Jeff LaGrassa’s Review Page of Disc Golf Courses

If you’ve just found my page by clicking over from the PDGA website, welcome! This is a guide page, intended to describe some of the disc golf courses that I have played in the Mid-Atlantic Region and around the country. Obligatory disc-claimer: I have tried to keep any negative comments to a minimum, since I am sure countless hours of blood, sweat and tears went into these courses, and having not contributed at all, I'm not going to rip on anyone's efforts. For the record, I've been playing disc golf for more than ten years, and play in the Open division in tournaments. I personally prefer longer holes and courses that feature pro par 4 and pro par 5 holes. I am sick of pitch-and-putt courses! I think my opinions are going to be therefore biased, so for novice players your mileage may vary.

Additionally, I am a Safety Nazi. Beveled edge driver discs hurt (I’ve been struck by one from a distance) and in the wrong circumstances, I think one could seriously injure or even kill. I do not believe in disc golf courses sharing the land with other park activities! If a course plays through or near playground equipment, shelters or picnic tables, fishing ponds, parking lots, park roads, streets outside the park, or any other park facility, or has holes too close to each other, then I’m going to blast it for unsafe course design. I’ve seen how both seasoned and recreational disc golfers are, and they are impatient and do not wait “until the coast is clear.” They throw on unsuspecting park users, and proper course design simply avoids these situations to begin with.

Although I’ve played nearly 200 different disc golf courses, I think that there are still many more I need to visit, and some I need to revisit, so If you have any questions, comments or can provide course updates please feel free to e-mail me at LUNG@ENTER.NET Also, if you are traveling from out of town and are visiting Reading, PA or the Lehigh Valley and would like to get together for a round, please e-mail me. I would be more than happy to show you one or more of the area courses: Roland Park, Jordan Creek, Little Lehigh Parkway, or Nockamixon State Park. These courses unfortunately aren’t marked the best and finding your way around if you are not familiar with the courses can be a little tedious. I’m usually available for a round just about anytime on the weekends and most afternoons and evenings after work during daylight savings time: April – October.

-Jeff LaGrassa PDGA #12616

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NOTICE: THIS PAGE WILL BE MOVING!

Yahoo GeoCities, the free web site building service and community where this page has been hosted since 1998, is closing on October 26, 2009.

Stayed tuned for information on the new location for this webpage.

Last updated: Wednesday September 16, 2009. Added a BOATLOAD of new reviews, including the PDGA 2009 World Championship courses near Kansas City:

· Thornfield Private Course

· Cliff Drive Park

· Wyandotte County Park

· Swope Park

· Rosedale Park

Also added:

· The Canyon, Winfield, KS

· Thomas Park, Salina, KS

· Camp Hawk, Newton, KS

· English Park, Mulvane, KS

· Derby DGC, Derby, KS

Pennsylvania

Moraine State Park, Portersville, PA – This is the best course in Pennsylvania, and the blue tees and C pin positions play as tough as Nockamixon. Located on the shores of Lake Arthur, the course is an awesome mix of open fairways with sparse cover and some wooded gauntlet holes. Think Codorus Park with its open holes and lake views, and throw in some devlish Paw Paw or Pawtapsco wooded holes and that's the kind of course you can expect. The signature hole 15 plays about 850 feet downhill to the polehole situated in front of the lake. Lining the left-hand side is an OB road, and lining the right-hand side is a steep drop-off with heavy schule. A strong headwind may blow off the lake, which makes disc selection critical. Crush a drive to the landing zone, and then another crush down to the polehole and make your putt for a birdie three you’ll remember for the rest of your disc golfing career. After "The Beauty" comes "The Beast," an evil par five that drives uphill, through a narrow pine grove, then another 300 or so feet from the top of the hill. The par five sixth hole is 934 feet long, and there are many other beautiful par fours through the woods and some tough par threes that don’t offer easy deuces. Three cheers to Pittsburgh Flying Disc Society and all the hard working volunteers, as well as all the polehole sponsors. They’ve got an unbelievable world class course there in Western Pennsylvania!

Nockamixon State Park, Quakertown, PA – Brian Fredrick, Kevin Laboksi and some generous volunteers have burrowed their way through thick brush and woods to create honest fairways, long holes, and a world-class disc course halfway between Allentown and Philadelphia. Though temporarily only 14 holes due to a bird nesting area, this is one of the toughest courses you’ll ever play but you’ll love every frustrating minute of it! Pretty ponds, waterfalls, and views of the marina and sailboats out on the lake make this course also one of the most scenic in the state. The par five hole in front of the bathroom plays about 300 feet downhill to a landing area, where it takes a ninety degree left hand turn – and the target is now another 500 feet through narrow woods! In a course filled with signature holes, it’s tough to pick a favorite, but the waterfall hole is delightful; from an elevated tee, you shoot down a powerline, over a water hazard, and to a basket precariously perched in front of a small stream with a waterfall. A boulder field and a steep hill lines the fairway, and it takes a perfect shot to clear the water and land on the green. What a hole!

Deer Lakes Park, Pittsburgh, PA – This course is finally completed, and is easily one of the top twenty I've ever played in both the United States and Canada. It is every bit as good as Moraine State Park and Knob Hill Park, so that is really saying something! Groomed as nicely as the Pittsburgh Flying Disc Society typically keeps their courses, the city will soon be known nationwide as a disc golf destination for those looking to experience world class caliber disc golf courses within an hour of a major metropolitan center. Barring heavy traffic, Deer Lakes Park is the closest one of the three to the downtown – only about a 25-30 minute drive.

This course has a superb blend of open holes & wooded holes with serious elevation changes throughout, and a downhill shot over water. The terrain and play of the course, as well as beauty and aesthetics, are similar to that of at Moraine, Knob Hill, and Paw Paw. The course alternates between "pipeline" holes that have a wide open fairway and heavy rough to the side, holes cut through less dense woods with only light rough off the fairway, and open grassy holes typical of a public park setting. Pro par four and par five holes that require fairway placement alternate with par threes that offer deuce opportunities. With few exceptions, there are no "gimme" holes, especially when playing from the more challenging blue tees and when the alternate pin placements eventually get utilized. The pro par of 66 is quite realistic!

My hat is tipped to the enormous amount of grunt work that local PFDS volunteers endured to make this course a reality, and to their continued efforts at getting new world class disc golf courses installed in the Pittsburgh area. The new courses they are putting in are shining examples of how to make challenging, yet fair and most importantly fun layouts that require actual GOLF skills and knowledge, and reflect today's advances in disc technology and course design.

Seven Springs Mountain Resort – Seven Springs, PA (seasonal) – This course is easily the best ski hill course I've ever played, primarily because 1) You don't have to CLIMB up the mountain like you do at IUP College Lodge, Campgaw, Timber Ridge, etc. and 2) unlike Sugarbush, Snowbowl, and other mountain courses you don't have hole after hole where lost discs are a real hazard. Course designer J. Gary Dropcho has created an awesome par 64 challenge with pro par four and pro par five holes which utilizes the best features on the mountain without penalizing errant shots with lost discs.

Without a doubt this is one of the most "FUN" disc golf experiences you will ever have. You ride the chairlift up, play the front 9, ride the lift up again, then play the back nine. The wow factor is off the charts on many many holes - you step up to the tee and just gasp. With the extreme elevation changes, water hazards, beautiful scenery, it's just an awesome experience. For those familiar with the mountain, the course plays on the front side above the lodge. About half the holes are up on top of the mountain by the Avalance, Tyrol, and Cortina lifts, including two shots OVER the snowmaking ponds from the blue tees. The other half of the course plays down Goosebumps, and on the lower half of the Avalanche, Tyrol and Stowe Trails. One of the coolest par three holes you will ever see is #6, which plays down "Corkscrew." This is one of those switchback trails with horseshoe curves that you see at some ski areas, and it just has to be seen to be believed - it is so cool! You really only have one hole at Seven Springs (the appropriately named "Goosebumps") which plays some 810 ft. straight down a very steep double diamond expert slope where you can lose one. It's a really wide slope, but there's heavy rough off to the sides and fairway placement with a putter or midrange is probably the preferred strategy.

There is one fly in the ointment, which is that there are no tee signs and the poleholes are not numbered correctly. However, the tees are clearly marked with colored flags and spraypaint on the ground and if you use the map & scorecard which they give you at the Adventure Center, one can figure out the course without much difficulty.

Pymatuning State Park, Jamestown, PA – While this course is still a work in progress, course designer Rich Givens has a world class layout in the rural northeast region of the state that when completed, from the gold layout will challenge disc golfers like no other! Scheduled to clock in at nearly 9500’ in length, this layout will play over gently rolling hills with a superb balance of sparse woods and open shots to test one’s entire golf game.

With gorgeous views of the lake inlet throughout, this course is quite the scenic one. The first truly memorable hole is the par five 4th, which features both open and corridor shots. A birdie four on this nearly 810’ hole is something to get excited about! Hole#7 plays as a long pro par four, where after hitting the landing area, a narrow band of woods and brush must be negotiated to reach the polehole. Hole #8 is arguably the most exciting par three at the course, with the polehole resting on an elevated ridge with drop-offs on all sides, including the lake directly behind it. This is one fast green! A monster roller coaster pro par five 9th hole closes out the front. The back nine starts out with the most open shot on the course, but it’s quickly followed by more wooded, undulating terrain and challenging holes. The 13th hole is arguably the signature on the course and plays across a field, over a hilltop, down through what appears to be a natural wooded corridor and up the hill on the other side. It is quickly followed by another gorgeous pro par four with a 90-degree dogleg that sets up a beautiful approach to a basket framed by the lake. Interesting, the only true gauntlet wood hole at the course comes next, followed by three mostly open holes to finish the course. The 18th hole is as worthy as a closing hole as you’ll find at any disc golf course in existence. It plays some 675’ with the water lining the entire left-hand side and the polehole lying precariously close to the water’s edge.

As much a joy as the disc golf course is to play, reading the tee signs and another signs posted throughout the course are a delight. Course designer Rich Givens has an interesting sense of humor and some of the poetry and witticisms he has printed are a treat, and certainly unique in the world of disc golf.

Whispering Falls Disc Golf Course at Antrim Township Community Park, Greencastle, PA - When a new course pops up in an area of the country that previously had no established disc golf scene, one usually expects a pitch-n-putt with many common course design flaws. But it's obvious the designers of this course did their homework and took the suggestions of all those who recommended making for a challenging course with excellent length, elevation changes and bonafide pro par four holes. I was seriously impressed!

With all pins in 'B' positions, the course makes for arguably seven pro par holes, I estimate that SSA (Scratch Scoring Average) for this layout to be about 58, which would make it instantly one of the toughest permanent 18-hole courses in the state along with Moraine, Deer Lakes, IUP College Lodge, the long layout at Knob Hill, and 18-hole configurations at Nockamixon, Codorus, and Tyler State Parks. The course starts off with possibly the most memorable opening hole in the state, other than the opener at Prompton Dam State Park. To the B pin, hole#1 at Whispering Falls course plays 717' to a well protected basket. The drive flies over a small valley and will optimally negotiate a landing area between scattered trees. The approach is another considerably long shot through sparse trees with heavy rough to the left and behind the basket. Only with length and accurate placement does one have a chance at scoring a birdie three. Hole#3 plays down a Columbia Gas Line cut, and after executing a placement drive on the narrow fairway, the approach is down one of the sickest and awe-inspiring drop-offs I've ever seen at a disc golf course. Just walking down this elevation change is nerve wracking. At 520 feet, this isn't a long hole, but only the most accurate of golfers has any shot at the birdie 3. Hole 8 and 9 play similarly down a walking trail with doglegs and heavy rough on both sides. While the fairway is ample, any shot that does not find fairway placement usually leaves nothing but a pitch-out back to the fairway. You are enthused to escape both these holes with a score of par 4. Hole#10 is one of the most exciting par three holes I've seen in disc golf in years. It plays sharply downhill through a narrow gorge with high walls on each side. The pin positions are tricky in that even at 310 and 410 feet, drives can fly well past them and leave tough comebackers. Hole#11 plays next to the Conococheague Creek, with views of the Martin's Mill Covered Bridge. Built in 1849, Martin's Mill Covered Bridge is reportedly Pennsylvania's second longest covered bridge. Hole#11 is is 755' long through scattered trees, and with the water hazard lining the entire left-hand side. Don't hyzer left! Being almost pancake flat, if the ground is dry this is an excellent opportunity to throw a long backhand or forehand roller. Watch for the ditch at about 425' though. After all the pro par four holes, some shorter shots through heavy woods round out the rest of the course. (thank goodness!) None of these are easy deuces however, and bogies can still be had should one encounter early foilage. The most interesting of the remaining holes is #17, which is 370' downhill but with an OB marsh that one can choose to lay-up in front of, or attempt to carry.

In general there is excellent use of the almost too-good-to-be-true elevation changes available in the park, and there is an excellent balance between shots that alternatively favor southpaws and rightys, or forehand and backhand shots. Some holes, such as #9, might require executing both within the same hole. As the course has only been in the ground for less than 6 months, there are the usual areas for improvement which the local club is already well aware of and will address in the coming year. There are directional signs needed, steps on some of the downhill and uphill paths, foot bridges to be built, leveling of tee boxes, etc. Additionally, there seems to be heavy pedestrian and equestrian traffic in the park and signs to alert both golfers and non-golfers of the presence of each other are needed. Knowing how impatient recreational disc golfers can be, I usually cringe when I see disc golf courses laid out partly on walking trails but hopefully the interference will be minimal and no serious safety incidents will ensue. Kudos to the volunteers who worked tirelessly with the local parks department to make this course happen! This is truly a gem in the making and one that any disc golfer within a few hours drive should eventually make a pilgrimage to visit and play. Allow yourself plenty of time to play the layout, as negotiating the challenging course and the hilly terrain (especially the Whispering Falls Trail walk between holes#12 &13) will be taxing but oh so worth it!

IUP College Lodge, Indiana, PA - Thanks to the efforts of Michael Dropcho and the Indiana Disc Links Association, a world class 18-hole disc golf course was installed in October of 2001. With several huge downhill chucks including the signature 18^th-hole which plays over 700 feet, this course features elevation changes galore. But before you get to the ski slope you must first negotiate a few holes by the pond. Hole 4 plays straight up the ski slope and has an extremely fast green. Try to catch your breath and get your deuces on holes 5 and 6, because hole 7 is a pro par four from the long tee. It plays down a very narrow path between heavy woods on either side, and placement on the fairway along with a pinpoint approach is critical to getting a birdie three on this hole. The fun really begins on hole 8 which shoots down the most narrow of the ski trails. The basket is only about halfway down the hill and you’ll find that avoiding the woods on either side or avoiding blowing 100’ or more past the polehole is quite a challenge. Hole 9 plays down the remainder of the slope to the base, and is quite the thrilling drive and whets your appetite for hole 18. The back nine plays through similar extreme elevation changes but is much more heavily wooded. From the tee, the 18th polehole is visible 722 feet in distance and several hundred feet below you. With purple and white wildflowers surrounding the polehole, along with views of the distant college lodge with its big stone fireplace, an allusion to “The Sound of Music” is not out of place here. Taking in the scenery is a lot easier than executing on this hole however because there’s often a strong headwind. Making birdie three here to finish your round is something you’ll cherish for weeks afterwards.

Little Lehigh Parkway, Allentown, PA – Installed as a temporary course for Pro Worlds 2005, this course was the ‘jewel’ of the tournament, and has since been given the green light to remain in the ground year round. This park is the most popular and perhaps most beautiful in the city, with an old limestone kiln, a covered bridge, a variety of species of trees and a meandering river, the Little Lehigh, which bisects the park and comes into play on many holes. Several holes have a steep wooded hillside running the entire length of one side, and the water hazard running the entire length of the other side. These hazards combine to make for a USDGC-style challenge, but without artificial and ugly yellow rope. While the course has been shortened a bit from the Pro Worlds layout for recreational use, it still features several par four holes mixed in with some runs at deuce to break up what is considered by most standards to be a long layout. The true joy of playing this course comes in that nearly the entire course plays fairly wide open and away from the deep rough that can be found at other courses. With pro caliber length, rolling hills, and OB hazards combining to make for a world class challenge, along with beautiful scenery and new rubber Flypad teepads, this is the signature course in the Lehigh Valley and a must-play if you’re in the region.

Jordan Creek Park, Allentown, PA – This is a course that has seen several different incarnations but the 2005 Pro Worlds layout was the best of them all. The current recreational layout features the water hazard on several holes, and many holes have a number of picturesque views. From the minehole shot on #7, the view from the tee on hole#9, looking back from the #10 basket on top of "Cardiac Arrest Hill," the scenic walk down the fairway of hole #11, the view from the elevated tee of the signature hole#13, and the elevated tee of hole 18 are just a few interesting features. The course itself is a wonderful mix of par threes and par fours with a course SSA over 54, as the layout features pro par fours on holes number nine, ten, eighteen and occasionally hole#5. The tenth hole plays up one of the most severe elevation changes you'll ever play. Conservative shots on the fairway can net a birdie, but aggressive play that results in shots off the fairway can easily balloon into a high score on this hole. Beautiful scenery and a cornucopia of water hazards will definitely challenge you at Jordan Creek, and with new concrete teepads, the course is a joy to play.

Knob Hill, Warrendale, PA – This course one of Pennsylvania’s best original courses, and with the addition of cement tee pads on all the red tees and flypads to the blue tees to every hole, it’s only gotten better over the years. The course is a wonderful mix of wooded holes and shots over rolling terrain with large elevation changes. Knob Hill is quite flexible, offering three pin positions and two sets of tee pads per hole. The shorter red tees have possibly the nicest concrete tee pads I’ve ever played on, and the long tees play very tough, almost enough to rival the long layouts at other world class courses. When this course was installed in the mid 1990s, it was initially one of the toughest I had ever played and was for a long time in my top 10. However, newer courses have since pushed it off my list of favorites. Also, perennial issues with poor drainage often make this course a sloppy mess and not very enjoyable to traverse.

Tinicum Park, Erwinna, PA –. The pin locations can vary, but when most of the pins are set in the C positions, this course is one of the longest you’ll play on the East coast. There are a few short wooded holes with well-defined lanes, but most holes are set in a large flat field next to a canal, which comes into play on several holes. Because of the length of the course, Tinicum plays like a ball golf course in that several holes require a drive, then a long approach shot, then a putt, instead of the usual drive/putt, drive/putt required at most shorter disc golf courses. Hole #18 is almost 800 feet long, to a protected basket! Restroom facilities and water are available, back by the campground. Be alert for cross-country skiers in the park during the winter months.

Tyler State Park, Newtown, PA (27 holes) – My interest and opinion on this course tends to wax and wane along with the course conditions and polehole positions. When the course is in good condition and the pin positions are in par four and par five locations, this course is one of the best in the country. However, there are times in the late spring and summer when heavy growth can make this course a jungle and the park service (understaffed from budget constraints, I’m sure) will get lax with the grass mowing on the open holes. Most of the course is set in a very lovely and pristine forest with only a few holes out in the open, and the course does play over some hefty elevation changes. There are cement tee pads on all tees and three pin positions on most of its 27 holes, as well as excellent course markage with tee signs and next tee signs pointing the way. Recently, elevated terraces were added to the pin position of a few holes which are very aesthetically pleasing and challenging as well. Some of the C pin positions make for awesome par four and five holes - you’ll be ecstatic to score a birdie three on many of these longer holes. Restrooms and water are available.

Private Course, Chester County, PA – I was contacted during the summer of 2007 by a youth pastor to evaluate the course he designed on the grounds of his church camp & retreat center. With only a few years background playing recreational disc golf and no design course experience, the minister created a fantastic pro par 60 course that makes excellent use of the awesome terrain. After giving a primer on designing a course for an intended skill level and keeping score separation in mind, as well as adjusting a few of the tees which were too close to the previous basket, the course has evolved into a masterpiece with each hole playing as a different chapter of a book. The course has a little bit of everything – open shots, wooded holes, several water hazards, elevated off-the-cliff drives, a gauntlet tree-lined hole, real pro par four holes that demand both distance and accuracy, roller opportunities, and even a hole reminiscent of USDGC #7, with a wooded wall that surrounds the polehole. The recent addition of a pro par four 18^th hole is spectacular, with the approach playing severely downhill to a protected polehole on a natural green area with an OB road just behind it to punish errant shots. Even better, the minister and the camp go to great lengths to keep the rough trimmed back and the course is always in pristine shape when I have had the great fortune to play it.

Unfortunately, as with most camps where kids are present, liability issues prevent the course from being open to the public and playing the course is available by appointment only. I have kept the name and specific location of the course confidential for this reason.

Quaker’s Challenge, Gifford Pinchot State Park, Lewisberry, PA - Still a work in progress, when finished, the Quaker's Challenge course will be a par 63 Nockamixon-like gem that features elevated lake views, pro-caliber length, steep elevation changes, gauntlet wooded holes, multiple pin positions, real pro par four and pro par five holes, and the toughest disc golf challenge in the central portion of the state.

While the recreational Boulder Woods course serves novice golfers well, it is somewhat limited by flat terrain, holes that run too close together, tees too close to the basket of the previous hole, and awkward mandatories. So a few years ago some of the stronger local players got permission to begin building a premier golf course on the other side of lake. Many dedicated volunteers burrowed through some impossibly thick terrain, and sometimes gruesome briar patches, to create challenging but fair disc golf holes. While still a work in progress, the course is only some tee pad work and a little tender love and care away from being a fully functional disc golf course. Some of the more notable holes, including #1 which is is listed at only 242 feet, but plays some 30 feet of vertical drop straight uphill. With an effective length of over 330 feet, don't feel bad if you don't reach this basket on your first throw out of the car. The A pin on hole#3 is a 550-ft. pro par four, but the B and C pin stretch this hole out to 795' and 935' and make it a tough pro par 5 to very protected pin positions. Holes #6-7 play down wide walking paths, but fairway management is a must. A mid-range off the tee is not a bad idea on these 600+ pro par four holes. Hole#10 is an uphill pro par four which slopes heavily from right to left towards an OB drainage ditch. Staying high right on the hill is critical to set up the approach shot. Hole#11 plays directly up a powerline cut. It's listed at 444' but plays more like 600+ because of the steep elevation gain. The polehole is tucked deep into trees left off the fairway, and I can’t see anyone scoring a birdie 3 on this. Hole#15 is the shortest hole on the course is by no means the easiest. At 200 feet and slightly downhill, it's a putter shot at most but down a fairway no more than 6 or 7' wide. A thumber shot up and over everything is there if you're crazy enough to try it. The last pro par four on the course is hole #16, and it offers a chance to chuck a long, slightly downhill drive to set up a very tight approach shot. Hole#17 is possibly the signature par 3 at Quaker's Challenge; it's 375' but severely downhill towards the lake. This one's a beaut and just a ton of fun to throw.

Codorus State Park, Hanover, PA (54 holes) – There are, I’m told, 54 holes now at Codorus including the uber-challenging “Cross Country” holes. The course is a wonderful mix of a few tight wooded holes and mostly open ones, with the exception of a few disc-eating cedar trees, but with FANTASTIC views of Lake Marburg. Being on a ridge overlooking the lake, it can get quite windy, so take care. There are several signature holes with elevated tees that will take your breath away. The wooded holes are shorter, although with some low ceiling shots, rollers might be the preferred shot. The course is very well marked, with tee signs at every hole, and a few holes featured small benches. Restrooms and water are available.

French Creek State Park, Birdsboro, PA – There used to be two 18-hole courses at French Creek, both of which were the very definition of pitch-n-putt. However, as of 2009, a new par 64 world class layout was installed. Many new holes were added in the woods on the far side of the parking lot above the pool. These new holes feature many pro par four holes over hefty elevation changes where birdie threes are rare and a sign of exceptional golf. The tee pads on these new holes are world class affairs and a serious upgrade on the old natural tees. More new holes play above and in the woods on the near side of the pool parking lot, where hole#12 finishes on an exquisitely picturesque peninsula green. The remainder of the course finishes in the area that was once the Pleasure Mountain disc golf course. If you haven’t been out to French Creek in a while, I highly recommend checking out Pennsylvania’s newest world class layout.

Conrad Weiser Historical Park, Womelsdorf, PA (temp course) – Once a year the Lancaster Area Frisbee Sports Club sets up an 18-hole temporary course at the Conrad Weiser Historical Park. This park is dedicated to an early colonial settler who negotiated practically every Indian treaty in the region in the 1700s. The land is to die for, with rolling hills, scattered mature trees, gardens, statues / monuments, a pond that comes into play on a few holes, many elevation changes, some low-ceiling shots which make for excellent roller opportunities, and nice length with no pitch-n-putt holes. Hole#1 is extended into a long position in the second round to make for the only pro par four on the course, but there are a lot of tough threes where you can’t afford to muff a shot. The layout is fairly good, although there’s a stretch of holes from #10-#13 which basically all play the same, and a few tees which are located in the fairway of the previous hole. The tournament itself is a must-play, with a low-key relaxed atmosphere but with a very nice payout. Don’t miss this event!

Prompton Dam, Honesdale, PA – After years of construction, the Dam is back and reportedly better than ever. While the course still plays mostly in the open, some wooded holes have been added which was one of the only drawbacks to the course before – it was too open. There are now two sets of permanent poleholes, one shorter yellow set and one longer red set, to make for two different layouts playable at any time. While the 11th hole next to the entrance road has unfortunately been shortened from the awesome 900’ pro par four it used to play as, some other changes have been made to make the back nine better – especially the 15^th-18^th holes. With awesome elevation changes, serious length, challenging wind play, and fantastic views of the lake, the course is well worth the commute to the remote area in which the course is located. The signature hole #1 is one of the best opening holes in disc golf - it drives 400 feet from the parking lot down to the pin situated on a peninsula that juts out into the lake.

Hickory Run State Park, Lake Harmony, PA – The Pocono guys have done a bang-up job getting a great course installed in this park. There’s a lot of difficult par threes and some heavy foliage that make this course play tougher than it looks. The front nine wind through a mostly open section of the park with rolling hills and fantastic views of the lake. Rollers work well on a lot of these holes. The back nine are mostly flat and play through a much tighter wooded area. A lot of golfers disparage this back nine, but that viewpoint is unjust, in my opinion. These are classic Pennsylvania/New England woods holes, and golfers with moderate skill should be able to regularly thread these fairways. The alternate holes #3A and #3B play through a very pretty woods section and over a water hazard.

