Pros:
-A variety of open, wooded, upslope, downslope, gaps, and an elevated tee shot in the open. The primary feature are several wooded holes played in a creek bed. Holes in the creek bed have protruding branches and rocks, fallen trees, and have canopy.
-Hole 2 was the only hole I saw with two baskets. Several holes have a long tee pad. Some basket placements are rollers.
-Tees and baskets are close together, providing a quick pace for those who desire it. Long tee pads have been added sometime in the past.
-Navigation is primarily counter-clockwise with some interweaving. Some tees have the hole number painted on it.
-Lost disc potential is small. No. 15 on the left had thick grass and brush.
-Beginners and recreational players will find the course challenging and fun. Intermediate and Advanced players somewhat challenging from the long tees on the holes that have them, and fun.
Cons:
-The navigation is the worse I have played on yet. There are no tee signs, no directional markers, and a cluster of tee pads in the creek bed with no markings. There is no way of knowing if you are playing on the correct tee pad or hole since a lot of the pads are close together. Majority of the numbers painted on tee pads have faded away. The course app I was using had a hard time locating me because of the canopy, so it was of some use. The map on our site in some part does not match up.
-Fairways are in proximity of each other, and with tee pads so jumbled up, I would not be surprised if players are hit on an occasion.
-The baskets looked like the originals since 1993 and have worn out.
-Trash on some parts of the course, and overflowing trash bins.
-Grass looks like it might get mowed on an occasion. The grass passes up the ankles, and the few roller baskets were ineffective.
-The rocks in the creek bed could damage your favorite discs.
-Since there are several holes in the creek bed, any heavy rain is going to wash out that part of the course, its hilly above the course. There was soft mud, and the last good rain was the previous week.
Other Thoughts:
My favorite part of the course was in the creek bed. The pictures on DGCR are from 13 years ago, and the course has changed since then. The woods are much thicker, hanging branches, fallen trees across fairways, leaning trees, canopy, protruding branches, skip bounces, and rocks to stop the skip bounce made that part of the course a fun adventure. The gaps are reasonable. The holes blur together but would only take a few visits to make them memorable.
However, the navigation is awful for a first-time visitor with no help aides. My course navigation app was bouncing around all over the place in the canopy, and there were times I figured out as I was walking down a few fairways, that I had thrown from the wrong tee pad or what I thought was short were long tees. I thought it was odd that the No. 4 tee pad was somewhat aiming toward the neighborhood, only to discover later that I had thrown from No. 10 long going in the opposite direction. Another player on the course told me he still gets confused on the course.
Despite the navigation issues, with the creek portion of the course, an elevated tee shot on 5, all provided a solid fun factor, my overall rating is anchored on a 4.0. The round took 60 minutes including the navigational difficulties.
I have read from our site an a few others the concern of safety in this part of Richmond. Yes, I could see the concern muggings, and a shooting at a family reunion. My research told me those happened early evening. I teed at 8am with only one other player, and a few walkers. The neighborhood seemed harmless. Friendly waves, I felt comfortable, and I would come back again if I lived in the area.
Notable Holes:
No. 5 long tees Par 3 at 335 feet drops straight down at 100 feet out and elevated about 25 feet. Large Oak with huge canopy on the left that interferes with any flight of the disc in that direction. On the right an outfield fence about 40 feet from basket. Fun elevated throw, pick your poison.
No. 6 short tees Par 3 at 230 feet. Looked back at the longs at 415 feet, did not see them. An upslope hole that doglegs right at a large oak tree at 150 feet out. You can either aim at the basket thru canopy and brush with a small gap, I did not like the look. Or a sweeping left to right around the canopy, I hit the canopy.
No. 16 Par 3, and I think I played the longs at 250 feet is a lazy dog leg left on a down slope. The dogleg breaks at 60 feet out from basket and upslopes. The basket is open. The gap from the tee is about 30 feet. From the tee the fairway angles to the right, gives the feeling on the downslope that your disc when it hits could slide off into some deep rough on right, but easy to find disc. A scenic hole.
No. 18 Par 3 at 280 feet is a solid finishing hole is a lazy dogleg left that breaks at the 220- foot mark. On the right is a highway embankment with trees and awkward footing. To the left heavy trees and brush all the way down, and a leaning tree over the fairway about 150 feet down. The narrow gap is about 25 feet all the way down. Get it past the leaning tree and you will be fine, Basket has a few guardian trees and a fun way to finish your round.
Signature Hole:
No. 9 Par 3 at 230 feet short tees slightly elevated and mostly downslope directly into canopy, hardwoods, protruding branches, that has a lazy dogleg left at about 170 feet out into the creek bed. Basket has guardian trees. From the tee very scenic as the morning sun was peering in directly behind me. A unique hole compared to the others in the creek bed, which are mostly flat. Gave the feeling I was diving into a rabbit hole. Long tee has less elevation, I skipped it.
Trouble Hole:
No. 8 Par 3 short tee at 325 feet a meandering dogleg right then back left and straight up slope to the basket. The basket sits on a side hill other side of a trail, but the grass was long, and the roller was not effective. From the tee there's heavy trees on the right, and a cluster of trees on the left providing a gap at 60 feet out and 30 feet wide. You see open space straight down and somewhere the basket must be there, but its further to the right. But you have no hole sign, and I threw straight down. There is a cluster of trees right in the middle of the fairway about 230 feet down acting as a guarding for an approach to the basket, the basket about 50 feet past the trees. What I should have been doing was a hard left to right giving my second shot a straight throw to the basket into a 30-foot gap. If you have a big arm from the tee, you can throw a straight high arcing to the right and over those guardian trees at least 40 feet up and onto the green. I do not have that kind of arm.