Traverse City, MI

The Backyard

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3.335(based on 3 reviews)
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18 0
wellsbranch250
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 10.8 years 694 played 680 reviews
2.50 star(s)

“Love Wins” 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 21, 2021 Played the course:once

Pros:

(2.607 Rating) A skill shot ace race course that can only have a couple groups going out at one time.
- FUN FACTOR - The ratings for this course are going to be all over the board due to two main reasons. The fun-ness. Is that a word? And the spacing issues. For the latter, see the Cons below, but man did I have a spectacular time here. I showed up solo early on a Wednesday morning mid Summer and instantly met the Designer Todd and Renea, whom were hanging out in his back yard where tee (1) starts off. Todd was a trip to meet, and you can tell he puts his heart and soul into this place. He's the leading reason for why this course is fun and I'll get to more of that in a bit. As for the course part, the holes themselves are full of birdie potential. Mostly appealing wooded shots in the 150 to 225 foot range. Being dead-on is going to result in some chain music, while missing typically won't be punishing. Rec players are going to average well below par out and chalk up lots of aces in the process.
- TODD - This was the first time I've ever met the course designer on an early morning bagger run. After my round I sat down and talked to Todd for a good half hour. Todd knows a lot about the local disc golf history in this region. For example, I now know that Dan Kilgore's (DGCR danhyzer) 200th Michigan course was played here. I learned that Todd's credited as the designer of several local courses in addition to this one. He also has a nice sized pro shop in his garage with hundreds of discs for sale. One of these discs is actually now hanging on my wall. Anyways, Todd is the key component to the eclectic social atmosphere here.
- SIGNAGE - The course map and tee sign design is fantastic. The tee signs have all the right info on them. Large hole #, accurate distance, obstacle locations and next tee direction. Most, if not all of the signs have a photo of Todd's daughter Carly on them in memorial. I loved how they all state "Love Wins." The course map is well done too. It is crucial that players take a picture of this map as I looked at my photo of it several times.
- AMENITIES - In addition to the signage, there are a few nice amenities and extras of note. Custom pink DISCatcher baskets. That's not something you see every day. They caught well and were in great shape. Several seating areas and garbage cans are sprinkled about on the layout. There are also some picnic tables in Todd's actual backyard too. The tees weren't the greatest being carpet, but were better than nothing I suppose.
- NATURAL BEAUTY - I scored the overall beauty a touch above average. Ninety percent of the course plays through towering hardwoods. Several holes have moments where one will feel completely detached from the built environment. On the flipside, residential backyards on all 4 sides of the layout. Several fences look like eyesores. It is what it is.
- QUICK PLAY - I played all 24 holes in 54 minutes. As long as there's only one group here, rounds will fly.

Cons:

Too many holes in too little space.
- SPACING - 24 holes over four, maybe four and a half acres is too many. I personally wondered afterwards if there was enough room to put in a two tee and two basket course as this would allow for just as much variety, but with far less spacing concerns. The hole to hole conflicts here when multiple groups are on the course is monumental. I honestly don't see how it's even possible to do safely without a ton of cross group chatter. Baskets are re-used, sometimes three times and there are several crossing fairways. Several tees are inside the circle of a basket. The rate of black aces is probably greater here than any course I've ever played.
- LACK OF CHALLENGE - I personally didn't feel challenged as an Intermediate level player that enjoys the woods courses. I carded ten birdies and one bogey. Except for a few holes with ultra-tight lines, I felt I was going through the motions. I highly doubt bombers are going to enjoy this layout although they may enjoy this place if going for the social aspect. I figure even par would equate to around an 850 rated round. Perfect for grand master recs, regular rec players and novices. I'm sure beginners get brought here too, but the layout seems a bit too constricting for inaccurate arms.
- LOST DISC POTENTIAL - Several neighboring yards around the course boldly state "keep out" on large signs. I kissed a tree towards the end of the round and my disc ricocheted into one of these backyards. Thankfully it was within 6 feet of the fence and I managed to reel it in with a dead branch.
- HOLE VARIETY - The course is unique for sure, but the holes themselves have a repetitive theme which is short technical ace run. All but a couple of holes have blended together in my memory already. There's some slight elevation and lots of heavy woods in play. A couple holes break out into a small open area and there are no water elements.

