Holland, MI

Winstrom Preserve - Old Layout

2.385(based on 33 reviews)
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4 0
The Valkyrie Kid
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 45.9 years 1563 played 1507 reviews
2.50 star(s)

Enjoyable Rec Course Has Some Fun Opportunities For Aces! 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 30, 2017 Played the course:once

Pros:

Winston Preserve is a large, pretty park. The disc golf course mostly plays through an area made up of scrub trees, bushes and sandy loam soil. The course starts just left of the parking lot. There are garbage cans, picnic tables and a big sign talking about remodeling the course to help with the erosion issues. And stating that the course would be closed for this remodeling.

The course has concrete tees, solid wooden signs and Discatchers with the yellow bands and #s. The first five holes all play in 250' range. Some baskets are hidden, some are visible here. # 7 is only 167' but gets very tight up near the basket. Then # 9 is a short (113') Ace Run as is # 12 being open and just 158'.

I think # 14 is the course's signature hole if only for the very cool basket placement. It's a 134' toss but the basket is set on this small peninsula between two wet areas. This would be a place that I would be doing some erosion work by building a small retaining wall behind the basket. After playing # 14, you come to kind of a crossroads with multiple paths. There is a little gazebo structure there and some disc golfing person has discretely written a couple of next tee numbers in Sharpie. Not bold enough to look like grafitti, just right if you happen to notice them. Thank you Mr. Sharpie!

I also thought # 18 was kind of special. It plays 297' needing a little anhyser action to play through a very pretty, natural looking fairway.

Cons:

A few chains are rusting and a couple need to be attached better.

Be careful on # 15. Don't play to the longer basket you see, that's # 16.

Pitch and putt challenge or maybe recreational level on some holes.

No airing it out here.

Other Thoughts:

I felt Winstrom Preserve was a fun little course. It's just a comfortable little round. You're not climbing up and down steep gorges nor are you trudging across vast acreages. You shouldn't be spending too much time looking for the next tee or baskets and you probably won't be spending a lot of time looking for your disc. Enjoy it. I did.
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4 1
davetherocketguy
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 19.7 years 114 played 105 reviews
1.50 star(s)

A Hucksters Dream...but...dude where's the next tee? 2+ years

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Aug 2, 2014 Played the course:once

Pros:

- Innova Disc Catcher baskets with that conspicuous yellow ring on top.
- Concrete tee pads.
- Nice multiuse park setting where the course is out on it's own away from other activities.
- Semi-wooded course
- Several intesting holes - in particular #14 where long shots are punished with the stream behind the basket. #16, #18 were also fun.
- There was a nice mix of right hand and left hand doglegs throughout.
- Clean which is surprising considering the utter lack of trash cans. There were some occational beer cans but nothing that detracted from the course in general IMHO.
- No real safety issues that I could see. There is a walking path that meanders through the course but did not seem too close.

Cons:

*sigh*

Where to start?

- Navigation is dissapointing to say the least. I would strongly recommend carrying a copy of the map off of this site. Without that, it can take a long time to find the next tee. Tee signs are knocked over and in some cases GONE.
- Most baskets are in acceptable shape but several are in serious need of serious TLC - soon. Some chains are not connected correctly, #4 has a bottom ring that needs to be welded back on - just to name a few.
- Short. Holy crap is this course short. Lot's and lots of ace runs in the middle of the course. It appears as if many trees has been removed so the challenge from many of the holes is also gone.
- Rough. There really isn't any. This could be a con or a pro depending in your skill level. Errant throws are not punished so long as you can throw over brush that is about 4 to 6 feet tall for the most part.
- The tee pads are very small. And that's ok because run ups really aren't needed but some of them are starting to break and shift so more TLC is needed. #17's tee pad is just plain wierd. It points one way and the basket is way off to the left.
- Layout - for much of the course the flow was fine but having to walk back up #14's fairway to get to the #15 tee felt just...odd.

Other Thoughts:

This course is in dire need of a club to take care of it. With the rolling hills and modest foliage a decent 12 hole course could easily be configured. New tee signs and "next tee" signs are also desperately needed. 18 holes is a possibility but it's tough to say because I have no idea where the park boundaries are.

This course is actually a fantastic place to bring beginners to teach them the game. It's modestly interesting but not punishing. And of course with the multitude of ace runs it's the perfect for the hucker with a warp speed driver in one hand and a beer in the other. Experienced players are going to be a little bored and not challenged at all. In fact, if you can drive more than 350' don't bother with the drivers at all. Just bring a few mids and a putter and you'll be all set.

