Pros:
+ The whole course plays largely on its own in a hilly forested park. Pedestrians are rarely seen here.
+ A metal course map, lost disc box and downright evil practice hole in the welcome area.
+ All tees have sturdy metal tee signs featuring reliable colorful diagrams, distances, pars, elevation changes, QR codes, an accurate color-coded system (red and yellow) to tell the player which baskets are for which layout and even a broom!
+ Two baskets are in play at all times. They are color coded (red and yellow) and even have yellow flags on top for extra visibility.
+ Navigational signage right where you need it.
+ All nine links have two tee pads, but...
Cons:
-/+ ...Those tee pads are just rubber mats on the ground, except for link9. Some of those mats are damaged, too.
Other Thoughts:
I knew this day would come.
I knew that I would eventually play a course like this... This is exactly the kind of 9-link course I've always been afraid of finding.
The 9er course at Two Mile Run is good. No, it's great! I speak no exaggeration when I say that it has more oomph and impact throughout its nine fairways than a great number of 18-link courses out there. We have all been to full-sized courses where the designer could have left out three, four, five or even more of the links, and it wouldn't have subtracted much from the experience. We have all played at boring larger courses that are large just for largeness's sake. We have all played at conventional courses that are clean and tidy circuits of 18 that check the basic boxes and leave it at that. But at least those courses have eighteen links, right?
And yet, Two Mile can eat a fair few full-length courses for breakfast.
Key examples are the dynamic links6 and 8. Both of those feature stark elevation challenges that a lot of courses don't have. Link8 starts in the open and sends you through denser and darker woods during a seemingly endless downhill slope. The downhill tee off at Link6 is sudden and shocking. To top it all off, there is a nice uphill finale to complete the valley. It was all such a pleasant surprise. I don't know why, but striking elevation challenges in 9er courses always catch me off guard... It sounds like I need to adjust my expectations...
My personal favorite, link4, launches out of a brief tunnel, continues flat and in the open but then sucker punches the player with a surprise valley and tall trees in the last third just to make sure they're paying attention. That is exactly the kind of variable challenge that I seek within any given disc golf course. Two Mile gets it right, and plenty of other courses pale by comparison.
On the downside, I found link7 the least stimulating. It's just a wide open field that slopes gently up towards a loose grove of trees. Plus, even though link9 features a dangerous OB stream on the left the whole way, it doesn't really change the flat and spaced-out nature of the fairway. In addition, most of the tees are rubber, and a noticeable few of them were damaged. Upgrading all tees to the kind of pavers that link9 has would be a great change. But that's as bad as it gets here.
Now that I've finally played a stunning 9-link course, I feel a little better about grading them on the same scale as full length courses. It's still weird, and I still kind of wish that 9-hole courses had their own grading system, but I'm pretty sure I'm the only person who loses sleep over this kind of thing.
But let's forget about numbers and ratings. This course gets a strong recommendation from me. Yes, it only has nine fairways. For many of you, that on its own is grounds for it to be ignored. I can't say I blame you. A lot of 9-ers out there are crap, but so are a lot of 18-ers. Yet we still play them...!
So come give Two Mile a try or at least add it to your list. Two tees and two baskets on all links mean a lot of replayability. What it lacks in size it more than makes up for in challenge and fun because of its hills and forest. You just might want to play it twice.