Pros:
Jacobs Fork seems to be a two-faced course. Lots of issues that have caused people to dislike it. Yet, when I played here (January '19), this was an excellent course. Does this course play much easier in the winter, when most of the issues are dormant?
- I tried to play this course 12 months earlier. Drove into the park, walked around, saw some baskets (none of which had numbers), had no clue where to begin or how the course flowed, didn't want to get lost or waste time, so I left. I then saw more negative feedback on this course and thought maybe it was a lost cause. Then, after more research and checking out the pictures on this site, I felt confident I could navigate the course, I came back for another crack. Glad I did.
- Once I found the first tee, I was in for a solid round. First two holes are bombers. Hope your arm is loose because the big arm hole is #1. Wide fairway lets you really air one out. After two longer holes, you're met with a stretch of shorter, more technical layouts - #4 is on a mound, #5 - 7 have tighter fairways, then you get to play the first true excellent hole - #8.
- #8 is an excellent challenge plus a picturesque design. 224 feet from the short (257 from the long), with the basket on a slight hill, and water on the entire right of said hill. Hope that disc that lands on the hill doesn't roll downhill into the drink. You could aim 40 feet left and have an easy, boring 3. Or you take advantage of an open, relatively straight short hole and play it normal. I landed 12 - 15 feet short of the basket and took my two.
- The back 9 is excellent. It has more of an isolated, hilly feel. The stretch from #12 - 17 is the course's signature. Give me 18 holes at this level, and you're in the 4.0 - 4.25 range.
- #13 is an absolute gem of a hole. The fairway is a wide, rolling hill (down, then up) making you feel like you're out in the middle of nowhere. If you're stopping at any point in your round, this is as good a spot as any. Not a challenging hole, but a highlight nonetheless.
- #14 - 15 are fun, shorter, technical holes. Both are birdieable; but are also an easy bogey if you smack a tree. They serve a great purpose on this course.
- #16 is the third picturesque, memorable hole (after #8 & 13). A long, downhill layout (385 shorts / 593 longs) that lets you bomb one. The disc I used from the short tees typically goes around 275. Here, I had a 30-foot birdie putt thanks to the big drop.
Cons:
There's an obvious reason I enjoyed this course more than most, and why my opinion is possibly skewed. Playing in the dead of winter, I didn't have to deal with leaves on trees, thick rough, bugs, or heat. I had a very forgiving layout that looks quite different for most of the year. That said, the biggest flaw of this course:
- Signage is abysmal. Course is approaching two years old. Signage must be better than numbers on pieces of wood (at best), or several flags in the ground marking a tee (at worst), as seen on hole #6 amongst others.
- Another big flaw of bad signage is on the long transitions. After hole #11, you walk to an opening that has paths going four separate directions. I could eliminate the path leading back towards where I just came as well as the path that goes around the power grid - although that path would have led to #13.
- Final signage shortcoming is that the baskets do not have hole numbers on them. After playing #7 (a hole where I didn't find any tee signage), you come to an opening an see tee pads and baskets both directions. I correctly assumed the one closest to the parking lot is #9, so the other one must be #8. But, how about numbers on the basket so I would have to guess.
- Tee signs would be nice too. I played Bradley in Gastonia immediately after this course and was reminded how simple, laminated tee signs is all you need for a hole. It doesn't need to be flashy. It just must exist.
- If you're lazy, you can drive from the far parking lot after #9, and park in the first lot next to #10's tee and #18's basket.
- I didn't see a single trash can or bench on the course. The only ones in the park I saw were in the parking lots next to the ball fields.
- Some fairways seem like they need to be better defined. Holes #6 & 7 had fairways that were just wide walking paths. #17 seems like just enough trees were cut out of the woods with a lack of thought towards how one is going to cross the small creek.
Other Thoughts:
For a course with such signage issues, I still managed to like this course. I see the potential here. Maybe that's why others are so frustrated. This is an excellent course that hasn't been given enough attention to get it fully completed.
- The signage issues will only be an issue for first time players. Once you've played here, navigation and flow are a breeze. Then you can focus on enjoying your round.
- The course has a solid flow to it. You seem to weave in and out from easy to harder layouts, tight to open fairways, play smart to play aggressive holes. This course forced me to pull out a lot of different discs based on angles, lengths, and obstacles in front of me. That usually makes for an adventurous round.
- I liked that the basket on #1 plays close to the creek. The park gets a lot of its traffic from kayakers and boaters, so it's a nice touch we get to see the water up close too. Plus, there's a nice view of the dam and waterfall.
- #18 feels anticlimactic. I didn't like the design of the long layout - playing through the woods to get to an awkward right dogleg. The short tee is an open design that provides a birdie chance / easy par 3. I'd rather see #17 playing longer and make that the final hole. If we're posing a hypothetical, let's find a way to make #16 the closing hole. That'd be a great way to cap the round.
- If this course ever hits its potential, this area suddenly has 3 quality courses: Glenn Hilton, The Bear, and here. You have a good day trip from Charlotte, Asheville, or other surrounding areas to this region.
- Based on the layout I played in January 2019, I'd be tempted to give this course a 4.0. That said, I'm deducting a half a point for the signage kerfuffle, and I'm deducting another half a point due to the easiness / limited time the course plays this easy. If I played here in July, I'm thinking my review would be griping about the rough / thorns on #6, 7, 12, 13, 14, and 17. All that said, this is getting a tentative 3.0 with the realization the course should be rated higher when (if?) complete, but realistically probably plays lower for long stretches of the year.