Douglasville, GA

Dog River

2.95(based on 5 reviews)
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10 0
Bennybennybenny
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 13.7 years 321 played 303 reviews
2.00 star(s)

River the Very Bad Dog! 2+ years

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Jun 21, 2021 Played the course:once

Pros:

-After a few attacks by this wild, and incredibly angry rottweiler, you might see that he won't be tamed. You have to really capitalize when he's asleep or when he's distracted and not thinking of you. This is a course where laying up a good bit of the time and not going big could give you a 1000+ rated round. Probably -3 from the longs I would guess. This isn't a long layout, but many lines are tight or a least a little odd. If you read this and play it afterwards, you'll know what I mean. There are several holes where you want to go for the birdie and several where you want to be safe and play carefully for par.

-Enough foreplay, underneath this could be a very good course. The land is hilly and very wooded. I enjoyed #9. This hole is a 352' par four but plays nearly 500' due to it being a long way uphill. #11 was a fun par three that was just the right amount of challenge for a tough course. The sign said it was 292' but it seemed longer (maybe 350') since it's downhill significantly and still threw a mid range. The line isn't too forgiving but it's not too tight either. Holes #4 and #13 were nice shorter downhill holes with some challenge to them, but easier birdies nonetheless.

-Very quiet area. I had the course to myself on a Monday morning. That also means that there was no one for me to out run from a beastly canine.

-Nice disc catchers and concrete tee pads. The course map is good too and detailed. It's in the disc golf parking area. Nice that there's a parking area designated for disc golfers!

-It's at a library. Locals could spend some time disc golfing and then find something to read in other spare time. There's a park along with it being at a library. Seems like a very relevant place in Douglasville!

Cons:

-It's too sharp. It was very sharp and jagged the whole way through. Course is in a very safe area at a library, but the course itself is incredibly sharp in regards to design. I don't think anyone has used that word to describe a course, but it seems to fit perfectly. Felt like being in an old yard facing a wild vicious dog! Or felt like sitting in a hot tub with a temperature fifteen degrees higher than the optimum temperature for a hot tub. Along with incredibly high pH levels and then you get the worst skin rash cause you, for whatever reason God knows what, decided to stay in there. There's some overgrowth here and there, and a fallen tree near the basket on #2 and that adds to the sharpness. The cons further below are what make this course unnecessarily rough and unenjoyable. The fairways ARE discernable, but laying up on par threes is what you are called to do here. A really good player over 950 rated could shoot 15 over or worse here if they try to go for some of the par threes here. Yes, I get that getting extremely ambitious results in big consequences at hard courses. But many of the par threes at Dog River are like miniature dogleg par fours. You know? Par three distances but getting a two is once in a blue moon.

Now onto the mythical dog, he BITES! And he's out to hurt you. Showing off skill and going big will wake this beast up, because you'll get bad breaks here and the harder you go, the harder you suffer when you fly off the fairway. There are sixteen par threes and trying to go for all of them will get you bitten and bruised by Dog River. Hole #2 is unreachable. 387' and largely downhill (definitely more than 35' down in elevation) and tainted because of it's wild left turn from the long pad. The short pad gives a straighter look and it's 303'. So throw 84' ahead and 303' left from the long and that's how you reach it. Yuck! #6 is a 90 degree dogleg left going steep downhill and back straight uphill at the bend with death all on the right side. I lost an explorer on the right and looked entirely too long for it. 360' and your best bet at par is simply avoid ambition. Just throw a putter down the hill. Throw another up it, and you'll probably par. I don't like to habitually lay up. Disgusting! I don't think laying up should be a better idea on maybe more than a few holes but it's a better option on plenty of them here. Gross!

-No hole diagrams on the tee signs. There's no indication given on where the basket is from the tee when it can be hard to spot. It says on the pad that #7 is 255' and it's like 360'. That's clearly a second pin. Nice if there are alternate pins, but if so, the tee signs should be updated.

-Miscommunication. I pulled in at the entrance and it said the park was closed. I drove past the gate anyway and saw the parking area and it said the course and trails were open. Didn't know if I was supposed to be there or not. Not that I really cared since the gate was open but if you are more of a rule follower than I am, you may want to call the number. I mean, why put up a sign at the entrance saying the park is closed and then have signs saying its open once you pass the entrance? Kind of illogical.