Roland Park, Akron, PA (21 holes) - A rolling, scenic course set in the heart of Amish country. The first two holes play in the open, while the rest of the front nine play mostly short, tight and in the woods. Nearly all of these woods holes are very interesting in that they feature fast greens, with most baskets on steep hills. The back nine play as long open field shots, so watch out for the wind! The course features cement tee pads on all the holes, and benches on the front nine. Hole #18 drives over a pretty pond with a fountain, although it isn’t too tough to clear the water. Restroom facilities are available.

Belmont Plateau, Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, PA (temp course) – This was a temporary course set up for the Philadelphia Open a few years ago; it was awesome! The front nine played in a mostly open area on a hillside with views of the Philadelphia skyline. The tee of the 5^th hole looked directly at Philly and the hole was about 450 feet downhill and easily reachable. It was followed by a roughly 600-foot par 4 hole to a protected green. The back nine played through a wooded section with more elevation changes and low ceilings that, on a few occasions, demanded rollers. The combination of elevation, length, trees, and challenge made for quite a memorable course, and one I’d love to be able to play again someday.

Unami Creek Park, Milford, PA (9 holes)

While this course is currently just nine holes and a work in progress, it is spectacular. Forget all the preconceived notions you may have had about 9-holers in general, because this course is a MUST-PLAY and absolutely worth the commute from wherever you're coming from to play it. At only about 25 minutes down the Northeast Extension of the Turnpike from the Lehigh Valley and requiring barely an hour to complete the nine holes, this course is well worth the trip.

The land that was available for this course was simply so tremendous that would have been hard to blow the design. There is simply just some amazing elevation changes, open areas, woods holes that play through old growth forest, a beautiful water hazard that still allows people to retrieve errant shots into the drink, rock outcroppings, etc. to make this course an extremely fun and CHALLENGING layout. Even skilled golfers will be hard pressed to break 30 on this course, let alone par 28. While course designers can only do what they can with the land available, the Unami Creek course in Milford Township blows all other 9-holers in our region out of the water.

Course designer and builder Fred Retter did a simply heroic job whipping this course into shape. All but three of the holes are 300 feet or greater, and one of those holes less than 300 plays over the creek, and the other gains about 30 feet in elevation so it actually plays more like 300'. The amount of weed-whacking and trimming that went into this course is clearly evident, and you'll be amazed at how great Fred has the course looking, with all such work done almost single-handedly. Perhaps the nicest touches are the really sweet frame-worked tee boxes on every hole, with soft crushed stone filler. Along with the creek hole, the possible signature hole is #2 which is a pro par four that drives severely downhill through a narrow sledding chute into a large field. After that, your next shot must carry all the way down into the corner of the field where the basket is tucked another 100' into the woods and is heavily protected. Be very happy with a four on this 681’ monster. Once completing hole#3, after a pleasant walk through the woods you come to the water hole! Playing over a bend in the creek, the hole plays 258' downhill with a low ceiling and a hard fade left at the end to the polehole. Your disc will carry water about 85-90% of its flight before you hyzer off to the basket. You'll need to keep your drive low enough below the canopy but high enough to clear the rocks on the water's edge. Hole#6 ("Rock Island") is about 310' feet and is fun if only for the polehole being placed behind a Volkswagen Microbus-sized boulder. Seriously, this rock formation is about 9-10' high and 15' long and just sticks up kind of out of the blue. Neat! Hole#8 plays 306' uphill, but there is a huge rock formation on the left hand side and a steep drop-off down the hill on the other side of it. The basket is located towards the end of these rocks. When you're on the near side of it and just short, you're faced with an uphill putt similar to hole#8 at Jordan Creek which is the one after the frog pond. If you should fly past the polehole on the far side however, you could roll a hundred feet down the hill.

Again, my hat is off to Fred for single-handedly spearheading this project, and the results are nothing short of amazing. I can only salivate at the prospects of an additional 9-holes at this course, but it’s too bad that the NIMBY’s and nature trail Nazis are blocking the necessary approval and backing by the parks commission to proceed with this endeavor.

Camp Horseshoe, Orefield, PA (private) – This course was closed for several years when it was shut down by the Boys and Girls Club of Allentown. A few years ago it was bought by an organization called Valley Youth House and renamed Camp Fowler. Since I used to be “course pro” at Camp Horseshoe I got a call at that time from Bob Robertson of the Valley Youth House organization about bringing the course back. I thought I was doing “the right thing” by handing this off to Lehigh Valley Disc Club officers. Unfortunately, it looks like the opportunity to have the course available to LVDC members or the general public has been squandered. It’s a real shame because apparently new tee boxes and three new footbridges were built on the course. I don’t know what the current layout plays like, but the old one played up and over and down some of the most severe terrain you’ve ever seen. Almost every basket was on an angled slope, which made for the fastest greens I’ve ever played. Getting ’Shoed was equivalent to suffering a severe rollaway, usually into an OB creek. The signature hole #17 drove off a ridge over 375 feet across and down a valley underneath a zip line, and it was awesome!

D. F. Buchmiller Park, Lancaster, PA – This course plays up and down over some beautiful rolling hills. From what I’ve heard the course is set on what used to be a ball golf course. Buchmiller is well marked with tees signs on every hole and signs pointing the way to the next tee. With all the pins in the normal positions, the course plays fairly short overall with many a birdie opportunity. But with the pins in the alternate positions, the course plays longer and much more difficult. Most of the holes play in the open around a few scattered large trees, but when the pins are in the alternate positions, on some holes you’re playing to a pin which is set some 40-50 feet back into the woods. They’ve added 18 concrete tee pads to the course, which was a much needed improvement and is greatly appreciated. Water and Port-o-Lets are available.

Long Trout Winery, Auburn, PA (private; see website for operating hours) – Where the wine is cool and the hippie chicks rule! The course is set on the property behind the house of the winery owners, and the first tee launches from the patio of their house. The course looks a bit South Mountain did when it was installed in 1997, long before the masses opened everything up. There are some steep hills, a few rocks, but certainly very narrow fairways. The fairways on the tightest holes are only six or seven feet wide, and as with all new courses, there's a lot of little stuff if you get off the fairway. With a perfect throw, however, you can reach the basket of all the holes, as most are in the 200-300 foot range and the longest is about 350 feet. The first five holes wind their way up through the woods, and hole six plays directly downhill. Holes seven and eight are anhyzers / lefty hyzers that play in an open field, and hole nine throws through a tight gauntlet and then over the koi pond behind the house.

The back nine plays similarly, with the holes tick-tacking their way up the hill until holes 15 and 16 play severely downhill and back to the open. Hole#17 is an instant classic - it's only 200 feet long, but you must throw through a mando of two large trees spaced only about ten feet apart, about halfway to the polehole. The aforementioned polehole hangs from the barn, and its an awesome ace run. Hole#18 ends with a polehole position perched precariously above the pond, and any ace run that misses will certainly result in "fish food."

While the course is not a championship caliber layout, the hospitality is certainly world class. If you get the chance to talk to the owner, Tom, you will likely spend hours enjoying swapping stories. You should also not miss the opportunity to sample the fantastic wine and purchase a bottle to bring home with you.

South Mountain Park, Bethlehem, PA – Laid out on the side of a mountain, this course plays in the woods over serious elevation changes. Designed for accuracy rather than power, most holes are short, but fairly tight. The course was also designed to feature an even mix of straight holes, doglegs to the left, and doglegs to the right. The first five holes are very rocky, so I would recommend using older discs due to the fact that the rocks will chip the edge of your discs up. The signature hole#14 shoots almost 400 feet downhill underneath a powerline, and an alternate pin position has been added that extends the hole another 150 feet! Although set in a forest, there is no thick brush or undergrowth to speak of, probably due to the many deer that I've seen wandering through. Noteworthy is that because of the mountain setting, the course is temperate and quite pleasant in the summer. During these summer months, the restrooms are usually open, and water is available from spigots found on the course.

F.E. Walter Dam, Lake Harmony, PA – Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, thanks to some amazing efforts from members of the local club, this course has been reborn into a well manicured course that is a great test of golfing skills. New tee boxes, tee signs, and baskets, some of which are elevated, have been added, and along with some rock-lined paths and trimmed grass, the course is looking better than ever. Playing among a lot of pine trees, most holes are blind and you usually need to "scout ahead" to find the baskets. If the local club can win approval, the permanent inclusion of the 1,000-foot pro par five hole would be a sweet addition. Port-o-lets are available on site.

Anson B. Nixon Park, Kennett Square, PA – There are cement tee pads on the amateur tees of all 18 holes. The first third of the course play very short and in a tightly wooded area, while the next third play long and in the open. The 12^th hole is a delightful par four and the best on the course but suffers from two abominable design flaws: the entire left-hand side borders a very busy expressway, and you must retrace the entire hole to get to the next tee. The final four holes play back in the woods next to water but these holes are usually under water year round.

Creekside Disc Golf Course @ Ridley Park, East Pennsboro, PA – With 18 holes and cement teepads, this course offers Harrisburg area golfers the chance to bang chains locally, something that has been sorely needed in the Capital City region. The course builders have done a bang-up job, with really nice hand-painted tee signs, tee boxes, a bulletin board at the parking lot, and a lost disc retrieval box. The course is laid out on mostly flat and open land amongst scattered mature trees along the banks of the Conodoquinet Creek, a tributary of the Susquehanna river. The creek comes into play on many holes, with OB backyards coming into play on others, but thankfully during most of the year the water is typically shallow enough to retrieve errant shots. They did the best they could with the land available to them, and while a few mandatories and OB lines attempt to separate holes, much of the course basically consists of holes that run parallel to each other in an area that is barely wide enough to contain one hole. However, what is lacking in course design is easily made up for by the hospitality of course pro Jeff Mannatt, who lives next to the ninth hole. When Jeff opens up his basement to disc golfers with keg beer on tap, food, music, pool, etc. the hospitality offered at this course may be the finest I’ve ever encountered in this sport.

Sedgley Woods in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, PA (27 holes) – This is the great-granddaddy of courses in the Mid-Atlantic region. One of the first polehole courses in the world, Sedgley has a distinguished group of dedicated folks who maintain the course. With over a hundred "tag-holders," there’s always competition to be found at at Sedgley, with tag matches held on Thursdays and Saturdays throughout the year. For camaraderie and friendliness of the locals, there’s no better place in the world! The course plays through a majestic stand of old-growth trees and is actually quite lovely. The newest 9 holes added in the last several years are a welcome addition, some of which are quite challenging. However, with the advent of beveled-edge disc technology and the ever-increasing popularity of disc golf, some of the original course is quite dangerous. Many of the yellow tees are located within 20 feet of a neighboring polehole, and I truly fear for my safety when playing this course on a crowded day.

Boulder Woods, Gifford Pinchot State Park, Lewisberry, PA – This course was established in 2000 and planted the seed for disc golf in the central PA region. Much credit should be given to Ken Lemkelde for getting disc golf started in an area that was previously devoid. The course plays in an area of the park near the lake and in the woods beside it and is geared towards recreational players. Unfortunately, despite multiple re-designs the course still has far too many holes with fairways that run too close together, where errant shots or tree deflections often end up in the fairway of another hole. Additionally, many tees are located too close to the polehole of other holes. And while there are several holes with mandatories, many of these mandos are poorly placed and worse yet, the drop zones are located in some really strange locations. Combined with recreational facilities such a pavilion, picnic tables and hiking trails coming into play, all of the aforementioned result in some very serious safety concerns, perhaps as bad as at Sedgley and some other courses I’ve seen. The new Quaker Challenge course installed across the lake will offer a course geared towards more advanced golfers, and without the design flaws and dangerous safety concerns of the original course.

Valley View Park, Altoona, PA (9 holes) – This nine-holer plays on the side of a hill and features some open areas along with some very heavy woods, and most holes boast scenic views of the Altoona valley; hence the name! The woods holes are oh-so-tight and feature some heavy rough off the fairway – accuracy is critical. Fighting your way through the woods is rewarded by the beautiful seventh and ninth holes which traverse an open area with a huge elevation change. The signature ninth hole plays from an elevated tee about 350 feet downhill to the polehole, with an elevation of drop of some 35-40 feet. A nice seasoned Roc is a good choice here, but avoid the heavy woods on the right side!

Schenley Park, Pittsburgh, PA –. This course reminds me a lot of Sedgley Woods in Philadelphia. It’s got three sets of tee pads, consisting of concrete tee pads for the short and advanced tees, and railroad ties marking the pro tees. Form the reds, the course is suitable for novice, junior or lid throwers: most holes play in the 150-200 foot range. Advanced players will want to play from the white or blue tees. With the exception of the first several holes which play in an open hilly area, the course plays mostly in some tight woods; the signature hole #2 offers a beautiful 450 foot downhill shot with the Pittsburgh skyline visible over your shoulder. Unfortunately, like its sister course in Philly, Schenley suffers from an old design with the woods holes crowded into a very tight space - overlap is common and errant discs are a real hazard. Also watch out for sun worshippers in the open field (on the first few holes) during warm days.

DeSales University, Center Valley, PA – This course plays around the college campus. The first nine play right through the heart of the school, while the back nine play around the edges of the property. The course designers did about as well as they could, given the land available, but with mostly open spaces and very few trees, almost every hole is entirely in the open, and there is very little potential to move tees or baskets to make them more interesting. One section of holes, 10-12, plays through a corn field, with one basket curiously stuck right in the middle of it. With the open setting, golfers will often encounter high winds at this course. I guarantee that the course will get some great exposure for disc golf, as every student who attends the school will certainly see it played. But this is not a course that any regular disc golfer would ever want to travel to play, in my opinion, especially with Nockamixon and Tinicum not too far away.

Glasbern Inn, Fogelsville, PA – (private – NOT open to public) This is a nine-holer on the grounds of a bed & breakfast just outside of the Lehigh Valley. This was originally slated to be a championship 18-hole layout available for play to general public, but the crotchety owner of the B&B abandoned plans for the back nine, shortened the 9-hole pro layout to a rather pedestrian track, and access to the course was restricted to registered guests only. The former layout featured several pro par four holes which had some challenging OB and water hazards, but the current holes play mostly as 200 – 250 foot holes geared for novice golfers. While the inn looks nice, I wouldn’t recommend staying a night just to play the course, especially considering that despite reportedly owning a million-dollar air-conditioned tractor, the owner rarely mows the grass and the tall grass and playing conditions can be quite rough out on the course. Finding the tees, marked by railroad ties set flush into the ground, is especially difficult, and would be next to impossible without a course map.

Upper Macungie Park, Fogelsville, PA – This 9-hole layout has a few holes that play in the woods, with the remainder out on a wide open ridge that overlooks Allentown. The 4^th hole is a pro par four that spans the gap between the two – you need an accurate shot out of the woods, and then a long approach to a “buttonhook” polehole that is tucked around the edge of a treeline. The remainder of the course plays as nice long open shots that allow you to see the full flight of the disc. Unfortunately, this course suffers from some serious safety issues. The 1^st and 9^th holes plays dangerously close to the parking lot, where errant shots could strike cars or people. The 2^nd hole throws over the entrance road and any shot that fades left or deflects left off a tree risks carrying a fence and into a quarry with a 100-ft. drop. It would not be a stretch to imagine a disc golfer climbing over the fence to retrieve an errant shot and accidentally falling to his death.

Muhlenburg College object course, Allentown, PA – This course plays to wooden posts around the campus, and both the tee and the target are well marked with the hole number. As with most college courses, the hazards of buildings, cars, and students are prevalent, and the course is best played when school is not in session. For the most part, the front nine is very short and plays closer to the buildings. I recommend using an Omega SuperSoft or a Frisbee lid on most of these holes. The back nine is much much longer and actually features at least three or four pro par four holes of 500 feet or more; golf discs are needed to reach these holes. The course is very well maintained with short grass perfect for rollers and the beauty of the trees, campus buildings, and college-age females on this course make the experience worth it.

New Hanover Park, New Hanover, PA –This 9-hole course plays almost entirely in the woods, but over some elevation changes, next to a creek, and along some out-of-bounds areas. Each hole features advanced and novice concrete tee pads, and a sign at each tee. Even from the advanced tees, the course plays VERY short, and you’ll want to hold up on most of your shots and concentrate on accuracy. No restroom facilities are available.

Earl Township Park, Shanesville, PA – The course is best described as a mini-Brandywine, in that it reminded me exactly of short hole 4, "The Cutie." The course is set on a completely open hillside, with knee-high grass everywhere. 20 foot wide fairways have been mowed into the grass, and the holes range in length from 150 feet to 339 feet, although the latter is downhill and easily reachable. There's even a rock wall, although it doesn't come into play. The tee signs for each hole are located within, no lying, 15-20 feet of the basket of the previous hole. With the exception of hole 8 which runs along the park boundary, there are exactly 5 trees on this course and they are all on hole 3. Off the fairway was brutal, I was lucky in that I lost only one disc on a mulligan shot. I was also fortunate to pick only one tick off me. WCP is probably around 20 for these nine holes. Every single hole can be deuced, although hole 7 is 250 and straight uphill, and without a flat tee area, plays more like 350. This course makes Dunham look like Paw Paw. It's obvious that whoever put the course in consulted absolutely no one who knows anything about disc golf. If they were to use the woods, combine some holes, and use the entire hillside down to the road, this could be a really nice 9-holer. As it stands, all I got out of it was some putting practice and some major tick paranoia. If you drive out of your way to play this course, you are foolish.

Wehr’s Dam/Covered Bridges Park, Allentown, PA – This course has the ignominious distinction as one of the bottom three I’ve ever played. It’s a nine-hole Boy Scout project, and again, it's obvious that whoever put the course in consulted absolutely no one who knows anything about disc golf. The tees are unmarked 4x4s and the baskets are also unnumbered, and with the exception of hole 2, the entire course is best played with an Omega SuperSoft putter. Hole 2 is wide open, slightly uphill, and about 350 feet long, but the rest of the holes are each no more than about 150 feet long and play through a steep wooded incline too close to a baseball field, with the last two holes playing directly and dangerously down walking paths.

Windlestrae Park, Montgomery Township, PA – This course had a fantastic 18-hole layout and the potential to be a world class course, but due to pushback from selfish neighbors who don’t want to share “their” park and township residents who are totally ignorant to the sport of disc golf and think that it’s their duty to micromanage the decision of their parks commission, the course has since been removed. The current word is that it may possibly come back at a later date as a recreational layout, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.

Elizabethtown College, Elizabethtown, PA (about 5 playable holes) – I made the mistake of playing this course in August of 2003, and I’m not sure whether the students or the school or both maintain the course, but it would seem that the responsible parties were off for the summer - nearly ¾ of the course was overgrown and completely unplayable. The first couple of holes near the residence hall are maintained and are actually quite nice, but after that the course traverses into a wooded area with downed trees everywhere and then an open field with chest-high grass. If the course ever gets fixed, please let me know.

New Jersey

Campgaw Reservation, Mahwah, NJ – Dan Doyle’s creation has his signature design elements all over this ski hill course. The front nine of the Mighty Gaw layout is pure genius, with a nice mix of pro par fives and par fours that work their way through the woods up and around the top of the mountain. Some exciting downhill par threes bring you back down to the base area. The back nine follow a similar progression but stays closer to the ski trails. The thrill factor is off the charts on hole# 15, which plays down the hill and across the snowboard halfpipe, and discs that land inside the snowboard halfpipe encounter a truly unique hazard there. Back on top of the mountain once again on hole#18, you are confronted with a downhill pro par five of over 1100+ feet to the bottom of the mountain. In my estimate, if you can reach even with the blue shack in the middle of the fairway, that's a nearly 700-foot throw. An added challenge is that the entrance road which runs in front of the basket is OB and competitors must decide whether to go for the pin or lay up before the polehole.

With several climbs up the headwall over the course of an 18-hole round, this course will challenge your physical fitness almost as much as your disc-throwing ability. Hiking boots are a must, as is plenty of water. If you play a round from the blue tees, with a pro par of about 70, I would plan on a full 3 hours, and it may likely take even longer. The white tees are not quite as brutal of a slog. Easily New Jersey’s greatest course, and unlike any other disc golf course on the East Coast, the Mighty Gaw layout is a monster that will test every aspect of your game.

When the back nine is removed for the season for winter activities, the local golfers have designed a Winter layout. With 18 par three holes, it’s the perfect setup for novices and golfers looking for a more casual experience. The layout only climbs the hill once, and is a course that is much more beginner friendly.

Environmental Education Center, Princeton, NJ – This course is set on the land of an environmental education center for kids and not really open to the public. The course designer has made for a delightful layout that uses shared baskets on the beautiful property. There are some nice elevation changes, pretty water hazards, cut fairways and a mixture of baskets. (even a hanging one) There’s a nice balance between open holes down wide walking trails and gauntlet holes through thick woods.

Landis Park, Vineland, NJ – This flat course plays through a nice public park and lends itself to rollers. Although it plays through some big trees, they are spaced far enough apart to provide a fairway but close enough to keep your drives honest. Recently I have noticed the addition of new alternate pin positions and blue "rec" tees which makes this great course even better. The VDGA has done a great job in getting a sublime course installed in southern New Jersey, and continues to support the sport with tourneys throughout the year.

Buzzy's Creek, West Milford, NJ - Buzzy’s plays mainly in a tight wooded section with the exception of a few open holes. Most of these woodsy holes are short and tight, while the field shots play a little longer and more in the open. The course does play up and down some elevation changes and Greenwood Lake comes into play on a number of holes. No restroom facilities are available.

Bunker Hill, Cranbury, NJ (9 holes, private) - This is Robert Zurfluh’s private course that utilizes his property and neighbor’s yards in Cranbury, NJ. There have been several different incarnations of the course over the last few years but this layout is the best one yet. The nine holes occupy a total of about 4.5 acres and play to a few shared baskets, and even though the land is relatively flat, the layout makes the best use of the limited elevation changes and land available. The first three holes are very short (less than 200 feet each) and beginner friendly, and deuce is expected on every one of these. You’ll need them for the longer holes that come later! The 4^th hole is an interesting dogleg which sets up nicely for a backhand roller for a right-hander. An air shot may be the safe play but leaves a tougher approach to a well protected basket. The signature par four 710-foot 6^th hole plays into the corner of the field which is entirely lined by disc-eating trees on the right and an OB farmer’s field on the left. With a low ceiling drive and a headwind often blowing, a birdie three is usually out of the question and the goal is to avoid taking a five or six. You’ll have the advantage of the tailwind coming back on the 435-foot 7^th hole, but the OB field looms dangerously on the right, and the approach to the polehole is quite tight. The last two holes are deuce runs to get some strokes back that you might have lost on the field holes, with the final hole demanding a low ceiling shot and is another excellent opportunity for a roller.

Robert is an amazingly friendly guy; not only will you thoroughly enjoy playing a round of disc golf with him, but the Gemütlichkeit (hospitality) at the Bunker Hill course is unparalled!

Chimney Rock Park, Chimney Rock, NJ (9 holes) – What a nice setting for disc golf! The local Boy Scouts have installed a lovely nine-hole course in central NJ that rivals its neighbor to the north, Dunham Park. After a few open holes, the course traverses a lovely wooded area with tight fairways, a meandering stream, and a picturesque bridge. After exiting the woods, the remainder of the course plays in an open area with links-style fairways, where off the mowed paths can leave you in waist-high grass and a possible lost disc. While hole#2 is long enough (~470 feet) to approach par 4 status, most other holes at this course are extremely short – in fact, stepping off the front of the teepad could be considering a falling putt on two of the woods holes! Despite the lack of challenge, (-8 is quite attainable) this family course features a number of memorable holes and is a pleasure to play.

Dunham Park, Liberty Corner, NJ (9 holes) - Nine holes play around the perimeter of this family park, and while the course is pretty flat, it’s all in the open. The hole lengths range from very short to not very long, however from the few times I’ve played there I’ve found that it’s always windy at Dunham, which adds for somewhat of a challenge. There are two sets of tee pads on each hole, which allows for 18 different holes of golf, and with stroller paths circumventing the course, it makes for one the nicest family courses I’ve seen.

Rutgers, Douglass College, New Brunswick, NJ - This course, set on a college campus, plays both in a pretty section of woods with scattered large trees and also around some of the buildings. Watch out for students who might be crossing through on the pathways. The tees are well marked, with brand new tee signs on each hole. These "A" tees play extremely short, with the total length clocking in at a silly 3400 feet - you could throw a putter from the tee on most holes. From the B tees, which are marked with orange paint, the course plays longer (4380’) but some of these B tees are somewhat difficult to find unless you know them. During tournaments, extended ‘C’ tees, Field holes, and ‘Passion Puddle’ holes are used which make for some par four holes and stretch this course out nicely into a real disc golf course.

Cape May County Park, Cape May County Courthouse, NJ – This 9 holer plays through a public park. I received an e-mail in May of 2004 from Dominic Rosselli, Director, Cape May County Parks, that 9 new Innova targets were installed on this course, woo-hoo! However, because most of the baskets are very close to picnic tables and shelters, it is next to impossible to play the course unless it is in the evening when the park is devoid of people. There are no tees at the course, so you pretty much have to make up your own. There are some really neat holes through the pretty woods, with some featuring nice length. And although there are only nine baskets, you can play the course backwards to make for 18 holes.

Alexandria Town Park, Milford, NJ – This new course has two sets of tees and plays mostly in the woods counterclockwise around a large open hillside. The layout is geared towards recreational players with many short pitch-n-putt holes. The 9^th hole however has an extended polehole position which lengthens the hole out to 575 feet and makes for a true pro par four hole and is really the one true gem of the course. The course designer reports that the course is currently 12 holes with plans to expand to 18, and for some variety and to play some elevation changes, this course offers locals some outstanding contrast to the Tinicum course. But with Tinicum’s 18-hole world class layout (which can play to a pro par of 60 when all the pins are in the ‘C’ position) and being only 15 minutes down the road, I personally have a tough time not playing Tinicum if I’m in the area.

The Sand Trap (North Wildwood Beach), Wildwood, NJ – This course no longer exists. Just as the name implied, this course was set amongst the dunes between the end of the boardwalk and the ocean and played completely on the sand. The course was tougher than it would seem, because although most holes were open shots it’s usually quite windy. Some holes played up and over the dunes, which was interesting because there are signs everywhere warning people to stay off the dunes. It also proved very difficult to play the course during the summer months due to the heavy traffic of half-naked beachgoers crossing through the holes, but having the ocean right there to jump into after a round made it all worth it!

Delaware - Note: Most Delaware courses are located in State Parks, which charge a $6 admission fee for out-of-state vehicles. The in-state fee is $3.00. This fee is usually charged only during Daylight Savings time, and not after ~ 6 PM.