This course is a dissapointment for me. It's obvious that prior to the large removal of trees it was a challenging well designed course. Now, I am having a very hard time justifying anything higher than a 1.5. With some changes, it could easily be much better.
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2 2
Barefooter
Experience: 11.8 years 178 played 16 reviews
1.00 star(s)

Mostly trashed. 2+ years

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

Pros:

Near the beach

Cons:

Poorly done tree removal throughout most of this coarse has littered it with thousands of sticks every where.
Most discers are out of towners, with little respect for the coarse.
Poor flow.
Rampant vandalism.

Other Thoughts:

This coarse needs a dedicated club to love it.
It was coarse 10 on our summer vacation and very near our camping spot.
If I am ever in the area again, I will play somewhere else.
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2 0
nickster51
Experience: 10.5 years 28 played 1 reviews
2.00 star(s)

Perfect for casual and beginners 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Dec 15, 2013 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

- Easy, approachable course.
- Fun, short, and open course for a beginner
- good course for working on approach shots and putting

Cons:

- A few holes are crammed together making it easy to throw onto other fairways and even onto other tees.
- Not a lot of technical/challenging throws
- a couple confusing hole transitions (5 to 6, 10 to 11, 14 to 15).
(rough Course map just added)
- A lot of dead wood and stumps.

Other Thoughts:

I never played this course before it was "gutted." I've heard it used to be quite a bit more difficult. I think it's a fun local course for the more laid back and/or newer disc golfers. I live just down the road, and I'll often stop and play a few games quickly.
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1 4
Robocision
Experience: 17.3 years 7 played 7 reviews
4.00 star(s)

Very fun first time here. 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 20, 2013 Played the course:once

Pros:

-Concrete tee pads

-18 short, very fun holes.

-Great use of elevation.

Cons:

Next tee is not well marked at all. This was my only complaint

Other Thoughts:

I was in Holland for vacation. Tossed a few discs in the trunk just in case there were a couple courses around the beach. I found this one.

I did not see the course before they cut the trees. Perhaps this is why the current state didn't bother me in the least. The wood chips and whatnot prevented me from slipping in the mud.

I thought the course was great all the way around.
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2 1
DudeGoDiscGolfing
Experience: 1 played 1 reviews
2.50 star(s)

Good turned into decent 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 26, 2013 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

The course is in a fantastic location on the corner of Ottawa beach road and 152nd. The breeze is fantastic because it is near the lake. The course has many friendly golfers. It has a little bit more of a tighter course atmosphere witch helps because the holes are small, so it is nice to have a couple of trees to make it more difficult. Concrete tees are a huge pro of the park, and I personally love the innova disc catcher baskets.

Cons:

A couple of very unfriendly disc golfers go there. There are a lot of sticks and twigs around but they are working to clean it up and since then it has gotten much better. It is nice that they have the tee signs but they are heavily defaced.

Other Thoughts:

There is pretty decent flow a couple of holes are kind of tricky like the walk from 9 to 10. (After the hole walk to the straight right down the path and the tee pad will be on the right.) Another tricky on is the walk from 14 15. (walk back up the fair way that you just came then walk down the paved path and it will be on the right.) I personally like the park it is a fantastic park for bigginers, but it could use a little clean up, and then it would be a fantastic short holed park.
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0 0
ninjasousaphone
Experience: 4 played 2 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Good, but messy. 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 12, 2012 Played the course:once

Pros:

*Nice Course For Beginners and Amateurs.
*Holes are designed well.
*Flow isn't bad.
*Offers nice variety.
*The 14th and 18th hole are the best.

Cons:

*It looks like the forrest was clear cut and they left all the scrap there. I went with my dad who has knee problems, and I was afraid all day that he would trip over the mess.
*The tee signs are defaced heavily.

Other Thoughts:

I would definitely play here again, but it would be nice to see the park cleaned up so the course is more easily navigable. New signs and maps would also be nice.
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0 0
Jbot49506
Experience: 12 years 11 played 10 reviews
1.50 star(s)

Quick play 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 15, 2012 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

The course is located in the woods and its only 10-15mins away from my cottage.

Cons:

Until the course is cleaned up, it is difficult to walk through with out tripping on a small stump or any of the other 5 million pieces of wood. The large trees were removed from the course in the spring, they are slowly cleaning things up. It currently looks like a tornado went through or possibly a scene from a WWII movie. I would recommend waiting to play here until things are cleaned up. It will look nice once all the loose sticks and knocked over trees are taken care of. They do needs some new maps to help navigate the course, you need to walk around and look a bit in order to find your way.

