HOD 12/8/2022: Elm Creek Park Reserve Hole #17 Maple Grove, MN

[Bardu]

Elm Creek Park Reserve in Maple Grove, MN

315 ft.

A beautiful drop shot, notice the boardwalk that takes you to #18

Boardwalk to hole #18 tee

 

[elmexdela]

boring ass course for anyone who throws under 400

gstarr sw

 

[kevdiv48]

SS Warlock. But probably empty my bag trying for the ace.

Don't listen to elmex. this is a sweet ass course. fun downhill bombs.

 

[elmexdela]

SS Warlock. But probably empty my bag trying for the ace.

Don't listen to elmex. this is a sweet ass course. fun downhill bombs.

the nice thing is youll likely have the course to yourself

 

[wolfhaley]

Lucid Maverick

 

[adlacro]

TP Fortress

 

[lee76007]

Fission Tesla

 

[smarkquart]

I used to call this my home course until I moved away from Maple Grove.

These pictures do not accurately describe this hole.

The trees on the right are thick and nearly impenetrable - you go in, you are not coming out. They are also too high to hyzer bomb over.

There is open area on the left, but there are still a few shurbbery-like trees that protect the left from 16's fairway. There are several small trees in the middle of the fairway, forcing you to a right-to-left finish or left-to-right. There is no going down the gut.

For the first 1/3 of the hole (not in the first picture), it is a slow descent. At the point where the fairway drops out, it is a quick dip, but it is guarded by a row of small trees - enough distance from the tee where if you are going left-to-right, you are essentially aiming at them and hoping to poke through. There is an opening to the right, but to hit this gap, you need to shave the thick trees all the way on the right, get through this bottleneck, and then suddenly fade out right. Going straight long gets you into shrubbery.

Circle 1 is almost but not quite flat. You can still get skips and rollaways that will put out of Circle 1.

For reference, I find that slightly overstable midranges going down the right gap is the best option. There is a thumber option to the left if you do not put it too far left. Forehands are tricky. Whatever you throw, if you keep it low matching the initial decline of the land, once you hit the quick dip down, you will be overshooting Circle 1.

 

[smarkquart]

Partially agree with above comments - I max out 415-420, and numerous holes seem to be at the 430-450 mark. For most people, numerous holes are just drive, approach, putt, take a 3 and move on. You need top-tier power to routinely birdie on this course.

However, if you are at my power range, every once in a while, you find that little extra distance to suddenly be in putting range. It is nice to get those birdies because there is almost no scoring separation on this course. I bet that a 1000-rated round is only going to be a few throws off a 900-rated round.

However to that however, there are a few nice holes on this course that screams that this course had so much potential wasted.

Hole 5 is a long, slow uphill with two bootlegs to the right. It is one of two holes actually in the woods instead on the sledding/snow tubing/ winter hiking trails.

Hole 9 is a reachable basket for almost all power levels with enough trees in the middle of the fairway forcing you to accurately navigate a run. For Elm, this is notable, but for other courses likely not so much.

Hole 12 is a ton of frustration that combines a little elevation, tight and open areas, woods on both sides, a big shot, and the need to flex those shots for lateral movement. Despite losing several discs to this hole, I love the challenge of it.

Hole 14 - Minnesota lacks Par 4s and 5s. It is shame that almost everything in the state is a Par 3. This has a bottleneck off the tee, then a quick elevation drop, blind right, high grass left, with the second half of this 700+ hole bottlenecking back up in elevation to a framed Circle 1. It is a legit Par 4 and boy do you feel good getting it in 3. This hole gobbles up discs like no other hole I know. But, if you know how to throw straight from elevation and still get max controlled distance (better to be left than right for that second shot back up the hill), this is the hole where some scoring separation can occur on this course.

Hole 18 - Only of note because of its distance and being a Par 4 (versus all the 450-foot holes that are Par 3). You throw from a moment of elevation down toward 340 feet of flat. At that point, it is the snowtubing hill going all the way to the top. It is a steep incline that suddenly makes you feel weak for throwing so short. Most good players will get this in 4, but like Hole 14, getting it in 3 feels like a rare accomplishment.

The last time I played it, I got 12 in two, and 14 and 18 in three. Of the hundreds of times I have played this course, that was the only time that I had ever accomplished that.