It's actually not bad of a course until you get to the end. Pretty palms everywhere, no real danger of losing discs (though there's definite foliage and southern crap that itches). Some pretty technical holes. No elevation, no water (not really). The front nine are solid. I start with hole 1, which is a respectable 308 feet (the one I'm driving on in this video:
). First let's talk driving, then the course. Obviously I've been watching the videos. So I thought I'd shoot some of my own to see how I was doing, whether this is the x-step or not. I think it is. But this has also always been the step I've used. It didn't even occur to me that others were not using this runup, more or less. I think the thing to note is that I appear to be getting a lot of rotation on the disc (you can see the follow-through leg kick which looks kind of lame, but it keeps me balanced). I am also apparently not releasing at chest height. That's partly because this hole is only 308 feet, which is easily reachable for me with a driver (really I can get it there with a Glide also, which for me is more of a midrange). And actually I overshot it 2 out of 3 times (the other time I winged a palm high up and it make a spectacular sound and dropped). Anyhow. Maybe this is useful for you to look at, maybe not. When I'm trying to turn a disc over, I try to release it higher, at chest height. I also could probably do a better job of keeping it closer to the body. The best part of the video is the sound the disc makes as it flies over the camera in the last shot. I can't figure out how to easily do slow-mo with my software so you'll have to do it manually if you want it. Nor do I have any kind of fancy camerawork from my wife, or from my kids screaming at me to throw the disc, dad, nor in fact a "Mission Accomplished" banner, and I'm too lazy to download any explosions. So fuck you! Anyhow. Onwards to the course.
So hole 1, 308 feet, is a pretty good one. It's also a pretty one. There's a big ole hyzer route to play.
No problem. I actually put in a 50 footer for deuce. Sweet. Hole 2 is similarly pretty, albeit shorter (most holes on this course are in the 150-250 range, which doesn't make for extremely difficult disc). This is also why the course sets up well for beginners. Not to say it's uninteresting. Here's hole 2's approach, which kind of has some water (cool fountain behind it).
Again, not trivial. A lot of these front-9 holes are fairly technical. You're not punished too badly if you get off the fairway, but there's not always a reasonable save shot. You can definitely ring up some bogeys, particularly when you combine it with their somewhat draconian/artificial OB rules (all paths are OB, there's paths everywhere). This makes it more interesting and difficult, but it's kind of a weak way to exert pressure on the golfer in my opinion. Okay. More of the same. How about hole 4:
You get the idea. That one's 220 or so. This course rewards players who can throw it where they mean to (which is a good thing to reward if they do/penalize if they don't). And it is pretty:
A couple of the holes are a little wankery, meaning they're in the trees, but
and here's the shot you're looking at from the tee:
Not trivial, which is what we want. Not real long, but a solid hole. Hole 12 is the only other long one on the course, and kind of the end of the course, as we'll see. It's 356, dogleg right. Not super open, but there's a good lefty/forehand/turnover path if you want it. I do want it.
These guys had some issues. Their disc was about 60' off the ground in the crown of a palm tree. It is not coming out, dudes. They threw a baseball. They had a ladder. They had a long pole that they were brandishing from the ladder. I don't know what to tell you, dudes, but that fucker is wedged in. Time to buy a new disc or pray for lightning:
My disc does not share their fate. It's a good hole also because it positions the basket behind a downed log/tree, thus adding a little bonus:
So that's a good hole. And the next 2 are okay, not great, but okay. But holes 15, 16, 17, and 18 are completely retarded. They are all 90'-150', directly ahead of the tee in the middle of clearings. It is a colossal letdown to this course. You know, you're having an interesting match with somebody, and you want risk and reward on the last corner of the course, so things can happen. The only thing that can happen with this setup is an ace (which frankly I do not think I would write on my disc on one of these stupid holes, though I did not ace it. In fact I assumed the first hole must be playing to the basket beyond the basket I saw, so I threw for it, and overshot it... with my putter). This course would actually be decent if they just put in a few more holes. Not going to be a great course, but serviceable, fucking designed at least.
I do another round (a round takes 30-40 minutes here), but I don't bother to play the last four holes.
Recommendation: it's a 3-4 disc course. Not unfun, but man, what a letdown at the end. Makes me really not want to play it again. If you lived 100' away, sure, go for it. You can play 180 holes in four hours. You can get you some Cubby-style aces. Eh. Peh.
So here's the wack thing about the course. They have way more space. Admittedly, it's a mixed-use park. But take a look:
The bottom part of the lake gets cutoff unavoidably, which blows, but there's a little peninsula out there, and plenty of space to put a couple tee boxes playing over water, maybe, or along the edge, perhaps. At the least, designers need to realize what kind of space they have and not just phone in the last 4 holes with some kiddie shit. This could be a decent course. It is not a decent course. It's a decent 9 holes worth of course, and a bunch of other holes, many of which don't deserve playing twice, or even once, I'd wager.