Other Thoughts:

The majority of the holes are quite short. Hole 18 is probably my favorite hole on the course.
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1 2
JSquizz
Experience: 12.6 years 16 played 14 reviews
0.50 star(s)

Once a fun course, now gone 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Mar 25, 2012 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

None anymore! It looked like tornado wreckage in March.

Cons:

There is no longer a reason to play here.

Other Thoughts:

This course was once a solid four rating with me but this spring they ripped out a huge percentage of the trees, which was the appeal. Not worth playing whatsoever now.
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1 5
jcarter
Experience: 17 played 17 reviews
3.00 star(s)

2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:May 13, 2012 Played the course:once

Pros:

wow the pictures on the site is nothing like in real life, it was like a bomb went off in the forest. Nice tee pads a little short but its standard, alot of birdies and aceables holes on this course, throught the forest built in trash cans, decent baskets

Cons:

well I guess If we didnt have a local play with us we wouldnt of found alot of the holes, only one bathroom by the soccer field, just pee in the forest if u are a guy.

Other Thoughts:

I enjoyed this course, my dad didnt but its a nice course for what little land they have.
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0 7
markdh92
Experience: 4 played 3 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Winstrom DG Review 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 7, 2011 Played the course:once

Pros:

It's a good beginner course as far as learning how to play disc golf - short holes, tight fairways, etc. Great course to hone your skills at.

Cons:

Heavily wooded, short course.

Other Thoughts:

I enjoy this course because it fits my game. I throw hammer-style more often than not, so the tightness of the course doesn't bother me very much.
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7 1
Jukeshoe
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 14.6 years 315 played 266 reviews
2.00 star(s)

Tight As A [Censored] 2+ years

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Mar 10, 2012 Played the course:once

Pros:

- This tightly-wooded course plays through tall, mature pines. The fairways range from partially wooded to ridiculously tight. Dense clusters of trees make up the "fairways" on more than a few holes, but undergrowth is largely absent. The final few holes work out of the woods into more open ground with a few deciduous trees. A small water hazard on the back nine spices things up a bit. Winstrom is comprised mostly of shorter-length holes, but these present enough of a challenge to not be mindless.
- The course winds back and forth over and around a modest scrap of elevation, but the spills and thrills come from navigating through the wall of pine.
- Concrete tees in average shape.
- Perfect for putter or one-disc rounds. Trust me, you'll feel utterly ridiculous bringing a bag along.

Cons:

- Signage, where it exists, is basic. Several holes have defaced or missing tee signs. The flow is a bit awkward with one or two improbably long walks that might be a bit tricky your first time through.
- While squeezing the most out of the available land, Winstrom feels pretty cramped in places, with several safety hazards in the design quickly becoming apparent. Baskets near each other with a blind shot leading to one of baskets. Baskets near tees. Fairways near walking paths. Having to backtrack one hole's fairway to get to the next hole (still a bit of a distance off). Exacerbating this list of safety hazards is a "rules" sign on the first hole that explicitly forbids any "formal" or "league" play; and most on the course (at least the multitude that were out when I played) exhibited a very relaxed etiquette. "Casual" only. And the casual come in droves.
- The design tries its best, but ultimately Winstrom falls a bit flat. Repetitive and one-dimensional, not to mention more than a bit unsafe.

Other Thoughts:

- Winstrom feels just a bit like a relic from the days of Steady Ed: throwing lids through the trees and whatnot. In that sense, the course succeeds. But in the end, the cramped conditions and frenetic traffic spoils a lot of the charm. As long as you can hit it during an slow time when the traffic isn't overwhelming, Winstrom is good in a pinch. But don't go out of your way or expect it to blow your mind.
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6 0
mashnut
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 22.1 years 831 played 767 reviews
1.50 star(s)

Not safe! 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Mar 10, 2012 Played the course:once

Pros:

The course plays through a nice little pine forest. That makes for tight lines and a unique setting. There isn't much rough, but the trees are dense enough that if you find your way off the fairways it can be challenging to save par. The tees are concrete, and though they're small they have plenty of room for the short holes here. The short, tight shots offer some fun short game challenges, this would be a good spot for putter or superclass rounds.

Cons:

The safety issues here are pretty extreme. It's a really popular course, especially with casual players. With holes very near each other, including a couple spots where baskets are within 50' of one another, the amount of less accurate throwers compounds the potential issues. A few blind holes and players who don't know to check if the hole is clear or yell fore adds a little extra danger. There are a few navigation issues, with long unmarked walks and limited signage. Many of the tees are numbered, but a few aren't. The course gets a bit monotonous, with mostly hyzer and straight short shots, there's plenty of opportunity for more shot shaping variety.

