Gorham, ME

Bennett Disc Farm

3.535(based on 18 reviews)
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4 0
overkill
Experience: 24 played 6 reviews
2.00 star(s)

Is this course still open? 2+ years drive by

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

Pros:

Not many pros ... had some sort of interesting hole layouts and some long field shots. Not crowded since we were the only ones there.

Cons:

I am not sure anyone else has played this course lately. Upon arrival there was no way to tell where hole 1 was, where to pay etc. so some random guy that might have worked there told us where hole 1 was. The holes are mostly across farm fields full of tall grass that constantly led to 10 min searches for discs. It was difficult to tell which basket to throw at as some holes have 2 baskets. The holes in the woods were not taken care of at all and some of the (very small) tee pads in the woods were either dirt or dangerous concrete. The place seems like it was no longer maintained and a navigating the course was very difficult with very little, or very worn out markings.
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2 0
Highway Bill
Experience: 25.8 years 67 played 5 reviews
3.50 star(s)

bombs away 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Oct 22, 2013 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

For a "field course", there is a ton of variety packed into 2 unique layouts here. The red layout is the original and slightly longer of the two. Both are a blast to play and will certainly test your arm and disc selection, especially in the wind. If you can throw 300', I recommend giving this place a shot.
The cement tee boxes are large, safe and very well done and the baskets here are Discatchers...both very good things.
There are field holes, a few wooded holes, and combinations of the two. Both layouts follow one another which aids in navigation.
Most of the baskets are in precarious spots, making you think twice about your approach and putt. *more courses should put teeth into their putting areas*
Between that and the extreme elevation changes and slopes, the variety of challenging holes is pleasantly surprising. There are some very fun and unique tee shots from which to rip your favorite HSDs. Hole 1 (red), hole 3 (red), hole 9 (gold) and hole 12 (gold) must be experienced if you're in southern Maine. Incidentally, the layout colors (red and gold) don't correspond to PDGA difficulty levels. Just colors picked at random I think.
That being said, these 2 layouts are no more than a blue level par 59-60. This means that 12-13 of the holes are par 3's, 5-6 par 4's. While this is more par 4's than most courses offer, it still falls short of any true test of golf. I give this course a 3.5 only as it relates to the limited quality choices available in our sport.

Cons:

-The "rough" can get really long. Spotters are necessary.
-Scorecards are usually unavailable.
-No hole info on tee signs.
-No disc sales

Other Thoughts:

The strategically placed plastic wrapped hay bale bunkers add a nice touch to "The Farm" courses.
Play long grass OB for an added challenge.
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1 0
blumonk
Experience: 5 played 5 reviews
2.00 star(s)

grip and rip 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 10, 2013 Played the course:once

Pros:

If you have a cannon of an arm, this course is for you. I had just bought a Vulcan and really wanted to test out its distance and understability and I got more than my fair share. I appreciate the wrapped hay bales strategically placed in the field to show you the way.
I thought the flow from the basket to the next tee boxes was actually pretty good and the tee boxes do have signs with footage.
I'm pretty sure I was the only one there on a gorgeous Saturday, so it's not very busy at all.

Cons:

Although the signs had the footage listed, they didn't have a layout with an arrow to the basket, so I had wander out and find the basket first on a few holes.
I didn't see anything that resembled a 9-hole indoor course that the course bio seems to indicate.
Much like reviewers before me have said, keep an eye on your disc as it enters the grass or you'll be looking for awhile.
I thought the first couple open holes were going to be a warm up before you go into the woods for most of it, but only a few of the front 9 really play in the woods.
Only holes 1 & 11 have a second basket for the yellow course, which isn't the worst thing, but if you start on hole 1 and notice the two baskets, you might waste your time trying to find the two baskets on holes 2, 3, etc. Also, I don't believe the two baskets on 1 & 11 were painted in a way that made it obvious as to which was for the red course and which was for the yellow course.
The massive 14th hole should be a par 5.
The grass in the fields is tough in general, but don't be right on the 4th hole!

Other Thoughts:

If you like airing it out and working on distance, this course is for you. I like wooded holes with trees laid out in a way that makes you work on a lot of different shots.
Hole 3 was great to just tee it up from on high, and although I didn't play 7 well, the basket placement on the steep hill with the rope to help you up was a nice touch. By the way, straight up with the rope isn't the only way up, so you do have other options.
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3 0
reposado
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 12.8 years 278 played 273 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Could be better, 2+ years drive by

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

Pros:

This course is hard one to analyze, if only because it's so different than anything else that I've played. A good portion of the holes are on an open field, with some real distance on a lot of them.

