very fun, being a novice I played gold tee's and found the course to be challenging enough to push my limits without completely punishing me. The shot variety is nice and despite being mostly wooded the course does a very good job of mixing your shots up between touch midrange throws and long bombers. The locals were very nice and the course layout is very easy to follow, I never once felt like I was wandering around looking for the next hole.
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6 0
iHitTree
Bronze level trusted reviewer
Experience: 21.8 years 96 played 38 reviews
4.00 star(s)

Nice park-style course 2+ years drive by

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

Pros:

I really like manicured park courses. Most of what we have in the mid-Atlantic are wooded courses and some open courses. This is a nice tweener. There is a lot of open space, but it's punctuated with lots of tall, mature trees. This creates some nice golf lines on many holes that require some skill, as opposed to getting to throw with the same freedom as a big open shot would allow. There aren't too many places to lose plastic here. This style course is further accented by wind as an obstacle. The few times I played were all quite windy. The majority of the holes make great use of elevation. This is also a course where you will throw a bunch of your discs, as all varieties of distances are covered from the tee and on approach shots. I like courses that make use of all the key discs in my bag.

Cons:

There isn't too much I don't like here. I don't mind being critical, and this is close to 2 hours away from me, so I don't have any particular bias here. Very well done.

Other Thoughts:

This course reminds me of Thompson Park in central/north Jersey. For that open-ish, manicured park style course, these are the only 2 options that I'm currently aware of within a few hours of Philly.
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5 0
whitefedora
Silver level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 15.5 years 905 played 36 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Best of the park courses 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 28, 2016 Played the course:once

Pros:

Two different colored baskets (shorts are yellow, reds are long) on every hole.
Level large enough concrete tee pads.
Great signage and easy straight forward navigation.
Elevation used as best as possible.
Perfectly manicured course.
Plenty of different lines.
Large multiuse park that stays away from the other main aspects of the park. NOTE: I saw in a previous review that there were no bathrooms, but they are attached to the large white building you can see from the disc golf parking lot and are on the side of 16's fairway.

Cons:

A couple of the long holes (hole 3 comes to mind) are not really in reachable positions, but also are not long enough to be real par 4's
Sometimes the walking path gets a little close to the course, but they are very visible so just need to be respectful of other park goers.
It's still just a multiuse park.

Other Thoughts:

This is a really fun spin here in a very peaceful park. Fun shots and you'll never lose a disc (or at least shouldn't). You could get some really great practice here as well and try out all your different lines.
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7 0
sidewinder22
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 17.7 years 297 played 197 reviews
3.50 star(s)

South Hills Steak and Potato 2+ years

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:May 25, 2015 Played the course:once

Pros:

Nice concrete tees, signs and dual Yellow and Red DisCatcher baskets on all 18 holes. Decent use of the available elevation and mix of shaping shots straight or left or right. Easy to navigate. The maintenance is top notch as there's essentially no underbrush to lose a disc in and the grass is mowed like a golf course. You can safari a lot of holes here. Benches at every hole.

Cons:

The long baskets are mostly NAG(not a golf shot) easy 60-120' approach shot with a great tee shot. Hard to reach the putting circle from the tee and easy to recover for the three if you mess up the tee shot, so there's not much punishment for messing up and not much advantage to great shots. It felt a little repetitive due to that and the spacing of the trees are fairly consistent. The short baskets provide a little better variety. There's a couple spots with poison ivy. There's no seclusion on the course from other holes or other park users. Park path goes right through the middle of the course and could create some conflicts. I don't recall any bathrooms or portapotty in the park.

Other Thoughts:

Overall I had a good time playing South Hills. I agree there's no real wow factor on the holes other than the nice tees and signs, but there's nothing really wrong with that. It's a fun play, but not technically all that challenging. You can air out some bombs on the long baskets and work on your shorter game with the short baskets. The local players were nice, I was teeing off the wrong direction on hole 10(I think) and the guys on the tee for that basket were very patient and knew I hadn't played the course before and gave a couple tips about playing the course. If you are looking for the most challenging courses in the area I'd recommend Roland Park and Quaker's Challenge. If you are in the area and looking for a more relaxing time playing I'd recommend here.
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4 0
Afropirg
Experience: 9.7 years 34 played 19 reviews
4.00 star(s)

South HIlls Kiltlifter 2+ years drive by

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

Pros:

Went to the Kiltlifter (TD'ed by Mike Solt) at South Hills. Cause of schedule I couldn't get out to the course to see it beforehand. The pictures on here don't give it justice.

This is a beautiful course. After playing a warm up round I can see why one of my friends speaks so highly of it.

Two baskets for every hole. You have some technical shots you needs to weave through tree's with some tight lines and you have open holes that let you just bomb it out. Course has some nice elevation changes and couple of really nice peninsula greens.

