Pros:
Ok, if you're like me, you're playing Chester's Rec course as a cool down to your round at the Pro course. No matter how bad you played, no matter how frustrated you are, no matter how many discs you lost, time for an ego boost.
- This is a fun, short, wooded 9-hole layout. Even the closing two holes do have trees that come into play. If you throw smart and straight, you're seeing birdie putts or ace runs.
- The long layout averages 217 feet, with one hole at 315 (#9), and everything else shorter than 250. The short layout averages only 132 feet, with the longest hole at 195 feet (#8), and two shorter than 100.
- For such a short course, I thought there were some smart, enjoyable layouts. #2 is a tight, dogleg left. By skill or luck, if your tee shot hits the bend right, you're ending up close to the basket.
- #5 is a tight, straight ahead shot. I was able to squeeze my tee shot to the right of a tall pine and have the disc fade back to within 3 feet of the basket.
- That leads to the fun, challenging, and/or flat-out dumb luck of this course. With such a heavy tree cover, you're playing Plinko once you're off the fairways. You may squeeze through the trees, you may get a great bounce back towards the basket, or you may get an unfortunate bounce further into the woods. Be prepared to be annoyed that you're only 20 feet off the fairway on a 150 - 200-foot hole, and you're struggling to find a way to get back onto the fairway.
- The short layout is a birdie-fest. I had 6 birdies and it was still a sub-900 round. The short layout would be a fun ace-race course.
- Same excellent tee signs that you see on the pro course. Same solid tee arrows on the baskets. That said, a few more arrows between holes are going to help the casual, new players who are playing this layout instead of the pro course.
Cons:
It's a weird long walk from #9 back to the parking lot. You're right along the fairway for #18 Pro, so you can hop onto the course, or take a longer walk back past the 8 holes you just played.
- Signage could be better. This course is meant at casuals, beginners, kids & families. The rec-level players aren't always the best at navigating between holes or finding proper tee pads. Put it this way. I got lost between holes because there weren't well defined paths. A championship-level course shouldn't be easier to navigate than a 9-hole sub-2000-foot course. Put up a handful of arrows. That's all.
- #6 is a poorly designed hole. It's a sharp dogleg right. There's not a real putting zone. I feel like someone changed their mind about cutting down some trees. It seems a tomahawk or high sweep shot is the only real shot here. My disc turned over to put me 15-20 feet from the basket. Just so happened there were a bunch of trees so no chance at putting.
Other Thoughts:
This is a fun course because it's here. Put this in any small-town park, and it's not being thought of so highly.
- There's a ton of room to spread the course out. Expand the fairway for #6. Have # 9 play in the woods heading back towards #1 instead of being a filler at the end of the line.
- All told, I enjoyed it here. I suspect everyone likes finally having some easy holes after playing the pro layout.
- It's an average 9-holer. There's nothing new or different that makes this rise above the pack. It's the lettuce on the Big Mac. No one is asking for it, but they appreciate how it soaks in the special sauce.
- It's worth an extra 15-20 minutes to play the course. Is that a recommendation? If it is, then I recommend the course.