Iron Hill Park, Newark, DE - Paw Paw. Warwick. Nockamixon. Moraine State Park. Patapsco. Tyler. The list of world class par 66+ courses in the Mid-Atlantic Region just grew by one with the addition of the Iron Hill course outside of Newark, DE. Playing on a rugged hilltop through scattered open areas, thick woods, and serious elevation changes, this brand new course is a par 68 gem that will challenge almost every aspect of your golf game. It will teach you discipline, as fairway placement is an absolute must and critical to scoring well on this course. While I’ll always have a special place in my heart for the awesome elevation changes, wind hazards, water hazards, and picturesque vistas at the Brandywine Creek disc golf course, the Diamond State’s newest course is now the toughest, and best, course in the state, in my opinion. The pro-style layout at Iron Hill Park features tough par threes, true pro par four and pro par five holes, and the best golfing challenge the state has to offer!

Hole#1 gives you a pretty good taste of what will follow: a 500-ft. hole left-to-right turning pro par four hole with an ample fairway but heavy rough off to the side, making fairway placement almost mandatory. I had to walk the entire length of hole#3 to appreciate it fully, and the thought of "signature hole" immediately came to mind. (That would last for one hole) With a low ceiling off the tee and somewhat downhill, this one screamed righty backhand roller. The green location is just tremendous on this hole, with a stream and beautiful little bridges - simply stunning. Hole#4 almost brought tears to my eyes it was so beautiful. Playing slightly downhill and with an extremely generous fairway, it's just an incredibly gorgeous disc golf hole and looks like it's straight from of a country club. It reminds me a little of hole#17 at Wellspring, NC only without the pond on the right. It's about 505 feet to the long pin, but an elite player could probably reach it with a backhand roller. Hole#5: Holy cow! If the last two holes didn't make people realize that this was a serious golf course, this hole surely will. Fairly placement is absolutely essential. To the long pin this hole is a bonafide pro par five and should banish the notion from any of those who still stubbornly maintain that all holes in disc golf are par 3s. I threw for fairway placement, then another, and then my third hit the trees next to the short pin but I was able to get up and down to the elevated pin to save my five. This elevated pin area amongst the boulders was very pretty and I would be sad if I came out to the course and the basket wasn't in the long position. (It would also make the hole 'only' a pro par four) There are a lot of pole hole positions at this course that I think will be better in the long and this one is certainly one of them. Hole#12 reminded me of the eighth hole to the 'C' pin at Tyler State Park, complete with the 90 degree dogleg left and the requisite road if you go long. If the road around this basket is OB, there is going to be some very high scores on this hole. Hole#14 is prominently placed right at the park entrance which will give the sport some nice exposure to people driving in and out of the park. The short pin will certainly get deuced on this one, and because of the wide fairway I think this one is just a tough par 3. At 899 feet and with some 40 feet in elevation gain, hole#17 is one of the longest & toughest holes I've ever played. But you know, I loved ever frustrating minute of it! This is a hole that should (again) finally open the eyes of those stubborn "all holes are par 3 in disc golf" yahoos. If anyone ever scores an (eagle) 3 on this hole, they should win the ace pot!

The Iron Hill course lived up to the hype and then some - it was a course that taught discipline and you instantly paid the penalty for errant shots. Conservative shots were rewarded, and it struck me after the round was over that I didn't use a single long-distance driver the whole round - my Destroyers, Wraiths, Sidewinders, etc. all stayed in the bag the entire time. I loved the "U.S. Open" feel to the rough and hope that no attempt is ever made to widen the fairways of these holes - they are perfect just as they are. It's a course that will separate the wheat from the chaff - golfers just below 1000 and up are going to score a lot of birdie 3s on this course and those "mullet pros" like myself are gonna shoot at least 4 and maybe worst on many of them. It's a disc golf course for the 21st century, and considering how fast the course was designed and installed the results are nothing short of spectacular. In fact, it's tough to find a single drawback to this course. The location is so convenient right off I-95, it's close to restaurants and bars, its elevated exposure and shaded trees means it will play a few degrees cooler than most courses and as opposed to nearly every other course in the state, it's FREE to play! Kudos to all who contributed to this cause and for making the number 1 disc golf course in the Diamond State. It's easily one of my top 10 ever played lifetime, and it's only going to get better with age!

Trap Pond State Park, Laurel, DE – Until Iron Hill Park came along, this was the toughest course in Delaware. A ‘gauntlet’ par three through narrow woods starts off the course and sets the tone for what is to come. A large field comes into play on the next few holes, although the majority of the course plays through the woods. In the long pin positions, holes 3 and 4 play as true par four holes, where 300+ placement drives are required to set up tight approach shots of almost that length. While these holes are long, the fairways are ample and the landing areas fairly generous. While considerably shorter, the par three holes are usually much tighter and some play as the toughest holes on the course. Towards the end of the front nine, you find yourself back out into the field again for some open crushers, one of which comes from an elevated cement tee pad. The back nine features more pro par four holes and staying on the fairway is critical. As indicated in the PDGA course directory listing, course management is a must. In some cases, a 250-foot Roc shot down the middle is vastly preferable to a 350 foot drive that hyzers well off the fairway at the end of its flight. Knowing your game and what you’re capable of throwing is crucial, and overly aggressive shots can be punished badly. Golfers that attempt high risk recovery shots from the schul instead of chipping out to the fairway may see some very high scores on their scorecard!

Brandywine Creek State Park, Wilmington, DE - Most holes at Brandywine are wide open and play very long over BIG rolling hills with lots of elevation changes, providing for VERY fast greens. Home of "Beauty and the Beast," the signature hole #4 (the Beauty) requires a turnover shot off a ridge some 460 feet down across a stream to the pin. The next hole (the #5 Beast) plays back up the hill over 666 feet (!) to a protected pin. Most of the back nine plays similar to these holes, either off the top of the ridge down to the valley below and or back up the hill. If you like tight, wooded courses then this course is not for you, but if you like airing out huge, downhill shots then you’ll love it. The course is well marked, with cement tee pads and tee signs at each tee. As with most open courses, the sun and heat can get brutal during the summer months. And because the course is located on one of the highest points in Delaware, the wind can be stronger than anywhere you’ll ever play, watch out for 25+ mph gusts! Make sure you factor the wind into your shots, because off the mown fairways the high rough can easily make for lost discs. Restrooms and water available at the park office.

Killens Pond State Park, Felton, DE – This course only gets better with age, as both red amateur tees and long pro tees have been added. From the pro tees, this course plays TOUGH! Most of the holes are very tight and wooded, and only a few play out in the open but to protected pins. A lot of Killens’ holes play long, and the shorter holes feature some big doglegs. You’ve got to have pinpoint accuracy of your disc, as the rough here can be thick off the fairway. Simply put, keep your disc on the fairway or the thorns and brambles will pay you a painful penalty. As with all Delaware courses, the course is well marked with tee signs at every hole denoting the layout of the hole and distances. Holes 8 and 9 are somewhat unusual in that they require you to throw your disc very high up in the air over some huge bushes. Restrooms/water available.

White Clay State Park , Newark, DE – White Clay’s renaissance has been completed. Cement tee pads and computer generated tee box signs have been added to every hole, wow! Most of the holes at White Clay play fairly short but over some nice elevation changes. Although some of the alternate pin locations are awkward to shoot to, they really extend the course nicely and make par 54 tough to break. I would say that the course plays mostly in the open, however some holes play next to some really heavy rough that can be quite painful if your disc should find it, watch for the thorns and brambles in these locations. The signature hole #17 tees off from an elevated tee pad across a field to a protected pin. Restrooms/water available.

Cape Henlopen State Park, Lewes, DE – Golfers either love or hate this course, and I’m one of the former, it’s one of the most unique courses you’ll ever play! Most holes play as blind shots up and over the scrub pines. Distance-wise most holes are fairly short but play much longer due to having to throw high into ocean winds. Use of a spotter is mandatory: you’ll lose plenty of discs otherwise. The wooded boardwalk tees are very well marked with tee signs and little yellow signs guide you in between holes. I’ll admit that Cape Henlopen is not really a course for tournaments but playing on the sand dunes amongst the deer and having the beach just yards away make the course one of the most fun I’ve ever played.

Lums Pond State Park, Kirkwood, DE – Trees, trees, trees. Man, does Lums have trees! This course plays almost entirely through some thick woods. The only field shots are from tees set back in the woods across the field to baskets set back in the trees. There are definitely fairways at Lums, but on some holes they are as little as four or five feet wide. You’ve got to have pinpoint accuracy on many of these holes, as an errant throw will send you flying off the fairway into thorns, brambles and/or numerous patches of poison ivy.

Bellevue State Park, Wilmington, DE – The first half of the course plays around the outside of a large oval jogging track, while the remainder of the course plays inside it. These first 9 holes play fairly short and mostly in the open along the edge of some woods. The back nine play much longer, but COMPLETELY in the open, so wind can be a huge factor. Apparently, local Eagle Scout Alex Northwood did his Eagle Scout project on the course and laid bricks for the tee pads on the whole course, and so it is much improved. Way to go Alex!

West Virginia

The Woodshed/Whipping Post, Paw Paw, WV (36 holes; pay-to-play) – Up until August 2007 when I made the trek out to Highbridge, WI, the two courses at Paw Paw were the best courses I had ever played. Paw Paw has got everything: tight woods, wide open fairways, huge uphill monster holes, big downhill crushes, fast greens, par 3s, par 4s, par 5s, spectacular views, and many water hazards. Spencer Thurman has created 36 holes of disc golf heaven on his private land in the northern panhandle of West Virginia, and you haven’t played a world-class course until you’ve done the Woodshed and the Whipping Post. Most of the holes at the course are wide open and over 400 feet, which provide for very tough deuces and easy bogeys if you tank your approach. There are so many great holes at Paw Paw that it’s tough to mention only a few. Although the majority of the course plays in the open, there are several wooded holes and they’re the longest and tightest you’ll ever play. A (par) 5 is a great score on Woodshed #3, aptly named "The Gauntlet." Thre’s a hole on the Whipping Post that is 846 feet long and possibly one of the most awesome holes I’ve ever played. It’s mostly wide open and slightly downhill the whole way until the polehole, which is tucked up into a protected green. Whipping Post#18 is disc golf’s version of "Tin Cup:" 402’ directly to the hole and with a pond reaching from 300' to the 390^th foot. Do yourself a favor and make the pilgrimage to Paw Paw, the holy Mecca of disc golf. You won’t regret it!

Virginia

The Grange, Spotsylvania, VA (36 holes – private, call first) – Mike Trapasso and Co. have carved a little slice of heaven on his private farm in rural Virginia, and this disc golf course has to be seen to be believed. There are two professional 18 hole courses here, along with one 18-hole lighted Tiki course. The original course winds through a beautiful mix of open holes over serious elevation changes and extremely tight wooded holes, some of which sport fairways only five or six feet wide. The course is extremely well manicured, with landscaped tees, mulched paths, wooden cutouts along the fairway, and ropes denoting out-of-bounds areas. Most holes feature both pro and amateur tees, with rows of five-seat benches at each tee to rest your bones. The course doesn’t play all that long, but is very challenging because of the tight fairways. Hole 9 plays to a basket inside a corral, and both holes 17 and 18 shoot over ponds. Even sporting a clubhouse, this country club known as the Grange is one fantastic disc golf experience, and if you get the chance, you should definitely check it out.

Newport News Park, Newport News, VA – What a lovely course! This course is extremely well-manicured, with a 4-pronged post to hang your golf bag at both the advanced and regular tees on every hole. All tees are marked with tee signs, and most even sport benches. The course is very well groomed, I didn’t spot a piece of trash anywhere. The first three holes play mostly in the open, while the remainder of the front nine play in a very tight section of woods that plays over little streams with wooden bridges. The back nine play in a more open section of the park. From the regular white tees, the course plays very short, with only three holes longer than 260 feet. Most advanced and pro players will want to play from the red advanced tees, which don’t play that much longer but are much more difficult to shoot, especially on the oh-so-tight front nine. There are also blue recreational tees and yellow “super-pro” tees marked with stakes, but many of these are difficult to find. I last played the course in May of 2003 and was pleased with a 52 from the advanced tees. Restrooms available.

Ace Run Ranch, Suffolk, VA (private – call first) – This a really nice private course. The signature hole 1 plays over 600 feet to a polehole with a man-made moat surrounding it! The rest of the course alternates between open holes with subtle elevation changes and tight wooded shots. The wooded holes are very pretty but require an accurate touch, and the wind will certainly challenge you on the open holes. If you’re traveling through the Hampton/Norfolk/Virginia Beach area, be sure to stop by and play a round at this great private course.

Bayville Park, Virginia Beach, VA – This course is set in a very pretty section of woods. From the amateur tees, Bayville plays fairly short, but the pro tees, which vary from ~30-50 feet longer depending on the hole, stretch this course out nicely. All amateur tees feature cement tee pads, as well as a majority of the pro tees do. The course is well marked, with nearly EVERY hole featuring a tee sign, bench and a trash can. A nice mix of straight holes, doglegs to the left, and doglegs to the right. Being short and in the woods, I found Bayville to be another great course that favors accuracy over power. Restrooms available.

Maryland

Patapsco Valley State Park - Marriottsville, MD – The front nine holes play over elevation changes through mostly open woods, while the back nine play over sweeping, rolling hills. Extended pin positions will provide for, depending on which tees you play from, one of the longest disc golf courses on the East coast. From the pro tees to the baskets in the C position, Patapsco is an incredible test of disc golf agility, and shooting under 60 is a real challenge. There is an admission fee of $2 per person from March 1^st to October 31^st on weekends and holidays, and during the winter months the park doesn’t open until 10 A.M. Restrooms and water available. Click here for a map of the course at PVSP:

Seneca Creek State Park, Gaithersburg, MD – Rolling, rolling, rolling, keep those discs a rolling! This course is a roller’s delight. It plays up and over and around some beautiful rolling hills that are somewhat wooded with disc-eating cedar trees, and the low ceilings offered demand rollers off the tee. With both pro and amateur cement tees on each hole, and three different pin positions on almost every hole, there’s a lot of variety at Seneca. The course is also extremely well manicured, with white ropes marking the out-of-bounds jail areas and all along the OB Seneca Creek on the signature hole #11. Given the beautiful terrain and the landscaping of the course, I find Seneca to be simply one of the best courses I’ve played, and worth a road trip. On weekends and holidays, the park charges a $2 admission fee, except in the winter, when $.50 (honor system) is all that is required to get through the toll gate. Restrooms and water are available at the park office.

Wisp Ski Resort, Deep Creek, MD (pay-to-play; open only in summer) – Have you been envious after hearing stories from fellow golfers playing disc golf courses at ski areas out west such as Kiss the Sky in Aspen, Sipapu in New Mexico or the Snowbowl course in Flagstaff, AZ? The good news is that east-coasters have the opportunity to play something similar right here in our own backyard! By virtue of being able to take the chairlift to the top and playing down the mountain, this course plays bigger and badder than similar East Coast ski resort courses such as at Campgaw in NJ and IUP College Lodge in Pennsylvania. The nominal charge of $5 per nine holes is an exceptional value, and not only are the views of Deep Creek Lake and the surrounding countryside stunning, but the disc golf is as well. The first hole plays down the top headwall, and though 500 feet in length, the basket is easily overthrown. The second hole plays around or over a pond, and right-handers are tempted with a hyzer shot out over the pond. But with the polehole precariously close to the water, it’s a risky proposition. After some flat holes in the middle of the mountain, holes seven and eight play similar to each other down the narrowest of the ski trails, and discs that fall left descend into almost impassable terrain. The triumphant ninth hole plays directly down the final headwall to the base lodge. Though over 800 feet long, a good pull can also overthrow this polehole, which is an awesome sight!

Rockburn Branch, Elkridge, MD – The open areas of this course remind me a little of White Clay in Delaware. Overall, it plays as a really nice mix of open and wooded holes over multiple elevation changes, and although the fairways are ample, the schul lining the fairways keeps you honest. I would imagine that the rough is a lot thicker in the summertime, so use caution. There’s a stream water hazard that comes into play several times, and the signature 15^th hole drives from an elevated tee more than 350 feet downhill and across the creek. With multiple pin positions, there’s a lot of variety on each hole and I hope to get back soon to play some of the alternate pin positions. The eighteen Mach V baskets are really sweet, and the only thing I would recommend with this course is some kind of permanent tee pads. With the apparent popularity of the course, the natural pads have worn down into long troughs. Fly-mart or especially concrete tees could possibly make Rockburn a world class course!

Druid Hill Park, Baltimore, MD – This is another course that I’m surprised nobody ever recommended to me, because I thought it was really great. It reminded me a lot of Sedgley Woods in Philadelphia, both in that it was located in an urban area and that it played over rolling hills among HUGE hundred year-old trees. The course is fairly open with just enough trees to keep drives honest, and over some nice rolling hills with lots of elevation changes. Most holes are fairly short from the metal tees but from the alternate wooden tees, the course plays nice and long. The back nine play to baskets on steep hills and provide for challenging, fast greens. There are many great holes and it’s tough to pick a signature hole, but my vote is for #6, which tees off from the top of a hill down across two roads to a protected basket. Thanks to Bill Boyd and other volunteers, the course received a facelift! 36 concrete tee pads and 20 mach V's were added, and I hope to get back and try them out.

Calvert Park, College Park, MD – This course is very convenient to get to, as it’s only two or three miles off the Beltway. The layout is set in a limited amount of space, but the course maintainers have gone to great lengths to update and keep challenging in response to advances in disc technology over the years. Even better than the multiple pin positions are the two and sometimes three sets of concrete tee pads on each and every hole. You just can’t beat that! It may have been my imagination, but I think that the left-hander is heavily favored at this course, especially from the long blue tees. It seems like there is a large excess of right-turning holes, and with the pancake-flat terrain and sometimes low ceilings, backhand rollers may be the preferred shot of choice off the tee on many holes. Golfers will want to keep their heads up when playing this course, especially from some of the alternate tees. With the limited amount of space and the number of recreational golfers on the course, errant discs often encroach on neighboring holes and golfers need to keep attention at all times to avoid being stuck by a disc.

Middletown Park, Middletown, MD – This course, with the exception of a single hole, plays COMPLETELY in the open. This course winds its way around an open, flat field and next to a baseball field, and while there’s a pretty lake in the park, it doesn’t come into play on the course. The grass tees are marked with wooden posts and aren’t too difficult to find, but as the course is so open, watch out for the wind, it can really blow here. I was told that the chains on all the baskets have been upgraded to metal from plastic, which is a much-needed and appreciated renovation.

New York

Warwick Town Park, Warwick, NY (36 holes) – The original Animal course has gained legendary status around the community, and is simply one of the best venues for disc golf in the country. The first nine holes play in the woods, while the back nine holes play in the open over some absolutely beautiful rolling hills. Most holes play over some hefty elevation changes, and there’s an even mix of lefty and righty holes. The course features two sets of tee pads on every hole, a set of amateur standard tees and also a set of professional "Animal" tees, and two pin positions per hole, with a permanent polehole set in both, yielded a myriad of course configurations available for daily play. From all blue tees to the blue pin positions, the "World Class" layout measures over 9000’ with a pro par of 68. (Hole 18 from the animal tee to the world class pin position measures almost 900 feet!) Due to the flexibility of the course, the beautiful holes, and just the sheer challenge of the world class layout, I think Warwick is one of the premier courses on the East Coast.

The new “Wolfe Woods” course is a loving tribute to one of my best friends, Scott Wolfe, who passed away from brain cancer. The course features more severe elevation changes along with a water hazard, Wheeler Creek, which comes into play on many of the holes. From the short tees, the course is recreational-player friendly. The long tees don’t feature as many pro par fours as the original Animal course but with OB running the entire length of one side of many of the holes, there is a lot of trouble that can be easily found.

While premium playing conditions can be found on the Wolfe Woods course most times of the year, unfortunately it is located in a very wet section of the park where high vegetative growth occurs in the late spring and summertime. Sadly, the park service has not followed through with promises to maintain the course and despite the best intentions of local volunteers to stem the growth, this course can be all but unplayable during the end of May, June and July. Thankfully, the original Animal course is usually well maintained year round.

Facilities available during the summer months.

Ellison Park, Rochester, NY – Majestic, magnificent, marvelous, sublime. These were some of the words that came to mind as I ventured around the world class layout at Ellison Park, this is one fantastic course! Most of the course plays on the side of a GIANT hill and just about all of the holes play up or down it. There are a few shortish holes but there are quite a number of longer ones which require long drives and very accurate approach shots. The signature hole#6 plays over 500 feet straight downhill, while hole #8 is just as long back up the hill and requires two full drives to reach the pin. My favorite was the downhill 550’ hole#12 which plays over a ridge to a protected basket in the woods. Hole#16 also plays long, to a basket on a slope which provides for a fast green. There are a few wooded holes but most are in the open and the course can be subject to high winds, take heed! The hill is utilized for sledding and the baskets are pulled for the winter, so the course is only open from April through October. Water and restrooms are available.

Baker Farm, Chili, NY – This is without a doubt one of the most unique disc golf courses I have ever played. A few of the holes feature some interesting obstacles in the form of fake Christmas trees, wooden pylons, a windmill, and metal silos! As far as playing the course, there are three sets of tees which play alternatively short (3982’ ) or long. (5670’ and 6906’) Novices will want to stick to the shorter blue or red tees but pros will want to enjoy the course fully by playing from the longest set of tees, the yellows. The course plays mostly in the open but with so many obstacles it doesn’t feel like it. It’s tough to pick a signature hole at Chili, but the 197’ hole #8 which shoots to a basket perched on an elevated mound is nice. Or how about the 911’ hole #11 with OB lining the entire right side or the 716’ hole #18, which finishes to a basket on another elevated mound? Tough call! Refreshments and facilities are available in the clubhouse if it is open.

F.D.R. State Park, Yorktown Heights, NY – Thanks to the efforts of Bill Newman, there are now 18 holes at this gem right off the Taconic Parkway. The course winds its way through a beautiful white pine forest that is fairly open but tight enough to keeps drives honest. The course is a nice mix of shorter, deucable par 3s, tough par 3s and even a few pro par 4 holes. Water hazards, rolling hills, tight woods and long open holes make this course a fantastic test of disc golf know-how. Shoot under 54 at FDR and you have really conquered the course! Restrooms and water are available through out the year.

Blue Heron Disc Golf Course, Beaver Island State Park, Grand Island, NY – This course features three sets of tees, so it plays alternately short or long. By most standards, the pro tees play long, with the total course length at ~6800 feet. Although the course plays mostly in the open, the baskets of several holes have wooded backdrops that punish approaches that go long. The course is perched on a ridge overlooking the Niagara River and its Blue Heron Lagoon, so as you would expect the wind can really whip up off the water. On most holes, the out-of-bounds park road lines one side of the hole, while out-of-bounds tall grass (buffering the lagoon) lines the other side. From the pro tees, the course almost plays like a ball golf course, since most of the holes play in the 450’ range. All but the biggest arms will find that most holes require a drive, then an accurate approach, then depending on how good your approach was, either a short putt for par or a long one to save par. Only 3 holes are less than 300 feet, so deuces are a challenge. The signature hole is a toss-up: Both Hole 11 and Hole 13 play about 390’ downhill straight towards the Niagara River.

Bo Dorn’s House, Pleasant Valley, NY (9 holes; private) - This is a private course set on Bo’s property. He has created a disc golf utopia – nine legitimate par 4 holes that weave through the woods behind his house. Greek statues and immaculate landscaping give the course a surreal feeling, and the concrete tee pads are awesome. The golf is extremely challenging, with a few mandos and tight fairways combining to make 9 legitimate pro par four holes. Birdie threes are the goal, and you feel no shame when taking a (par) four. Breaking 30 is quite an accomplishment on this layout, and two rounds under 30 will usually win you the annual Chainbanger’s Delight Tournament held around the 4^th of July every year.

Palmer Woods, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY (9 holes) – Thanks to DiscIthaca and Pat Govang, this temporary course set on university property is available for play. The course plays mostly in the open and over huge elevation changes. From the Blue tees, holes 2,3 and 4 play as cross valley shots from one hilltop to another hilltop - these are spectacular holes! The blue tees are tough but the shorter red tees allow for deuces galore. A few holes border next to some woods which are very thick and contain poison ivy - stay out of them! After your round, cool off in the waterfalls in the gorge running through Cornell’s campus. I’m hoping that with local and university support, this course expands to an 18-hole layout.

The A-Frame, Caroline, NY – This was a private course set on Pat Govang’s property that is no longer in existence. Most of the holes played through the woods with fairly narrow fairways, and getting off them usually meant a lot of trouble. This course had a little of everything: ace runs, lots of deuceable holes, a few par four holes, MAJOR elevation changes, water hazards, and some of the best hospitality you’ll ever receive, courtesy of former commissioner Mr. Govang. The signature hole may have been hole#4, ‘The Bowling Alley’ which was a very narrow downhill par four. Placement on the 10-foot wide road that was the fairway was critical to set up the approach. Another fun hole played about 150 feet long, but straight downhill to a basket in a creek bed. It was an awesome ace run!

Joralemon Park, Coeymans, NY – In a region that was sorely lacking chains, the recent addition of a permanent course was a breath of fresh air. The land available was not overly exciting, being almost entirely pancake flat, but there are some really neat rock outcroppings which give the course some great character and provide for the only elevation changes. The long hole#4 is the first to play to a basket on top of one of these rock formations, and it’s a beauty. The next hole, #5, plays to a basket perched in front of a creek which is unfortunately the only time this water hazard comes into play. After traversing the front section of the park nearest the road, the course eventually winds back into the woods and the last stretch of holes, #14-#18 are arguably the toughest. Hole#15 is only 252’ but plays through a gauntlet of woods and to an elevated polehole on a very picturesque rock formation, as does the next hole.

My only complaint about this course is the number of ‘tweener’ holes. As a blue level golfer, there are a number of holes such as #1, #4, #6,#7, and #18 that are tweener holes which are rarely, if ever, deuced but then result in fairly short and routine upshots for 3. Since it seems like they had the space for it, it would have been nice to see a few pro par fours or even a pro par five by combining two shorter holes. Playing from the tee of hole#12 to the basket of hole#13 would make for an interesting hole. The play at this course seemed to revolve around getting the ‘must-deuce’ holes and then not doing anything stupid to take 4s on the other holes.

Leonard Park, Mt. Kisco, NY – Kisco plays in the woods up and down over some large elevation changes, and reminds me of my "other" home course, South Mountain Park in Bethlehem. The first several holes play fairly long from both the amateur and pro tees, and the remainder of the course plays over some great rolling terrain, featuring elevated shots across valleys and down hills. Although set in the woods, most holes have well-defined lanes and most pins can be reached with a well-placed drive. The last two holes play out into an open field, but watch your step, as it can get a little wet here. There are tee signs and helpful "Next Tee" signs (way to go, Newman!) to point the way, but be sure to pick up a scorecard because there are alternate holes for 5,6,7, and 8. The course is officially "for Mt. Kisco residents only," so during the summer months park somewhere across the street and walk into the park. The first tee is on the hill behind the swimming pools.