On many, narrow fairways are mowed into tall grass. At some points along the way, wider circles are mowed. These provide targets to hit along the way, if you don't to spend hours searching the 4-foot high grass for your disc. It requires a different kind of accuracy: the path your disc takes is irrelevant, only the landing spot matters. At the very least, its interesting.

There are also a few holes that stand out. In particular, three is memorable. It's not the first time I've thrown from a high platform, but this was a good one.

There's also a hole where your drive is essentially layed up to the foot of a cliff, from which point you try to place your disc at the top of the cliff. Then you climb the cliff using a rope anchored to the ground above.

Cons:

While it's fun to aim for the mowed areas, its really a cheap way to increase difficulty. After all, once you locate your disc in the rough, your next throw is not really affected the way it would in ball golf. So the tall grass here doesn't make the course more difficult, it just makes it more frustrating.

While the woods holes features some of the more interesting shots, they also feature some of the worst maintenance. There was a basket in there that was essentially covered by tall grasses. Basically, anywhere that you can't get a mower was left a little on the wild side. A weedwacker would a nice investment.

Finally, good signs would be a tremendous help in navigation, especially in the open holes. I played from the first tee to what I now believe to be the 17th basket. I just played onto 2, which is a shame because it looked like 1 would have been a solid hole to play.

Other Thoughts:

There's a very good, even a great course here but navigation and frustration issues mean its merely good.
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8 6
iHitTree
Bronze level trusted reviewer
Experience: 21.8 years 96 played 38 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Diamond in the rough 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Aug 23, 2012 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

-distance baby! Show off that arm! There are a number of par 5's, one of which exceeding 1000 from the red tee!
-HUGE contour to the land--big rolling hills with major elevation changes
-blended field and woods.
-uncrowded
-friendly regulars
-marshmallow looking hay bails are 'natural' looking markers to aid in the direction you should throw--a nice navigational tool.

Cons:

-what am I paying for? No grooming, no signs for next hole, no scorecards, no tee signs telling par or distance or basket location, no staff available to help. It was a frustrating until gettin they hang of the direction of the red tees. I had a very similar experience as the previous reviewer did. I played the yellow hole 1 and had no idea where to go so I went back to the tee area and saw the red tee and checked online seeing that I was searching for an 800 ft par 5 which surely was not the basket labeled 1 staring me in the face. Then I noticed it off to the right way down. After this initial mix up, navigation wasn't bad.
-can have trouble with drives in fairway due to long grass
-exhausting walking over 2.5 miles up and down large hills when the grass is 8 inches tall. Even a narrowly mowed path through fairways would make the walking a lot more bearable.
-For an honor system pay style, $6 is a bad number since most people (unless they plan ahead) may not have a 5 and a 1. It should be $5 without anyone there to make change.
-no bathrooms that I found but they may have them available
-no water fountain
-beer bottles everywhere at hole 5's tee box

Other Thoughts:

This course is on a farm-like property that also offers paintball (pretty cool combo of sports). It is definitely one of the best open courses I've played. At first look there may not be many obstacles on some of the holes, but elevation and wind are your obstacles. I highly recommend this course. There are red tees and yellow tees, and a few of the holes have alternative baskets that I believe are meant for the yellow tees. I think Red is the tougher play, although there were a small handful of holes where the yellow actually was tougher than the red (hole 15 and hole 7), but I recommend playing Red tees.

Great holes:
-Hole 7 has a really cool initial tree column that opens into a little grove with a very steep 20-25 foot tall natural bowl looking up to the basket. Very cool hole.
-Hole 3 is a monster downhill hole where if you don't make it to the bottom off the tee, then you probably lost your disk as there are high bushes on both sides and only a narrow waing path through them to the bottom. The hill may be 8 or 9 stories tall! A classic risk/reward hole. Probably my favorite on the course.
-Hole 12 starts out with a slightly downhill open throw, but you need to clear a gap in the trees, where the basket resides on the other side of a small creek--a nice tee shot
-Hole 14 is over 1000 feet. BIG. Enough said.
-Hole 16 shows you an uphill hole through with a taunting tunnel through a thicket of trees that frames the basket. You can try a fairway driver or middy thru the small opening or throw a high hyzer playing the fade over top of the trees. A technical hole as compared to its brethren.

