My impressions from playing it once from each tee (2 rounds) and a little reflection. *Regular pin placements... not a gold review.
Eegor, it is really refreshing to see someone make such a fair and thorough look at the new layout. Changing a beloved course is a tough sell. I do think that things will be a lot better in a year, once people have had a chance to get used to the new version. And, as people have pointed out, there are players in the DFW area who have their own personal reasons to be upset no matter how it turned out. Sad, but part of life. I will be posting my own thoughts in the next few days and hope to bring some reasonable-ness to what has become a very emotional discussion. (But why should disc golf be different from politics, right?)
To people who say the new course is shorter, let's remember that the original Blue course had four holes 235' or less, including one (#5) that was straight downhill. The new Blue course has zero holes under 235'. It is overall longer, and, with the use of elevation, angles, and width, definitely plays longer.
More incomprehensible to me is the argument that the new Blue course is easier. I think it's easy to show that it's not, and I'll be making the hole-by-hole case for that. And, as I said above, the Reds are now really for new players. I know you miss a longer Red course, and I understand that can be a real sacrifice for some people. The old Reds were more fun for experienced players. Then again, how many DFW courses even have two sets of tees?
#5 - Down hill and sloping to the left with a few trees in the way. Good birdie opportunity from either tee. Fun, finesse drive, but an easy 3 if no bird.
I'm glad to see some love for this hole. I really like it, especially given what we had to work with there.
#6 - Old hole 2 "neutered". Tees are closer and the pin is closer. Old #2 was one of my favorite holes to play. It always felt good to come away with a birdie 3. *Now this is a fairly simple par 3 with a birdie look if you hit the right height off the tee. No longer favorite hole" pedigree.
I get that. It was nice to have a par four there. Of course, a "birdie look" is not a birdie, and I expect scores here to be good. In any case, the important thing is that old #2 had to go. Just in the time I was there working on the course, I saw way too many people throwing their second shots from next to the sidewalk.
#9 - I really, really like this hole. Finesse placement of the drive and upshot to a tough pin placement. This hole matches the old #9 and the landscape work on the landing area is very nice. Good golf hole. My favorite hole on the front 9.
Thanks.
#11 - This is a fun hole. You basically play old 12 backwards and then across the field the old 11 pin was in. Downhill, long and risky drive with OB right. I like this one a lot. It's always fun to get to air it out down hill. (I used to like old 12 up hill. Apparently, I was a small minority).
Thanks, and, yes, I think you were in a minority (but I'm glad you liked it).
#12 - From the blue tee, this is a nice dogleg right that rewards accuracy. I like that its longer and you have more options than old 10 had from the blue. A little easier pin placement, but overall an improvement on old 10...
Thanks again.
#15 - I like this one a whole lot! Replaces the old 16 with a choice
of drives from the tee and a tunnel approach to the pin in a long par 5. This is my new favorite hole on the course. It makes you think all the way to the basket and punishes shots off line. This hole can separate the scores of a group of comparable players. There's really not enough of these like there used to be...
So glad to hear you appreciate it.
And thanks again for being fair – I've been surprised at how many of the comments in other places have been straight up inaccurate; they appear to be influenced by misinformation. But the truth will always come out, as they say.