Basil Marella, Greece, NY – This is Rochester’s true woods course. It plays entirely through heavy woods, with well-defined although narrow lanes. The front nine are mostly flat but the back nine play over some nice elevation changes and near a pretty creek. A very straight shot with a Roc is needed on most holes, as an errant shot is punished badly because off the fairway, there’s usually just no recovery shot available. Most holes are short, but a few holes (numbers 8 and 11, I believe) play as long par 4s of over 600 feet. A 4 is a great score on these holes! I dubbed Basil the "Tyler" of the north, but with time it will mature into a good course.

Connecticut

Wickham Park, Manchester, CT (pay-to-play). This course is one of the richest and nicest in New England. It features maddeningly tight woods holes alternating with huge open field crushes, all of which play over some of the biggest altitude changes in all of New England disc golf. This course has got just about everything you can ask for: short accuracy testers, 500+ foot open downhill bombs, ace runs, uphill par 4s through the woods, long open holes with short grass that are set up perfectly for rollers, straight shots, doglegs, an even balance of lefty and righty holes, impeccable landscaping/grooming, the nicest tee signs I’ve ever seen, convenient location (does it get any easier than 500 feet off the exit of the interstate?) and a setting in one of the most affluent parks I have ever visited nationwide. Hole 7 (Skyline Vista) is the signature hole at Wickham Park and instantly one of the most memorable holes in all of disc golf. Only “Top of the World” at the Delaveaga course in California, with its views of Santa Cruz and the Pacific Ocean, stands out more in my mind. The tee box is set in the woods near the top of Cabin Hill, the highest point in the park, and overlooks the Hartford city skyline. The polehole is approximately 600 feet downhill and across an open field, with an elevation drop of about 65-70 feet. Wind currents will carry your disc seemingly forever, but most golfers will probably still fall about a hundred feet short. This drive is so much fun that you’ll want to empty your golf bag and throw every driver you’ve got. As equally impressive as the course, is the park itself. The former estate of Manchester industrialist Clarence H. Wickham, it is now administered by Fleet Bank and features 250 acres of gardens, woodlands, fields, ponds, picnic areas, playgrounds, sports facilities, bike trails, hike trails, and a fitness trail with 20 stations. There’s an Oriental Garden, Italian Shrine, Lotus Garden, Cabin Garden, pond with an arched bridge, gazebo and archway, aviary with more than 50 native and exotic birds, and a nature center that displays native species and plant and scientific information (!) This is a place that a whole family (even those with non-golfers) could spend the entire day and not get bored. You owe it yourself to go out and play one of New England’s finest disc golf courses as soon as possible!

West Thompson Dam, N. Grosvenordale, CT - The extension of disc golf courses on USACE flood control properties continues, this time into another state, with undeniably furthered success! The West Thompson Lake course boasts as similar a topography of rolling hills, tight woods, open field shots, beautiful large old growth trees (oaks?) and wondrous views of the lake and the dam as its USACE neighbors to the north. West Thompson features another expertly designed layout, with holes that range from very short to quite long, alternatively favor lefthanders and righthanders, and several “fast” greens that make for lots of decision-making. The course is also superbly balanced between easily deucable par 3s, tough par 3s, easy par 4s and hole 9 along the OB riprap which is possibly on of the toughest par 4 holes in all of New England. It is listed at 650 feet but it is uphill for most of its length so it plays more like 700-something. Additionally, the dam (with its OB riprap) lines the entire right-hand side. The drive is difficult in that heavy woods line the left-hand side, so a golfer must throw a disc between the two hazards and hope that its flight does not end up in one of them. The polehole is also set in a small area between more woods and the dam, on a steep incline. Depending on the outcome of the drive, golfers are forced to plan carefully in advance where they throw their approach shots, being careful not to “bite off more than they can chew.” For right-handers, whose throws may carry for 90% of its flight over the OB rocks, it means that shots that don’t make it back in-bounds force a reload situation and big numbers on this hole. Amazingly, big armed Frizzak Jeff Cahill canned a “fairway ace” to deuce this hole at a tournament, while another golfer (who shall remain anonymous) carded a 5-circle thirteen on this hole! Fours and circle 5’s are the more the norm, and if you escape this hole with a score better than six you should feel quite the accomplishment. Hole 12 is one of the most treacherous par 3 holes you’ll ever play. The basket is perched on a large mound with the lake only a few feet behind it. Throwing a soft toss that does not fly over the polehole into the lake is the plan, but drives that are too cautious and come up short risk leaving a very scary putt. The basket of hole 16 is located on a peninsula and makes for quite the New England legend that it is touted as. Southpaws can bomb a hyzer over small scrub trees onto the green but right-handers must contend with some large trees in the middle before the peninsula and a tighter approach to the green. Laying up would seem to be the smart option here but some heavy rough around the base of the middle trees makes that option almost as difficult as going for the green off the tee. Do what you can to take your 3 and get off this hole with a smile.

Fairfield University, Fairfield, CT (12 holes) – There are only twelve holes on Fairfield’s campus, but WELL worth the trip, in my opinion. Prof. Kraig Steffen has done an incredible job getting a scenic course laid out on campus property, and has persevered through several different construction projects to keep the course interesting and tough. Most holes play fairly long and in the open over rolling hills with some really nice elevation changes. A couple of holes feature baskets on steep slopes, making for some very fast greens. Hole#7 requires a drive over a very picturesque pond with a pretty fountain.

Cranbury Park - Norwalk, CT - Object golf has been played at Cranbury since back in the 70s, but the course sports 18 poleholes with a future expansion possible. Most holes play down the myriad of walking paths scattered throughout the park, and as such, the holes are very tight. Most holes are fairly short and deuceable, but if your disc strays off the fairway, you’ll find yourself in some thick trees struggling to save par. The majority of the holes play in the woods, but the last five play out in the open, and you can break out your rollers, especially on holes 14 and 15. Cranbury Park is very popular with the locals, and playing the course is an exercise in patience; you’ll have to spend a considerable amount of time waiting for the fairway to be clear of the many joggers, dog-walkers and mountain bikers.

The remainder of courses aren’t in the Mid-Atlantic States, but I’m reviewing them anyway!

Massachusetts

Maple Hill, Leicester, MA (pay-to-play) – This course resides on the property of Tom Southwick, just down the street from his cousin Jason Southwick, the wizard who creates the magic that is the annual MSDGC tournament in late August and who runs the great Pyramids disc golf course and pro shop. While Maple Hill has been in existence for a shorter time, it has the advantage of being designed with recent disc technology improvements in mind, as well as an increased amount of land to work with. And what a piece of property that is! There's not many courses in the world that I would qualify as stunningly beautiful, but Maple Hill is certainly one of them. The combination of forest, Christmas trees, water hazards, huge elevation changes, animal life (I saw a beaver swimming, how often does one see that on a disc golf course?) and the idyllic setting made for a course that took my breath away on every tee pad.

The course plays on a mixture of open terrain where the fir trees grow, through deciduous tree forest with some very significant elevation changes and fast greens, and very close to the many water hazards on the property. There are several ponds (some small, as on hole#1) and some very large ones that line the entire length of some holes and require carrying on other holes. The balance of play is excellent, with what seems like an equal number of longer open holes for the big-armed thrower and tight woods shots to favor for the accurate disc golfer. The wooden decks and rubber tee pads and amenities at this course are some of the best in the world – the new deck on the long tee of hole#18 is big enough and nice enough to have around your house or your pool! Similar to Warwick, Borderland, and Pyramids, the course features two tee pads and two polehole positions on most every hole, although the course was not designed for completely interchangeable play. The easier layout, from short tees to short pin positions, is known as the Elements layout and features symbols from the periodic table of elements; as a chemist by profession, I squealed with delight at their usage. The longer layout is known as Airplanes and is a world class caliber challenge to rival the best courses in New England. There are as many pro par four holes on this layout as par threes, and a round of 60 or below is likely exceeding 1000+ rated golf. The new 730' pro par 5 twelfth hope is simply a masterpiece! The tee shot travels straight through a wide fairway in heavy hardwood forest for a distance of about 330 feet to the landing zone, at which point the fairway doglegs right. From there it's then about 250 feet to clear the woods, where it opens up. However, the basket is perched uphill another 150 feet or so amongst a tall group of Christmas trees. The drive is critical, as any error will result in a pitch-out shot to the dogleg. From there, throwing a shot that makes it out of the remainder of the wooded fairway and all the way up to the polehole is challenging. The christmas trees around the polehole are the tallest of any found on the property, and definitely come into play. (You can easily throw over them on holes 1,11, and 13.) Conservative fairway shots will probably net the birdie four for most competitors on hole#12, but aggressiveness may result in some bogeys or worse.

I will say that while Maple Hill is one of the best courses I’ve ever played, Borderland and Warwick still give me the impression as slightly better golf courses because of their interchangeability. There are simply tee & pin placements at Maple Hill that wouldn’t work at all – it would be next to impossible to play from the short tee to the long pin, or the long tee to the short pin on many holes. Again, it is understood that the Maple Hill course was not designed with such interchangeability in mind. Nit-picking aside, there is no question however that for pure aesthetics, there’s very few courses in the world that rival Maple Hill. There are many holes that could be signature holes at practically any other course, and when you're down by the water on holes 5,8,9 or 14 it's possibly one of the most picturesque spots on any disc golf course on the planet. How fortunate we are to be able to enjoy such a jaw-droppingly beautiful piece of land, and have the opportunity to chuck plastic across it!

Borderland State Park, Easton, MA (pay-to-play) – This course is the “Warwick” of Massachusetts. With two tees and two permanent polehole positions on every hole, it’s got the outstanding flexibility of its world class cousin to the south. From the white tees to white poleholes, the shortest layout at Borderland is very rec friendly and perfect for novice players and will offer plenty of deuce chances for experienced golfers. From all blue tees to blue baskets, it’s a pro par 68 monster and a true GOLF course that will test every aspect of your game. Playing through both beautiful old growth woods and open fields over rolling elevation changes, the course reminded me a bit of Nockamixon in its play and general appearance. A striking feature of the course is the stone walls that line many of the fairways, most of which are out-of-bounds. There are a few holes where prior knowledge of the OB is a must, especially when the OB protects wetlands areas or comes close to landing areas for drives or the polehole on approaches. On several holes there are stone walls that run across holes that require a re-tee if not breached on the drive – this is a unique element that I have not seen at any other disc golf course, although in all cases only a very poorly thrown shot would result in this penalty. The OB also comes less into play on the shorter layouts and more into play when playing from long tees or to long polehole positions.

The locals have done an amazing job on this course. The tee signs are some of the nicest I’ve ever seen, the stone dust tee pads are in excellent shape, and there’s not a spot of trash anywhere. In many of the low-lying areas they have built walking bridges with planks and logs, although they are usually only needed during the winter thaw and other times of extreme wetness. There are also sweet benches located on most tees throughout the course.

There’s a lot of wonderful golf holes at Borderland, but from an aesthetics standpoint, it’s hard to beat the 17^th hole with throws directly towards the Ames mansion. Standing on the tee, you are looking at the castle-like structure of the wealthy industrialist, and with its ivy-covered exterior, it’s an awesome sight that one doesn’t see at a disc golf course. The hole is mostly open, and playing the Blue-Blue configuration, after a roughly 300-350 foot drive, you make a blind approach to a basket located behind some shrubbery and on a slope making for a fast green. Not an easy three!

Barre Falls Dam, Barre, MA – As expected, the course reminded me very much of Buffumville Dam in many ways but is just as good if not better than its southern neighbor. Hole 2 at Barre is much like hole 26 at Buffumville but is much more treacherous by several orders of magnitude! The hole is only listed at 209 feet but is surrounded by OB on three sides, with the dam lining the entire right side, and the polehole perched precariously close to the edge of the dam. This hole can be straightforward or it can kill you: I played it twice and scored a 2 as well as a double circle 6! Most of the rest of the course plays fairly long and mostly open, where just shooting for a 3 is the objective. There are however some shorter holes that play through some thick woods, and pinpoint accuracy is needed to score well on these holes. Deuces are possible but tough to come by. The dam itself comes into play on many holes as well as the rocks lining the dam and the water hazards beneath it, all of which are out-of-bounds.

Buffumville Dam, Charlton, MA (27 holes) – This course features 27 holes, and many of them could be signature holes at any other course. Both the 19^th hole and the 27^th hole require you to shoot across the OB dam. Hole 26 is a classic risk/reward shot with the polehole situated only 20 or so feet from the edge of the dam, and you are shooting parallel to it. You can play safe and lay up to the left, or you can go for it, but if you turn one over into the dam you are laying 2 and re-teeing. The first eighteen holes play fairly short but to protected baskets along the OB access road leading in. Several holes also play right along the dam, whose out-of-bounds rocks line the entire length of the hole, providing for quite a challenge. Although several holes feature a terrible design flaw in their crossing fairways, Buffumville is still one of New England’s finest courses. Restrooms available.

Pyramids, Leicester, MA (pay-to-play) Jason Southwick has created quite the disc golf utopia on his property. With rubber Flymart tee pads, Chainstar & Discatcher baskets, tee signs and even little brooms with which to clean the tee pads, his place is a real class act. I loved the way the course wound itself around the pretty woods, and with the pond and meandering stream I often found myself quite distracted by the pristine setting. There’s a nice dichotomy between the two nines, as the front nine plays fairly short with many holes in the 200 foot range, and deuces should be expected. But the back nine stretches things out nicely; many of these holes will eat you for breakfast if you’re not careful, and threes are well earned on many of these true pro par fours on the gold layout. The strategy to success at this course seems to be to score deuces on the front, and not give strokes back on the difficult back nine. After your round is over, stop by the well-stocked pro shop for all your disc needs, and say hello to the awesomely friendly and charismatic owner Jason and his wife Kelley. Just be sure not to pat the dog, Pierre!

Northampton State Hospital, Northampton, MA – Set on the recreational grounds that used to belong to an old state hospital, the course currently shares parking space with dog walkers, a 5K cross country course, and other nature walkers and is quite a busy place. Thankfully, other than hole#1, the other park activities rarely conflict with the disc golf course. The front nine are all deucable par 3s through very pretty, but tight, woods and with some EXTREME elevation changes that result in some very fast greens. Birdies can easily turn into bogies on these holes where the terrain drops off some 40 feet in places. The back nine is where things really get interesting – there’s a lovely water hazard that comes into play on a few holes, including the pro tee on the 10^th hole. The 13^th hole is a bonafide pro par four of more than 700’ and is almost entirely wide open save for some woods lining the lefthand side – but a birdie three takes two crushed shots and a putt. You return to the woods on holes #15-17 but the 18^th hole is a relatively wide open and easy righty hyzer to finish off with a deuce.

With the short ace runs on the front nine and without a ton of length, this is a course that looks easy but plays tough. It’s also a really enjoyable one and just plain a ton of fun to play. Interestingly, I was told that some other areas of the park that initially looked appetizing in the design process were not allowed because of the possibility of old graves. Wow!

Town Park (Amesbury Pines), Amesbury, MA - This course is set in a beautiful, lovely pine forest, and pro and amateur tees play alternatively long and short. The course is fairly well marked, and features a nice mix of straight holes, doglegs to the left, and doglegs to the right. Hole #13 is fun, it requires driving your disc over a small pond. Why this course doesn’t hold more tournaments and have a wider reputation, I’ll never know, because it’s great… – it’s possibly the most underrated course in all of New England.

New Hampshire

Hickory Pond, Durham, New Hampshire - Played this course in August, 1997 when it was not quite completed, but it had loads of potential! Set in a beautiful section of woods, the course played over some nice hills. There were both pro and amateur tees on nearly every hole, and the course was extremely well marked with little signs pointing the way. From what I hear the township is giving the course problems over zoning restrictions (!) so I’m not sure if the course is even open anymore. What a shame!

Vermont

North Calais, North Calais, VT – This private course in remote Vermont is easily one of the most beautiful pieces of land that a disc golf course could possibly hold, and certainly the nicest private course I've ever played. Carved out of gorgeous Vermont woods and over severely rolling terrain, it's just jaw-droppingly beautiful. The course is brilliantly laid out with four sets of tees, one for each player ability, from the shorter red and white tees to the longer blue and gold tees for 1000-rated players. I played the longest set of gold tees, and with the exception of a few holes which have a shared tee, I thought these tees were quite appropriate. In fact, there were many holes where I felt that even if I played them a hundred times, unless I was lucky enough to sink a shot of 75 feet or greater, I would not score a birdie on them. Since I am not a gold rated player, this makes perfect sense.

The course gets off to a rousing start, with only the 372-foot hole#2 as the only par three amongst the first four holes, and it’s a doozy. The 962-ft. fourth hole is just a sublime pro par five, playing down a wide fairway that slowly narrows to the polehole where an OB creek cuts in front of it. It’s possible to have a look at eagle on this hole with two brilliant shots, but it’s also easy to take a six. The par threes finally come on the next stretch of four holes, with the 6^th hole playing from an elevated tee over an OB marsh. On the back nine, the holes get quite narrow and fairway execution is a must. Aggressive shots that don’t find the fairway usually demand a chip-out shot just to get back into play because of the heavy rough to the sides of the holes. I found that throwing a Classic Roc off the tee to ensure fairway placement really helped me score well on the course. The OB road which bisects the course as well as some rock walls which mark the edge of the property and lie right behind a few poleholes really add to the challenge, however, and there’s a fun long putts I would have liked to make a run at but were forced to lay up on. Perhaps one of the most fun shots on the course is from the elevated teepad of the penultimate hole#17; after flying about 275 feet with a slight left to right trajectory, the hole makes a sharp 90 degree bend around some brush to the polehole. I was enthused to launch and overstable driver with anhyzer and have it stall out just in time to park the basket for deuce. The last hole may be one of the best finishing holes in all of disc golf – after a fairway placement drive, the approach is across a deep valley and up the opposite slope to polehole perched well above you; as the crow flies it’s not that far, but avoiding the steep slope below the basket and getting a disc up to pin level is far from elementary.

Private courses can get away with a lot of course designs that public courses could never afford such as crossing fairways and holes which run too close together, because they are typically played only by the course owner and his friends for all but one or two tournament days each year. The North Calais course shares in this aspect, as the holes#5-8 stretch as well as the 14-16 run play practically on top of each other. If one had to make a nitpick about this course, this would be it but the fact that the course is only full for the annual Vermont States tournament all but render that concern inconsequential. And you soon forget such minutiae once you experience the sheer beauty and challenge of the course, along with the hospitality and friendliness of course owner Paul Olander.

Sugarbush Mountain Resort, Warren, VT (36 holes) - There are two courses, a Base and a Peak course, that are available during the summer months. The Peak course requires a lift ride up the Super Bravo lift and, with mountaintop views, is one of the most scenic courses you’ll ever play. The holes play down beginner and intermediate ski trails with some of the most gnarly elevation changes possible, for obvious reasons. There are some wide open holes where you can really air it out, but the majority of the course requires management skills like no other course in existence. Because the terrain drops steeply off the fairways and the woods are impossibly thick, any shot that flies off the fairway is usually not retrieved – in most cases one can’t even get to where the disc might be. The best way to score on the Peak course and avoid losing discs is to use a mid-range and throw conservative shots that have the best chance to find the fairway. Even so, with the high winds often encountered on the mountain, the best recommendation is to use discs that you don’t mind losing, and use spotters on every shot.

As opposed to the Peak course, the Base course plays through thin forest with sparse trees. Because this course plays through the woods instead of bounded by them, the course designers were able to do much more with layout and the play isn’t quite so repetitive as on the Peak course. There are some wonderful pro par fours on the base course that tee from the woods into the open, and from the open into a protected polehole in the woods, and the stretch of holes from 9 through 11 feature some gorgeous Vermont hardwood trees and a few hill-to-hill shots over valleys. Though the holes on this course may be shorter, there are still some fast greens that may prove treacherous.

Willow Park, Bennington, VT - This park is set in a beautiful space on a hillside overlooking the town of Bennington, VT and the surrounding mountains. Adding to the setting is the view of the 300’ Battle of Bennington monument, visible from many holes. The park is quite hilly and a few of the holes play over some severe elevation changes.

I first played this course in the summer of 2004 and it was one of the worst I had ever seen. It played through children’s playground equipment, a skate park, and way too close to baseball fields making for a terrible safety hazard. I received word that the course had been redesigned and returned in the fall of 2007 and it was only marginally better. The course now stays away from the children’s playground equipment but there is still the possibility of interaction with other park facilities. One hole plays right over a soccer field and next to wetlands. Another thing they did was attempt to use the same tee signs, and draw the new hole design in pen on one corner of the sign. With unlabeled baskets and these confusing signs, I was still unable to negotiate my way properly around the course. And finally, several baskets were leaning badly and hole#2 was missing altogether. Unless you live locally and have to drive great distances to play a basketed course, avoid this one like the plague.

Maine

Enman Field, Brunswick, ME (36 holes; (pay-to-play) - There are TWO courses here. Both courses play mostly long, tight, and wooded with the exception of a couple long open shots on an old air strip. Off the fairways, the woods are extremely dense so keeping your disc on the fairway is a must. Both courses play tough, and shooting below 60 is a very good score even for seasoned players. Enman Field is a very challenging but rewarding disc golf experience, and worth every penny of the admission fee, and without a doubt the top disc golfing facility in Maine and the New England region. Port-o-Lets are available.

Beaver Brook Camping Area, North Monmouth, ME (pay-to-play) - Set in a clean, lush stretch of Maine woods. Designed for accuracy over power, most holes are very short, but exceptionally tight. I would recommend using your "trees" discs. The course is fairly well marked, with tee signs at each hole, and plays over some hefty elevation changes. One hole tees off a cliff almost straight down to the basket with a creek behind it!

North Carolina

Cedarock, Burlington, NC - With open fairways, rolling hills, fast greens and impressively long holes the Cedarock course was just the kind of course I was waiting to play all weekend. It was like Tinicum, Knob Hill, Patapsco, Warwick and Paw Paw all rolled into one course. I talked to a local before the round, and he informed me that all the baskets were in the long pin positions, so I was delighted to know that I would be able to play the long-long layout. Hole 3 was a gorgeous 520-foot par 4 but I didn’t birdie it. A backhand roller seemed to be the preferred shot on hole 6, as well as holes eleven and sixteen from the long tee. Does it get any better than hole fifteen? 460 feet from the top of one hill to a pin situated on the backside of the next. Hole seventeen was about 550 feet from the pro tee, and I was psyched to park my approach shot under the basket for a drop-in 3. The roughly 600 foot eighteenth hole played uphill to a protected basket, what a killer finishing hole! With a 4 on just holes 3 and 18, it was very satisfying to finish my day of disc golfing with a 56 on this world-class layout. Cedarock is a course I would come back to play again, and again, and again.

Hornet’s Nest Park, Charlotte, NC – The front nine holes play in an open section of the park, while the back nine play through a heavily wooded area. These back nine holes are some of the prettiest woods holes I’ve ever seen. The fairways are especially tight, so keeping your disc on the fairway is a must. Several of the holes were unique in that they featured severe 90 degree dog legs, requiring a well placed drive and then an accurate approach shot and putt. The signature hole is hole 12, a 638-foot par with a 90 degree dogleg. All the holes featured cement tee pads, tee signs and a bench on each tee! I also liked the little wooden bridges scattered throughout the woods. Apparently there’s a “Charlotte’s Web” safari layout which plays to a pro par close to 70, so I’d love to get back to the course some day and try this layout!

Buckhorn at Harris County Lake, New Hill, NC - Whoever put this course in went out of their way to make it a real classy affair. With scorecards available, and both pro and amateur tees, and tee signs on the pro tees as opposed to what normally is the case, I really liked the touches that have gone into this links-style course. As for the golf, what a challenging course: very narrow fairways and death off to the sides of them. Both holes 4 and 6 were true par 4s, where a good drive placed you on top of the amateur white tee. I got lucky on hole 8, and was able to park my Spider by the basket for my only deuce of the round. I really enjoyed clearing the water on holes 9 and eleven although they must be nightmares for lefties. Holes sixteen and seventeen were again very enjoyable par 4’s. I was delighted with a birdie 3 on hole seventeen - I laid up before the water and then just barely cleared the water with my approach and sank my putt. With very narrow fairways and several par 4 holes Buckhorn was exactly the challenge I was looking for in a course, and I was ecstatic with my score of 60 from the blue tees. This is a course whose challenge I would return for again and again.

Cedar Hills, Raleigh, NC – Delaveaga has a sister course! With its extreme elevation changes, pine trees, narrow fairways, fast greens, gullies and erosion, Cedar Hills reminded me very much of Delaveaga Park in Santa Cruz, CA. I really enjoyed all the elevation changes of this course; practically every hole played either uphill or downhill. Like most other courses in North Carolina, Cedar Hills featured cement tee pads and benches at most holes but Cedar Hills even had wood chips around the baskets. Although most holes were tight, they weren’t very long, imo - I was able to nab deuces on holes 3 and 4. I wasn’t prepared for the surprise of the seventh hole – a shot over the lake. I’m a little suspicious if 333 feet was correct since my weak-armed drive hit the trees beyond the basket. I got a few more deuces and after eleven holes I was 5 under par and feeling pretty good about myself. I really like the signature hole twelve - this 372-foot downhill beauty was simply gorgeous. But of course "the Beauty" was followed by "the Beast", and the 415-foot uphill hole thirteen would give me my only bogey of the round. Holes fourteen and fifteen were also lovely downhillers where a beat-up Roc or classic Roc were the preferred disc of choice. Hole eighteen was a testy 400-foot uphill par 4, and I was psyched to score a birdie 3 to finish the round.

Barnet Park, Kinston, NC – From the long tees, this is one tough course! This Harold Duvall-designed course has his signature all over it, as many 300-400 foot holes played much longer due to the severe doglegs designed into the holes. Landing areas were however designated on the tee signs, and two Classic Roc shots plus a putt will earn you a birdie three on these par 4 holes, I loved it! Holes 2 and 4 were my favorites for this reason. There are also many shorter holes, but most were extremely tight and required pinpoint accuracy, although I thought a few were "poke-n-hope," especially the ludicrous 160 foot hole 6 that had a 3 foot wide fairway. The course had some nice elevation changes, with both holes 3 and 16 requiring a downhill drive. The course is extremely well marked, with cement tee pads on both pro and amateur tees, professionally designed tee signs and "NEX-T" signs to point the way. I only played one round from the long tees and barely stayed out of double-digits over par, but I loved every frustrating minute of it! I can’t be sure, but it appears that this course doesn’t get much use because off the fairway was extremely dense with a large amount of undergrowth. So much so that throwing a driver was a poor decision for both your golf score and the possibility of losing a disc. It really paid off to just throw Rocs and stay on the fairway.

