Pros:
This was my first course outside of the US and I was excited to find something so beautiful and challenging. Seamus, the designer and caretaker of the course, was a joy to meet and talk with. A chef by training, he decided to move to Scotland and open up a Disc Golf Course. What a good idea! I think I will be speaking with him more when I get close to retirement.
Reboot Disc Golf actually has a second name, Bluebell Woods Disc Golf, on account of all of the Bluebell flowers that bloom in the spring. Seamus has a pro shop near hole 1 with hundreds of discs and other merchandise, some of it branded with his logo, a Bluebell. I bought a couple of discs and a hoody, which is of great quality.
The course is really well designed. The land is owned by a local adventure company, but the part where the course is was unused for 150 years before Seamus got there. It plays mainly through tall trees along a couple of dirt roads on the property, but opens up in the middle of the course to some open fields with some beautiful landscape.
The lines are pretty well carved out and easy to find, baskets are fairly new, and it takes some big throws to make it through some of the long ones.You will need all of your throws with a variety of discs to successfully score well. The first few holes begin in the trees for some big distances. Hole 1 starts off right along the road near the proshop and throws across the dirt road. Hole two comes back toward the hole 1 tee a little over 140 meters and then hole three throws along the hillside below there. Due to some construction going on (see below), it was difficult to find hole 5, but hole 6 then plays from the trees across a big field and ending through the back part of the land. Hole 7 is a fun ace run up a small hill to a basket that sits on a small knoll.
My favorite hole was 8, throwing from a small hill down through a small clearing to an open green. The grass, the trees, and the animals were all quite enamoring. I saw a pheasant running through some bushes and a giant hare decided to play the hole with me (not really, he just ran alongside of the fairway while I was walking through).
After throwing through some large trees for holes 9-11, hole 12 throws back across the large field. Then, back in the trees for most of the remainder of the course, except hole 15 which plays toward the adventure company's large pond, which had a pretty view and a bit of wind to contend with.
The design is quite interesting. Basket placements are always key on high-quality courses and Bluebell Woods did not disappoint. Nestled into small groves, placed on the side of hills, or on top of the aforementioned knoll, each hole had an uniqueness that made the round interesting and challenging. The variety of basket placements, lines, and fairways made for a fun play.
Tee signs were helpful at showing some lines, but due to the construction, Seamus had to redesign some holes. I played right in the middle of that redesign, so some of the signs were not accurate, but he said that would be cleared up soon and he was looking forward to finishing the new designs.
Cons:
As mentioned above, the construction made the play difficult. There were some fallen trees in the areas of hole 5 and hole 13 that made playing those holes extremely difficult. I never did find the hole 5 tee. But as I understand it, the redesign has dealt with any issues.
Due to the tee signs being in flux, it was sometimes difficult to find the basket or tee position and that made things a little confusing. Also, some of the tees were not in the greatest shape (hole 11 was muddy and slick, for instance), so a bit of maintenance would clear a lot of that up. I should mention that because I played in the winter/spring, he may not have been out there working on it much before I got there.
Other Thoughts:
Overall, my round was just a snapshot taken at a difficult time. Seamus told me he was hosting tournaments there in the spring/summer and that he would have it cleaned up by then. I did not play the green course layout, so this review is not applicable to that. For that reason, I don't want to penalize the course too much for my individual experience. Still, I also can't review a course I haven't played.
All that said, the design excellence was evident, the variety of throws needed made things interesting, the land was beautiful, and Seamus was a joy to meet and talk to. I had a really great time and that alone bumps this a half point. If I am ever to get back to the UK, you know I will be headed back up to Reboot/Bluebell Woods to play a round.