Pros:
- Variety of open, wooded holes. Several open tee pad throws to wooded baskets and wooded tees to open basket.
- Gully/ravine holes in woods offers throws at all angles on journey to basket, and putting.
- Scenic wave effect in the open fields. Caught some swirling light winds for some beautiful flights.
- The wooded holes and those baskets placed in the woods from open tees requires placement throws to survive the hole. The type of disc golf I enjoy.
- Concrete pads in the hilly wooded holes a plus for me.
- The difficult course will give you an evaluation of where you stand with your skills
- Great signage posted for forward pads. Red flags on top of baskets easy to see.
- Grounds including open fairways very well kept.
- Pro shop offers more than a dozen variety of Innova discs for sale. Lowest weight I saw was 159g.
- The Rangers are very accommodating. The park opened at 8am this past Saturday. I drove thru the open gate at 745. Office wasn't opening until 9am, sign on door said go play and pay later. Very flexible with guest.
- I enjoy history, and the park has some civil war history. Theirs a redoubt along side the no. 9 fairway.
Cons:
- No signage on back tees, with out scorecard you wont know the distance, but you'll at least walk past the forward tee pad and know the location of the basket if your playing for the first time on course.
- Blue flags on top of baskets not easy to see in woods. But I understand the historical significance of using the color.
- Winter months the park doesn't open until 10am Mon-Fri. If you show up at 745am like I did, you may find the road gate still locked? You can still play, after hiking in about a mile.
- This is not a beginners course, also need to be in decent shape for the woods.
Other Thoughts:
It took me until my second round to enjoy the course and appreciate the difficulty it offered. I spent the first round overwhelmed, its the most difficult course I've played, but fun. The first round is my longest so far, it took 90 mins. Had a difficult time finding the no. 10 basket which had a blue flag in the woods. Also spent some time finding the opening for those baskets in the woods, with tees from the open to prepare myself better for the second round. Here's some notable holes:
-No. 3 420/583 ft caught a swirling wind towards the basket both times on the second shot. Always beautiful to see the disk swirling, rising and lowering a few times. I've only seen that on an occasion at Munden Point in Virginia Beach on holes 2 and 13.
-No 4 is the first straight down hill hole I've played in my short time with disc golf. That was fun!
-No. 5 302/360 in the woods is uphill dogleg right, with a hook at the end to right, too the basket. The right side is block by trees. I know I'll par the blue one day, not so sure about the closer red.
-No. 12 elevated tee pad in woods, ravine, elevated landing area for a safe short tee shot, again a ravine. basket on side of hill. Thrilled both times to make my placement throw from tee, only to have my approach hit a tree both times and disc slide down hill. I'm going to get by those trees one day.
-No. 15 shared tee pad at 302. Tee pad is evaluated with ravine on right and in front. I felt like I was on a perch. Fairway down steep ravine and back up toward basket. Huge trees on left on side of hill, don't miss right, disc will slide a long ways down.
The course is my measuring stick, on my progress in disc golf and I like the challenge. I plan on visiting every other month. Its about an hour from my home.
In my opinion:
-Signature Hole is No. 18 669/804 ft par 5, its the way a finishing hole should be tough! Not lay down like a lamb, like the other courses I've played so far. It reminds me of championship courses finishing holes when I played in tournament ball golf. Elevated tee box to a wavy open fairway, when the green grass returns I would imagine scenic. From the tee, hug the tree line on the right side to cut down on distance, keeping to the right of the yellow foul pole on the far left side of fairway, further than the distance to the baskets. The opening to the baskets in the woods is about 200ft to the right of the foul pole. When you cross the dirt road, that crosses the fairway. By then you should be able to see the red flag on right just in the opening of woods, blue flag deeper about 150 feet straight into the woods. When foliage returns it will be more of a narrower approach.
-Trouble hole no. 16. 348/420 feet. From the tee pad it doesn't look to bad. Its straight down with tree lines both sides down, but wide enough. I was able to hit my target area both times around in the fairway. If your a big thrower and don't know the hole you may want to lay up and not find your self in the ravine and the deep gully. The second shot you know theirs a ravine ahead of you, but the problem is what's in it. The red flag sits on the far side of the hill straight, just above the deep gully. The blue flag dog legs left, also on the far side of the hill, but on the top portion of the very shallow end of the ravine. From your safe second shot, you'll find the total left side of the fairway blocking a short cut to the blue flag with large and small trees. In the ravine/gully there are large and small trees blocking the approach to the blue flag. Except on the far side of the hill, the same side where the flag sits. A right to left throw along the far side of the hill is your line. The closer to the flag, the more likely the disc is able to stick to the hill. Theirs a fallen log just with in the putting area that can be used for a good target. Falling short will block your next shot to the blue basket with trees, and the ravine funnels into the gully. That is steep to get your disc, and will be a tough throw out of there. Over time, the gully looks like it will grow bigger. When the foliage returns, it will be a more difficult hole.