Johnson Street Park, High Point, NC – This disc golf-only park features a lovely wooded area with creeks and bridges, a mostly open field with newly planted trees, and a beautiful powerline stretch which took my breath away – one hole requires throwing around or through a metal powerline support! I really liked the elevation changes and the flexibility of the course, with three different sets of tee pads available. Although I must admit, I found that the “Ludicrous” tees weren’t all they were cracked up to be; playing a “Bluedicrous” round, which shoots from the Ludicrous tees on the holes where they are available and the Blue tees on those holes on which they are not, I watched my playing partner, an advanced player, shoot well under par. Nonetheless, this course is a quite the beautiful one and is highly recommended.

Zebulon Community Park, Zebulon, NC – This is a very pretty course – and I was really impressed with the care and maintenance that have obviously gone into this course. The course winds its way along a very pretty creek and through some gorgeous pine forest, with a bed of needles carpeting most holes. Once again the course featured cement tee pads, you NC disc golfers are really spoiled! (There are very few disc golf courses with concrete tees up in my neck of the woods.) Most of the holes played very short and tight, and accuracy was a premium on most holes. The exception was the very long and OB-lined hole 3, and the GORGEOUS signature par 4 ninth hole down the fitness trail. This hole was one of my favorites along with hole 6, which was evidently recently trimmed with a weed-wacker. With the creek lining the entire left-hand side and a low ceiling, I found that a backhand roller was the preferred shot here. I really liked all the woods holes but the open holes from hole 13 through the end of the course seemed to clash with the rest of the course. Nonetheless this is one of the nicest courses I’ve had the privilege of playing.

Kilborne Park, Charlotte, NC – This is a really pretty woods course. Although set completely in the woods, ample fairways have been carved out that provide plenty of room for your shots. It might have been me, but it seemed that the left-hander was favored at Kilborne, with a lot of long, right-turning turnover shots required from the tee. All the holes have cement tee pads and tee signs, and there is a bench on nearly every tee. I thought at first that the course was going to play pretty short, but I soon found out that just the opposite was true. Most holes play fairly long, especially the back nine. Approach shots and putts can be tricky at Kilborne, because there’s not a lot of grass around the pins, so therefore a lot of the greens played really "fast." Although, some of the poleholes had mulch around them, which I thought was a really nice touch.

Wellspring, Burlington, NC - This is a pitch ‘n’ putt, but a really nice one. I enjoyed all the elevation changes, and all the pretty bridges over the dry stream beds. Maybe it was just me, but it seemed like this course preferred lefties; I know that from the long tees holes 2, 3 and 4 all finished to the right and many others on the course did as well. This is an ace run course, and I just missed metal on holes two, eleven and twelve during my one and only trip through. Unfortunately at Wellspring many of the holes play close to one another, and with the apparent popularity of the course, getting hit by a stray disc is a real possibility: Someone’s approach on hole sixteen almost killed me while I was standing on hole fourteen’s tee pad. At this point I was sort of getting annoyed with woods courses, and so I was quite blown away when I walked out of the woods and gazed down from the long tee pad of hole seventeen. What an incredibly impressive sight: At 720 feet downhill, and with a picturesque pond on the right-hand side, this is hands-down one the prettiest disc golf holes I’ve ever seen in my life. I was elated to throw my DX Valkyrie to the second big tree and then park my CE Roc approach ten feet from the basket for a birdie 3 on this true par 4. I’ll be telling everyone about this hole, it was one of the highlights of my trip.

Toisnot Park, Wilson, NC – This course is apparently no longer in existence, I hear. The fairways for many of the wooded holes on this course were created by running a bulldozer through the woods; for the most part the lanes are ample but off the fairway by just a foot or two had you in waist-high or higher brush, with little or no hope of finding your disc. This is definitely not a beginner’s course and I shudder to think about novice players wading into the thick stuff after every shot. Luckily, most of the holes were very short, usually only 200 feet in length, and an accurately thrown Roc will keep you out of the schul and nab you many a deuce. Like Kinston, this course was again very well marked with tee signs, concrete tee pads, and NEX-T signs to point the way. I think my favorite holes were 4 and 14; from the pro long tee, hole 4 plays as a very punishing par 4. On hole 14 two Roc shots and a putt got you a birdie 3 on this par 4. A backhand roller seemed to be the preferred shot on hole 15 since it bordered the baseball field; a roller won’t go out-of-bounds like an airshot may. The signature hole 18 plays 395 feet from the short tee to a basket on the other side of a wide creek that is crossed via a suspension bridge. With a low ceiling, a short roller is required to lay up and then make the ~100 foot approach across the creek to the basket. The pro tee plays some 600+ feet and the pro long tee plays 886 feet! Careful shot selection and golf management is required to lay up before the creek and score a birdie 4 from these tees.

South Carolina

Winthrop University, Rock Hill, SC – Home of the annual USDGC tournament, I played the recreational layout over the summertime, which is still probably one of the nicest I have ever played. Working mostly long and in the open around a huge lake, the course almost had a country club feel to it. The course is not far from the school’s ball golf course and the groundskeepers maintain both. All the holes featured both amateur and professional tees, the former cement tee pads and the latter wooden stakes. Granite markers also serve as tee signs, and on some of the longer 500+ and 600+ foot holes there are granite markers set flush in the ground letting you know that you still had 300 feet to the basket! A good majority of the holes play next to the lake, so take care. Hole #4 plays 371 feet to a peninsula on the lake, with a drive of 270 feet required to clear the water. Hole#17 drives downhill 389 feet, you’ll want to empty your bag out and toss ALL your drivers on this one. The Winthrop course reminds me of Prompton Dam in PA, but with less elevation changes, and Prompton doesn’t have nearly as many beautiful coeds jogging around the lake.

Georgia

Redan Park, Redan, Georgia - This is a well manicured and clean park, and a very nice all-around course. The first five holes play in the open, while the remainder of the holes play in some open woods. These woods holes have well defined fairways and aren’t too dense, however if your disc strays from the fairway you might find yourself in some thick brush. (For example, go overstable and throw a big hyzer on the #14 "Rosebud" hole. You don’t want to track to the right into those thorny bushes.) Redan features some nice wooden bridges, wooden decks, and a bench on nearly every tee. The day I was there the course played fairly short, with most of the pins being in the short position. The exception was the signature hole #15, "Fairway to Heaven. " With the pins in the alternate longer positions, I can see the course playing fairly long. Redan reminds me of Seneca Creek in Maryland, but shorter and without the elevation changes. I would definitely recommend the course if you’re in the area, though.

Florida

Cliff Stephens Park, Clearwater, FL – Ken Climo’s home course is a very well manicured and beautiful one. It plays long and mostly in the open with the exception a few holes with low ceilings that are great for rollers. With both amateur and pro cement tee pads at each hole, a variety of shots are required to play the course. Holes #2 and 8 require turnover drives (for a righty) which must carry water for over 80% of its flight, and holes #10 and #16 also drive over water. If you put your disc into one of the water hazards, watch out for alligators!

Amelia Earhart Park, Miami, FL (18 permanent, 18 temp holes) – When you imagine what a Florida disc golf course should look like, this is it. The course plays around several beautiful water hazards with palm trees dotting the landscape. The front half of the course plays through a somewhat wooded area, but the back half is almost completely open. Unlike most Florida disc golf courses, Amelia actually features some elevation changes which is a refreshing change of pace. Playing along the water hazards and roads, OB comes into place on just about every single hole and with the often gusty winds, shooting under par is not as easy as one might think. A temporary course was set up during Am Worlds 2002 in a heavily used section of the park that brought more water into play and the large mound as you enter the park. It was several strokes easier than the permanent course but just as nice.

Kendall Indian Hammocks Park, Miami, FL (18 permanent, 18 temp holes) – This course plays through a somewhat nondescript section of the park. The course is mostly flat but long, and there are several wooded areas and many OB roads that will grab errant shots. Cement tee pads were a nice touch, especially on the long tees. There are a few birdie holes but several long ones where scoring a three is tough, especially if the wind kicks up. I think my favorite thing about this course was not the golf but the wide variety of animal life found on its grounds, which include salamanders, banana spiders and even wild iguanas. The temporary course set up during Am Worlds 2002 played through a heavily used portion of the prk and featured OB lining one or both sides of nearly every hole, and a few holes had man-eating rough off the fairway.

Wisconsin

Highbridge Hills Complex, Highbridge, WI - As a disc golf complex, imo Highbridge beats the two courses at Marshall Street, Warwick Town Park, Circle R Ranch in Wimberely, and narrowly edges my former personal favorite, the two courses at Paw Paw. Individually, the Highbridge Gold course may now be my favorite of all time. With its combination of gold level length, big elevation changes, woods/open balance, variety, and AWESOME VIEWS, it trumps everything I’ve ever seen. It’s one of the few courses in my life that I was emotionally moved by, as there were several “ooo-ah” moments when I saw the views from the tees or came over ridges to see polehole locations, several of which were tucked down in beautiful hollows.

Individually, Blueberry Hill and Granite Ridge are definitely in my top 20. Blueberry Hill is a little shorter but has a great balance between open and woods. The par 5 hole#8 is the signature hole on that course (I was enthused to score a birdie 4 on it) and the par four 12th hole is fantastic as well, which I also birdied. I also love the gem that is hole#2, and the "peek-a-boo" sightline on hole#3. On the flip side, holes#14 and #16 may be my least favorite on the entire complex, and it’s annoying that you finish hole#17 at the top of the hill but are forced to play the short downhill#18 and then walk back up again.

Granite Ridge is longer and more open; maybe a little too open for my tastes. Hole#3 is a spectacular 580-ft. par 3 with a huge elevation drop. The par four 12th hole may be my favorite on the entire complex which is really saying something considering the number of awesome holes on the Highbridge Gold course. On the flip side, holes#8 and 11 are right next to each other and play very, very similarly, and the uphill slog on holes#17 & 18 to finish is a grind. As opposed to hole#4 on the Bear and hole#8 on Blueberry and most of the par 5s on the Highbridge Gold course, Granite Ridge#18 is less about placement and more about throwing as far as you can.

The front 7 holes of the unfinished Bear course are what I pictured a course in the woods of northern Wisconsin would look like - simply gorgeous. They play as long holes over rolling terrain through woods with generous fairways and dense rough off the fairway - imagine what a cross country ski trail might look in the summertime. The par five 4th hole is a masterpiece! Chuck Kennedy reports that hole 8 is 1000 ft slow turnover downhill with the pin perched on the right side of a ravine with a view toward the north on the approach, and it's descriptions such as that which have me excited to return some day to see a finished Bear course.

I saw holes 8-18 of the Woodland Greens course but didn't get to see the front 7 or the Chestnut Grove course. From what I'm told these are excellent green and red level holes that will serve as an introduction to disc golf for new and recreational players. Even from the shortest tees, the Blueberry Hill course might be too much course for some novice players.

Again, I can’t say enough about the Highbridge Gold course – it was simply spectacular. There’s hardly one “clunker” on the entire course. The first pro par five, #3, just has so many options it’s not even funny, which include hyzer or anhyzer off the tee, and on the second shot: hyzer, anhyzer, or sky hyzer over all the trees. The second par 5, hole#6 has just a simply marvelous polehole position where the basket lies in a bowl at the bottom of the hole. The view from the elevated ball golf teepads of the par six 8th hole is just unreal. At 1335’ it’s supposedly the longest permanent hole in the world. Hole#11 has another really neat polehole position in a bowl that had me ooing. Same with hole#12 which is simply sublime with an approach through hemlocks. Not much to say about the island hole#16 except that it will look sweet when the pump is installed and water flows from the river on hole#17 down into the moat surrounding the basket of 16. The pro par four 18th hole is just about everything you could ask for in a finishing hole with scenic ball golf tee pads, woods on each side to catch errant shots, and OB near the basket which is perched in a picturesque spot.

Michigan

Timber Ridge, Gobles, MI (seasonal) - As far as ski resort courses go, this one may possibly be one of the smallest in vertical drop I’ve played. It certainly pales in comparison to Snowbowl in Arizona and the Sugarbush courses in Vermont, and I think even the IUP College Lodge and Campgaw courses in Pennsylvania and New Jersey would tower above Timber Ridge. However, from a design perspective this is very much one of the better ski hill course I’ve played. And like those other courses, the best holes are the ones that actually play through the woods on the mountain and not just the holes that play up and down the open ski slopes. But thankfully, there are still a couple “bombers” that send the thrill factor off the charts by allowing even a noodle-armed thrower to effortlessly huck a disc 500ft.or more!

The course starts off at the deck at the base lodge, and after a few open holes traverses into the woods. There are some really fun par three holes in the woods such as #4 and #5 where you are enthused to score a birdie 2. Hole#6 offers your first opportunity to let one bomb as it plays almost 700 feet from the top of the hill down the lift towers. I threw a Pro Starfire and got the perfect reverse ‘S’ flight pattern I wanted and ended up with a throw of more than 500 feet which left me with an easy up and down for a birdie 3, so I was excited. Hole#7 is a frustratingly short par 3 with a very fast green on the side of the slope. The 8^th hole plays almost directly up the ski slope and back to the top of the headwall, but the grueling climb is rewarded by the par 3 9^th hole which plays to the bottom of the headwall. Even at some 550 feet long, it’s exceedingly difficult NOT to fly past this basket. I threw an overstable Firebird with hyzer and still ended up about 50 feet past the polehole – a 600 foot throw!

The front nine is a breeze compared to the back nine - the latter starts off with two pro par five holes in a row. The first is just a long open hole across the bottom of the hill and between some lift towers which form a mandatory, but the second is a really good woods hole that plays up a narrow access road. Fairway placement is critical on this hole and I threw a midrange to stay on the fairway and just missed a long putt for the birdie 4. The downhill par three 12^th hole plays through the woods over a giant sunken depression which is really neat. Once you come out onto the tee of the 14^th hole, a grueling ending stretch of 5 pro par four holes in a row closes out the course. The 14^th hole plays down to the right of the lift with a heavy dropoff on each side, and after the relatively open 15^th hole gets you back up to the same point, the 16^th hole plays down the left side of the lift with heavy woods if you stray left. Did I mention that an OB line separates the 14^th & 16^th holes? The 17^th and 18^th holes play you back to the base lodge, where you finish through another mandatory between lift towers and then to a polehole perched precariously above a snowmaking pond.

All in all, this world class par 66 course is just a gem of a design because it challenges you with true par four and pro par five holes through both woods and open areas. While the 2008 Pro/Am Worlds was contested on some 10 different courses, I’m glad that I got to play this one because it was really was the jewel of the tournament.

Victory Park, Albion, MI – Due to timing constraints and working the event, this was the only other course I got to play while in Michigan. From what I’m told it was a favorite of many tournament participants because it played through a very nicely manicured park with no rough, and many of the other courses contained high grass and heavy rough off to the sides of fairways. However, from a design standpoint I was appalled at how this 18-hole course was crammed into what appeared to be a very busy public park, and the many many safety hazards I witnessed at this course on the Saturday before the event ruined my enjoyment of it.

True to point, the 2^nd and 3^rd hole played right next to sidewalks and public roads surrounding the park – any disc that fell left went out onto a very busy public street. The 4^th and 5^th holes were bunched tightly together so that it was very easy to stray into the other’s fairway. The 7^th hole played right along a main parking lot and I saw a few discs hit parked cars while I was playing through a group. The signature hole #10 plays just more than 300 feet over a water hazard but doesn’t offer a view of the waterfall near the tee. The 11^th hole was ridiculous, playing on an elevated narrow path by a pond such that any disc that flies left will find water but any disc that turns over right ends up at the 10^th basket and risking the safety of golfers on the previous hole. After playing a fun pro par five hole around yet another pond, the rest of the course traverses paths where people walk and bike, near bridges and a river where fishermen sit, and an amphitheatre and tennis courts where people picnic and sunbathe. With just 9 holes and avoiding the most heavily used areas of the park, this could be a nice layout and likely a much safer one, but as an 18-hole course this was one of the most dangerous I’ve seen.

Ohio

Mt. Airy Park, Cincinnati, OH – If the back nine of this course played as sweet as the front nine, this course would easily be in my top 20. The front nine play over some hefty elevation changes and alternate from open areas to woods and back again. Hole#2 may be one of the most fantastic and scenic par three holes in all of disc golf – it plays some 500 ft. downhill to a basket on a “hogback” peninsula which drops off on all sides to heavy rough. Hole#4 is also a wonderful pro par hole over rolling terrain to a beautiful pin position. The rest of the front nine plays through some wooded areas that will really test your accuracy game.

Hole#10, the “Green Monster” is a 700-ft. pro par four hole that plays in a very narrow area between the entrance road and a hillside which slopes down to high rough – a birdie three is almost out of the question here except for the strongest of throwers. After an annoying walk over to play hole#11 and then back, hole#12 through #18 all play as mostly pitch-n-putt holes in a very crowded area where errant shots from one hole can easily find themselves on the fairway of another. After such a fantastic start to the course, these final holes have really very few redeeming qualities and are quite a disappointment in comparison to the wonderful front nine.

Lobdell Reserve, Alexandria, OH – This course plays on a serene nature reserve, with most of the course playing down a wide open area with heavy rough to either side. Most holes have the appearance almost that of an extra wide cross country ski trail and play very similarly to each other, with the exception of the first hole which plays to a basket perched below a cliff face with a stream behind it. After traversing the open holes for some time, the course ducks into the woods for some true accuracy testers and big elevation changes. I think this course would be a fairly boring and redundant track if not for these woods holes which really break up the course and give it some variety. Additionally, from the long tees, hole#4, 6 and 9 play as true pro par fours where a score of three is a well-earned birdie, and the 17^th hole is a relatively evil pro par five at some 800 ft. of length that narrows in width the closer one gets to the polehole. These longer holes add to the challenge and give the course a world class feel to it.

Kentucky

Idlewild Park, Burlington, KY – The two things that stand out on this course are that a) the course builders burrowed through some impossibly thick terrain to create one of the best high par designs out there and b) the amount of time spent on aesthetics make this one of the most visually appealing courses in the world.

Playing over rolling hills with an almost perfect mix of wooded & open holes, with a stream flowing through most of the course as well as a pond hazard, the land available for this course was almost too good to be true. But to get there, the course builders had to spend what must’ve been an unbelievable amount of blood, sweat and tears clearing out some of the thickest darkest rough imaginable. But the end result is a course that is a true test of accuracy and golfing skills, with pro par four holes and pro par five holes which don’t just reward the golfer who can throw the farthest. There are very few forced layups and players *do* have the opportunity to launch a drive for length if they choose, but smart golfers quickly realize that placement shots and strategy are the key to “defeating” the course. Additionally, golfers that miss the fairways find that they must reach deep into their bag of tricks to utilize rollers, tomahawks, thumbers, etc. in order to make adequate recovery shots.

The true beauty of the course comes from the fact that as great as the play of the disc golf course is, it may be one of the most aesthetically pleasing I’ve ever witnessed. Using free concrete core samples from a local company, the stream which runs through nearly half the course is entirely lined with these pilings which also serve to expertly mark the OB line and control erosion. Additionally, many of the greens are surrounded by these pilings, and are usually supplemented with wood chips, flowers, and expert landscaping. The amount of labor that must’ve gone into the course is staggering - it is almost like you are playing through someone’s garden in their backyard. To have such a “country club” feel at a public course is something I’ve never come across in this sport, and every golfer who plays this course should buy dinner for Fred Salaz, Bob Herbert, and all the people who have contributed to the course. These guys have spent the better part of a decade sacrificing their private time to build a course that is simply more beautiful than anything you’ve ever seen.

With the combination of beauty and simply one of the best golf courses you’ll ever play, this is a course that you’ll want to detour hundreds of miles out of your way to play. If you’re ever in the vicinity, don’t miss the opportunity to play this truly wonderful course.

Kansas

Thornfield Disc Golf Course, Stilwell, KS – The Thornfield course was built by Suburban Lawn & Garden in early 2008 on the scenic property owned by Bill and Bo Stueck to host tournaments for local non-profit organizations. The only private course of its kind in the greater Kansas City area, the course was designed by Dennis Vahsholtz and Bill Paulson from Wichita, and was imo the jewel of the tournament! The land is to die for, with a simply incredible mix of woods, open fields, a stream, rolling elevation changes, a small pond, and PLENTY of difficulty. This course may play far shorter than Blue Valley, but I think Thornfield will challenge competitors just as much. There aren't as many pro par four holes, but there are very few gimme deuces and there is loads of trouble lurking off the narrow fairways on nearly every hole. At almost 11,000' feet of length, Blue Valley challenges golfers with tons of length but there is no penalty for lack of accuracy because the holes are very wide open. At 'only' 7360', the Thornfield course uses its narrow fairways to force accurate throws on every shot. Other than Rosedale Down Under, this is probably the only true woods course in the area.

Hole#4 is possibly the signature par 3 on the course – a 261' downhill straight shot through a narrow corridor. Break out the putters or Classic Rocs and float one down there!

Hole#5 plays 440' down a narrow fairway with heavy woods right and an OB creek left. The ob line doesn't run by the creek however - there is actually a fence serving as the OB line which further narrows the hole. Approaches than run a little hot could find their way into the creek lurking behind the basket.

Hole#7 is the shortest hole on the course at only 190' but uphill and through a very narrow corridor. I was enthused to toss a Roc up the gut to find the green.

Hole#8 plays very scenically out of a road in the woods, out into an open field, past a small pond on the right, and then to a basket tucked up the hillside on the right-hand side. A RH backhand roller on the approach might get players up closer to the polehole, but the grass is a little long for rolling. While escaping the woods on the drive isn't too tough, at over 660' feet in length, it will take two very skilled throws for gold level players to score the birdie 3 here.

Hole#11 is a 340' uphill chuck with two options - you can either throw a left-to-right turner through a narrow choke point, or throw a huge over-the-top-of-the-trees moon shot if you’ve got the arm for it.

Hole#12 is 386’ downhill horseshoe hole that is one of the most unorthodox holes I've ever played. There is a wide open field straight in front of you to throw to, but the hole is tucked far back around to the left around a grove of trees. A pooch shot with an overstable disc will set a righty up for an easy approach and 3. Again, there is an option to throw a monster hyzer or thumber over the trees which Schwebby tried twice, getting one caught up in the foliage, and one on the green. Just take a 3 here and move on.

Hole#16 is only measured at 322' but could be one of the hardest holes of that length I've played. It starts at the bottom of an open field and throws to a narrow 10' wide chute through the woods that gets progressively steeper up to the polehole. One could lay up at the Am tee, but I think most will just gun for the path and hope for the best.

Wyandotte County Park, Bonner Springs, KS – This was one of my favorite courses during the 2009 World Championships event - I thought it was one of the gold stars of the competition. The WyCo course doesn't have the tight woods of some other Worlds courses like Thornfield or RDU, nor the insane elevation changes of many of the Missouri courses like Waterworks, Blue Valley and Cliff Drive, but it has extremely nice teepads and tee signs, large mature trees, enough rolling elevation changes to make things interesting, multiple pin positions on each hole including many which make for challenging pro par four holes, and a visual appeal that just makes it look like a high quality professional disc golf course. It's not a top tier course out of the 200 I've played over the last 14 years, but it's darn close!

As advertised, this is a mostly open “prairie course” with just enough large mature trees to keep drives honest. Holes #1 and 2 play through a row of evenly spaced mature trees that form a tunnel and are just exciting to throw. Hole#4 is a 480' pro par four which plays straight ahead about 300 feet next to a tree line; after that, the hole doglegs 90 degrees through a hole in the woods to a polehole placed on the hillside below the entrance road. Placement on the drive is really the key here. Hole#13 is a wide open 666' field shot which would be an extremely straightforward and unexciting hole if not for the USDGC-like rope surrounding THE ENTIRE hole. The further one goes on the drive, the rope pinches ever more narrow from the tee until it almost reaches an apex. Big arms are definitely at a disadvantage here and will need to lay up to avoid the landing area at its narrowest. From there, competitors have a choice of throwing a left-to-right shot (as the hole doglegs about 45 degrees to the right) or an approach which carries almost entirely over OB to the polehole. A saving grace is that left of the basket is a high-banked wall leading up to the road to catch shots which come in too hot. You definitely do not want to bite off more than you can chew and go OB which will result in stroke and distance back to the OB line, where you are then looking at a circle 5 or worse. Kudos to the course designers for taking what would be a boring hole and making it possibly one of the best designed holes on the course. Hole#14 is a 515' downhill pro par four which plays through scattered mature trees, across a pond to the polehole, and is easily the signature hole. One can throw a drive wide right and approach the basket from there, or throw a shortish shot down to the 'A' pin location and then make an approach across the pond. It's not a large pond to carry, but the strategy on how to play this hole is what makes golf such an exciting sport. The course finishes with a 478' downhill bomber which is just a joy to rip, a 618' pro par four hole, and then the picturesque 18th hole which plays down another row of evenly spaced trees.

Jones Park, Emporia, KS – There are two 18-holes courses in this park, which look very similar and play to about the same difficulty, but one plays a little tighter and shorter while the other is a little longer and more open with more pro par four holes. I started out on the West course and enjoyed right away that the course seems to take really good advantage of the tree obstacles in that part of the park. While still on the open side as compared to most courses nationally, it seems like every hole on the West expertly uses the trees to force fairways and punish errant shots. Hole#4 is the first relatively wide open bomber, but the trees around the long polehole protect it really well. Hole#6 seems to set up perfectly for an uphill RHBH roller as long as you clear the pond and avoid the "No swimming" wooden sign which I came dangerously close to hitting. Hole#11 may be my favorite hole on the course because it's a really good wooded hole and also sets up perfectly for a RHBH roller. I was enthused to throw a good drive and skillful upshot to bag a 3 on 'short' hole#17, but the long pin looks SWEET! There's a really narrow approach lane on the left and a more direct but still narrow route over the pond inlet and I bet some high scores are taken on this hole. The 18^th hole finishes with a thrilling shot to a pin perched on a hogback green with a pond on the right hand side.

