The mad alchemist has created yet another transmutation!
Master disc golf course designer Dan Doyle, father of the world class Warwick, Campgaw, & Sugarbush courses, along with co-designer Steve Brinster, one of the world's best disc golfers, have once again taken a middle sized ski hill and turned it into a brilliant venue for disc golf which offers unique challenges unlike any state park or town park disc golf course. In conjunction with some amazingly hard-working staff at Blue Mountain who worked diligently to make for the little touches that are the difference between an average layout and a superb one, the new track at Blue Mountain offers a professional venue, scenic vistas, thrilling downhill shots, varied tee and pin positions to provide flexibility for several skill levels, and some sadistic and masochistic hole designs which will challenge every aspect of your game and force you to use every shot in your bag.
The new "Skyline Park" disc golf course at Blue Mountain was designed in the spring of 2009 and plays down nearly the full 1082' vertical (biggest in the state of Pennsylvania) from the top of the Comet quad lift to the Valley Lodge base far below. The genius of the layout is that the front nine plays fairly open down the majority of the mountain on the Paradise beginner ski trail, while the back nine plays technically through the woods around the bottom of the ski area and over the Snowboard Half Pipe, Terrain Park area, and Valley School Beginner areas. This back nine plays similarly to traditional disc golf courses, although there are still extreme elevation changes and challenges galore. The dichotomy between the two sections of the course makes for an experience that is thoroughly satisfying and rarely boring; as compared to other ski area courses which can play somewhat repetitively down the ski trails, the Blue Mountain course brilliantly mixes it up. Those familiar with Doyle's previous creations at Sugarbush Vermont will find that the Blue Mountain course plays almost like a combination of the Peak and Base courses, which keeps things fresh at every turn.
Before getting into notes on individual holes, one thing that should be stressed is the hard work which the resort staff put into the course. It's one thing to just install tees and baskets to make for a new disc golf course, but it's another to take the time to get all the little details right to provide for a professional experience. During the course of play, I was constantly impressed at the superb concrete tees, the rock steps built in many places around the course, the landscaping around baskets, the mowed fairways and walking paths to next holes, wood chips around poleholes, signage directing folks to the next tee, benches at each tee location, both pro and amateur, and even water jugs and porto-potties set out on the course! The staff seems intent on making sure that disc golfers feel like they got every penny's worth of the meager admission charge for playing the course.
After a scenic chairlift ride up to the summit of 1540', an expansive, nearly 360 degree view unfolds before you. The Lehigh Valley is off to the south, while one can look east or west down the Blue mountain range. But with the north facing location of the ski resort, most will be awestruck by the wondrous vistas ahead of the foothills leading up to the Pocono plateau. Hole#1 shoots down towards the open area at the top of the Sidewinder & Challenge trails, and is a great opportunity to warm up the arm; from the Blue tee, it's a fairly easy 642' par four, and from the Am tee it's a reachable 405' par 3. As will be described on each hole, the Skyline Park course is somewhat unusual in that it features either two teepads and one pin position on each hole, or one teepad and two pin positions on each hole. This gives the course two separate layouts for varying skill levels even though it was not possible to put two tees and two pin locations on each and every hole. It's a great concept!
Hole#2 plays to a pin location set up on top of a large hill on the edge of the woods. It looks shorter than it plays, as the elevated basket location makes the hole play a lot longer.
Hole#3 is the first truly thrilling downhill shot typical of ski resort courses. Although it plays down the Paradise beginner trail, the elevation change is significant and one can throw a shot literally hundreds of feet further than is normally possible on park disc golf courses. (It should be noted that as Blue Mountain is my "home" ski area, I was constantly awestruck at how I remembered as "gentle" sloping terrain looking so very different in the summertime without snow. Let's just say that I have a new appreciation for the contours of this mountain now) At 645' from the Blue tee, it's possible to drive the green of this hole, and throwing a low beeline drive, both designer Dan Doyle and I put our drives within 50' of the basket! Where else can one throw a nearly 600' disc golf shot? The only trouble on this hole is a line of evergreens on the left with a severe drop-off past them - it is absolutely critical that golfers err to the right on this hole to avoid this significant hazard. The use of spotters may be a good idea here.
Hole#4 plays severely uphill 188' through a chute in the woods to an elevated basket position & green, with severe rollaways possible. The long pin is another 100' to the right and makes the hole multi-dimensional: one can choose to just concentrate on hitting the chute, or try for a more difficult shot which turns right after escaping the chute.