-There aren't many thorns, but many holes play on the sides of slopes and the rough is very rough to throw out of if you land in there. With the trees being very close together, it's hard to spot where your disc lands. It's even harder if you land in the woods where there's a sloping hill. You could ricochet far down and have no clue where you land if you don't play safe on some holes. My explorer on #6 could be just 20' into the woods on the right or 250' or the right. Who knows?!

Other Thoughts:

-It's gotten more beat in. Sometimes when a raw course gets beat in, it looks even more raw. There are several fallen trees due to bad weather and some very grassy spots. There's no denying that it was a brilliant idea to design a course here; it's just very rough and jagged without a lot of thrill. #2's short pad was a lot of fun but it needs some maintenance and the long pad was a very bad idea. I'll say that I thought #5 was better than the other reviewers thought it was. I kind of liked the big valley left fade. It's very tough but I found it to be a lot more fair than many of the holes here. I agree with them on #2, #6, and #16. All failed attempts at hyzer shots. Low ceilings with a valley (#6) which make it impossible to have the right skip to get there since it's back uphill, tight lines with no room for mistiming (#2), or a fallen tree near the pin (#16). Many others were bizarre too. #18 was overgrown for the first part of it from the long pad and the remainder (the short pad) presents a strange fairway with the basket visible straight ahead but a curving fairway. Going straight for the basket would not follow the designated fairway.

-I need it needs a makeover. Someone needs to tame this dog. You have to play this course safely without risks, as if you are fetching a ball from a neighbor's yard. A neighbor with a mean watch dog.
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11 0
Shadrach3
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 6.1 years 339 played 322 reviews
3.00 star(s)

A Wooded...well, Beast 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 27, 2020 Played the course:once

Pros:

A very challenging, hilly tract of forest.

-Amenities: Concrete tees. DISCatchers, which are absolutely necessary for a course this wooded. Tee signs have number, par, and distance.

-Seclusion: Feels like a private course, other than the occasional car driving past on the two-lane rural highway.

-Elevation: Substantial elevation change comes into play frequently, a good complement to the thick woods.

-Challenge: If you're dissatisfied with the difficulty of most wooded courses, come here. It's a beast--whether in a good way or a bad way will depend on your skill level. Though mostly par 3's, Dog River requires substantial distance at times and the whole course is covered in very thick forest. I checked, and in 2019 tournament play an even par round netted a 981, which would rank it a touch harder than the gold course at WR Jackson in the 2017 Worlds, where even par was a 976.

-Shot Shaping/Gameplay: Good, even pretty great for an almost entirely par-3 course with only one type of terrain (thick woods). There is a good mix of straighter shots, pockets, gentle curves, and sharp turns. Definitely a lot of risk/reward with all the trees. The elevation will also challenge your touch, and if you fail it'll be a tricky putt. A dream course for advanced technical players.

Cons:

A tad bit rough, and make sure you know what you're getting into.

-Signage: A woods course with diverse lines + signs with no maps = huge annoyance. I think this is a course that you'll have to know well to score well.

-Difficulty: As noted above, by one metric this course is even harder than the hardest at the International Disc Golf Center. As a rec player, I got obliterated. I wouldn't recommend coming here unless you like woods courses, and probably only if you're an advanced player (or really like accumulating strokes).

-Disc Loss: Bring the bright colors. Some shots are blind and there are spots of rough that are thick, if not painful.

-Forgiveness: I don't think Dog River understands what this means. It's scramble practice heaven, because any mistake will put you in a desperate spot.

-Suspect Holes: I won't bother to enumerate which ones (check wellsbranch's review if you care), but a handful of these holes are borderline unbelievable. I think they're all birdie-able with a good putt; however, I think even pros would be playing only for a long putt (not the pin) on some.

-Benches: I don't recall seeing any benches, which is a crucial omission with the steep hills here.