This course will take over 2 hours to play. Great Grade A disc!
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6 0
jtreadwell
Bronze level trusted reviewer
Experience: 13.8 years 92 played 28 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Wild-Style Disc Golf 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Apr 1, 2014 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

- Very unique holes and situations
- A true chance to air out your driving arm
- Great atmosphere
- 1 3/4 courses for the price of one

Cons:

- Very unforgiving rough
- Little to no amenities for your 6$
- Difficult navigation until you learn the "language"

Other Thoughts:

Get ready for some wild-style disc golf. BAP is an excellent course that glorifies the extreme. Upon arriving, the wind was blowing hard across the fields and there was a dirt bike event wrapping up on the other side of the barn from the course. There are very few indicators as to where to start and where to go at first so it took me and my buddy a minute to figure it out. We found the kiosk with the deposit box but were a bit disappointed at the lack of a course map. There were dirt bikers camping on the red tee so we used the yellow one and completed the first hole. We then got a bit confused and ended up shooting for the red course hole one basket from the yellow course's second tee. After remembering that there are two courses, we started over and played the red course from the beginning. This type of shenanigan could easily be minimized by installing a sign explaining the two course situation and how to navigate them. Also causing confusion was the almost total lack of signage aside from a colored number on a pole notating the hole number. With some holes being over 500ft long and two courses intertwining, the signage needs to be spot on. It took us a few holes to realize that the hay bails that dot the landscape are actually directions, and that the hole is usually in between the two you can see directly in front of the teebox you're on. Once we had that figured out navigation was a lot easier.
Hole design is where this course really shines. There was not a single boring hole and the woods holes are spread well enough between the more open shots to keep things from getting repetitive. I found myself grinning while walking up to some of these holes and realizing what the course designers wanted me to try. Highlights on the red course are hole 3, a mighty drive from approximately 100ft over the fairway, Hole 7, a shorter wooded hole with the basket on top of a 30ft. sheer cliff, and hole 16, a drive straight up and around trees on a very steep hill with a 5x5 tunnel shot at the basket for those feeling spunky.
Now I'm all for risk/reward, but the rough simply devours discs. The course is very long and when we added in disc searching it took us well over 2 hours to play a round. Hole 17 in particular is quite disc-thirsty as you are shooting along a high ridge and between the constant wind and the curvature of the land it's incredibly easy to send a disc 200 - 300ft off course into the long grass. My buddy lost his new opto flow on that hole, and while we were searching we found an unmarked Orc someone else had lost. Never found the flow though...
All in all, this is a course that could easily be a 5 star champion level facility with some upgrading. The land usage and course design is superb, but the lack of amenities and confusing set up is a real downer. Even with caveats, this is still a must play course in New England so check it out and be ready to be amazed.
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4 2
bradharris
Silver level trusted reviewer
Experience: 20.9 years 90 played 46 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Big arms rejoice 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 31, 2011 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

This course is well maintained on a very nice property. The baskets and tee pads are in great shape. All the open fairways and greens are mowed and the wooded fairways are clear.

Trash cans at most tees keep the course relatively litter free.

There are a lot of opportunities to test your arm and throw for max distance without any obstacles in the way.

Cons:

This course is very open, leaving it very much at the mercy of the weather. There is not a lot of shade on sunny days. And the wind can really whip through, especially on the hill tops.

There isn't a lot of imagination on the hole design. Since most holes are play clear over grass, it's mostly a grip and rip course. There isn't a lot of need to shape unique lines.

Signs have hole number only. It would be nice to see distance listed particularly since it can be very hard to guage distance on the wide open holes.

The tall grass off the fairways can really eat discs. It's best to play with a group to comb the field to find errant throws faster.

Other Thoughts:

This isn't a course to go out of your way to play, but if you're in the area, it's certainly worth a look. I don't have a lot of specific pros listed, but that doesn't mean it's not fun to play, there just isn't a lot to call out.
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4 0
MrHighlandPark
Experience: 14.9 years 54 played 18 reviews
3.00 star(s)

2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 9, 2011 Played the course:once

Pros:

A nice secluded piece of property that seems well maintained by a very friendly group of staff. There were some long holes to pull out the big discs on, and a handful of wonderful holes playing through the woods. There are two intertwined layouts that offer variety for returning players, or more bang for your buck if you want to play them back to back.

Cons:

I think this course suffers from too many wide open holes. I want obstacles that force me to throw a variety of shots, but on so many holes here you can aim straight for the pin. I was fortunate to play on a very windy day which provided a different type of challenge, but on a calm day I think this would play too easy.

