Pros:
Driving down here from Cincinnati , I had heard nothing but great things about this course , and left it with the same feeling . The Nati , THE Cincinnati disc golf club where I live has talked this club up , and even sponsors a couple of tournaments here every year , like the Oil City Classic . Armco Park sits in the far eastern section of Kentucky , bordering, and close to a lot of courses in West Virginia , The park sits next to a Ky State Police outpost , so be aware if you want to chance bringing adult beverages around the course . Okay , the course itself . You drive into the park and go up a steep one way only drive to the right of the park and park at the top shelter next to the playgrounds . The course is shared with typical family style amenities , the only of which will alter your game , being the park shelters that are reserved for celebrating locals . More on that later . You may want to print a map . Even though there are many signs directing you to the next tee , you can wander off in a couple of places , and you don't want to climb up or down unnecessarily if you don't need to . The course boasts 2 cement tee pads and multiple pin locations .The first tee is a short slight downhill walk across the street from where you park . I played the longs most of the way , and will give you my take on some of what I played. This is a Johnny Sias designed course , who is in great demand and has about 40 courses with his name on them . #1 is a very long 518' downhill drive through some of the plentiful ( bot not ridiculous amounts of ) mature trees . All of the fairways on this course have at least 1 line and maybe 2 or 3 to throw from , so you never feel like you are throwing through " jail " . The pin on #1 was set to the left and across the small road that I drove up . you then walk across the main road at the entrance to the park to #2 and throw uphill and to the left with a mando keeping your drive honest . You will see the next tee a little uphill and to the right and throw through a tight alley to a straightaway pin guarded by trees all around . The next basket ( 4 ) will be a fitness tester , a 718' throw that winds itself left with trees obstructing your drives and causing you to shot shape a lot . Hit a tree , and your disc will roll left all the way down a long steep embankment ( like mine did ) . It is a par 5 , pin guarded by trees on the right and left . 5 has a narrow alley that you can either chance your nerve and hope you don't ricochet left into the trees or right , onto the road . You can also throw a cleaner but longer right to left hard drive over the road if you want more area to rip . The fun part of this hole is that the pin sits on a small island ( traffic island , but still ) with the streets being OB , you then turn right , go back over the road to tee 6 .The course itself flows pretty well .I won't go hole to hole and make you go crazy with this review , but I will tell you that I am understating the holes on this course . Sias made every one unique , and the elevation used on this course , well , you either better be fit or be prepared for exhaustion . If I have to pick a signature hole from one of potentially many , It would be #8 ,( 558' ) that starts by bordering the street on the left and trees and an uphill to the right , preventing shortcuts to the pin .You will have to start your drive straight and band it to the right . It moves out to a larger fairway on the right you next throw will be toward the pin that sits uphill , but guarded by a large bush and a couple trees , very tricky placement . I ran into 2 disc golf crazies not real long after this and played a good chunk of the course with them ( Hi Bob and Collin ) Their disc golf playing and enthusiasm are a lot better than their singing . Anyway . #18 will finish uphill and very close to where you parked . The baskets are Discatcher A grade , blue-topped for the blue course and white-topped for the white course ( Johnny pushed and had this approved though the parks board , impressive ) , The plus of the many large trees in this park mean that most of the course is shaded . It would be rare to lose a disc here , unless a long drive skips off a tree and rolls to the bottom of a gulch and into a creek . This course is professionally maintained . I was told that the grass is always cut and debris is always cleared . both pin positions are a workout , so the constant elevation change will test your internal resolve . If you are a first year player trying to gauge your improvement or a seasoned pro looking to empty your bag of tricks , your game will involve a lot of shot shaping and ingenuity . There are plenty of bathrooms and shelters to rest in between sets of holes . This course is everything you want , AND it plays next to 18 more holes ( The White course ) so you can make a whole morning and/or afternoon of fun and challenging play .
Cons:
There is little I can say con about this course . The rough is pretty rough , but you will have to clip a tree of griplock in order to get over there . A shade over challenging for newbies , especially family play , but that's what the shorter White course is for . Roads and traffic could cause concern , especially if your drive drifts or you clip a tree . Most important : Signage . While it does give you the distance and par ( it only sits a foot off the ground ) , it does NOT tell you which pin location it is in . With many of the holes so long and sitting behind trees , and the championship pedigree of this course , it is hard to believe that some courses graded at 2 or 2.5 have better tee signs .
Other Thoughts:
Championship level course , one of the 2 best in the state of Kentucky , and one that you can couple with a second course on the park grounds ! What more can you want ? This course will test your fitness , and leave you with wanting to play it again and again . If I lived within 45 minutes of this park , I would be here every other weekend . If my friends from Cincinnati drive all the way here to conduct or play in tournaments 3+ hours away , what could you say bad about this park ? They basically turned a good chunk of this whole park over to disc golf . I talked to the course designer , Johnny Sias , as I was writing the review for this course ( what are the chances ? ) and he offered me a lot of insight into what went into developing this course ( keep his wife in your thoughts . She is going through a tough time physically as of this writing , and he has been spending a lot of time taking care of her ) . This is a MUST PLAY , DESTINATION COURSE . spend a weekend soaking up these and a couple of courses in West Virginia , but as far as this course is concerned, PLAY IT !!!