After lunch it was on to the East course. Hole#2 is a *really* good pro par four, although an errant backhand roller to the right can end up out in the street if you're not careful. I almost aced the short pin of 5 and got my deuce and then *really* enjoyed hole#6, which is another pro par four and probably the best designed hole on the complex, imo. It shoots downhill and then through a "keyhole" in a treeline, and over a creek to the basket. Hole#9 is just a really fun chuck to the short pin, although big arms probably have to be careful not to go too far into the trees. The alternate pin (also 11's alternate) must be tough! The same could probably also be said about the alternate on 10. Hole#11 and 12 were perfect opportunities to throw more RHBH rollers, although the long pin on 11 with the OB parking lot and road is pure evil! It must be really fun watching a big arm drive the length of the lake on hole#15 and hyzer it in around the cedar trees, but I had to bail out shorter left. Coming up to hole#18, I decided to crank one as hard as I could out over the parking lot and absolutely nailed it with a park job. I couldn't be more pleased to finish both courses with a deuce on 18.

Differences between West and East:

West Course

More trees come into play; the course plays tighter and rewards the accuracy golfer

While far from "pitch-n-putt," the shorter hole lengths and driveable greens make it friendlier for shorter throwers, recreational players, women, etc.

Fewer pond hazards - should result in not as many lost discs for recreational players

Egregious safety hazards

East Course

Fewer trees come into play and errant shots are not punished as greatly

Longer hole lengths make the course play to the big arm's advantage, but make for true pro par four holes

More pond hazards, which are always exciting!

Far fewer safety hazards than the West side

Feels more like a world class disc golf course and despite being more open, a better test of golfing skills.

The one thing that really annoyed me on the West side is the many safety hazards from holes running too close together, or to park roads or outside roads. I play with enough novice & recreational golfers to see where their shots go, and some of these could result from skilled players who just throw too far, griplock, or whatever. In comparison, the East side has far fewer safety hazards. The only really bad spots imo are the long pin of hole#12, for which the tee sign actually shows a recommended hyzer route of throwing out over Lincoln St., and the pavilions on hole#4 and 14. The (left) short pin on #4 is less than 25 feet from a pavilion - it's almost inconceivable that a park manager allowed that. Also hole#18; I would be really steamed if I played this course regularly and some damage occurred to my car while parked in the parking lot here.

The Canyon (Rich Ranch) near Winfield, KS – I played this private course during their annual Ice Bowl, nicknamed the “Wood Bowl.” It was non-stop fun the whole day, with a simply stunning course, low entry fees, ctps, "Winfield local rules," very cool Kansas trophies, food, beer, campfires, etc. What can I say about the Canyon course other than it's simply one of the most atypical courses for the region that I can imagine! After playing predominantly wide-open pancake-flat courses in the Wichita area, I was simply blown away by the tight wooded fairways and elevation changes at this course. In fact, other than some ski slope courses this may be some of the most extreme elevation I've ever played. (out of almost 200 courses since 1995) Many times I kept wondering (often aloud) if I was still in Kansas. With an awesome mixture of open & wooded holes, elevation changes galore, "fast" greens, etc., THIS was a true test of disc golfing skills. Unfortunately, the terrain and thick foliage on the course only allow it to be played in the wintertime, and additionally the course plays to shared baskets, but it’s still well worth the visit.

Thomas Park – Salina, KS – I played this course in early 2009 when it was still a work in progress – holes#5 and 6 were under heavy construction and not even in place. The rest of the course which was playable was thoroughly enjoyable, and compared to many others in Kansas, this course could have the tightest woods holes in the entire state. As a woods golfer, I really enjoyed these accuracy testers. The par four 2^nd hole played down a very tight tunnel, although a “cheater” lane on the outside allowed an open shot out into hole#15’s fairway. After all the woods holes, the 13th and 14th holes are a welcome relief and the signature holes on the course. Hole#13 throws over an enormous ditch which runs diagonally across the hole. The distance on the hole is deceiving and placement on the drive and avoiding the ditch is trickier than it looks. Hole#14 is a a very slow-turning left-to-right shot with a lot of options: You can throw a sidearm flick, lay up with a midrange, try a low turnover, high dive-bombing turnover, or roller. The fairway is generous and you should make a 3 if you are playing conservative, but if you go for it, your chances of taking bogey 4 go way up. The course finishes with the 17^th, another tunnel pro par four, followed by a long par 3 18^th hole which plays a little too close to a playground.

Camp Hawk – Newton, KS – The 24 holes at this course play through woods, near ponds, across cross creeks, and over some open holes battling Kansas wind. The design takes very good advantage of the terrain available at the course, although nearly all holes are par 3s. The course would be just okay if not for the spectacular final few holes which play on peninsulas jutting out into a large water hazard. These are some of the most scenic holes in the state, and throwing over water, if you’re not careful an opportunity to lose a cherished disc. Throw something you don’t mind losing!

Oak Park, Wichita, KS - While somewhat similar to Herman Hill across town, I thought the woods were incorporated a little more and the course was the better for it. The first five holes make excellent use of the limited foliage, especially some of the tunnel shots from the long tees to get out of the trees. After traversing through an area with scattered trees and some longish 450-550 foot holes, I was enthused to see some more holes along the Arkansas River, some of whose tees and poleholes were located with 10 feet of the drink! The last four holes of this course really make it, imo. Hole#17 is really unique and which plays on a 'hogback' with the river on the left and the road on the right, and the pond right behind the polehole. From the long tee, this was a very tricky 3. Hole#18 may be one of my all time favorites in disc golf. The basket is located across a pond, in a neat depression with rock walls on the left and a throw of about 275 feet required to clear the water. First time I threw it, I nearly aced it and finished about 10 feet long for bird, woo-hoo!

The Oak Park course was simply a fun track to play, and it certainly did not have the egregious safety hazards that gave me the heebie-jeebies at Herman Hill. One thing that kind of confused me though at both courses was that at most disc golf courses, when there are two sets of tees, one is typically a longer and harder set of tees. I kept wondering why at both courses that sometimes the red tee would be the longer tee while on other holes, the blue tee would be the harder one. My guess is that there was some effort to balance out the two layouts so that they both play about the same difficulty.

Peter Pan Park, Emporia, KS - The first notable hole on this course is the 4th, which is a delightful pro par four that requires a placement drive followed by a left-to-right approach to a basket on a peninsula surrounded by a creek. After playing some cool holes near an outdoor stage, the course winds its way around a fishing pond. The 11th hole is spectacular, playing to a basket on a finger of land which juts out into the pond and is only 10m wide where the polehole rests. One can either choose an ultra-risky left-to-right shot out over the water, or throw a safe righty hyzer. It's a good thing I'm not a big arm, because I had no idea that the Cottenwood River was just behind the basket of hole#14. Hole#15 is quite picturesque in the corner of the field, but an awkward distance. It's too long to be a deucable par 3 and too short to be an honest pro par four for blue level golfers - my four felt like a bogey here. It's a little annoying to be back at the car and still have holes#17 & 18 to play, but I nearly aced 17 and had to work hard to finish with a 3 on hole 18, which made the last two holes worth the experience.

While I thoroughly enjoyed my round on the Optimist course, I had to chuckle at the course directory description as "technical." I guess compared to the Jones Park courses across town it is, but I've literally played hundreds of courses that were more technical than this one. I also worry about safety at this course. While I had the entire park to myself on a cold Sunday afternoon in December, I can only imagine what the park is like in warm weather - the first few holes played near pavilions, picnic facilities and a baseball field, and the outdoor stage and fishing pond holes must be a nightmare to play when in use by other park patrons.

Rosedale Park, Kansas City, KS – I nicknamed this one “Rollerdale” because I have never played a course where I have thrown so many backhand rollers off the tee. The course plays mostly counterclockwise around a large field on the edge of heavy woods, with the polehole usually tucked to the right next to the woods. Of the 18 holes at this course, I probably threw a roller off the tee on 13 of the 18 holes. As someone who loves to throw backhand rollers and rarely gets a chance to do so on the courses in my region, I was initially in heaven. But eventually I grew somewhat weary of it and my overall impression of the course is lukewarm.

The course features cement teepads, tee signs, and multiple pin positions on every hole – in some cases as many as 7 different choices, wow! The first couple of holes play to some very fast greens in the woods above the Down Under course. Hole#3 is a very picturesque par 3 on a hogback and probably the only hole on the front nine where I threw an airshot. Hole#7 played to an island green surrounded by OB – I like the idea of the hole but it didn’t really allow a big arm the chance to go for the green off the tee – you were almost forced to lay up off the tee and play conservatively. Once you get to hole#13, you can finally throw some airshots but I hated that holes #13 and 14 play dangerously close to a park road. Hole#14 especially practically encourages shots out over the road, and worse yet, it’s downhill and around a turn such that one cannot see cars coming up the hole. I noticed a grave marker on this hole and it would not surprise me if it was from a disc golfer who got run over by a car while retrieving his disc!

Holes #15 through 17 play in a neat section of the park with scenic rolling elevation changes. In the long position, hole#17 plays as a sweet pro par four hole. Hole#18 finishes with yet again another drive where a roller seemed to be the preferred shot; it’s also a little annoying that the Rosedale Park entrance sign is in the way of the teepad.

Some other things that bother me about the course are fairways and holes which run too close together such that errant shots from one hole will end up on the fairway of another. Some tees also seemed way too close to the pin position of the previous hole for my liking. Also, I’m not a fan of setting up the course with many holes in predominantly ‘tweener’ positions. For the 2009 World Championships, the hole distances were such that competitors were taking way too many scores of 3. At a distance of 400-450’ there are just not going to be many deuce opportunities other than for only the longest throwers, and it’s not a distance long enough to be considered a pro par four for shorter throwers. Furthermore, there is no middle ground between open and woods at this course – you’re either out in the wide open or deep in the schule, so much so that just pitching out to the fairway is the only option. I think this leads to the end result where just playing conservative 325’ shots out in the open instead of gunning for the pin seems to be the best play on the course, which can make for a very boring round of golf.

Herman Hill Park, Wichita, KS - This course has many, many really nice things going for it. The course has outstanding cement tee pads, and both a red tee and a blue tee, on most holes. The course has very professional looking tee signs with a hi-res photo of the hole on the sign. There are big poles sticking up marking where the alternate pin positions are. There's a few borderline wooded holes, but the course leans too heavily towards the open. There's some very good roller opportunities, although one must factor in the wind if it is blowing strong. There's some serious water hazards, including a small pond and stream (which one throws over on several holes on the back nine) and which flows down to the Arkansas River. The river itself can come into play on a number of holes and it is big and fast flowing - if a disc goes off the edge into the drink, it is surely lost. I have to laugh at the "Herman Hill" name of the park - I guess by Kansas standards that's considered a hill but that's only in comparison to everything else within a hundred miles that is pancake flat.

I really like the challenge of the course - there are no gimme deuces from the long tees and there are several pro par four holes. The first is hole#6, which plays some 650+ feet with the river on your left and OB right; into a SERIOUS headwind, I was enthused just to take four here. The next pro par four is #10 which plays like a reverse 'S' and tracks severely left to right around a large fountain, then bends back right to left with a total distance of over 600'. #13 is mostly just long and wide open, but my favorite was hole#16 which requires a long carry off the tee and over the stream followed by a longish approach to the polehole situated only a few dozen feet left of the river. I was very excited to take a birdie 3 here!

While I thoroughly enjoyed the golf at this course and pretty much had to the park to myself, some of the safety hazards at this course were so severe as to be egregious, imo. The first eight holes play ridiculously close to park roads and two *VERY* busy streets, Broadway and Pawnee, that run along the park with cars traveling at high rate of speeds, and I cannot imagine how many disc golfers over the years have risked life and limb to fetch errant shots and risked getting run over! The short tee of hole#5, up on a ridge with a nasty headwind blowing in your face and the street directly below you to your right, is just asking for trouble. I also cannot imagine what the fountain hole, holes near the stream, and holes along the river play like when the park is active and full of children and families.

Derby DGC, Derby, KS – Alas, I played this course in early 2009 when it was just a 11 hole layout, and it has since expanded to 18 holes. The 11 hole layout was a very good mix of woods & open with a little more elevation change than the pancake flat Mulvane course. The woods are also a little bit tighter than Mulvane but the stream doesn't come into play as much. Driving into the park, I was expecting the whole course to play in the woods & field and was stunned when we got to the pond holes. I loved the fast green on the first one! The third one was an easy righty hyzer hole but I would feel bad for left-handers on this one, although a shanked shot at least has the chance to land on the rocks and not be lost. The fourth pond hole offers some room to the right of the polehole for errant shots - I turned one over a bit and ended up just to the right of the inlet at the very end of the pond. It's a shame however that the 3rd & 4th pond hole play almost exactly the same.

Loved the tunnel shot to finish! It was getting pretty dark at this point, and while I thought this was a really great hole and one of the best I've seen in Kansas, it seemed like an awkward distance. It seems like it's much harder than a pro par four, where even 1000+ rated players would struggle to score a birdie 3 more than 10% of the time. But it also seems easier than a pro par five, where you'd be unhappy with a 5 and would feel like you screwed up a shot somewhere and 5 would feel like a sheepish par. This one seems like a par 4.5 where most skilled players all take a 4 and there isn't much scoring separation.

Alan John Memorial DGC @ English Park, Mulvane, KS – A tight 9-holer is crammed into this public park but it’s a very well balanced disc golf course and plays a lot longer and tougher than I thought it would. While the available land is limited, the park is quite picturesque and a neat winding creek comes into play. (although the locals strangely play the water as casual and without penalty) There’s nothing too long here and the land is mostly flat, but I still enjoyed the regular layout. The alternate layout plays from red stones in the ground which are somewhat difficult to locate. While a few of these alternate tees make for some really nice holes which lengthen the course up significantly and tested aspects of your disc golf game that the concrete tees did not, some of them are embarrassing 125-ft. deuce or die holes where you feel silly not to score a deuce. To add to the challenge of this course and prevent really low scores, I think the water really needs to be OB at this course.

Oklahoma

The Lodge, Pawhuska, OK – Playing on his private land, course owner Jim Taylor has created a disc golf utopia. With access to heavy duty earth moving equipment, the Island course was built with luxuries known only to ball golf course designers – hills, ponds, & bunkers could all be created at course designer Kevin McCoy’s whim. After being set up with a “Mule” all-terrain vehicle as a golf cart, I felt like I was at a disc golf country club! The course itself plays over rolling hills with just the right amount of wooded terrain, creek hazards, open shots, and WIND. While I was lucky enough to play the course on a nearly dead calm day, I’m told that the wind can reach epic proportions and judging from the tournament results at recent PDGA-sanctioned events, it seems like that is often the case. Three sets of tees offer challenges for the appropriate skill levels, and colored spokes on the previous basket guide you in the proper direction toward the next tee. The signature hole#17 plays to a man-made island in the pond, and while the hole plays downhill and isn’t more than about 185 feet from the longest tee, hitting the narrow green isn’t straightforward, especially if it’s windy.

A second course was added in early 2009, the Moccasin Creek course, but unfortunately this was after my visit.

Missouri

Blue Valley Park, Kansas City, MO - With the huge elevation changes, wind, and views to die for, this course reminded very much of Brandywine in Wilmington, DE. The concrete tees at Blue Valley are the biggest I've ever seen, and I love how some of them were poured to represent the layout of the hole! The headwind on hole#2 was outrageous; I'd love to be able to throw this one on a calm day. The hike up to hole#4 is exhausting but it's worth it - this is such an amazing hole and probably my favorite on the course. I love the options on this hole - you can try the wide right route or play the narrow path on the left. I tried two rollers and got to within putting range but doinked it. I was glad the pin was short on #6 because the long pin looks like an absolute beast to play. For a right-handed thrower, does disc golf get any more fun than hole#7? A 600+ ft. pro par four with some 50 ft. of elevation drop. On hole#8, I threw an absolute bomb (for me) that skipped off the road and ended up just short of the last big tree before the pin, and gave me an easy upshot for a 3 - probably my highlight of the round. The wind was absolutely bonkers on the tee of #11, and I actually had an overstable disc flip over into a roller and end up on the hillside below #10's tee - it was that bad. I love the green location on hole#11, but it seems like drives that are just a bit too far left would leave a very awkward shot through (or over) a wall of trees. Hole#12 and 13 were probably my least favorite on the course - they just seemed long for the sake of lonng, and boring. With the exception of one big tree in the middle, hole#16 seemed to play almost identically to #12, and even a birdie 3 here did little to excite me. With the 17th and 18th hole right next to a busy 23rd Street, I like the prominent exposure that disc golf gets here but even in the short pin positions they were a grind to finish the course with.

There is no doubt that with many pro par four and pro par five holes, this course offers a world class challenge like few others in the disc golf spectrum, and it will definitely be a supreme test of disc golf skills for competitors in Pro/Am Worlds 2009. I am definitely glad I played the course and enjoyed it immensely in spurts. But while the course designers did the best they could with the land available, I think the front nine is far superior to the back because of the trees available to serve as hazards there. Most of the back nine just seems like one wide open shot after another that only golfers with 500-ft. arms can overpower. As compared to say, an Idlewild (Kentucky) which plays as a true pro par 72 through heavy woods that is a great equalizer and does not allow big arms to just bomb every hole. I dunno, maybe if I played the course in the summer and with much less wind, it might play a little differently, but the course just seemed far too open for my tastes.

Water Works Park, Kansas City, MO – This course may be one of the greatest par 3 courses ever - it's just so much FUN to play. With its old growth trees, the course kind of reminded me of Sedgley Woods in Philadelphia but with about a bazillion times more elevation change. I don't know what the rest of the courses are like, but people coming to Kansas City for Pro/Am Worlds 2009 and expecting Midwest flat terrain are going to have their minds blown by Blue Valley and WaterWorks - they are simply two courses with some of the most extreme elevation changes I've ever seen!

Does disc golf get any better than hole#1 with the views of the KC skyline? I loved the woods on holes 4 through 6 - finally some holes that challenge one's accuracy game. 8 was a real hoot, especially since the pin was in the longest C position way up the opposite hillside. The "hogback" green on hole#12 is awesome, however I think this pin position encourages a drive over the entrance road. Hole#13 is a fun "over the valley" shot, and hole#14 is a perfect "driving range" hole, as it's slightly downhill and relatively wide open and with sweet views of the skyline again. The 'C' pin with the OB road behind it is pure evil, and the same could be said for the far right position on hole#16 - I was just glad the pin was in the middle.

I enjoyed the course design here, because as opposed to most other courses I've played in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri, there was actually some woods holes and accuracy testers instead of just predominantly wide open bombers. The multiple pin positions on every hole also provide for great variety - Morley Field in San Diego is the only course I can think of with more pin locations. If there's one drawback to the WaterWorks course however, it's that every hole is a par 3. While the course is far from "pitch-n-putt," depending on pin position, every hole is either a deuceable par 3, tough par 3, or a par 3.5 where you are enthused to save your 3 but a 4 still feels likes a bogey. And unfortunately, I don't think there's any room to make for any pro par four holes on the course.

Cliff Drive, (Kessler Park) Kansas City, MO – This course has two very distinct sections which make for some nice dichotomy between the front nine and the back nine holes. The front nine play through woods and over huge elevation changes and are stunning; the back nine are mostly open field shots and somewhat disappointing in comparison to the front.

The first hole is a very cool valley shot, after which a short approach off to the right to a guarded pin position is required.

Hole#2 is a 330’ downhill hyzer with death off to the right – it seriously drops way off into nasty rough if your disc goes over the edge.

Hole#3 is a very cool uphill left-to-right shot which plays next to cliff walls. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a hole like this and it is just really a neat hole.

Hole#4 is possibly the signature hole on the course – a VERY downhill right to left shot. There are trees which guard the straight route to the basket and the best play to this one seems to be to take the wide right route (over the short pin) and I was enthused to park my drive next to the polehole for the bird, woo-hoo!

Hole#5 is a severely uphill shot. There’s a straight line to the basket, but two big guardian trees block this path making it somewhat of a ‘sucker’ route, because there’s a very wide left-to-right path to the basket, which I executed with success to again park the polehole.

Hole#6 plays 387’ left to right to a pin tucked down a natural half-pipe with high banked walls. A big arm could drive this hole, but the high walls and rough on each side seem to make this another ‘sucker’ hole. The smart play seems to be to just lay up before the half-pipe, which I did with a Classic Roc, and then just made the up-and-down for the 3.

Hole#8 plays scenically up the path, and a RHBH roller is tempting here but I opted for an airshot.

The back nine starts off with an uphill left-to-right shot which is pretty straightforward except for heavy rough right and parked cars left – I could see shanked shots hitting cars here.

Hole#11 is a 492- ‘tweener’ hole which runs between a fence and the entrance road. It heavily favors the right-handed thrower, as the land slopes from left-to-right. A lefty backhand roller will probably be the preferred shot for southpaws to keep them away from the road, and anything that stands up too soon would just hit the fence and stop. Rightys should just get their 3 and move on. Hole#12 is 375’ downhill, but with an absurdly narrow landing area between the entrance road and DEATH to the right, way worse than hole#2. It is serious oblivion over there. I think this is another ‘sucker’ hole where the preferred shot is just a putter off the tee – I did just that, hit the trunk of one of the two lone big trees in the fairway, and got up-n-down for the 3. Woe to anyone who tries a RHBH roller and stands it up too soon – goodbye, disc. Hole#13 is the BOMBER hole on the course – 711’ downhill, wide open, and a nice pro par four which I was enthused to take. Watch out for a headwind though which may turn drives over towards the OB road. Hole#16 plays eerily similar to 11. Hole#17 is just a perfect downhill RHBH roller shot. The park service was cutting the grass which slowed mine up, but I think some big arms could roll drives down well past the short pin on this hole. The long pin on this hole really bothers me though because it plays too close to the street. It’s one thing to have holes at a disc golf course border park roads, but this is an actual city street, and almost as if on cue, when I was lining up my approach shot, a bus pulled up and dumped off schoolchildren right by the basket. Approach shots which hyzer off left run the risk of trickling OB into the park road, and I was happy to take a par four here. Hole#18 is 495’ uphill and pretty much wide open, with the only trouble being a slope from left-to-right from the polehole down towards the OB road.

Swope Park, Kansas City, MO – There’s no doubt that this course is extremely visually appealing, with the course playing from a central hilltop across valleys on either side of the hill. Swope's first 11 holes were extremely picturesque hill-to-hill shots over these valleys, but the EXACT SAME shot over and over and over again. The hole distances might vary from 287' to 438', but it is essentially the same dead straight drive and seriously mind-numbingly repetitive.

The 12th hole finally plays a little bit different as a downhill righty hyzer. The 13th hole is easily the signature hole and my favorite on the course. It's over 700' from the long tee down to a basket tucked in the woods with wood chips surrounding it and a serious drop-off of some 20' or more all around the polehole. It's just a great pro par four hole with an awesome green area, and golfers will be enthused to nab a birdie 3 here.

Back on holes#14 and 15, you again play the same hill-to-hill shots over a valley. Hole#16 plays to an awfully dangerous polehole location near the very busy intersection of Elmwood & E Gregory Blvd. At 433', golfers likely won't overthrow the basket from the tee, but if you hit one of the two guardian trees on the drive, you can easily throw a too-hot approach down into the road like I did.

You finish the course with an easy righty-hyzer and must-deuce of 270' (which I parked for a head-banger) on 17, and then a final hill-to-hill shot over a valley on 18.

Louisiana

Highland Road Park, Baton Rouge, LA – This is a really nice course, and one I really love to play while I’m occasionally visiting my company’s chemical plant south of Baton Rouge. There are 3 sets of tees at Highland Road: blue tees for novices, orange "regular" tees and yellow pro tees. From the orange tees, the course is an excellent mix of short and long holes over nice rolling hills with big elevation changes. There are plenty of deucable holes, honest par 3s and three legitimate par 4s. (Holes 2,4 and 8) A few holes play over a creek, and a few holes play through some areas of heavy vegetation. Most play in the open, and since the park service keeps the grass cut very low you can throw rollers on almost every hole if you choose. I think the course would be considered world class and have a wider reputation if tee pads were installed, since rain turns the natural tee pads into puddles. The yellow pro tees are awesome – they don’t always add length to the hole but they always make the tee shot that much more difficult, especially when they take away the easy birdie on holes such as 3, 9, 11, and 13. Depending on the season, watch out for the cross-country runners who sometimes practice in the park. Restroom facilities always available.

Rivendell Farm, St. Rose, LA – This course no longer exists, but holy cow, was it one tough course! It was carved out of delta bottom woods and featured two sets of tees, red amateur tees and white pro tees. From the latter, the course reminded me very much of Basil Marella in Rochester, NY and Tyler State Park in PA in that most of the holes were 400-500 feet long, with 20 foot wide fairways, and off the fairway was Trouble with a capital T. I found that the best strategy was to just march your way up with Roc shots so that you stayed on the fairway. There were many legitimate pro par 4s, and shooting 54 from the pro tees would have been quite an accomplishment. I liked some of the more interesting features of this course: the basket of one hole was on a 15 foot high mound, while hole 17 featured an island green. From the red tees, Rivendell played much shorter but still very tight and not much easier. From the pro tees, it was one of the most frustrating courses I've ever played, but don't get me wrong, I loved every maddening minute of it! No restroom facilities available, and bug spray is a must to play any Louisiana course.

Greenwood Park, Baker, LA – Greenwood Park is the perfect compliment to Highland, as this course plays through heavier woods and much shorter. Most of the holes play through a flat wooded park and also feature three sets of tees, blue tees for novices, orange regular tees and little flags which mark the pro tees. The first eight holes are short and easily deucable but the next few are difficult threes. Hole 9, with its mandatory, is one of the most unorthodox holes I’ve ever seen but is followed by the long and beautiful hole 10 and the signature hole 11. Measuring about 600 feet, your drive must cross a dam spillway and carry about 275 feet to a peninsula next to a lake. A hyzer is the safe shot, and anything long or to the right is in the water. The approach shot must then carry up along the lake another 350 feet or so with the water lining the entire right hand side. It is every bit as stunning as the course directory indicates! The remainder of the course plays back in the woods.

Lafreniere Park, Metarie, LA – This course was redesigned after Hurricane Katrina, and the article about it in Disc Golfer Magazine makes it seem like it is much improved. Hundreds of trees have been planted which will make the course less wide open, and a few baskets have been placed on made-made mounds to give the course elevation changes which is typically not found in Louisiana. I’m not sure why, but it was extremely windy when I played there, and I’m told that it has a reputation for always being so.

Texas

Circle R Ranch, Wimberely/Blanco, TX (36 holes; pay-to-play)

Meadows Course

Wow! John Houck has designed a masterpiece in the hill country about an hour outside of Austin, TX. This is one of the best all around designs I’ve ever seen, with a perfect balance between wide open holes and woods holes, with a few water hazards thrown in to boot. Speaking of which, hole 1 is a delicious par 4 with water lining the entire left hand side. A precise tee shot must be followed by a long, accurate approach to grab the birdie 3. Most holes had three different teeing options: a set of red tees for novices, white tees for regular Joes and blue Pro tees, which I played. I liked the options on hole 6 and hole 9; a hyzer or an anhyzer may be utilized off the tee on both holes. The waterfall on hole 7 is one of the most gorgeous sights I’ve seen at any disc golf course anywhere! Hole 8 is another fantastic par 4, and with the treacherous creek right in front of the polehole, it makes for a precarious approach.