The other con is that they could really use some professional signage. With a non-intuitive layout that requires crossing back over holes you've already played, some "next tee" arrows would be a big improvement. I also missed having basic map + distance signs at the teepads.

Other Thoughts:

There is paintball on site, so if you're into that as well, this could be a great place to spend a day.
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6 0
dsm767
Experience: 20.8 years 16 played 12 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Long winded Course Near Sebago Lake 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Sep 20, 2010 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Lots of variety in this course and just down the street from The University of Southern Maine, Sebago Lake, and The Maine Mall in southern Maine.

THE COURSE-
This course sports two holes over 800ft including the first hole shooting almost blindly downhill openly into the field, then uphill on the approach to a basket, which if overshot you will run the risk of rolling down the back of the hill.

The course mixes it up a bit especially when you take grade into account every shot counts and if you mount up birdies and eagles on the easier holes your in for a good round even if you don't have a bomb of an arm to get less than par on the 800ft holes.

The technicality of the course really is what the score is based on, there are a lot of places to make mistakes at this course, and a skilled player will thrive. There are just some holes here where they try things that I have not seen on any of the other courses in the area. There is even one shot that the basket is almost vertical on your approach up a 10ft high slope above you.

INDOOR COURSE-
Yes thats right! They have an indoor course in the barn. I know that they also have a league in the late fall that they run thats just played indoors well into the winter so you can hone your skills in the off season. It located in the barn next to where you sign in. There is also a small pro shop with limited discs in the barn as well, however, often times the barn is locked and no one is around to run the club house so I have only been inside on the course a few times and haven't kept score. But if you see the owner at around ask him about it he'll show you the course.

The course is set up with all types of obstacles on the bottom and 2nd story of the barn. They use everything from nets to tires to make the indoor course accessible and technical. There was one shot I remembered that started on the 2nd story of the barn and shot down to the first floor to the basket but you had to shoot through a set of tires to get down to the bottom, a perfect shot could be an ace.

Cons:

Some of the par fives can be a game breaker if your not capable of driving 300ft or more uphill, and downhill.

Some times the wind can help you here, but more often then not on the back nine there's a lot of uphill shots and holes on the side of hills its hard to manage sometimes if your not use to the course.

The first time I went to this course I spent A LOT of time looking for discs. The grass was overgrown to sometimes chest height on a lot of the longer holes and on both of the 800ft holes, thats a lot of space for a disc to go AWOL in, and accidents can happen. Since then there has been pretty good upkeep haven't seen it like that in 2 seasons.

I wish I could say call ahead and ask about conditions but the clubhouse is rarely open in the middle of the day and off-season. Just pay in the box next to the barn when you pull in.

Other Thoughts:

A lot of fun def put this course on your wish list if your from the area or live close, or even if your going towards to Sebago Lake for the weekend.

The course takes longer than most of the 18hole courses that I have played in New England due to the hilly terrain and long holes, my personal advice on this one would be leave the kids and wives home on this one.
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1 2
kfitz
Experience: 9 played 9 reviews
4.50 star(s)

bring you gun 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 10, 2010 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

only played red layout, ungodly long first hole down hill is amoung my fravorites, club pros are cool guys, basket area on par 4s are tight enough to make 2s a real challenge

Cons:

mostly a personal thing, holes are just long enough to make that 3 adverage out of my reach, with the distance and elevation i always end up with a few errand hard to find bombs in unforgiveing woods

Other Thoughts:

never too busy, make sure u have the time to play a 2 hour round if u bring ur noob beer drinking buddies out and watch their drives, grass is way long off fairways
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2 0
xphelanx
Experience: 16.9 years 21 played 3 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Soaked shirt 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Jun 26, 2010 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

Two courses in one, I played the red course the last time. Good variety of holes and some very challenging ones at that. The pro shop had just received an Innova shipment in when I went, and I picked a couple discs up for a -very- reasonable price. $6 to play for the day is great for a place of this caliber and size.

Cons:

Lots of walking involved. When I played last, it was very humid and I was sweating like a pig (not really, because we all know pigs don't sweat, but you understand) Lots of ups and downs, sometimes it's not all that clear where the pin is (is it over that hill somewhere or in the woods? I don't know, just grip and rip!)

Other Thoughts:

I did manage par this last time, which was a drastic improvement over my previous attempt. The owner keeps a supply of bug dope and sunscreen on hand if you arrive unprepared.
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0 11
eric.peavey
Experience: 3 played 3 reviews
5.00 star(s)

great 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Sep 14, 2009 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

good variety of course, good atmosphere, plenty of parking. Long holes. Great difficulty level. no mosquito problems in summer.