Other Thoughts:

People's feelings about Dog River will vary widely. Technical advanced players could easily give it a 4.5, while bomber-type intermediates might easily give it a 0.5. I've stuck with Good, because the lines are generally plausible for an advanced player and the elevation adds excitement, but there are some wonk-a-doodle holes and the target market is really small. I'd suggest that if you dislike trees and/or you aren't a highly proficient player, you should stay away.
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8 0
Moose33
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 12.8 years 239 played 236 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Many Tight Lines to Hit 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Mar 7, 2020 Played the course:once

Pros:

Dog river is a newer course that played around the grounds of the Dog River Library. It's a very tightly wooded course with tunnel shots, a lot of interesting elevation changes and a good amount of death putts.

The design is a thoughtful one that requires a good amount of turnover shots, hyzerflips and tunnel hitting skip hyzers.

Mainly features 4x6 concrete pads that are nice and well poured.

Baskets are Innova disccatchers with the gold band which is perfect for wooded golf.

Lots of benches, good parking area and a bathroom by hole 11.

Cons:

It's super RHBH heavy. I'm a FH dominate player with a decent Bh and this course felt like playing with shackles on. I could rarely use any of my pure strengths, but it did stretch me on hyzerflips and BH tunnel shots.

The signs leave a bit to be desired, they are attractive, but only have hole number, par and distance. With most of the baskets being blind it hurt me quite a bit not knowing where to aim on about half the holes.

Some of the lines from the long tees make a birdie shot unrealistic for many holes. About 5 dogleg so hard, I just threw my putter to the opening and then did a second drive. A valid design choice, but not one I am a fan of.

It's a multi Dimensional course, but probably just two main elements; elevation and trees.

Other Thoughts:

It's a pretty good course, but not one that I'll go this far out of my way to play again. If you like tight wooded golf where you can never rip a driver, you might like this. I prefer a variety like Boundary Waters where you can hit some of these lines, but get to air it out every now and again.
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15 0
wellsbranch250
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 10.8 years 694 played 680 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Difficult And Beautiful 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Oct 12, 2019 Played the course:once

Pros:

(3.161 Rating) A beautiful wooded course with a few questionable par 3s.
- RAW BEAUTY - Without question this is the best quality of the course. 18 straight holes crafted through a forest with some risers, some fallers and some twirly twirls. This course wore me out a bit, but I was still wearing a smile by the time I was standing on the last tee. My favorite tee shot lines were short tee (2) and (11), but if I were asked tomorrow, I might change my mind.
- CHALLENGING - Advanced level. This is one of those courses were a 900 rated local technical
Player could beat an out-of-town pro. The lines need to be played two or three times before a determination came be made if a disc can make a certain angle. A loss of focus or coming in here guns blazing will be very punishing. Smart game play is required. All stated, some of this difficulty is flawed due to impossible lines in relation to the par figure, see cons.
- CHAINS - The perfect choice for a woods course - DISCatchers.
- NAVIGATION - Adequate. A course map is posted between the parking area and tee (1). Oddly it's mounted sideways. Somewhat intuitive paths between holes and a few navigational cues.
- CHARACTER - In addition to the nice baskets and navigation, this wooded course comes with a lot of tee shading and benches scattered throughout. Adequately sized concrete tees and 3 extra ones so far. I would not be surprised to hear that more tees get added because there's room. I saw one extra unmarked basket placement on (11) which adds about 80 feet.
- UNIQUENESS - I enjoyed the amount of thought I had to do at the tee just prior to throwing into a tree. For those that enjoy shaping shots with needle line precision, they will likely enjoy this one. Elevation change I think hits the 50-foot mark on a couple holes. Shots break both ways and there are a couple 'S' lines as well. There's a neat big 90-degree dogleg on (18) long and some terrifying gullies to avoid. The biggest omission is the grip and rip shot.
- TIME PLAY - About average. I finished solo in 50 minutes, but I surprisingly did very little searching. Figure around 2 hours for a foursome.
- FLYBOY - 10 minutes from Flyboy Aviation.

