Oh man, where to begin. First off ,this is the first course to receive a "5 disc rating" from me, because it just plain earned it. This course is both privately owned and immaculately maintained by Bill McKenzie. Bill has been running, maintaining and playing Flip City for over 30 years, and the sheer amount of work he puts into this place really shows! Disc Golf courses nationwide could stand to learn a lesson from the work and course design that has gone into this "Disc Golf Paradise." Bill is an extremely friendly and easy going guy, provided you respect his property (which should be a no-brainer)
There are no pets allowed at Flip City, and for good reason as this place is very clean and Bill aims to keep it that way. I fully support his "no dogs" policy as no one wants to step in that mess.
Every year, a group of us DGCR members get together and camp for a weekend on Bill's property, which is located within a 2 minute walk to the first pad. The feeling of waking up AT flip city and getting ready to disc is like nothing else. Plus sitting around the fire at night and sharing stories about your rounds of the day and other activities cannot be beat. It is an absolute blast every year and I cannot thank Bill enough for allowing us the opportunity to use his land. The last time that we stayed there, the cost was 10 dollars a night, per person to camp which is more than reasonable I believe. (You are encouraged/required to contact Bill about camping ahead of time)
• The scenery alone here is absolutely fantastic. With awesome touches such as rock gardens and other neat rock structures, as well as hundreds of gigantic old trees that will not only add a nice natural touch to the course as well as challenging obstacles.
• The cost to play this course is ONLY FIVE DOLLARS! Only five hundred pennies my friend (though I don't recommend trying to drop 500 pennies into the donation box)for the mere cost of a dollar menu sandwich at a local chain restaurant you can instead play one of the most well designed courses in the nation.
- Also, scorecards are located right by the donation box for keeping track of your rounds.
-There are multiple outhouses, plenty of trash cans, seating galore for both you and your bag. Brooms on pads, and many other features as well.
• Baskets used are Mach 5's and are all in amazing shape, still very grippy with plenty of life left in them.
- Concrete pads at every hole, with almost all holes having a broom to sweep away dirt and debris (a very awesome touch) A few pads are starting to show signs of age, and will need to be addressed. PLEASE PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO THE FOOT FAULT LINE, as it will help extend the life of the pads. Wooden posts next to tees are marked with the hole number.
- Also, AM tee's are available at every hole
• Routing and navigation are pretty easy here, and should be fairly easy for you to find your way around. There are plenty of worn in trails to help guide you along. There are a few centralized areas in the course where you'll find your way back to, one being the "Signature Shack" that is between Hole's 1A (my only ace hole, had to add that in
) and Hole 2A, which also 5A is basically attached to. Also, at the top of the hill after Hole 11, which by the way is one of the best holes at Flip, where you bomb your drive off an elevated pad, in hopes to reach across a valley that has a few "Rock Garden" obstacles, and hope to stick the pin 344' away, there is another intersection, and a table that leads to the next alternate hole (If you decide to play them) 1A on the right, and also hole 12 is to the left, should you decide to only play 18.
- Another awesome feature at flip, are the "mowed pathways" that bill has cut into the sides of the holes, to help locate discs easier, as well as help with navigation. Very, very nice addition.
• Elevation change at Flip City is HUUUGE, and very much the backbone of the variety here. Pin placement is impeccable, and the risk/reward for rollaway putts as well as overshots are very present. Almost every hole has a different sort of setup for the basket, from sitting on the very opposite side of an insane gauntlet of trees (Hole 3A) to blind shots uphill to hope you stick the landing by the basket (Hole 5) Flip City offers it all.
- The longest hole of the course is 2A, at 670' which really makes you earn the nearly impossible "3" required for par. You shoot off an elevated pad to dodge clusters of trees in the middle of the fairway, that extend all the way to the back where the basket rests in a cul de sac area. The best I've ever scored on this hole is a "4" and that was with a VERY lucky bogey shot with a GL Fuse from around 100' out.
(Just imagine all the work that Bill puts into the mowing on hole 2A alone, we're talking HOURS)
This course will test every shot in your repertoire, from tight tunnel shots that transition to uphill shots (Hole 6A and 3A in terms of tunnels and trees) to long bombers over obstacle strewn valley's below (Hole 11) not to mention a good mix of blind shots (Hole 5,17) flip will test it all.
• Bill runs a summer league every year, that is both a great learning experience for your game, as well as a chance to meet some cool people. I am bummed I wasn't able to make it to as many meet ups in 2013 as I was in 2012.
• The course is relatively CART friendly, I would give it a solid 7/10 in terms of ease of use for carts. There are some steep slopes you'll want to take extra care with, but it is doable.