Other Thoughts:

Beginners can have a lot of fun here, as evidenced by the popularity with casual locals. The holes are short but still offer some challenges, and the atmosphere is pretty relaxed. More experienced players won't find many different challenges, and the business and safety issues on a nice day make this course a lot less fun to play. If I lived nearby, I'd probably only play at off-peak times, though it would be a fun place to work on your short game.
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2 0
lazydisc
Experience: 12 played 5 reviews
1.00 star(s)

Mixed feelings. 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Oct 2, 2011 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

-Concrete teepads
- Easily defined fairways
-This time in late fall none to not alot of underbrush makes it feel very open even with trees.
-Super tight will make you attempt to be more precise

Cons:

-Difficult to follow layout
- Short holes
- Very many trees.
-Sometimes to tight of turns.
- Some fairways run very close together.
Coupled with trees makes disc dodging something to watch for.
-Bugs. Didnt get any this time, however we went in the fall. Earlier this year it was cloudy.
- General atmosphere? "no swearing, no drinking, no smoking, no league play allowed. rules strictly enforced." followed by threats of closure on sign right next to tee one.

Other Thoughts:

Maybe make it friendlier? Winstrom is a township park squished into a corner lot next to the soccer fields. This lot is used for "nature trails" and disc golf. Even smoking a cig in the parking lot got me dirty looks. If your in the area, skip this course and go to Shore Acre in suagatuck. Or if this is your kind of a course. take a drive out to Cold brook.
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1 0
Trespayne
Experience: 15 played 3 reviews
2.00 star(s)

Home Course 2+ years drive by

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

Pros:

-Location is great. Right by the beaches in Holland. There's also a nice field nearby to practice.

-Good cement tee-pads at every hole

-Super quick course, If you're playing in a group of 4 it should take no more than 45 minutes.

-Good mix of backhand, forehand, tomahawk-people say it's forehand happy, but you can throw a backhand on every hole with the right disc.

Great to work on short mid-range shots and long puts. The course is also great if you're going for a low score because all the shots you can birdie with the right first shot. The only difficult birdies are #15 and #18.

Cons:

-Very short holes, there's almost no need to break out a driver except maybe on holes #15 and #18.

-Can get pretty busy at times, but I've rarely had a problem with people not letting my group play through.

-A few holes don't show the length of the shot, but if you have played the course you'll know exactly where it is the next time through.

-Course layout is somewhat questionable. Many holes go right next to others, but there's usually enough trees to protect yourself from getting hit by a random disc. Aside from hole #9 to #10 and hole #14 to #15, the layout is pretty easy to follow (after 9, walk on the sidewalk to the right along the path until you see #10 on the right, after 14, walk back to where you started 14, then keep walking the path a bit further and it's on the right)

-After clearing out well more than 2/3 of the trees on the course, the holes are much more simple and completely took away the charm of what was a heavily wooded, challenging short course. It is now lightly wooded and short which is not nearly as much fun.

-Also due to the clearing of the trees, there are branches and twigs all over the course and you can get cut up or slip if you're not paying attention.

Other Thoughts:

It's a decent course, not a good course. It's great for mid-range shots and long putts. It's definitely NOT worth a big drive to play, but if you're in the area it's a nice one to play. I live about a mile away so I play it a lot, it's just not the same as it was before the trees were taken down, but is still fun and quick.
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2 0
sgamerp
Gold level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 16 years 99 played 73 reviews
3.00 star(s)

2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Sep 8, 2010 Played the course:once

Pros:

Teepads- Cement and On every hole

Signs - Minus one hole (i think 16) it had the sign for the hole number. Half of them have the distances

Nice places to get your mid game pretty solid. nice and short

If you play by yourself you can get it done in about an hour even with getting lost.

Cons:

Even with the signs they don't have the distance on every one.

Forehand happy Most of the holes are made for someone who throws forehand.

2, 3 and 8 are all on the same path and people throw into each some spots are blind.

