Pros:
Steady Ed is the 'fun' course at the IDGC, if there's such a thing. With the most variety and most chances to catch for low scores, you'll appreciate this layout.
- This course is an absolute blast. Compared to Jackson and Warner, which are both grueling layouts, this one does allow you to be more aggressive. Plus this course is the most scenic, offering the most variety of all three IDGC courses.
- Course offers two pin positions and two tee pads for a total of four potential layouts. Whereas Jackson only has one tee and one pin locale and Warner has one basket and two tee setups, this offers the most variety. Inasmuch, this course is the most 'casual level' friendly. There are plenty of people I wouldn't recommend playing Jackson due to its difficulty (at times, myself included), Steady Ed has the most appeal to us mere peasants.
- There are some epic hole layouts. Starting with hole one, a long, 595 foot downhill hole to a pin located near the lake, your nerves and accuracy are challenged from the beginning. The short pin location is only 295 feet, but that still requires a level of accuracy.
- From there it just gets better. Two holes stood out to me as elite - #5 & 11. It was only after I played and read this site again, did I see that those were considered the course's signature holes. And I can see why.
- #5 is awesome. It's 395 feet to the short pin (510 to the long), downhill, over water and back to a pin protected by trees. Long downhill hole + water in play = what more could you ask for? There's also a safe, bailout route around to the left, taking water out of play.
- #11 is a 480 footer to the short pin (550 to the long pin) with both locations offering split fairways. There are essentially three different fairways, with the middle one being shared by both pins. To the short pin, the fairway doglegs to the right (to the left for the long) to a basket with trees playing around it. This isn't the most challenging of holes, but it's got one of those classic disc golf hole layouts that make us all love the game.
- Oh yeah, did I mention four holes play on, over or around the beach? Yes sir. You go from playing in the woods for most of this course, and all of the other two courses, to walking on the sand and throwing over the lake. The sand and lake come into play on #5 & 12 - 14. The water is to the left on #12 - 14, so safe to say you want your shots coming back to the right. All four have a high risk/reward element to them because the more you're willing to throw over the water, the better line you have to the basket. This is most prevalent on #14, which is a 215 footer with a wide open line over the water and a tight line over land. The irony here is that the safe line is so tight, there's a chance you could ricochet off a tree and still end up in the water.
- This course has the highest risk/reward factor of the three IDGC layouts. Steady Ed has more 'short' holes than the other two courses, especially when the pins are in the shorts. Because of having a lot of holes under 300 feet, you can actually be aggressive and see birdies appear on your scorecard. I had a five hole stretch on the back nine where I had potential birdies on each hole. I ended up with three birdies and one scramble for bogey because I got a little overly aggressive from the tee, and ended up with a horrible bounce off a tree.
Cons:
The only glaring con was that the distances don't match up on the tee signs, online scorecards (from here) or the scorecards they provide in the shop. I couldn't ever tell what source was right because at different points, each seemed pretty accurate right on or somewhat off.
- This is going to be a copy and paste comment for all three IDGC courses. The overall difficult of the courses, terrain and elements are going to be a negative for some players. Basically, if you're not a good enough player, you should not play here. Know what you're getting into before you tackle this three-headed monster.
- Another copy and paste note. These courses probably present a higher than normal 'lost disc' factor. For errant throws, be prepared to spend considerable time searching or be prepared that you might lose a disc or two while playing.
- Final copy and paste note. Be prepared when playing. Pack plenty of food, water, bug spray and other essentials. You can purchase some items inside the center. Besides that there's one gas station a mile from the park. After that, it's another 15 minutes back towards Augusta and restaurants, gas stations, etc.
- I'll put this here because I need to fill up this space. As much as I loved the beach holes, it might be depressing standing on the beach in the middle of January as you play through. In the summer, it's great. Overlooking the water and standing on sand when it's 40 degrees out, probably not as appealing.
- Navigation was mostly very good, but could be improved. You cross past separate holes going from one hole to the next several times. I also had a hard time finding the tee for #18, having first stumbled upon a different (no longer used) long tee. My great tee shot from the incorrect, longer tee ended up being for naught, settling instead for a shanked shot from the proper tee.
Other Thoughts:
Writing this review a couple days after playing the IDGC, I have the fondest thoughts about Steady Ed. The course, that is. While Jackson is the best overall and Warner is a solid beast throughout, I'm gravitating towards the best, and most enjoyable, round I had at the IDGC.
- One piece of advice I have for anyone visiting the IDGC is to play the courses from hardest to easiest. Knock out Jackson first, when (in theory) you're freshest, then Warner and end with Steady Ed. As a point of reference, I shot 12 strokes fewer at Steady compared to Warner and 18 strokes fewer compared to Jackson.
- Because of the variety and scenery, and the shorter layout, I enjoyed Steady Ed the most, with very little frustration. Had a disc or two landed in the water, I'm sure my opinion would be somewhat different.
- If the tee signs are accurate, the short pin location comes in at just over 6000 feet. When you go straight from Jackson to Steady Ed, you notice a huge difference playing a course that's 3300 feet shorter. It's very rare that a 6000 foot course feels so shorter and approachable.
- Of the shorter holes, I'll throw out two more that I enjoyed: #8 & 13. I already mentioned 13, so here's a plug for #8. It's a 235 footer to the short basket (250 to the long), through a tight, wooded gap to the basket. It takes a great shot to get it close to the basket. But, even if you hit a tree, you should have a good chance to salvage par. This isn't anything spectacular, just a solid, creative, well-designed layout.
- I'm giving Steady Ed a 4.5. If only the short pins existed, it would still probably be pretty close to a 4. With just a taste of a couple long layouts, I can see how great this course can be. This is a must play, even if this were a stand-alone course. I wonder how it took me so long to finally make a trip to the IDGC. Now I'm ready to go back.