Cons:

grooming gets out of control. at some points, owners dont mow enough. pro shop has no discs 90% of the time.
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0 9
preracing25
Experience: 14.5 years 52 played 1 reviews
4.50 star(s)

Excellent 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Nov 8, 2009 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Very fun course to play. 2 long 800+ ft holes and the wood holes are also pretty good. Makes for a very fun day of DG. Always have a good time when I am at BAP. Did lose a disc today though on hole 12 in the trees to the far left. Purple Innova Vaylkarie

Cons:

Only thing is some long grass will eat disc's.
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3 2
xZombiEx
Experience: 18.8 years 41 played 4 reviews
3.00 star(s)

the 'rough' is ROUGH 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Jul 27, 2009 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

This course has it all! VERY long holes, short holes, and lots of elevation changes. Holes 5-8 move through the woods for an added challenge, The rest of the course is primarily field play. Also a 9 hole putting area for a warm-up.

Cons:

The grass in the 'rough' is SO LONG that it is entirely possible to lose a disc for 20 minutes when it only goes three or four feet into the tall grass. Also, the owner deals primarily with paintball, so the pro shop is never adequately stocked. Make sure to bring all the discs you will need for the day.

Other Thoughts:

When I was in college this was my home course because it is 3 miles from where I went to school. Overall this is a quality course and deserves a play through, but I have observed the same negative aspects for the last 4 years.
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0 6
dukdukgolf
Experience: 16 played 16 reviews
4.00 star(s)

nice course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 4, 2009 Played the course:once

Pros:

really loved this course. layout was great. tee pads were good. elevation changes and a few crazy holes makes it very fun course/ some early holes in the woods were really great holes i thought. 2 800+ holes were also nice.

Cons:

pro shop had no discs for sale but the guy said some were coming in like the following day. Couple tees were difficult to find.

Other Thoughts:

certainly worth the 5 bux,,,i really liked it.
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5 3
capedcodder
Experience: 24.8 years 31 played 8 reviews
4.00 star(s)

Wow this place has some length 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 28, 2008 Played the course:never

Pros:

As a player who loves to throw far, this was my favorite course in Maine. The long par 5's are great for a long thrower but I can see where it could get intimidating. I think this is the best and most challenging course I played in Maine (out of 8 courses). If you like to rip a disc as far as you can from the top of a hill, this is the course for you.

Cons:

This place is all about paintball so if you don't mind the noise its okay but I thought it was pretty annoying to be hearing all the shots and yelling when I was putting on hole 18. Most of the course is far enough away that you don't notice. Same for the proshop, lots of paintball, not alot of discs.

Other Thoughts:

We played there the morning of an afternoon tourney so the place was immaculate. I don't know if its always like that.
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12 0
ZMan44
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 20 years 179 played 107 reviews
4.00 star(s)

Fantastic 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 29, 2007 Played the course:never

Pros:

Disc golf in Maine is becoming amazing. This course had some amazingly unique designs. 2 LONG par 5s. I remember one hole that had a steep hill (about 20 feet) and the pin was on top of the hill. Very cool layout. Course has wooded holes and open holes. Short and long. Hyzer and an hyzer. Tough, long round of disc golf, and i wouldn't trade any minute of it.

Cons:

Everything in Maine is pay to play, but a lot of courses, including this one, are on land owned by individuals. I definitely understand the need to collect money because of the required maintenance.

Other Thoughts:

Being from Tennessee, you wouldn't think I would go to Maine a lot...but I do because of family I have there. This last time I went I decided to take my discs. Security at the airport in New Hampshire almost didn't let me through because the didn't know what these discs I had were for. That was a unique adventure. But I was so glad i made it to Maine with my discs. I took two newbies with me...that was a mistake as it took them both about 13 throws just to get close on the Par 5s. But I loved every minute of it and I can't wait to go back to Maine and check out some of the other area courses. I have heard good things about a lot of them.
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3 6
innovaetor
Experience: 45 played 20 reviews
4.00 star(s)

Worth $5 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:May 26, 2007 Played the course:never

Pros:

Mowed fairways, variety, elevation (one hole drops almost 100ft). Cool putting course to warm up on.

Cons:

You have to pay for golf in Maine, lots of ticks and garbage.

Other Thoughts:

Took me almost 3hrs to play solo, shot 60 which I thought was good, then I found out the course record is a seemingly impossible 47.
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