Other Thoughts:

First and foremost, I enjoyed my experience here. I played 18 different courses on this road trip and I had the most fun at this one. This is one of only two courses that I have doubled my vibe attribute score in my spreadsheet formula (Flyboy is the other). I actually considered tripling it. This is a very difficult course to rate and I would expect reviewer rating numbers to be all over the board. How much of a factor should fun and vibe be? How negative of a ratings impact should spacing concerns be? How much do you like or dislike like Trump as there are Trump banners on the course? How much does herbal medicine impact your feelings? These could all be major rating impacts for some players and thus it would be hard for me to argue against someone giving this place a 4.5 or even a 0.5. For me, I'm going with a "High" 2.5, typical, although I know there is nothing typical about it. I hope Todd doesn't hate me for my evaluation, cause if I ever make it back to Traverse City, I am going to want to meet up with him again and play his backyard course. Among the 4 Traverse City courses, I would say this is the second best after Hickory Hills. Unfortunately, I won't be reviewing the Hickory Hills course as the south layout I played was RIP'd a couple weeks later.
- DONATE TO PLAY - I donated $3 to play. I fully believe the money goes back to the course.
- NAVIGATION - As noted in the pros, take a picture of the course map. It's critical. First time players are going to make some wrong turns here as the basket direction after a hole is not intuitive in many cases and several tees can be seen. Overall I would grade this aspect so so.
- PARKING - Street parking only.
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10 0
apdrvya
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 14.5 years 354 played 299 reviews
3.50 star(s)

100% 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 11, 2014 Played the course:once

Pros:

Aesthetic-- plays through a small narrow neighborhood park and through the neighborhood itself (in many places) non-dgers and neighboring yards are a constant threat, throw wisely.

Routing and nav-- pretty easy. big white buckets with the hole number on them mark the way. the only tricky spot is #11 to #12. After finishing #11, turn right and walk down the road about three houses and look right. #12 is there. I would also say that you will most likely need a guide for the first time through because the intended target isn't always obvious.

Teepads-- for what the course is, carpet is more than adequate. they are all in good shape, level and in good repair.

Baskets-- pink powder coated DisCatchers help to aide in visibility in the thick woods.

Cons:

Lengths-- very short course for the most part as the park it is in is like one city block long by 200' wide at most. Because of this the variety does suffer a bit but they did the best they could with a very challenging piece of land.

Rough-- super rough in places. I lost a disc in a pile of branches and miscellaneous for >20minutes. I found it though.

Uncontrollables-- from psycho neighbors to buggy areas there area lot of challenges to this park being great but they do a good job with what is there.

Other Thoughts:

From what I was told, Terrace Park was a dumping ground for yard waste/garbage and anything else you can think of. Todd has done a great job repairing what was once blight to what is a good place for all age groups to learn and cherish the sport of disc golf.
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9 0
Todd C. Lewis
Experience: 44.5 years 4 played 4 reviews
4.00 star(s)

Glowing Ace Race 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Jul 20, 2012 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Exactly what it was designed for... Ace Race & Glow course so the course is made up of alot of skilled up shots. Longest Hole is 232 ft but most are about 200 ft. 24 Tee's and 11 baskets in a less than 3 acre parcel which plays over some yards which are OB. 1st tee starts on the right side of the house. Fun little course!

Cons:

It's new and needs to be marked better as it can be confusing without a course map. New Big 2 x 3 ft Course Map at both entrances of the park and tee signs to follow soon.

Other Thoughts:

24 tee's in this small area? Great utilization of space but because some baskets are played up to 3 times from different tee's you will want to be aware of where other players on the course are. Safety 1st Loud barking Dog with big teeth at first tee, don't put your hands over the fence. I'm upping my rating because the park is getting nicer and more manicured as time progresses :) Visit our website @ cjlplayground.com for more information :)
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