Extremely wooded courses

[Porkchop]

The entire East Roswell Park except for 1,3,4,5

When I was in ATL (Alpharetta) for work in May I played Sequoyah, Willis, East Roswell, and Central (and a day trip to the IDGC). Of the four I would say East Roswell was my favorite. I thought it was far from poke and hope. Yeah a couple of holes could stand to have a tree removed here or there to make it play a touch better, but for the most part I think the tightness to length ratio was fair. The really tight holes weren't overly long (most times a putter or mid range shot) and the longer holes where more open or had more routes to the pin.

The course demands control and accuracy. One thing you boys in the South are blessed with is clean schule. When you get off the fairway you can almost always get up and down (I don't recall ever having to pitch out) ..... In Iowa you're lucky to even find your disc in some of the schule. That was one of the highlights of my trip ..... Being able to play wooded courses without any regard to were a bad shot (or kick) may end up ..... On the flipside that is also a con as there's no real punishment for going off the beaten path, takes away a lot of the strategy and mental aspect of wooded golf.

By the looks of your stats there Bill it looks like you need to post less and play more ..... it might help with your outlook on East Roswell

 

[fractalzoom]

I believe I'll be playing Summit again this weekend. There really needs to be more pictures of this course for threads like this. And compared to the pictures that are there now, it'd be fun to show it where the trees have leaves. Like, looking at the pic for hole 6... it looks simple enough to be able to throw over all that stuff to the right. Now - there's no way... everything is completely overgrown.

...and there absolutely needs to be a picture of hole 18. I'll work on it.

 

[BogeyNoMore]

I love wooded courses. I've played some holes that were pinball machines, but never a course where over half the holes or so of really had obvious, executable fairways.

Most densely wooded courses I've played:
No doubt about it:
Whitehall DGC, Whitehall, MI http://www.dgcoursereview.com/reviews.php?id=2008&page=1&mode=rev#25269 is the most densely wooded course I've ever played from hole to hole - but there's an obvious line on every hole.

Others worth mentioning:

Parmalee Park, Lambertville, MI http://www.dgcoursereview.com/reviews.php?id=1664&page=1&mode=rev#24380
Goldenrod DGC, Davison, MI http://www.dgcoursereview.com/reviews.php?id=1315&page=1&mode=rev#23415
But all them are well designed and don't really force unreasonable lines.

 

[tallpaul]

Whitehall is open compared to most of the others mentioned here.

 

[BogeyNoMore]

Whitehall is open compared to most of the others mentioned here.

OK - that's just sick then! I'll shut up now.

 

[tallpaul]

Don't get me wrong; I enjoyed Whitehall; and thought there were nice, tight lines. But, most of the courses mentioned are pin ball to the extreme.

 

[Mando]

Who would have thought we could have reached 5 pages without a Stan McDaniel course even mentioned in passing ?

 

[skottyb]

Idlewild is close, but I think Blue Pine or w/e it's called has some nasty ones.

Idlewild is not even close.

 

[BogeyNoMore]

Don't get me wrong; I enjoyed Whitehall; and thought there were nice, tight lines. But, most of the courses mentioned are pin ball to the extreme.

I like tight and technical - make me hold a tight line to the pin. Hence, I really like Whitehall - IMO, its much more about skill than luck. Same with the wooded section in Parmalee (for anyone who may be familiar with it).

But if you're talking about stuff that makes Whitehall seem 'open' and every hole is essentially a pinball machine... well, IMO, that's more luck than skill. If a course really has no "fairways" to speak of, I don't see what the point is, or how it can be considered a well designed course.

Am I missing something here? Do any of you consider a course where over half the holes are pinball machines and where you really can't discern a feasible line to the pin a 'good' course?

 

[tallpaul]

Most don't like them. Of the one's I mentioned, I enjoy them; and believe that since all players are playing the same course; crazy pin ball holes just make you use crazy inventive shots; both for first and, often second shots. Would I want to play that style every day? No....

 

[agapedad]

Several people complained at Am Worlds that the front 9 at Aumiller in Bucyrus was too wooded, or at least that there were some holes without a legitimate line.

 

[Hector Chain]

one of my old favorites, basil marella, is probably the tightest wooded course that i've played more than once.

This was the first one I thought of. The course has some potential, but several of the holes have no "fair" fairway and require long S-curves with no real place to land your disc in the middle (and no way to complete the S-curve with one throw).