At 878 feet but mostly wide open, hole 10 really plays like a par 4 ½. I liked how the righty-hyzer tunnel shot on hole 11 contrasted with the long and open previous hole, which was in turn then complemented by hole 12, a lefty-hyzer. After a few more wooded holes, it was nice to come out into the light with a wide open chuck on 16. You finish with a carry over water for a deuce on 17, and a big par five to bring it home.

With a plethora of par 4s and par 5s and some varied and interesting deuce runs, the Meadows course is a truly phenomenal one, and the best course I’ve played in Texas. .

Circ Hill Course

This course has got a lot going for it: elevation changes (rare for Texas) wide open spaces, some tight technical shots, fast greens, and better views than the Meadows course. Like its brother, there are three sets of tee pads and a nice mix of par 3 holes, par 4s and par 5s. However, the par 3s don’t offer as many easy deuces as on the Meadows course, and so overall the course plays a few strokes tougher, imo. Hole 4 is the first of the par 5s and requires two immense drives in order to even think about an eagle three or birdie 4. I really liked the fast greens on holes 5 and 6; when most of your putts are level you really notice the difference when putting severely uphill. Holes 8,12 and 13 are all interesting par fours that can be reached with two full, accurate drives. As opposed to the Meadows course, these par fours are somewhat more open and offer choices when deciding how to play the hole; there aren't as many trees to force placement. I really liked the view on holes 15-18, which offer spectacular vistas of the countryside, and reminiscent of old Westerns. The finishing hole 18 is a triumphant downhill par four; although the temptation might be to empty your bag from the tee, use caution as outside the landing area it is quite dense and lost discs are possible.

Moody’s Ranch, Red Rock, TX (pay-to-play)

John Houck’s design on Dave Moody’s ranch in the Texas countryside is quite the challenging one. The par threes at this course were mostly in the 300-400 foot range, and with a nasty headwind blowing, they didn’t yield many deuces at all. The par 4s and par 5s require both a big arm and good disc control. Water hazards come into play on 4 of the first 6 holes, and another pond comes into play on many holes on the back nine as well. I was lucky to have Birddog, one of Dave’s ranch hands, to lead me to all the tees on the course – what a smart dog! It seemed like a backhand roller was the preferred shot on holes 15-18, which I thought was interesting since a roller isn’t really required anywhere else on the course. Three different sets of tees once again give plenty of course options – but for a true test of your golfing skills you’ll definitely want to play the longest Blue tees. Of all the courses I’ve played in Texas, I think this one is the toughest.

The Wilmont, Tom Bass Regional Park, Houston, TX – This course is a really sweet mix of tight short holes and open booming 600+ foot par 4 holes. The first four holes play short and in the woods but after that the course transverses an open area with scattered trees. Holes 5,9,11 and 14 all play about 550-750’ long and require accurately placed drives and long approaches to get the birdie 3. Scattered trees form fairways and force long, accurate shots on these mostly open holes. The course is mostly flat but the few natural elevation features available are utilized nicely, as well as the man-made hill that serves as the lawn seating section of the performing arts center. The tee for the 16^th hole on top of this hill is one of the coolest I’ve ever seen! With its wonderful mix of short and long holes, the Wilmont is a truly world-class course and arguably Houston’s finest.

Powell Course, Tom Bass Regional Park, Houston, TX – This course is very similar to its big brother across the road but plays about 6 strokes easier. The Powell course features a nice mix of shorter birdeable holes and 550 foot and 600 foot par 4 holes. Like the Wilmont, Powell features beautiful tee signs and benches at each hole. Golfers that love to throw rollers will appreciate the short, manicured grass on this course as opposed to the longer stuff across the street which doesn’t lend itself well to rolling.

Tyrrell Park, Beaumont, TX – This disc golf course was re-designed and has a really challenging layout that reminds me a lot of the two courses at Tom Bass Park. In some ways, it’s even better! The course is a nice mix of long par threes, pro par fours, a true par five, and few ‘tweener’ holes, or as I like to call them, “Texas-sized” par threes. The first challenge comes on the second hole, which features a devilishly evil green with a semi-circle of OB surrounding the green. Hole four requires a long carry over a huge drainage ditch/canal. I really enjoyed the next set of holes in the wooded section of the park – they are long, tough holes that don’t yield any gimme deuces. The grass is short on most of these holes and backhand rollers work well. The par five is spectacular; after driving through scattered trees, it opens up into a clearing and then down to the polehole. With three strong drives, most advanced players should have a putt at four on this hole and take no worse than five.

After emerging from the woods, the last holes play in a more open area but aren’t particularly easy, especially the par four thirteenth, fifteenth, and eighteenth holes, which finishes over the ditch/water hazard. With some new poleholes to replace the rusty chains now in place, this could be the best course in all of eastern Texas. As it is, Tyrrell is still an excellent pro caliber course that will challenge every aspect of your golf game, and I highly recommend that anyone considering making the drive from Houston do so to play this course.

Riverside Park, Victoria, TX - This is the first course I've played in Texas with concrete tee pads. The difference is significant! With seemingly softer soil, higher traffic, and flat terrain, most natural tee pads I've played in Texas are muddy messes which are under water more often than not. The ample concrete tees at Victoria were a refreshing change! I wish that more course maintainers and park commissioners realized that concrete tees can make a course world class that might otherwise not be, and the lack of permanent tees can spoil the golfing experience of an otherwise outstanding design.

The're a nice variety of holes at Riverside Park. There are some easy deuces, some multi-shot/par four holes, and some "Texas-sized" par threes that are in the middle. I really liked holes two, six, fourteen and sixteen because they required placement drives and long approaches to score birdie threes on. The signature hole 16 (The Beast, as the locals called it) is about 600-650 feet in length with the OB road bordering the entire left side and the Guadalupe river lining the entire right side. It plays through scattered trees and is even more narrow than it looks; I was happy to escape this hole with a four. Watch out for armadillos around the polehole! I thought the depression where holes 8,9 and 10 play is an especially pretty section of the course. Holes 8 and 10 are good examples of "tweener" holes; I know Texas boys can throw far but those holes seem too long to get deuced and too short to call them anything more than par three. There's a lot of short grass at this course and rollers worked well on many holes. Though some local punks have wrecked a few, there are also professional tee signs on all the holes that are a very nice touch. This course is so nice that it's tough to find any faults with it other than the close proximity of the park roads on many holes - I always worry about novices not waiting to throw even though cars are approaching. Also, the Guadalupe river may single-handedly keep DX plastic sales in business because of its close proximity on holes seven and twelve. They are both short "pooch shots" but the polehole lies precariously close to the edge. The drop-off is steep, and the water deep and murky. If your disc goes over the edge, you're NOT getting it back.

Spring Valley Golf Course, Spring, TX (27 holes; pay-to-play) – A pay-to-play facility, this new complex is one of the sweetest in the Houston region. The Power 9 and Finesse 18 are about as polar opposite from each other as possible. The former is straightforward, long and open and plays to the same par as the nine-hole ball golf course. It’s a crusher’s dream, and distance is King on this course. Sporting anything less than a 350-foot drive, you’ll have trouble scoring any birdies on these holes. However, the opportunity to rent a cart and play a manicured golf course devoid of overgrowth makes it an experience worth cherishing.

The Finesse course is Houston’s first true woods course - it plays through very tight woods with narrow lanes that force demanding accuracy shots. For the first time, Houston golfers now have a venue to help them refine the touch shots that are an essential staple in any golfer’s bag. Most of the holes on this course are “pitch-n-putt” of about 250 feet or less but are still hallenging. And while the schul off the fairway is thick, you’ll only find it if you get an errant kick from throwing too hard. On most holes the fairways are truly honest, and with just a little touch, golfers should be able to thread them. I think the “Finesse Course” couldn’t be more aptly named, because that’s what it takes to play this course. Overt aggressiveness and trying to reach the basket on every hole will surely get punished; you get rewarded by playing it safe and throwing softly down the middle. Even if you’re well short of the basket, you’ll still fare better than being even with the polehole, but way off in the woods.

Kudos to Andi Lehmann, the HFDS, and all those responsible for getting this course installed. It's the one thing the Houston area lacked, and its addition to the stable of courses in the region is an important one.

Jim Mazola Memorial, Houston, TX (9 holes) – This is one of the more unique courses I’ve ever played. The entire course plays in the valley that leads down to the Buffalo Bayou near downtown Houston. Most of the course features fantastic views of the downtown skyline, and at dusk when the sunset reflects off the glass buildings, it is quite a stunning sight! The course itself is quite challenging, as most of the holes are long and feature baskets on very steep hills which make for the fastest greens in Houston. The Buffalo Bayou comes into play on 4 of the nine holes, and can be quite treacherous, with baskets placed within 20 feet or so of the river. Novices may lose quite a few discs at this park! Although just a nine-holer and not a good course for beginners, I really enjoyed the challenge of this neat course, and look forward to returning to it again and again.

McDade Park, Conroe, TX – This course is one of Houston’s nicest, playing in beautiful park that I’m told was once a residential area, this course plays over perhaps the nicest setting in the entire Houston area. Most of the holes are par threes but there are a few tweeners that feel like par fours. There’s not much elevation change, but the course does border a water hazard that can come into play. The balance between lefty/righty and open and woods at this course are just about perfect, and the signs and little signs pointing the way to the next tee are also really well done at this course. The Chainstar baskets are also super sweet. Kudos to all those that were responsible for getting this course installed, because McDade Park rocks!!!

Agnes Moffitt Park, Houston, TX – If you’re looking for someone to play with, this is the most popular course in Houston. The course utilizes a flat wooded area in a nice section of the park, and the majority of the holes play fairly short. There’s a good variety of shots one can utilize at this course, where sidearms and rollers may be the preferable shot, although a right-hyzer shot is usually available on just about every hole. The pro tees that were added in recent years force anhyzers and much longer shots.

Budde Road Country Club, Houston, TX – (private) This awesome private course was built on the property behind a golfer’s steel fabricating/welding shop. The terrain is relatively flat, but many tees and poleholes were placed on man-made mounds to provide for elevated drives and fast greens. Most of the poleholes are homemade but catch discs surprisingly well. Many of the 18 holes share common baskets, but the layout is expertly designed in such a way that you don’t even notice. Also surprisingly, for a course in such a small area, many of the holes are quite long and not easily deucable. With the high winds the course can sometimes experience, shooting under par at Budde is sometimes not so easily achieved!

Jack Brooks Park, Hitchcock, TX – Just off I-45 by the dog track lies Jack Brooks Park, a mostly short course but one that requires a variety of shots. The course winds its away around the perimeter of a large field with many holes weaving in and out of the woods. Almost half the holes on the course are less than 260’ but some feature severe doglegs that require forehand shots, spike hyzers and tricky rollers to get the duece. Although the course was mostly pancake-flat, a few holes did feature baskets on top of mounds which got me into big trouble on a few occasions when my putt blew past the basket and I missed the comebackers.

MacGregor Park, Houston, TX – Playing through a picturesque wooded section of the park, it reminded me of Landis Park in Vineland, NJ. Most of the holes are very short, straight, and in the sub-250 foot range from the regular tees. While MacGregor is an excellent course for beginners, pros will not find much of a challenge here. Using just a midrange disc, a seasoned player can easily shoot in the low 40s at this course. I’m told that there are yellow pro tees that extend this course greatly and make for a much better challenge, but I’ve never been able to find them or have a local available to show them to me.

The Woodlands, The Woodlands, TX – This course is Houston’s only woods course. Most of the holes play through narrow fairways carved out of the woods. The course features three sets of tees per hole, but even from the longest tees the course plays very short. There’s a water hazard that comes into play on a few holes but is fairly easy to avoid. My only complaint about this course is that some of the holes run too close together and few play dangerously close to soccer fields, imo.

Pleasure Island, Port Arthur, TX – There’s great novelty in playing this course because it’s the exact same setup as that which was used during Pro Worlds in 1994 and 1995. However, there’s a quote from John Houck that it was known as the “short” course of the Championships and it’s even more so in today’s era. Where Tyrrell features long par three holes in the 350 foot range that don’t yield easy deuces, many of the holes at Pleasure Island are short enough and straightforward enough that I felt angry/silly if I didn’t score a birdie on them. 18 holes are crowded into a very small space between a road and a wetlands area, and most holes are short and almost entirely wide open. One exception was the ~590 foot fourteenth hole – it’s got an elevated tee and plays as a bonafide pro par four, and I was elated to sink a long putt to save three. I did like that this course features some rolling hills and elevation changes (unusual for Texas) but the hilliness in the middle causes water to drain down, collect, and stagnate on the edge of the course. Bug spray is a MUST when playing this course! Also, while there are no crossing fairways, many of the holes play very close to one another, and with many of the tee signs and polehole numbers faded or missing, finding your way around the course can be quite confusing.

Burke Crenshaw Park, Pasadena, TX (9 holes) – This nine hole course features beautiful tee signs, two sets of tees on each hole and two pin positions per hole. From the long tees and to the long pin positions, this course stretches out very long, with many holes over 300 and 400 feet. The course makes use of what little elevation change is available, which is two giant mounds which one hole tees off from and one hole shoots to. There’s a very pretty lake in the park, but unfortunately it doesn’t come into play.

Miramar Park, Seabrook, TX (9 holes) – This course is one of the bottom three I’ve played lifetime; it’s simply the most dangerous layout I have ever come across in almost a decade in the sport. The first five holes play blindly down walking paths. From the tee pad, the thrower has no idea whether there are pedestrians, joggers, bikers, etc. up near the target. As I was playing the Miramar Park course, a group of about 20 people rode through on bicycles. They came around a blind corner so fast I was lucky my disc did not strike one of them. At least they had helmets on; the elderly couple that followed on foot did not.

It appears to me that this course was installed without contacting a single disc golfer or consulting anyone about a design. Any experienced disc golfer would have immediately recognized the hazards of the current layout and would never have agreed to it. If the course and the park grow in popularity, I do not consider it needlessly alarmist to venture that it’s only a matter of time before they have a serious injury.

Colorado

Memorial Park, Arvada, CO – A creek runs throughout the entire course and comes into play on every hole but one. Most holes play pretty short with only a couple outside the 300-foot mark. As such, if you can keep your disc out of the creek, you’ll shoot well here. A couple of holes play next to the edge of the park, so some control of your disc is necessary or you run the risk of plucking your disc out of the street. I don’t remember there being hardly any right-turning holes (favoring the left-hander) but since I’m a righty I didn’t mind at all. Most holes featured tee signs and concrete tee pads. I really like the course, and would’ve shot an under par round there, but the creek kept sucking up my disc like a magnet! One thing I thought was neat about the course was that because of the arid Colorado climate and resulting low humidity, it only took a few minutes for my boots to dry after every trip into the creek. No restroom facilities are available.

Nevada

Zephyr Cove Park, Zephyr Cove, NV – It takes a few holes to climb out of the trees, but once you get to the basket of hole#5, the views of Lake Tahoe and the mountains are to die for! This course is an awesome “billy-goat” course with some extreme elevation changes and grueling hiking required. The signature hole is a toss-up between hole#10, which has an elevated tee pad and shoots about 375 downhill into a clearing in a valley, or the 400-foot hole#15 which tees directly towards Lake Tahoe and shoots downhill some 30-40 vertical feet. There are some tight shots between pines and Douglas firs, and some interesting rock formations which make for some really neat greens such as on hole#16, the basket of which lies between some large boulders. While there are no pro par four holes at this course, there are some very tough par threes that will challenge even the seasoned golfer. With some steep hiking required at Zephyr, whoever designed the course was a sadist. But if the climbs don’t take your breath away, the views certainly should make you a masochist who will enjoy every breathless minute of it.

Zephyr would make for one of my top courses if it was better marked & maintained. Perhaps the permanent signs are removed in the winter, but with only a metal pole to mark teeing areas, finding one’s way around this course is tedious if you’re not already familiar with the layout. Golfers with experience, and better knowledge and control of their discs, will enjoy this course more than beginners, who will no doubt spend considerable time searching through the manzanita bushes for their discs, if they are able to find them at all. The manzanita is ubiquitous and omnipresent throughout the entire course, with long pants a must, and I’d advise bringing plastic you don’t care about losing. Novices and those in poor physical shape might be better off at the flat track down in town at Bijou. Also, no matter how sparsely the fitness course is used, that it shares the same space with the disc golf course is an unacceptable safety risk.

Sunset Regional Park, Las Vegas, NV – This course plays almost exclusively in the open. A couple of holes have a row of trees which almost define a fairway, but most holes only contain a few scattered palm trees. The park is well maintained, with nearly every tee featuring tee signs, concrete tee pads, and benches. You could almost dub the course the "Tinicum" of the West, as all the holes play long and flat. With the grass kept cut low, in the absence of wind a roller will do you well on this course. Many of the holes do play next to the street or out-of-bounds fences, so some control of your shots is needed. Unless you’re planning to play in the scorching heat of the summer, I would definitely recommend Sunset for a round. My only complaint about Sunset is that the course is located literally across the street from the airport runway, so the airplane noise and the stench of jet fuel is considerable.

Piccole Ranch, Las Vegas, NV (private) – Playing through a narrow strip of park in a residential area, this course has OB everywhere. The holes run up one side of the strip, then back down the other. In essence, you have out-of-bounds fenced homes on one side of the fairway, and desert scrub on the other. The course is immaculately groomed, with concrete tee pads and tee signs at every hole, and the course is irrigated with a built-in sprinkler system! Most of the holes play fairly short, but around some considerable foliage. I can deduce that when the course was put in the trees weren’t as obstructing, but with their inevitable growth they make the course quite challenging. Although I liked the course a lot, I found it quite a daunting task keeping my disc on the fairways, and it is just too narrow a strip of land to have a disc golf course on. No restroom facilities are available.

Arizona

Arizona Snowbowl, Flagstaff, AZ (open only in summer) – This was a temporary course set up for Pro Worlds 2003. Having never played Kiss the Sky in Aspen or Sipapu in NM, this was my first alpine golf experience and one of my most memorable rounds of disc golf ever. The views from the mountain looking out towards the Grand Canyon were simply spectacular! Since the course played on the ski trails, it was the most open one of Worlds. The trick was dealing with the elevation changes and the altitude - 285 foot uphill holes that were barely reachable alternated with huge 400 and 500 foot shots down the ski trails that one could easily overshoot with a putter, and the high elevation also caused discs to act strangely: discs were more overstable yet traveled much farther. And finally, to add to the challenge, because of the nearly 10,000 foot elevation, just walking this course was a workout. The signature hole 18 played over 850 feet downhill towards the base lodge, with OB on both sides of the fairway, but could easily be overshot by 100 feet or more!

Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ – Set up in its longest layout during Pro Worlds 2003, I imagine that this course plays much easier most of the time. The course has a lot of elevation change, and a nice mix of tight, wooded accuracy holes along with a few booming open holes down the power line that allows you to really let it rip. I really enjoyed the concrete tee pads and tee signs. The layout I played had a wonderful mix of deuce runs, tough par threes, and borderline par fours where a full drive, accurate approach and putt were needed to score well. Birdies were plentiful and shooting under par was easy for some, but early wood usually left long approaches and heroic par-saving putts to avoid bogeys. The signature hole#6 is fun, it plays about 550 feet downhill to a basket on a mound, and can be reached by big arms.

Thorpe Park, Flagstaff, AZ – Like NAU, this permanent course was set up in its longest layout during Pro Worlds 2003. Once again, there were lots of elevation change and fabulous concrete tee pads and tee signs on every hole. This course, normally an 18-holer, had temporary holes added to make for a 24 hole course. The long layout at Thorpe featured an abundance of holes that were par 3.5s – not really deucable, fairly easy threes, and stupid fours. The only round I shot here was somewhat melancholy in that I found myself simply laying up for 3s on every hole. Leaving a few more of these poleholes in the short pin position or extending some the tee pads or polehole positions to make for true pro par 4s would have gone a long way to make this course a little more interesting.

Little America Hotel, Flagstaff, AZ – This was also temporary course set up for Pro Worlds 2003. The course was carved out of the ponderosa pine behind the hotel, and featured a few short holes and a lot of long ones, but all playing down tight fairways. Birdies were available, but accuracy and placement were a must in order to avoid bogeys. Since the course only went in shortly before the tournament, trouble areas and heavy rough could be found off the fairways, and I wasn’t the only one who found plenty of it at Little America - after smoking the course with –8 the first time he played it, during the second time around, former world champ Ken Climo tied my score of the day, a balky 56.

California

Delaveaga Park, Santa Cruz, CA – There’s a reason that this course is one of the most popular in the world, and it is because of the sheer challenge of the course. No course I have ever played features as many "fast" greens, on at least 20 of the 27 holes at Delaveaga, the basket is perched on a slope with drop-offs of 50 feet or more behind the basket. If you’re a smart golfer, you’ll lay up and throw to the base of the pole, as approaches and putts that miss the chains run the risk of rolling down into ravines, almost never to be seen again. Off the fairway can be equally as brutal, with cliffs and heavily wooded areas that will swallow your disc. Also watch for the poison oak! The signature hole#27 is possibly the most famous hole in disc golf. "Top of the World" is listed at 580 feet, and shoots down some 200 vertical feet from the top of the course. In the absence of a strong headwind, the hole can be easily reached from the tee with a putter. Adding to the challenge is an out-of-bounds road a dozen feet behind the pin. Overall, the course doesn’t play all that long (to my surprise) but with the fast greens, length isn’t needed. The course is very well marked with tee signs and concrete tee pads on every hole. Port-o-johns are available in the parking lot.

Whittier Narrows, Whittier, CA – Despite warnings that this course would be long, open, and boring, this was my actually my favorite course in the Los Angeles region! For starters, it is conveniently located just off the highway near the Rt. 60 & I-605 intersection. Course designer Dave Dunipace once described the Whittier course as “a fairly dry test of skills,” but it had almost everything I look for in a disc golf course. While it was mostly pancake flat and didn’t have the elevation changes of La Mirada, the Whittier course had appropriate hole lengths for skilled golfers. Most of the holes were in the 300-450 foot range through scattered mature trees that forced honest drives. Additionally, with low ceilings and manicured short grass, this course was a rollers delight. I was thrilled to deuce some 350-375 foot holes with a backhand roller that I would have never reached with an air shot through the trees, although I was also fortunate my rollers didn’t hit one of the many gopher holes omnipresent throughout the park. This course was well marked, with nice long cement tee pads and tee signs on each hole, and finding one’s way around was really easy. For the most part, the course seemed to avoid the picnic tables, public areas and safety hazards I observed at other courses in the region. Although the wonderful island green on the back nine (hole 13?) can have parked car hazards if you release early and fly short left, and a few holes did play near or over a walking path that is hopefully not heavily utilized. FYI, I noticed that if you want to be a cheapskate, one can avoid the $4 parking fee on weekends by parking over on the street next to hole#4 and walking in through the gate in the fence there.

Emerald Isle, Oceanside, CA (pay-to-play) – This wasn’t my first opportunity to play disc golf course on a ball golf course (having played at the Spring Valley course outside Houston) but this was certainly the nicest. You really just can’t say enough about having the opportunity to drive a cart, legally drink beer, and buy a hot dog or burger from the girl in the shack halfway down the course! The clubhouse is fully stocked with discs, towels, t-shirts, food and beverages, and throw in the wondrous setting of perfect 75 degree weather, palm trees, and manicured green grass in a beautiful section of Southern California, and you’ve got yourself a top-notch disc golf experience. Even though there are only two par four holes and the course isn’t exceedingly long, scoring well on the course is not as easy a task as it seems. Most of the holes are 340 – 375 feet long, with the basket just behind the OB green. So unless you’ve got a REAL 400-foot arm, and not just one you think you have, you will most likely land on the green numerous times and take a lot of penalty strokes. There is also OB running the entire right-hand side of many holes, and the presence of so much OB makes the course a little gimmicky at times; the difference between a good shot that skips off the green or stays OB is often a matter of inches and seemingly completely arbitrary. However, despite the frustration, this course is still a unique experience and one I would return to as much as possible if I lived locally.

Van Buren Golf Center, Riverside, CA (pay-to-play) – While the course only has one true pro par four hole, which is hole#7 and plays either 666 ft. or 732 ft. depending on which polehole you are shooting for, it’s still a very good time. There are some tricky pin placements and fast greens all around making for tough par 3 holes where bogey or worse is easily had. This is especially so on the "back side" which plays to all longer pin placements and many 378-420 ft. holes are found. The OB greens (and a bunker or two) can also really come into play on these holes, and having a 425 ft. arm (which I do *not*) would be especially helpful. There's also a pond on the 6th hole which can snatch an errant drive to the short position, and the long position lies on a mound perched precariously above the hole and makes for a very tricky approach to the long pin.

From a disc golfing standpoint, this was a blast! On a Saturday morning at 9:30 AM with a cart and the course all to ourselves, we ripped through the front eleven holes. The second time around was a different story however because both a ladies tournament and a juniors mini-tournament had started and they were VERY reluctant to let others play through. In fact, in order to avoid interminable waits, we ended up skipping ahead to the 6th hole (now playing as hole #17 on the back side) and played through from there, coming back around and finishing holes #1-5 where we amazingly caught the juniors again. Bottom line simply is that a foursome or fivesome of disc golfers is going to play MUCH faster than a twosome of ball golfers. And if you’ve got a few foursomes of ball golfers in front of you, you are going to wait a ridiculous amount of time unless you ask to play through.

Sentiments previously expressed in the past remain in that I think that disc golf courses on ball golf courses are an excellent idea in areas of the country where land and public park space is at a minimum. There’s certainly something to be said for being able to play disc golf on watered, manicured green grass, instead of dry, dusty, scrub desert terrain. At its worst, a Fly18 course in California or Texas is probably going to be better than the nicest public park in those states. However, I doubt that this type of business venture is going to be successful in other areas of the country, where our state park & city park courses are actually amazingly nice. Very few people are going to pay the greens fees and/or cart fees to play on a ball golf course when the free local public course is just as good if not better, and don't require waiting on ball golfers or getting angry looks when asking to play through.