Nice tee signs at every hole, concrete pads and a direction arrow to the next tee box at the bottom of every basket made navigation a breeze.

Course is in a park, but the park is huge. Only a couple times did we come across walkers or bikers but they stayed on the path. Park looks to also have a golf driving range, multiple baseball fields, soccer/football field, tennis courts, exercise area and a nice playground. But these are all far enough away for the most part so they shouldn't really be an issue for the DG course.

No dogs permitted in the park, not an issue for me but just be aware if you like to play a casual round with your pup.


Cons:

Most tee boxes have benches but not all of them is the only thing I can think of.

Other Thoughts:

If one of my friends suggested to play South HIlls on a weekend for our regular weekend round I would be all for it. Really fun course to play at. The few locals I ran into at the Kiltlifter where really friendly.

Well worth the drive from the Lehigh Valley to play.
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3 1
blazerico
Experience: 18.8 years 321 played 37 reviews
3.00 star(s)

worth the trip 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 30, 2014 Played the course:once

Pros:

This course has a great feel to it. It is kinda secluded and well manicured. I am very jealous of the concrete tees, dual baskets and great signage on every hole; since we don't have the same at established courses in Bucks county. They did many things right at this course... sponsorship is a great way to get things done(meaning they can afford dual baskets and great signage, etc).

Cons:

There is no real wow factor here and no signature hole to make me say this place is awesome. Also missing are hazards. There is no real danger factor from water or ob to add a level of excitement.

Other Thoughts:

I drove 1.5 hours to play here and it was definitely worth the trip. I'm sure local bias is inflating the rating here, but it's okay because most people won't be disappointed with this place.
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7 0
BigAl724
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 11.6 years 178 played 144 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Very Solid Park-Style Course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Jul 4, 2014 Played the course:once

Pros:

South Hills is a very nicely maintained park-style course filled with rolling hills and trees. The park is huge and offers many activities including volleyball, a driving range, playgrounds, pavilions, a variety of sports fields, and a walking path that weaves throughout the park. Amidst all of these activities, the course remains a top priority as the grass was freshly mowed throughout and the course was beautifully landscaped.

Tee signs are fantastic and do a great job showing you both pin positions, lengths, pars, and lines offered. The tees were in great shape and allowed for a comfortable run-up, while the baskets were also in great shape and color-coded in yellow or red.

The design was very well done given the lack of extreme elevation changes or any water. This course is more than meets the eye and I enjoyed the variety of shots that it required given the rather straight-forward land that it plays on. There is a nice distribution of FH and BH lines, and combining with the constant rolling hills adds to a nice variety of looks, especially on the front 9. Elevation is a constant variable, as minor as it may be. Whether it's making a putt on top of a hill, playing through a fairway littered with rolling hills, or throwing on one of the constantly sloping down or uphill holes, the elevation added to the fun factor for me.

One of the main reasons I enjoyed this course is that it often offered numerous lines from the tee. The many line options made it interesting and add to the course's replay factor. I am a player that likes to have different options to be creative from the tee, rather than simply throwing through a very specific alley. This course is great in that regard.

Contrary to other reviews, I actually thought that the different pin positions added to the course's replay ability. It's awesome that they permanently keep both baskets in, and the reds did a fine job of changing the scoring for a player at my mid 800's level. There were a few times where one basket offered a FH line and the other offered a BH line, drastically changing the hole's look. The pin positions for holes 4, 10, 12, 14, and 15 do the best job of offering different looks and lengths.

This is one of the best maintained courses that I have played on. Because of the limited rough, I feel that this is a great course to bring a new player to.

The course is very easy to navigate and there are numerous signs pointing you to the next tee and to the respective pin position.

Cons:

-While the course offers a solid variety of shots from hole to hole, its biggest drawback is that it has a similar feel from start to finish. There aren't too many distinctly memorable holes here and many left me with describing them simply as "solid". You can never shake off the feeling of playing in a park here, if that is something that bothers you. Because of this, I agree with other reviewers that the course does start to get repetitive on the back 9. I do appreciate the effort to offer a variety in hole lengths, but the longer holes don't add much to the shorter ones.
-There is a path that plays close to many holes, especially on the back 9. You even throw over it on hole 13. This park seems to get a lot of traffic, so be attentive to that.
-There is some backtracking to the next tee from the red baskets and it seems that navigation is more geared around the yellow baskets.
-The course is incredibly well maintained for the most part, but the rough is thick near holes 3-6.
-The last three holes are a definite drop-off from the rest of the course and seem to have been designed solely in order to take you back to the parking lot.