Cons:

Discs will say hello to the trees early and often.
- UNREALISTIC LINES - Far too many borderline ridiculous lines. (16) is the worst. A par 3 tunneling 350-foot with a 90 degree turn. The second leg is as long as the first leg. The only discs that I know that can travel this arc are the ones that don't leave the bag. Long tee (2) is laughable, and its why I moved onto the short tees right away. I bet that tee rarely gets used. Tee (5) looks is impossible without 450-foot power and some luck. (6) and (7) are similar big hooks requiring a local route to get within 50 feet.
- TEE SIGNS - Sub-par being just a hole number and distance. Wooded courses with blind basket locations need a description of the angle at the tee. On the last five or six holes I saw some masking tape on the tee signs with a sharpie description of the line. Thank you to whomever did this.
- RAW - As with most newer courses cut through woods, this course will need some time to beat in. The thicket is bad in spots and I got scraped up good by brier a couple times. I stumbled into roots and small rocks occasionally too. Probably some poison ivy, snakes and ticks in the woods as well, although I didn't observe any because it was mid fall.
- ROAD - Extremely minor, but Georgia State Road 5 could come into play with a horrible ricochet throwing from tee (4).
- BEGINNER FRIENDLY - Not for Beginners or Novice level players.
- TERRAIN - Not for those with joint pain. The course is somewhat cart friendly.
- NO BOMBERS - Players that prefer to bomb shots probably won't like this course.

Other Thoughts:

This course is going to have a wide range of opinions. Later in the day, I mentioned that I played here to some players while over at nearby Flyboy Aviation, and one of them cursed this course out. This is an extremely technical course, and players that don't like this style, won't like this one either. For me, the good outweighed the bad, although I did drop the rating from a 3.5 to 3.0 due to the numerous somewhat unachievable lines.
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11 0
bk_ching
Experience: 35.2 years 141 played 8 reviews
3.50 star(s)

A Nice Woodsy, Hilly Adventure 2+ years

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Sep 13, 2019 Played the course:once

Pros:

* The course was well cleared out in the fairways with wood chips spread along portions as well as on some walking trails.
* A few wooden benches laid out along some holes, along with some trash cans.
* Nice Mach 2 baskets with yellow bands and numbers for each hole.
* Tee pads give the thrower ample room to throw and a decent run up.
* Easy to spot the next tee with a few directional signs to help guide the way.

Cons:

* Some of the lines are tight with major dogleg and low ceilings, making it hard to get in any contention for a birdie opportunity.
* Not many birdie opportunities for the Am player, with exception of say #1, short #2, #10, and short #18.
* Sharp right angles, low branch ceilings, and quirky turns are more likely than not going to result in pars, unless you drive high and get lucky on a few holes.
* A couple holes play parallel to Hwy 5 where passing cars can be loud, but an errant drive would have to "get lucky" to find the road.

Other Thoughts:

This is definitely a woodsy and hilly course worth playing. It will give you a workout for sure, especially playing early to mid day in the hot late summer sun. Be sure you have good tread on your shoes. I was expecting it to look more in rough form, but was pleased to see how well the fairways were cleared.

If you miss your lines along the fairway, the rough is not that bad and did not see really any thorns, briars or vines in the way, and with a good lie, you may have a FH, BH or tomahawk throw out.

You will most likely pay with an extra stroke or two, especially on the longer holes. Very important to hit those gaps. Not a lot of room for error on tight fairways. Drive placement is essential for a decent score.

There are a few quirky, tight, 90 degree doglegs which are very difficult to place for any decent birdie attempt. You have to throw high and get lucky to not hit high branches and then go wide enough to get the distance.

Hole 5 should be a Par 4 in my opinion, since it plays more like 420'+ due to long hill. The other 2 Par 4's (9 and 18) are fair.

Speaking of Par 4, on #18, this was the first time I've ever seen a hole where the long tee basically requires a set up shot at a 90 degree angle to land in the direction of the short tee. Strange, but interesting at same time. It at least gives you a point of reference throwing from long pad. Short #18 tee is a few inches shorter by comparison to all the other pads, even short #2 and #6.

After #10, there are outside bathrooms in view, behind the library. The front library entrance is within close walking distance too from long #18 tee to library parking lot. Great to cool off after a nice, hot round for some quick AC and to refill your bottle(s) at the water fountain.

The course, for the time being, is not going to have a lot of golfer traffic, as I had the course to myself all day on a Friday afternoon. Weekends may be different, but for most part, it's pretty secluded out in Douglas County and well worth a trip for a couple hours.
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