Pros:
-Beautiful property, classic Maine woods, some stone walls and exposed rock faces and a mix of hardwoods and conifers. Somebody loves this course and it shows.
-Clean, no trash. Someone obviously takes a lot of pride in upkeep here.
-New DISCatcher Pro baskets with additional yellow paint on the poles to increase visibility. All well mounted and solid.
-Flat level large rubber tee pads that had great traction. Rubber over stone and well build. I suspect they will hold up well.
-Even the tightest technical fairways have a clean line to the hole. May have two workable lines to the basket.
-Welcome kiosk with slot and blackboard for lost discs, plus scorecards (in choice of two colors!), pencils. The kiosk building was locked and windowless, I suppose it's a storage building? Plans for something more IE Pro Shop? Room behind for a little picnic area and maybe to barbeque? Looks like it might be a nice place to host a tournament.
-Port-o-potty
-Practice basket and room to maybe throw a few warm-up tosses
-Hole one starts and hole 18 finishes close to the parking lot
-Nice homemade yellow signs point the way to the next tee box. Course navigation easy even for a first time visitor. Each hole had a sign with the hole layout and yardage.
-Underbrush well cleared, didn't have to spend too much time looking for discs
-Nice mix of holes... some long par 5's, a couple of 4's. All reachable potential pars and many birdie opportunities for a "Rec" level player and not overwhelming to a beginner.
-Sandy loam soil dries quickly. I played one day after a big rain and the course was dry and firm.
-Local players friendly and helpful, but admittedly I had a small sample size.
Cons:
I rated this course four stars: "Excellent" and loved playing it. The following cons are minor things that keep this course from getting to the very elite level.
-One tee and one basket per hole. Course difficulty works great for me, I suspect it works for most intermediate players and isn't too intimidating for beginners. For the "big arms" and the pros this might be a birdie binge. Most of the par 3's are under 300', putters and mid-range discs for to advanced players.
-A few holes had places to sit, often old lawn or resin chairs, but no consistent benches. Many but not all tees had trash barrels. This course has lots of charm but currently lacks the "finish" of the elite courses out there.
-Some minor issues with a couple of the tee pads (real nit pics here, see below for details.)
Other Thoughts:
My wife and I take one or two "coast of Maine" get away weekends every year and I've made disc golf part of that. There are lots of great courses in this area (Acker's and Sabbatus), but I thought I'd give this course a try and I'm glad I did. It was a blast to play and near to shopping, my wife dropped me off and enjoyed an afternoon exploring Topsham/Brunswick. Did I mention the lobster rolls just down the road?
Hole by hole:
#1 240' Par 3 Slight dogleg left, narrow opening, some early trees! Also a bit of a tunnel, can't throw too high. Nice opening hole, be ready to hit a tight line. For my right hand forehand I needed to move just off the left edge of the tee pad to get the best line.
#2 240' Par 3 Again slight dogleg left another tight hole but not the early trees to content with. Path out to the right a bit if you can turn it right to left. Woodchips make for good footing and a small stream to cross.
#3 321' Par 3 Not overly wooded but some trees to contend with, beautiful stone wall line the right side. Green drops off quickly to the right of basket.
#4 455'? Sign is different from the score card I think. Par 5 Starts downhill with a little right turn, then turns off to the left. A birdie opportunity for an intermediate if you can hit a line, really a par 4 for the advanced players. A cool foot bridge over the gully.
#5 218' Par 3 Nice straight level mostly open birdie run, but the basket on a flat area, but go right and green drops off down a big hill.
#6 420' Par 4 Slightly up hill off the tee... two lines to the basket, you can go left or go right but trees block the middle. Basket on a flat. Legit par 4
#7 300' Par 3 Fun downhill, the right to left line works best, a white birch protecting the basket.
#8 254 ' Par 3 Great par three, uphill, wonderful specimen oak, 15' around protects the middle of the fairway. Basket protected by a big spruce.
#9 231' Par 3 Not much net elevation change tee to basket, but a dip in the middle. Two lines, main fairway is left to right but there is also a right to left line there somewhere. Center of fairway well protected.
#10 618' Par 5 Best hole on the course to me. Downhill, fairly open to you'll have to avoid trees to get a birdie opportunity. Wood chips on many parts of the fairway, lack of undergrowth makes a roller of possible throw.
#11 275' Par 3 Dogleg right, well defined fairway, a bit downhill
#12 354' Par 4 Hard dogleg right, have to get disc turning right quickly for a birdie chance. Huge drop-off to the right, is that Cripps' Creek? Trees line the fairway. A couple of accurate shots makes for an easy par, but loose concentration and this can turn to a bogie quickly.
#13 531' Par 5 Long par five, clean fairway but trees off line will catch a bad drive. Be careful, huge drop-off to the right of the fairway. Looks like some fire damage, nothing to prevent rolling all the way down the hill if you tee off too far right. It takes two long and accurate throws to get a birdie look.
#14 155' Par 3 Shortest, easiest hole on the course. Looks like four people have their names on the "ace post" just this summer.
#15 210' Par 3 Another short flat birdie run, but a maple tree protecting the basket and some scruff to the left of the basket to content with.
#16 287' Par 3 Interesting rocky uphill. Can get in trouble if you go way left or right, but stay straight you just have the rocky face to deal with. Elevation gain over 20' so the hole plays much longer than the posted distance.
#17 200' Par 3 Straight, level, pretty easy. Tee pad is a bit odd: It points into the woods about 20 degrees to the left of the basket. Did the design of this hole change? A dog leg straightened? Short enough hole it didn't really affect the tee shot, just odd.
#18 254' Straight mostly flat finishing hole. Pedestrian par. I'd prefer an epic finish that can create a two shot swing in a tight match, but at least it brings you back to the parking lot.
Final Thoughts: I would play often if I lived nearby. I love these "pay to play" dedicated disc golf courses that a common in this part of Maine. Wish we had courses like this closer to my home. Obvious the course owner puts a lot of heart and soul into this course and it's much appreciated. And did I mention the nearby lobster rolls?