Other Thoughts:

This is definitely one of my favorite park-style courses that I have played. As a disclaimer, I should mention that I really enjoy this kind of course when I want to play a casual round, playing through constantly rolling hills and having multiple lines on many holes, limited chances of losing discs, and the ever-present two pin positions. I feel that I would enjoy playing here often because it fits my taste, but I could see this course getting old for people that have played a wealth of other courses and do not find park-style all that interesting.

When this course came out, I was very curious to see if it deserved its high rating among PA courses. While it initially seemed to be overrated, I think its rating is now starting to better fit the bill. The extreme east and west parts of the state still remain the best areas to play, but South Hills offers a fun, light-hearted experience for the center of the state.
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5 0
DiscLoser
Experience: 10.7 years 25 played 7 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Country Club Course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 28, 2014 Played the course:once

Pros:

-Beautifully maintained fairways with very little rough or disc-eating material.
-Enough trees to challenge new and recreational players, but enough space to allow for scoring and par shots.
-This is a great place to practice or introduce others to the sport.
-The path that runs through the course has little or no effect on playing - at least on the Saturday I was there. I waited on one tee for pedestrians to pass, and that's only because I'm poor enough of a player to mis-throw.
-Yellow and Red Pins are easily identifiable, and in most cases make a true difference in scoring.

Cons:

-I have no complaints - I loved this course!
-For Pros or Expert amateurs, I can see some of the complaints in the previous reviews being accurate - the lines are open enough to allow great players to score every hole and not challenge them enough. However, there is enough space to set up some killer holes for tournament purposes.
-Bathrooms are on the far side of the course (at the N. Lincoln entrance). Bring your own water.
-There is no 'signature' hole or water or epic-ness.

Other Thoughts:

This is course is probably over-rated due to it's newness and playable nature. For PA residents, this is NOT Nocki or Tyler - it's far more open and relaxed. But it's beautiful and a pleasure to play. If you're a Pro or can shape accurate long shots, then you probably won't like this course.
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5 0
swatso
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 15.7 years 755 played 414 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Country Club 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 14, 2014 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

The course is set in part of a very fine looking, public, multi-purpose park. The grass is green and short, many of the baskets are surrounded by mulch, and the scattered hardwoods are, for the most part, quite tall, with no low hanging branches. Add some elevation change via a couple of sloping areas, and insert a bit of slightly wilder area (smaller trees supported by bushes/groundcover), and you have all the ingredients for a fine, landscaped/groomed look-n-feel course.

Fantastic tee areas: 4'x10' level concrete tees, teesigns, and several with benches. Two baskets per hole, red or yellow bands across the top, so two course layouts.

Cons:

A popular paved walkway runs the length of the course, splitting it in half, potentially brining non-players into play (only one hole has you throwing across the path, but it parallels a number of fairways).

Other Thoughts:

The bulk of the course plays in the mostly-open grassy areas on either side of the walking path, with scattered tall hardwoods to miss. These hardwoods create several different lines to the basket, but for the most part, long-and=straight-and-true off the tee will serve you well, and even if you miss your line on these holes, you'll usually have an easy recovery.

Holes 4-10 play into, out-of, within, and alongside the denser area, so while the majority of these holes are a bit shorter, more shot-shaping is needed, and errors cause more difficult recoveries.

For the most part, approaches to the baskets are not overly harsh, the most difficult ones being, not surprisingly, to the longer position of the earlier holes (near thicker brush/smaller trees).

While very long number-13 (up-n-over a rise, then steadily downslope to baskets guarded by several trees along the way) and number-14 (second-narrowest throwing lane on course, upslope, straight to short, left-at-end-too-long) offer interesting challenges, the majority of the back nine consists of throw-as-far-as-you-can,-as-long-as-you-miss-the-most-obvious-tree-you-ll-be-OK basket-hardly-guarded holes.

Favourite hole: #3 long. Straight initially, needing to miss a few more trees along the way than most of the holes, you then have a difficult left-turning approach to the basket at the end of a small loop. The surrounding trees force the approach shot to be neither too high nor too wide.

This is a very attractive and solid course, which should appeal to a fairly broad audience, but not necessarily all players (i.e. those who prefer tighter courses, and punishment for missing the optimum lines.)

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7 0
New013
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 13.7 years 179 played 120 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Inflated Hills 2+ years drive by

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

Pros:

Layout - Overall the course is what I call park style golf. Multiple possible paths due to sparse trees in mostly grass and no real ground vegetation except in a few areas. Every hole has one pad and two permanent pin positions. The long pins were never much longer than the shorts but usually tucked in a tight gap or put at more of an angle that made them hard to reach off the tee.

Most of the holes are based on hitting gaps. One thing I did like about the course is that they did try to place the pins in spots that weren't just straight throws. They'd give you a more open gap that maybe made you use more of an angle and go farther around, or you could try some more direct paths on holes but those usually had much smaller gaps.

