DeBell Disc Golf is the latest 'Disc on Ball Golf Course' in the Los Angeles area and it is the most tame one yet. This simple 9 hole course sits on about 10 acres of rolling hills below a debris basin bordering an upscale neighborhood. A variety of trees including maple and pine trees shape lines on the course and typically will not allow errant discs to pass through. A concrete river-type-thing runs through the center of the course, and as of now does not play OB.
The course begins strong with a set of downhill holes, the first being a very obtainable steeper shot and the second I believe is the longest on the course. Look for the orange rocks (maybe more colors in the future?), which indicate the tee. They will be near the ball golf tees, within about 50 feet or so...our course follows the same layout as the existing course. Temporary tee signs were set up with distances on them, but I'm not sure if these will last or if something will replace them once they tweak all the tee locations. Beyond the 2nd hole, distances shorten up but the course opens up a bit for holes 6 and 7.
Once across the ravine on hole 4, the remainder of the course reveals itself to players as the majority of it is visible from that point...and it's not very large. Nonetheless, these holes are not just straight-forward pitch and putts; most incorporate a substantial turn, and there is even a nifty triple mando on hole five (a tunnel, and later a tree that you shouldn't pass). Additionally, the ball golf greens were on several occasions placed in the 'wrong' landing zone providing additional punishment for the wrong shot. For example, on a left dogleg, the bolf greens were dead ahead. Remember, ball golf greens play OB at these courses.
Hole 9 appeared to be the designers favorite hole, a right dogleg over a ravine with substantial tree coverage. This hole still needs a little time to mature but while it does not look very obtainable off of the tee, we found that our drives were all within long-birdie range, as was the case on several previous holes. That tends to happen when most holes are in the 250 foot range
My favorite part about hole 9 was the fact that the ball golf green is right where a well thrown straight shot would land, which provides a challenge for beginner players.
Locals, please be sure to get up to this course and support the Disc on Ball Golf movement. It's not going to really win you over with its mega extreme challenges, but its always nice to have a new course. If these struggling Par 3 courses (and they are EVERYWHERE) start to pull profit from disc, we will see more disc golf installments...simple as that. This is a great course to visit if you are introducing somebody to the sport: It's clean, quiet, fun, and straightforward. In addition, it's pretty hard to lose a disc here. On both of our visits we saw a few 'disc golfers' but more importantly saw a bunch of kids and families throwing disc which is great! Something we just don't see too often in LA. I wish Zach and everybody at DeBell all the best with the evolution of the course as well as a local club. This is now the closest disc golf course for millions of residents in the Eastern San Fernando Valley. Oh, and props to Burbank for having the Mayor come out for the opening day ceremonies, what a great way to make us feel welcome in their city!