Pros:
(1.425 Rating) A wide open 9 hole bomber course.
- GROW THE SPORT - No doubt will this course aid in growing the sport by offering students easy access to learn the game at a beginner friendly course, on school grounds.
- FORGIVENESS - The odds of losing a disc due to an errant shot is very low with two exceptions. In the event that one misses left on (4) and it then cuts well into the woods. Also not wise leave one short on (5) and put it into the retention pond. Note, pond was completely dry during my March round.
- MAINTENANCE - The grounds appear to be mowed weekly and were very clean despite a lack of garbage cans along the layout. I didn't notice any areas that had significant overgrowth other than along the left side of (4)'s fairway.
- NAVIGATION - I came to the Bainbridge course blind, and for the most part, had no trouble navigating the layout. Finding the course was perhaps the hardest part. (course is located on the west side of campus) I made a map of my findings and posted it under the Files tab. Please note that when on tee (6), the basket is not straight ahead, but rather it doglegs left between two wings of the High School.
- ACEABILITY - Several good looks at aces at the end on the round. Holes (7) (8) and (9) are all unguarded shots under 300 feet.
- QUICK PLAY - A single could easily complete a full 9 in under 45 minutes. Groups of 4 would probably finish a double 9 in about 2 hours.
- CHAINS - The baskets are brand new and in great shape.
Cons:
Bainbridge is missing a lot compared to established courses.
- UNIQUENESS - The holes themselves in terms variety are below average. All of the holes play mostly straight with a spattering of trees. There are only two sweeping shots (2) and (6) and they turn in the same direction, to the left. There is however a few par 4's and even a par 6, which was the first time I've seen that. At 920 feet long though, it could easily be labeled a par 5.
- ELEVATION - The course is about as flat as they come and probably changes by no more than 10 feet on any one hole. There's really no good opportunity to introduce anything either. It's a pretty flat site.
- CHARACTER - Well below average. There is no tee shading or wind shielding, no seating, no map, no community board and no practice basket. There is however hole signage at all the tees and it offers an very simplistic description of the hole and the hole's distance. I could easily foresee a wonderful opportunity for a school art project to enhance these. Also note, the hole distances on a few signs are noticeably way off. In some cases off by over a hundred feet. I imputed hole distance for this course based on satellite imagery.
- TEES AREA - The tees are grass and void of any permanent line markings for a tee edge. However, it is possible that they spray paint a line at times during the school year, just nothing was observed by me during my round.
- BASKET AND TEE SEPERATION - There are numerous occurrences where the basket and next tee are perilously close. Several times they are separated by less than 30 feet.
- OPEN HOURS - Due to the location of being on high school grounds, the course is probably unplayable for non-students during school hours. Please note that there is a guarded gate at the high school vehicle entrance, but it was unoccupied when I showed up on a Sunday afternoon.
- WIND - Due to the lack of trees, wind will likely be an issue. I was personally greeted with gusts at 30mph.
Other Thoughts:
If I lived in Bainbridge, I'm sure I'd play here quite a bit as it's the only course for miles around. That said, probably really not worth a visit in most circumstances unless you're a course bagger like me.