Hole#5 is a 426' open downhill bomber, whose Blue basket lies out in the middle of the Razor's Edge trail. This is one of the steepest slopes at the ski resort, and an unlucky putt which gets up on edge could theoretically roll hundreds of feet down the mountain. Thankfully, this one of the few such "evil" pin positions at the course. The short pin is 346' and a nice ace run.
Hole#6 is a wide open uphill connector hole which plays 309' at its longest. It's a great opportunity for deuce and sorely needed to offset the difficult holes which follow.
Hole#7 is an 835' pro par four from the Blue tee, and offers yet another opportunity to crush a disc golf disc further than you've ever thrown one before. The basket is set in a *really* beautiful pin location next to woods on the right-hand side. Similar to hole#3, the evergreens on the left side of this hole guard a significant drop-off where if discs stray, are likely not recoverable. To play it safe, I threw a Classic Roc off the tee and was left with about 300' to the basket. Never in my wildest dreams could I imagine throwing a Classic Roc over 530 feet!
Hole#8 plays either 400' or 444' down to one of the wide switchbacks on the Paradise trail. The white tee offers a straightforward look at it, but the Blue tee is set so that a left-to-right turning shot is required. A sidearm for a right-handed thrower is probably the preferred shot here.
Hole#9 is the last of the downhill ski trail shots and plays down the steepest terrain on the Paradise beginner trail. Here, the dangerous shot is one that breaks right and past evergreens. Dan threw one which ultimately got away from him and disappeared up to the right, over the trees, and off the side of the mountain, never to be seen again. The approach may be trickier than the drive, as it possible to fly another hundred feet past the polehole if you're not careful.
Hole#10 is where the technical part of the course begins, and the first of these is a real beauty! From the long tee, it plays 324' from a chute in the woods, across the new Dreamweaver slope, and up to a basket perched in a chute in the woods on the other side. It's a skillful deuce.
Hole#11 is a fairly straightforward par 3 hole across the flat outrun of Razor's Edge, but there's a significant drop-off past the polehole - ace runs which miss could turn deadly.
Hole#12 will likely be the most debated hole on the course. From the Blue tee, it shoots through a very tight window through the woods - way too tight, imo. The low ceiling on the hole also prevents drives from the short tee from legitimately reaching the basket, which is perched up the last steep portion of Paradise. I think this is one hole which could use a little more work, especially with some dead limbs removed from the right side of the fairway to open up the Blue fairway.
Hole#13 is my pick for the best designed hole on the course - it's a pro par five hole of 750' from the long tee in which three placement shots are necessary to grab a score of birdie 4. The landing area is on the ski trail, but the second shot then climbs up a road through the woods to the short pin position, and makes for a nice par four. Big arms could theoretically score an eagle three here on the long pin position, but once again the pin is set precariously and errant shots right could end up far, far away.
Hole#14 plays down a fun section of the course called "The Falls." In the wintertime, it's nothing but a bump on the outrun of the Challenge trail, but in the summertime, it's practically a cliff. The two pin positions play 345' and 375' but it's really just a putter shot off the tee. The amateur location is out in the open while the pro basket is tucked right into trees making for a tougher deuce. Take care walking down to the baskets from the tee, as it is quite slippery here.
Hole#15 is a relatively straightforward par three which plays only 339' at its longest, and is an excellent chance to score a 2 and get a stroke back which you might have lost up on the mountain somewhere.
Hole#16 plays across a deep wooded gully at the top of the half-pipe. The short tee is only 177', but the long tee plays a full 250' longer. To avoid this gully area from the Blue tee, a righty hyzer route exists around the outside for throwers that want to take the safe 3. Errant shots into the gully from the Blue tee almost ensure a bogey.
Hole#17 plays out of a very tight wooded chute, with the short pin position up the hill to the left on the Valley School East slope. The long pin is another 260' feet further and through a woodline out on the Valley School West slope. I like this hole because the preferred way to play it is a left-turning shot off the tee, and then a right-turning approach on this really sweet pro par four. You'd be very enthused to score a birdie three on the penultimate hole at Blue Mountain.
The final hole#18 is a monster 609' to 810' pro par five hole from both tees. The drive is open until your disc must pass through a narrow opening between trees and a fence. From there, the hole is another 450' or so down a wide slope to a pin position tucked up in the woods above the snowboard halfpipe. Approach shots which fall short and right may end up actually in the halfpipe, which is a really neat hazard. It's a hole where it's not too difficult to score a birdie 4 as long as you avoid trouble on the first few shots. Pro par on the long course was 31 (front) + 33 (back) for a 64, and I couldn't complain about a 66 my first time through.