Another tight one is Rooster Rock East. If you wouldn't feel comfortable riding your bike through the gap, then it's a poorly designed fairway.

 

[Danger]

Crooked Creek, a new course in Dubois Wyoming, has some very dense woods lining its fairways. Provided you have a lazerbeam shot, this course is easy. That being said, most people have trouble:

Hole 2, a larger fairway on the left for the sidearm folks and a smaller one on the right for the dangerous backhand shot. The basket is in the middle, behind the woods.

Hole 14, a fairway wide enough for an ATV to drive down, turns slightly left, but the basket is behind the fence, to the right of the fairway. A perfect "S" curve for a lefty backhand will get the the basket.

They have a few open shots, but I would say at least 2/3 of the course is like this.

 

[Smigles]

The pics that danger just postet seem kinda ok. At least you have some idea where the line would be. Hitting it is another matter, but that's where you can show off your skill.

But there are other holes like Dave242's post on the first page that are just dumb luck and i dont consider them well designed. Not at all.

 

[12StonesScott]

Several people complained at Am Worlds that the front 9 at Aumiller in Bucyrus was too wooded, or at least that there were some holes without a legitimate line.

I'd say that's true for hole 1 at least (and remember that my home course -- East Roswell Park -- is considered extremely wooded by most people); most of the others had some sort of line, though in many cases it was extremely difficult to hit it. Hitting the gap on hole 3 from across the road with enough on it to make it across the ravine and still have some kind of second shot, for example -- possible, but in the groups I saw it was rare for more than one player per group to do it. The biggest problem with the front 9 at Aumiller for me wasn't the trees, it was the bugs -- even with bug spray, I was pretty thoroughly eaten up by the second hole.

 

[tistoude]

After reading through all the posts I was suprised that no one has mentioned Orange Crush in Fairmont West Virginia. I think all but one or two holes have good lines but are very tight with trouble early, middle and late. Orange Crush also has insane elevation changes. I agree with TallPaul that these courses are fun to play. I like having to shape lines, hit tight gaps and if the fairway is really that tough then everyone has to get creative.

Attached is a picture of hole 6 at Orange crush

 

[CwAlbino]

Pine Valley Hogback DGC in North Augusta, SC. There are no pictures on this site of it but it's where the collegiate nationals are held (one of the courses). Here's a few from the pdga flickr page, unfortunately none of these pictures do the course justice to how tight it is.

Me: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pdga/4526603147/in/set-72157623747964141/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pdga/4527231700/in/set-72157623747964141/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pdga/4526599843/in/set-72157623747964141/

 

[kenjiac]

one of my old favorites, basil marella, is probably the tightest wooded course that i've played more than once.

This was the first one I thought of. The course has some potential, but several of the holes have no "fair" fairway and require long S-curves with no real place to land your disc in the middle (and no way to complete the S-curve with one throw).

Another tight one is Rooster Rock East. If you wouldn't feel comfortable riding your bike through the gap, then it's a poorly designed fairway.

I played RFDO this past weekend and shot a 62 at basil blind. I really liked the course every hole had a fairway and good lines just not all were negotiable to the pin without a great shot. Some were throw a 50% power shot to the landing zone throw an upshot and get par. There wasn't a single hole on the course that you couldn't get par with placement shots. I like the wooded holes give me a 6 ft gap to hyzer through and I'm good.

 

[superberry]

Freitag Park - Forest Junction, WI!!!!!!!!!!!

Play it for a beating, then head up to Winter Park for extreme variety and pure disc golf bliss!

 

[Cgkdisc]

One of the issues with wooded fairways that at least have a route is that it sometimes is not shaped properly for the way a disc flies. If you look at a bird's eye view of a typical line drive hyzer flight, it's shaped more like a hockey stick with the sharper fade curve at the end rather than a continuous circle or oval arc. The only way to get what looks like a more continuous smooth curve flight (bird's eye view) is when the player can go with a high hyzer line or a lefty turnover. Many times the limbs aren't trimmed high enough for this option.

Another issue is long fairways - straight or curved - not wide enough for a player to throw even a shallow S-line. This favors those who can pound a Roc or Buzz straight. It's not that this skill shouldn't be rewarded, but mid-range power is already over rewarded in this sport and this just compounds the benefit.