A few holes were hard to find, 6,11, 15

Hole 9 is a putter ace run(113ft? and its right in front of the teebox)

Other Thoughts:

When I went there were a good amount of trees that had fallen down in front of baskets on hole12 and 16. Some of the paths are hard to find, on 6 you need to follow a bike path, 11 you need to walk through the woods, when done with 14 you need to go back to the path and head towards the parking lot in view. Hole 9 is 113 and its right in front of the teepad. Over all this place is super fun, and quick. Good for someone who wants to practice forehand or break there mids in on the trees. There is also a Moble that sells Discraft Discs in Z and ESP plastic, they also have soft magnets.
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1 1
apdrvya
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 13.9 years 350 played 293 reviews
1.00 star(s)

meh. only once... 2+ years

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Aug 25, 2010 Played the course:once

Pros:

TeePads-- Nice, big, cement

Baskets-- New, and in great condition.

Location-- Beautiful forest for disc golf.

Cons:

TeeSigns-- Either the distance or hole number was missing on a good portion of the tees. Also, there was no directional marks as to where the basket was, much scouting was needed.

Navigation-- No directional marks where to go from tee to tee. I can site 10 to 11 as a prime example where you have to walk down a path to find the next tee.

Plastic wrapped trees-- Discs bounce about three times as far as normal off of these bastards. A great shot that might bounce off of a tree onto the edge of the fairway, now is twenty feet into heavy woods.

Lanes/Fairways-- Many holes that have no discernable lanes in which to throw. Makes it hard to find the basket and even hope for par.

hole 9-- 'nuff said.

Other Thoughts:

Disappointing to say the least. We were miserable by 10. They could have done so much more with this great piece of property. On the bright side, there were some unused soccer fields that were great for field practice.
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1 0
rshrevo
Bronze level trusted reviewer
Experience: 45.9 years 45 played 34 reviews
2.00 star(s)

2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Jun 15, 2012 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

Nice challenging course. makes you think about shot placement. Fairly easy to navigate through the course. with it being in tress there is hardly no underbrush to hide your errant discs. Lots of shade. was almost like a nature walk saw lots of squirrels running around while playing my round.

Cons:

Since it is heavily wooded some holes are hard to reach in three unless you get lucky enough to miss all the trees on each shot. was hard to know where some of the baskets were actually located on my first time there. no hole layout listed on tee poles. tight fairways are really close to other holes. like Number 2 basket right next to #3 fairway.

Other Thoughts:

When playing this course if there are others you see playing it then watch out for errant discs. was almost hit trying to putt on #2 by a drive hitting a tree on #3 fairway. plus other times while walking to my shot was seeing discs land off to the sides of me. I do like the course. would play it again. nice secluded area. only people i saw were the other disc golfers and some people using the paths that meander through the woods.
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1 0
Silverskunk
Experience: 4 played 2 reviews
2.50 star(s)

A tight course in Holland 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 26, 2010 Played the course:once

Pros:

Course was clean. Each hole had a pad to tee off. Trees make for a tight course, but limited underbrush meant discs thrown off course could still be found. All but two holes bank to the right. This can be tough on golfers with a left draw. You don't need to have a strong arm for this course - just be accurate. Shade was nice - stayed relatively cool on a hot day.

Cons:

Every hole was rated Par 3 - which for the average golfer was not very practical. The sheer number of trees made it virtually impossible to get the distance needed for a birdie shot. My partner regularly shoots under par, but the tight course and bends to the right left him frustrated playing mostly bogie golf. A few holes were hard to locate thru the trees. Could have used a map.

Other Thoughts:

The course has potential. I would play it again, but my partner hated it. The holes need to re-rated so the average golfer has at least a shot at a birdie now and again.
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1 0
treebanger
Experience: 15 played 1 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Mmmmk 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 8, 2010 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

All Holes have Pads. Excellent In the woods course With a lot of Technicality needed. Narrow fairways, Tree's and tight turns. Easily Played in the rain during the summer due to lots of Trees. :p. It is a very simple quick game 18 hole course. Hole 11 is my Fav.

Cons:

The hole info on here is WRONG. It got changed up Due to People living in the area complaining of disc's ending up in there back yards. Hole is 9 is very short very straight and also very Narrow. 17 has a adjusted basket due too how short it is making the putt a little harder. I dont really find to many things wrong with any courses. I just love playing the game as a whole.

Other Thoughts:

To the guy one the last Review.....Hole 5 pointless? Thats a good hole. Your freakin crazy.
On Hole 17. There is two secret tee off's besides the main. If you look back from main Tee off you will notice a little path going up a hill and onto a side walk thats # 2 Tee. Also After 16 if you need to hit the bathroom and get some water. You will notice looking next to the bathrooms there is a dirt patch between two trees that is # 3. Prolly one of my fav things with this course ive seen from others is it is not a specific Backhand or Forehand course It requires both as well as rollers, hawks and scoobies.
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