There's a bit of elevation change at the beginning of the course based on a hill that flows away from the parking lot. After that the course is mostly flat.

The course does offer some fun shots and let you really try different shots and throw some big throws. Overall the course isn't very technical except in a few shorter shots around some of the thicker vegetation pockets.

Equipment - Concrete tees and pretty new baskets that are color coded based on long or short pin. The teesigns were informative and gave you a pretty good idea of where you were going.

Atmosphere - The course flows through a part of the park that doesn't seem to be used for anything but the course; however as I said it's not all that secluded from anything. It's a decently nice little area but nothing that wows or makes it interesting.

Cons:

Layout - The biggest problem with the course is that many times one or the other pin positions weren't all that great. A lot of the longs were tweener holes that it was real easy to get to pretty close to the pin for an easy par but it took an amazing throw to get a bird, I don't imagine there would be a ton of scoring separation here. Especially since even bad drives could be easily saved due to the open nature of the entire park.

Due to most of the park looking exactly alike the holes really started to get repetitive once you hit the back 9. The front 9 was much more enjoyable actually because it did give you more shule to worry about and some more technical shots. The back 9 was mostly just drive and pitch up or if you had a great drive you'd have a putt.

Another problem I had with the course is despite the fact it is so open there's a ton of blind shots and other possible baskets you can see from the pad. The teesigns do a good job of showing the route but still it got a little old.

Atmosphere - The course plays near and over a path in the park multiple times, I don't know what the traffic is like and with the open nature I don't think it's that big of a safety concern. However personally I prefer to be kept more away from stuff like that on a course.

Other Thoughts:

Other Thoughts: We had high hopes going in to this course due to it's rating and I think that is most of the reason I had such a negative reaction to it, once we hit the back 9 we were pretty much ready to leave and it's not because it's a bad course but just because it's kind of the same thing over and over and we expected more. So basically I think the course is highly overrated at present though that's not to say you shouldn't stop here if in the area. If you like more open lanes and options it's probably a good course to play and if I were a local I'd play here every now and then.
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4 0
21111
Experience: 26.8 years 111 played 13 reviews
4.00 star(s)

Worth the drive 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Jan 12, 2014 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

Manicured park setting.
Tee signs on every hole including concrete tee boxes as well as a long and short pin locations on every hole.
Fun layout, easy walk, next tee arrows pointing you to the next tee make navigating the course simple.
Big majestic trees throughout the property also enhance the park's beauty.
You can use a myriad of shots to try and tame the design. There are a good mix of lefty vs righty holes ensureing that you will not get bored. Nice use of the slight elevation changes are also prevalent throughout causing fast greens scenarios and wayward upshots to roll away causing tricky comebackers.

Cons:

The back nine routing gets a little bunched up on the back side. Many baskets can be seen at any one point. I think if the disc golf course could spread out a little bit it would be even better. There is also a walking path that runs through the course so extra attention to others using the park should be taken into consideration while playing. A couple of the (red) longer basket locations seemed to be added just to use the available space or make the hole longer not better the design.

Other Thoughts:

I enjoyed playing both layouts however i think mixing up the layout playing some long and some short is the best of both worlds. I really enjoyed the course and look forward to getting back to play there soon. Sweet new course in central Pa.
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5 0
Bleeder973
Experience: 10.8 years 30 played 6 reviews
4.00 star(s)

Picturesque DG 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jan 9, 2014 Played the course:once

Pros:

Large concrete tee pads greeted me well. I'm not a fair weather player by any means but teeing off on a nice level tee pad is pretty nice. I'm sure some of my competitors find the rough and tumble dirt tees are what makes the gritty side better but I like a tee box I can flex in without mud and tree roots. Signage was nice and clear. I really like the sponsored signs and baskets. It's very cool that the community gets behind an activity. Arrow signs on every basket pointing me in the right direction and that's awesome because the last thing I want to is navigate like Magellan instead of throwing another hole. Dual baskets!!! Ummm, HECK YEAH!!! The park as well as the course is beautiful. As a previous reviewer stated, it's impeccable. Layout is perfect. Start and stop right where it needs to be. I appreciated the fact that there were obstacles but nothing that seemed overly impassable. For instance, Basket 17 plants the shot either left or right off the tee. There is elevation changes but not much.

Cons:

I didn't notice anything that separated this course from others, aside from not having flaws. That's actually a good thing but, nothing signature about the course. Only one small spot where water is in play. As grateful as my wallet and my scorecard are, some water hazards always add a nice mental aspect I sort of missed.

Other Thoughts:

An earlier reviewer stated playing either the gold or red baskets was not to their liking? I find that playing some red and some gold during a single round is a nice way to mix it up. This course is truly top notch. I thought it was awesome and extremely fun. If someone comes here and doesn't have a fun time, they should definitely check their ego!
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