I got a chance to play New Quarter Park for the second time yesterday (since July) and just wanted to give an update. First of all...my opinion that this course is friggin' awesome has been reinforced. Anybody in VA should make it a point to make it to this course at some time, dedicate a day to it if you can b/c you'll want to play several rounds (assuming your arm is still attached). There have been a couple changes since July when I played.
First the good: the parks dept. already had been doing an excellent job of maintaining the course and keeping it immaculately clean. But they've been busy...benches are now installed at almost every hole. And not some cheesy 4x4 and plywood kind of rig, but real metal and wood park benches. Also, tee signs are at every hole now, really nice ones too, full color, showing both the white and blue tees. They even named the holes after Civil War events, which is a nice touch (the course is on an old battlefield for those who don't know). And the course is far enough from houses and such that the signs should hopefully avoid vandals.
Now the bad: this isn't really "bad", but it might be unpleasant for some. The course is now a pay to play course, $3/day, or $25/annual. It's totally worth it in my opinion though. I would gladly fork over the money, they're doing a fantastic job with the course and if the money is helping the cause, then by all means, help them out! If the course is actually generating a profit, that can be incentive for new courses to be built in other areas, and also, there's PLENTY of room for more holes at the park. If the funds generated could bring about another 18 holes there...then wow, that'd be bordering on a DG resort.
And now, the ugly: Again, this isn't really that bad, but it was a bit of an unpleasant surprise. To lead up to this, I'm living in Seattle, came back to VA for Christmas, brought along my discs of course, and had been eagerly anticipating my chane to play NQP again. My folks live in the sticks, so it's about an hour and a half drive to the course. We follow the winding road to get there, and then finally get to the park entrance to see that the gate is closed and locked. There's a sign there that states the park is closed for winter hours, and that it's only open Friday-Sunday, something like 10-5 or so. I was dismayed to say the least, but wasn't going to travel all that way for nothing, so decided to hop the fence and play anyway. As luck would have it, right as I crossed over, a ranger pulled up in his truck. Trying to play dumb/innocent I was like "Hey, is it cool if I just throw some discs here?" He was like "Oh yeah, no problem, you'll just have to walk there." So apparently the park is just closed to cars for the winter hours, not a big deal at all, you can park in a small parking lot at the gate and go from there. The only drawback is that it's kind of a long walk from the gate to the course...maybe about a mile or so. Good news is though, that since the park is closed, there's nobody in the office so if you go on an off day, it's still a free course. I almost feel guilty for playing for free though...almost wanted to slip some money under the door for them!
Anyway, like I say, if you have a chance, definitely check this place out and support it. It's easily in the top 3 of my favorite courses I've played...MAYBE even #1. It's just got so much going for it...not only is it well designed and well maintained, but it's also so remote that the course is solely DGers...no need to worry about dog walkers, angry neighbors, picnicers, playgrounds, etc. It's just you, and the beauty of the course.