La Mirada Regional Park, La Mirada, CA – With the lush setting in a beautiful park with palm trees, ponds, & hills, this course is one of the nicest in Southern California, although almost by default – it’s one of the only ones in the region that is all grass and has elevation changes. The La Mirada course is laid out to take full advantage of the nice rolling hills in this park, and with several low ceiling shots and immaculately groomed grass, rollers are the preferred shots on many holes and will yield excellent results if thrown properly. While the ponds don’t come into play, there is an abundance of OB sidewalks and park boundaries that can yield penalty strokes on many holes. The original 18 holes play much easier than the new nine, which are located in a different section of the park and feature legitimate pro par four holes and a pro par five hole. These are the best holes on the property, with exceptional length and OB that makes for a real challenge. I also appreciated the fully stocked clubhouse, which sold discs, towels, t-shirts, food and beverages.

While I may have experienced the course at the absolute WORST time (on a Saturday morning while there was a cross country meet going on) I get the impression that interaction with park patrons occurs quite often at this course. I understand that land is at a premium in Southern California and I’m all for sharing the land, but this course seems to violate seemingly every guideline towards safe course design. Many holes run dangerously along, or throw blindly over, walking paths, sidewalks, city streets, baseball fields, near parking lots, and countercurrent against other holes on the course. When the tournament layout is in place, the wonderful back nine holes are chopped up to make for 18 smaller pooch shots, again, many of which play dangerously right up the city street and next to the parking lot. While I’m a patient person and don’t mind waiting for the coast to be clear, in my experience many other disc golfers do not (especially casual golfers) and I shudder to think about the angry altercations and potential liability issues that could occur at this course with discs striking pedestrians or automobiles.

Riverside Golf Club, Riverside, CA (pay-to-play) – Playing on a ball golf course with over 12,500 feet of total length from the long tees, this Fly18 course is the whole enchilada and then some. The disc golf layout parallels the ball golf layout for the most part, with the disc golf tees set in front of the shortest bolf tees, and the polehole usually located short of the greens. A few holes have pin locations near OB bunkers and greens, but thankfully much less so than at Emerald Isle where the green seems to come into play on almost every hole. Renting a cart on this almost pancake flat course isn’t a must, but it definitely helps with the length of the holes, as well as some of the long walks between holes. Fans of pro par four and pro par five golf will enjoy the length and challenge of this course, and you’ll certainly get a lot of field practice as many holes require a driver or roller to be thrown several times in succession. With the extremely short grass on the ball golf fairways, I was able to throw some of the longest roller shots I’ve thrown in my life – some in excess of perhaps 450 feet. (which is considerably further than I could throw an air shot) Careful attention must be paid to the wind however, and rollers that drift errant will go considerably far in unintended directions.

If I lived locally I would likely play this course often, but it’s not for everyone. Being able to throw for long distances (400 feet or more) is very helpful, and at least 300 feet is a must. Shorter-armed throwers and those who do not have a competent roller in their arsenal will be at a great disadvantage and would likely get bored quickly, especially from long blue tees. On the longest layout, the front nine flows rather nicely, but the back nine starts to grind, especially on holes#14 and 15, which are two 1075+ foot pro par five holes in a row that are almost completely wide open. It’s almost like they got to this point in the course design and decided to stop making it interesting. While I’m obviously a fan of the trend to move to higher par golf, I think having three 1000+ foot holes in the span of six holes (hole 10 = 1062 ft., hole 14 = 1075 ft., hole 15=1083 ft) that are basically long for the sake of long is dumb, imo. Furthermore, I was shocked when on the 17^th hole of this layout, I looked at my bag and realized I hadn’t thrown a midrange disc the whole round – it seems very strange to throw between 70 and 80 throws at a course and not once use anything besides a driver or a putter..

I’m glad I went back a second time to play this course from the shorter white tees. This layout is ‘only’ 9,320 feet and alternates between deucable 250ish and 320 foot par three holes, and 500-600 foot pro par four holes, which normally play from tees in the trees that shoot out into the fairway, then back to protected baskets and interesting pin positions. The par fives are a more realistic 800-870 feet long, and at this length, a birdie four is easily achievable. On the shorter layout I used a mid-range disc on several occasions, even from the tee, and witnessed other diverse shots such as tomahawks and sidearms being thrown that were never utilized on the long layout. I shot 5 under par on this layout, and had much more fun and appreciate the course that much more. This is absolutely the way to play the course, and I recommend that all golfers rated 950 and below avoid the long layout.

I think that disc golf courses on ball golf courses are an excellent idea in areas of the country where land and public park space is at a minimum. There’s certainly something to be said for being able to play disc golf on watered, manicured green grass, instead of scrub desert terrain. At its worst, a Fly18 course in California or Texas is probably going to be better than the nicest public park in those states. However, I doubt that this type of business venture is going to be successful in other areas of the country, where our state park & city park courses are actually amazingly nice. Very few people are going to pay the greens fees and cart fees to play on a ball golf course when the local public course is just as good if not better. I should also mention that a foursome or fivesome of disc golfers is going to play MUCH faster than a twosome of ball golfers. And if you’ve got a few foursomes of ball golfers in front of you, you are going to wait often unless you ask to play through. Another pet peeve at this course was the Dr. Fred baskets, with single chains that seem to deflect putts out instead of in. They also have an open top, allowing putts to fall in from above; this opens the debate over whether this is a potential design flaw that allows seemingly poor putts to make good. One final note is that I think these courses need to be set up for the proper skill level. There needs to be a set of true recreational tees for novice players, with holes that don’t exceed 500 feet in length. The course in Riverside features a set of white tees perfect for golfers rated 850-950, and set of blue tees seemingly geared for 1000-rated players or guys that can throw 475+ feet. How many of those are there in the Riverside / San Bernandino area, or even in Los Angeles? If you tear out the long blue tees and make the existing white tees the long tees, and add a new set of short tees for novice players, it’s going to go a long way to develop a disc golf community and local club in the new areas these courses are put in.

Morley Field, San Diego, CA (pay-to-play) – This course is pay-to-play, at the bargain price of $2.50 per day, ($3.00 per day on weekends) with a clubhouse that is fully stocked, with discs, towels, t-shirts, food and beverages and is open every day of the year from sunrise to sunset. The layout is an excellent mix of wooded holes and open holes that shoot to protected baskets. There are concrete tee pads and tee signs on every hole, and each hole sports anywhere from a few to as many as TWELVE alternate pin positions, which are changed every Monday! There are also some terraced elevated positions which are both aesthetically pleasing and challenging. I liked the 400’ downhill hole #5, and the signature hole #11, which is 400+’ and requires you to negotiate a double mandatory between two palm trees when the basket is in its longest position. Restrooms are available behind the clubhouse. On a sad note, I was there on a Sunday and the course was overwhelmingly packed. Because of hordes of novice players and because many of the holes run close together, discs were flying all over the place, and I personally nearly got hit by a disc at least half a dozen times! I heard "FORE!" yelled more times in one day at Morley Field than I have in all my years of disc golf put together. Even the clubhouse was getting bombarded. Although Morley Field is one of the nicest disc golfing facilities in the country it is sadly one of the most dangerous.

Bijou Community Park, South Lake Tahoe, CA – The 27 holes at this course play in a mostly flat space of pines and Douglas firs on the outskirts of the town of South Lake Tahoe. While the lake can’t be seen from the course, there are fantastic views on the back eighteen holes of the mountains and portions of Heavenly Ski resort. I played the course on the off-day of a weeklong ski trip to the area in January, and even in the dead of winter I was impressed how the local club had been maintaining the tee pads with cinders, and how many people were out at the course. The amount of traffic in the snow made for paths that allowed one to easily find one’s way to the next hole. The tee signs were professionally done, with a nice graphic and sponsor for each hole. (I was amused that hole 24, at 420 feet long, was sponsored by Tahoehemp.com) There are benches and picnic tables on just about every tee, and I was also delighted to see a minimum of three pin positions on every hole, with the current position marked on each tee sign – that’s a nice touch. With snow and ice on about 2/3 of the course, the layout was understandably short with most pins in the A position, which resulted in a lot of pitch-n-putt. But I could see from the distances on the tee sign that with most pin positions in the longest positions it would provide for a serious test of golfing skills and some borderline pro par four holes. The signature hole is arguably hole #16 in the C position, which tees towards the mountains and plays about 530 feet downhill and across a small seasonal creek. My least favorite hole was probably hole 7, for which the tee of which lied in a place where poor drives on hole#6 would land. Additionally, strong drives that make it clean through the woods on hole#7 could overshoot the basket and easily end up in the road outside the park. However, for beginners and a less strenuous disc golfing experience, playing Bijou is a treat, and is much preferred over the extreme terrain and hiking required over at Zephyr Cove.

My only complaint with this course was some considerable confusion finding the first tee. Even though the disc golf bulletin board may indicate otherwise, the park service does NOT plow the entire entrance road in the winter. You will be forced to park at the entrance (by the basket of hole#4 / tee of hole#5) and either start there or hike to the tee of hole#1.

Veterans Park, Sylmar, CA (pay-to-play) – Driving to this course through the foothills surrounding Los Angeles is stunningly beautiful, with lots of cool views of the surrounding mountains. I liked the patriotic theme at this course, with tees and poleholes that alternate in color, in order, from red to white to blue. With really nice cement teepads and brand new tee signs and poleholes, this course has a professional touch, and worth the nominal $2 daily fee. The first three holes play over some lovely rolling grass, and the 2^nd hole has neat brickwork around the polehole position that is reminiscent of the USDGC. There was a unique razz at this course, when the bleating from the neighbor’s goat affected my putt on hole# 5 and my drive on hole# 6 – I couldn’t stop laughing! With the “ghosts” of previous layouts evidenced by old cement teepads and hollowed-out tee signs still in place, it appears that this course was redesigned a few times over the years, and while this layout is reportedly very much improved, I still wasn’t too crazy about it. The holes seemed to just alternate mostly straight uphill or straight downhill, and though there seemed to be ample opportunity for some pro par four holes, there were none and most of the course was predominantly pitch-n-putt. The course ends with an annoying uphill slog, with holes 16-18 playing from the lowest point in the course to the highest. Worse yet, the far right polehole positions on hole#16 and hole#18 play dangerously close to the fence next to Sayre Street, and I shudder to think what happens when a disc flies out into traffic. It’s also too bad that the lower portion of the course can’t hold grass like the upper three holes, because it makes for a dry, dusty, dirty experience. On a positive note, there’s a really great liquor store on the corner of Eldridge and Sayre on the way to this course that prominently advertises disc golf and sells discs – I highly recommend it.

Ford Park, Redlands, CA – Course designer Bill Maury-Holmes did a bang-up job squeezing nine holes into a very lovely park which features some nice rolling terrain, a pond, and lush green grass. With limited room to work with, the course doesn’t play all that long but features some interesting shots and holds more challenge than first appears. The course is still waiting on approval for tee markings and tee signs, so without a guide you’ll likely not be able to follow the layout. And while the park is reportedly deserted during the week, it can be all but unplayable on busy weekends so plan accordingly.

Oak Grove, Pasadena, CA – Like Sylmar, the views of the foothills on the way to this course are awesome. Once arriving, there’s something to be said for being able to play the very first permanent polehole course in the world. To bang chains where Frisbee throwers first did so 30+ years ago and ignited our sport is really cool! The first hole starts out with a low ceiling shot that almost demands a roller – that’s probably the only time I’ve ever thrown a forehand roller off the first tee. There are a few fun downhill holes, including a neat one that throws over a basin that I’m told once held water, but most of the course plays through desert thorns, dirt and dust that leaves you filthy after your round. Additionally, while it appears that there have been some re-designs, adjustments, and attempts to keep up with the improvements in disc technology over the years by lengthening holes, the layout is still mostly pitch-n-putt that plays dangerously close to a soccer field, over picnic tables, near the parking lot, over a walking path which also doubles as a horse training area, (?) with several holes that throw over the teepads of adjacent holes. The course is also very poorly marked – good luck finding your way around without a tour guide.

Oregon

Pier Park, Portland, OR – The highlight of my trip to the Pacific Northwest. Maybe it’s because I’m from Pennsylvania and not used to redwood trees, but this is undeniably the most beautiful course I have ever seen in my life. When you picture in your head what a course in the Pacific Northwest might look like, this is it: fairways over rolling hills and between towering hundred-foot evergreens. You almost feel like Alice in Wonderland walking around on this course because of the large trees, and it warps your frame of reference in terms on lengths of the holes. As far as playability goes, the course mostly plays as par 3.5s – many holes that are really difficult to birdie, but scoring a 4 feels like a bogey. Most holes are shots between the trees, but it’s tough to call them tunnel shots because the trees are spaced far apart and only keep honest drives honest. There are also several HUGE off-the-top-of-hill downhill chucks, like hole 7, that will have you emptying your entire bag. I can’t say enough about this course! You can see pictures at the following link, but it doesn't do it justice.

http://www.lynchclan.com/leftcoast/pierpark1.html

Dabney State Park, Troutdale, OR (pay-to-play) – The drive to this course is one of the most scenic I’ve ever taken, with views on a clear day of Mt. Hood from the highway and waterfalls splashing onto the local road to the park. At the course itself, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen one that had so much loving care go into it. I was amazed at the number and quality of tee boxes, bridges, boardwalks, benches, and tee signs built at this course. Dozens of volunteers must have spent hundreds of back-breaking hours of labor getting this course installed, and we all should greatly appreciate their blood, sweat and tears.

For this reason, it is with great displeasure that I must make the following comments: this course was one of the worst disc golf experiences I’ve ever had in my life. To start, while it might not be the case during the rest of the year, all the holes on the front nine on the hill were completely flooded, and my feet were soaked to the bone within minutes. After (an admittedly memorable and delightful) hole 2 over the pond, the rest of the front nine played through what looked to be once a thorn thicket, and my errant drives off the fairway put me in the middle of very painful thorns several times. Even on both of the open field holes, holes 3 and 10, high winds sent my disc into the thorns. I thought my woes were over when I reached the back nine holes below the field. But, a stretch of holes (14-17) through trees has a cliff with a bog below running the entire left-hand side. Any drive that hits a tree and kicks left, or flies straight but hyzers off too much at the end of its flight, is instantly a lost disc, and if you are able to negotiate all these holes without losing a single one you are either extremely skilled or profoundly lucky. I wasn’t too upset to lose a disposable DX Leopard but then my drive on hole 17 caromed off a tree into the bog where it quickly disappeared; it was a $30 CE Classic Roc that I had owned for years and was one of the most essential discs in my bag. Perhaps I was sour after playing the absolutely wonderful Pier Park earlier in the day, but with a daily fee of $3, I cannot agree with the PDGA course directory that Dabney was “worth the drive” - my experience was certainly not.

Washington

Sea Tac Park, Sea Tac, WA - Wow! The makings of a world class course are in place in the Pacific northwest. The new 18 hole course at Sea Tac Park offers “pro distance” par 3 holes that make for tough deuces, as well as a string of real pro par four holes, where a long, demandingly accurate drive that lands on the fairway is required off the tee, followed by a long but controlled approach to reach the polehole and make a putt for the birdie three. Of the latter, I counted at least eight pro par four holes, including holes 14-18, a stretch of five in a row to conclude your round! I’d estimate that the course SSA will fall somewhere between 56-58, with any score in the 50s considered an excellent round. The future of disc golf is definitely now at Sea Tac Park.

From what I can tell, the “original” 9 hole course closest to Des Moines Drive is now the back nine and the front nine is the newest part of the course. These are easier holes on the course and where you’ll need to score your deuces. Most of these holes play between 300 and 400 feet through mostly open and flat fairways. Hole 4 is one of the few “two-shot” holes on the front nine; this a hole where you’ll want to throw an accurate mid-range to land on the fairway and set yourself up for the approach. Avoid the fence running the entire left-hand side. Hole 7 is an absolutely lovely righty turnover shot/lefty hyzer for deuce. The back nine feature a little more elevation change and more trouble off the fairways. I nearly aced hole 10 and was very psyched to score a deuce here – I sure needed it for the big numbers that would follow on the remaining holes. On holes 11 and 12 you start seeing the pro par four holes – a safe drive into the fairway followed by another shot almost as long to reach the polehole. Hole 13 is your last deuce opportunity but the polehole is still very well protected. Hole 14 starts the challenging run to finish - there are two options of the tee, but you’ll need to find the landing spot near the road to set yourself up for the tight downhill approach to the polehole. Hole 15 features a gorgeous approach to a polehole on a plateau above the landing area; the second shot must go high enough to clear the elevation change but low enough to clear a large branch about one hundred feet before the polehole. Holes 16-18 all feature more placement drives and long approaches, and a birdie three is quite the accomplishment on all these holes!

I can’t say enough good things about this course, as the design is simply right on the money. As opposed to many other Seattle area courses, the fairways at Sea Tac are almost completely separated from each other, much like a links course in ball golf. With the exception of maybe one or two spots where you’ll need to be alert for dog walkers and pedestrians, there’s no safety issues here. The cement tee pads and tee signs on every hole are top-notch! Since the course is new, it’s understandably a little rough in places (especially if you get off the fairway) but will surely mature with use. For the time being, a spotter is recommended on many of the longer holes on the course. Also, although the polehole of each hole features a tag on each basket with directions and a distance on how to find the tee of the next hole, some “Next Tee” signs pointing the right direction would go a long way. With some walks between holes of 200-300 feet, I probably spent an extra aggregate time of roughly 25-30 minutes looking for tees during my round.

Jet Woods (NAD Park) Bremerton, WA - The terrain that this course plays through is nothing like I’ve seen at any other; it’s very reminiscent of a rain forest and is quite stunning. Otherwise, this new course is just down the road from Dalaiwood and reminds me very much of that course, with absolutely beautiful hardwoods that are quite picturesque. The NAD Park course also plays over similar extreme elevation changes and through tight woods that demand pinpoint accuracy. There are alternate pin positions on many holes and two sets of tee pads on all but a few holes. Shooting from the blue tee pads to the short pin positions, the course is extremely beginner friendly with many fairly open straight shots in the 200 foot range. More experienced players can expect to shoot in the low 40s in this configuration. The red tee pads and long pin positions are a whole new ball game! Many of the holes in this configuration shoot from odd angles and the deuce opportunities dwindle rapidly. Early wood usually leads to bogeys, and scores in the low 50s should be considered excellent scores in this layout. With the beautiful scenery and diverse terrain, this is instantly one of the best courses in the Seattle area. If you haven’t played it yet, you should do your best to get out and experience it!

Dalaiwood, Olalla, WA (private; call first) – This is Scott Papa’s private course on his property that was featured in Disc Golf World News for its annual Halloween tournament. Don’t let the relatively short overall distance of the course fool you, it’s an extremely technical course that requires pinpoint accuracy and can be maddeningly difficult. The limits of how much hyzer or anhyzer you can deliver to a disc are tested on just about every drive; very few holes feature a straight drive, most require extreme left or right turns. The course starts out with a few open holes around the llama pens, but can be all too penal if you find OB. Also watch out for the llama “piles.” (!) with the exception of the gorgeous signature hole 8, the remainder of the course features very tight woods holes, including a two-foot wide "fairway" on one hole, and death any time you get off the fairway. I played this course with all pins in the ‘A’ position and got my ass handed to me – with all the pins in the B, this is probably one of the toughest courses you’ll ever play.

Ft. Steilacoom Park, Tacoma, WA – Playing through both a pasture-like setting and a beautiful grove of trees, this course has the potential to be world class. I was lucky enough to run into a local who knew the course and showed me the Pro layout (blue scorecard) with cement tee pads. I really enjoyed this track, with some long holes including some pro par four holes. My wife got some great pictures of poleholes with Mt.Rainier in the background on the open holes, and I absolutely loved "The Grove" which holes 13-18 played through. This was a very scenic part of the course and reminded me a little bit of Pier Park in Portland, OR. I shot a few deuces, got a ton of threes, and took fours on some of the pro par fours, but the highlight of my round was scoring a three on hole 15. I had a decent drive to the landing area and threw a turnover shot into the narrow opening, which carried all the way through and faded back to the polehole and left me a ten foot putt, woo-hoo! I shot 55 for the round, which I was pretty happy with

Like the Riverside course in Sumner, this course is designed with multiple layouts: randomly placed tees and both shared and alternate baskets which make for an entirely confusing experience. I was fortunate to meet the local I played with on the second hole while I was busy off on the right at the wrong basket - without him, I probably would have shot to the wrong basket multiple times and wandered around aimlessly looking for tees. Additionally, this situation makes for one of the most dangerous in all of disc golf. At most other courses, you have long tees and short tees but everyone plays the same fairways. With this setup you have multiple layouts with different groups shooting to different baskets all at the same time. It's a wonder no one has ever been seriously hurt at this course! It's usually tough enough to keep recreational players / novices from throwing on each other on a normal course, let alone one with multiple layouts like this one. If I played here regularly, I'd probably walk around with a football helmet on.

In short, this is a course with a ton of potential - with just one layout featuring a set of pro tees and a few sets of shorter tees for recreational players / novices, this could be one of the top courses I've ever played.

Riverside Park, Sumner, WA – This course is located in a very beautiful setting, in a gorgeous stretch of woods next to the Puyallup River. Most of the course plays either through the woods or in the open areas around it. Most of the holes play fairly short, and birdie opportunities abound. I only got to play the red layout, which seemed to heavily favor the left-hander by featuring a plethora of right-turning holes. (easy lefty hyzer) If this course had just one layout with two sets of tees, Am and Pro, and two or three basket positions on each hole, it would be a premier course in the region. Unfortunately, like Ft. Steilacoom Park, the current setup is comprised of at least three different sets of tees (red, blue, green) and baskets, each of which follows entirely different layouts. The result is the biggest “clusterbomb” I have ever seen at a disc golf course. For starters, with multiple crossing fairways, the course is extremely dangerous. Depending on the time of day, you might have several different groups of golfers playing several different layouts, resulting in shared baskets and crossing fairways. Furthermore, this setup confounds any attempt for an out-of-towner to play the course; there are just seemingly random tees and random baskets everywhere. I was lucky to hook up with a local to show me around the first time I was there, but returned a few days later to play the same layout and still couldn’t find my way around.

Lakewood King County Park, Seattle, WA – This course has some really great elements and some poor ones. I thought that the area that holes 12-16 played in was really picturesque, with gorgeous ponds and mature trees. There were a number of good deuce holes on the course and number of really tough threes, and after shooting deuces on the first three holes, I took a lot of bogies and ended up over par. I loved the challenge! Holes 4 and 5 were stunning and looked like ball golf fairways to me.

However, this course suffers from possibly every major design and safety flaw possible. It starts with hole 2 driving over the entrance road, where a drive to the A pin could hyzer off and hit cars entering the park. Next, you have hole 4 throwing directly over the teepad of hole number 5. When walking from hole 10 to 11, you’ve got to walk past the basket to get back to the teepad. Hole 12 throws over a pavilion. Hole 13 throws blindly down a walking path – you sure can’t see from the teepad whether anyone is walking around the basket. A strong lefty hyzer or a grip-locked righty shot from the tee of 15 will take out everyone standing near the tee of 16. Hole 9 (to the B pin) takes the prize as possibly the most dangerous hole in all of disc golf. From an elevated tee, you shoot down over the corner of a baseball field. I bet there’s usually a headwind there to make sure drives keep going straight. If you do hyzer off, you hit people on hole 10. I wonder how many 10-year-old right fielders playing baseball have been hit in the back of a head with a disc? How many people in lawn chairs lining the 1^st base line have been hit with a disc? How many people walking down the fairway of hole 9 have been hit by someone driving up the hill on hole 10? Hole 18 adds icing to the cake and finishes in fine style with a shot to an “island pin,” where people shoot to a basket with the parking lot and parked cars surrounding it.

Canada

Rose Hill, Kamloops, BC – This course is unofficially the best course in the region, and while I didn’t get a chance to evaluate many others, I believe in that assessment. The terrain is somewhat reminiscent of Flagstaff AZ, with towering ponderosa pines amidst high elevation grass and a dry desert climate. The course is set on a hill above the town, with vistas of the town and the entire river valley. It's a view to die for! The terrain is very rolling, with a lot of elevation changes. There are plenty of dropoffs around baskets, making for very fast greens, and a few holes that are borderline pro par fours, especially when the wind is blowing hard which may often be the case. One of the most fun disc golf experiences I’ve ever had, I got to play in the weekly random draw doubles, and in a narrow victory, my doubles team beat all the locals, thanks to some huge putts from my partner, a ringer from Edmonton.

The entry of this course in the PDGA Directory recommends that you bring plenty of water, and it couldn’t be more accurate. Because of the low humidity and desert climate, this course saps the moisture right out of you. Bring at least two water bottles / one quart / one liter of water for each 18 holes you expect to play.

Kamloops is in line for an additional two more 18 hole courses right next to Rose Hill sometime in 2007. One will be a par 66 monster, and the other a par 65. Both were designed by John Houck, who was there for two weeks in early June 2006. Those 2 courses will certainly put Kamloops on the map as a DG destination point. I had the immense privilege of playing some holes from the new course, and it’s going to be awesome!

Queen Elizabeth Park, Vancouver, BC – This course is a nine-hole layout crammed into a very small piece of land on the end of a public park in the middle of the city. The property roughly measures about 300m X 1000m and the course is bordered on all sides by city streets and an OB fence. Worse yet, there’s a slope and both holes that shoot across the short side of the property, holes 4 and 8, play directly downhill towards the street. I wonder how many discs fly into cars or across the street into neighbors’ yards?

There can’t be more than about 40 trees on the whole property, and most of them come on the first three holes which is the same drive three times in a row: a low ceiling lefty hyzer. I threw a backhand roller and deuced two of the three. About the only highlight of this course is hole 9: the tee has a nice view of the Grouse Mountain ski resort, with its lighted ski slopes, and you throw across a small pond to reach the basket. From the long tee, a throw of about 300 feet is needed to clear the water.

Well if you made it made it this far on my page here’s my top overall picks for courses I’ve played. There’s a front nine of the best courses I’ve played, and the back nine comprised of my other favorites.

Front Nine:

Highbridge Gold, Highbridge, WI

The Woodshed & Whipping Post, Paw Paw, WV (2 courses)

Idlewild Park, Burlington, KY

Warwick Town Park, Warwick, NY

Moraine State Park, Portersville, PA

Maple Hill, Leicester, MA

Iron Hill Park, Newark, DE

Borderland State Park, Easton, MA

North Calais, North Calais, VT

Back Nine:

Winthrop University, Rock Hill, SC

Circle R Ranch, Wimberely/Blanco, TX (2 courses)

Nockamixon State Park, Quakertown, PA

Deer Lakes Park, Pittsburgh, PA

Pier Park, Portland, OR

Seven Springs Mountain Resort, Seven Springs, PA

Timber Ridge, Gobles, MI

Wickham Park, Manchester, CT

Campgaw Reservation, Mahwah, NJ

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