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Al Quaal Recreation Area DGC reviews
4
1
The Lake Superior Beat Down 2+ years drive by
Reviewed:
Played on:Aug 16, 2010
Played the course:once
Pros:
A staggering amount of diversity in a 9 hole course. Blind drives & open field shots to heavily wooded "corridors", short to gargantuan lengths, and a nice amount of OB.
Lake Superior is a stone's throw away, and the wind here can be brutal. We had 45-50+ mph "gusts" that blew up sandstorms from the baseball diamond and made new Firebirds flippy. You aren't just playing the course, you are playing against Mother Nature, even on a sunny day.
Easy on/off from the main drag if you are travelling across the UP. Much better of the two courses in the Marquette area (not exactly a high hurdle).
Lake Superior is a stone's throw away, and the wind here can be brutal. We had 45-50+ mph "gusts" that blew up sandstorms from the baseball diamond and made new Firebirds flippy. You aren't just playing the course, you are playing against Mother Nature, even on a sunny day.
Easy on/off from the main drag if you are travelling across the UP. Much better of the two courses in the Marquette area (not exactly a high hurdle).
Cons:
Idiotic design. The kind of design that Forrest Gump looks at and says "stupid is as stupid does." #7 Tee is smack dab in the middle of #4 fairway. #4 just so happens to be the longest hole of the course which demands a Big Arm drive. There is much more wrong, but that alone loses this course 2-discs worth of rating.
The course plays in the field only, and shares real estate with baseball, volleyball and horseshoe pits all within reach of your throws (and more likely to reach them due to the wind.) The individual holes are fun and each had a design that I liked, but the whole course only works if you have NO other people recreating . . . anywhere.
Signage ranged from sharpie on 4x4 to laminated pages. Each hole had a personalized name and description of the flight path, which was nice, but it was in pathetic disrepair.
The course plays in the field only, and shares real estate with baseball, volleyball and horseshoe pits all within reach of your throws (and more likely to reach them due to the wind.) The individual holes are fun and each had a design that I liked, but the whole course only works if you have NO other people recreating . . . anywhere.
Signage ranged from sharpie on 4x4 to laminated pages. Each hole had a personalized name and description of the flight path, which was nice, but it was in pathetic disrepair.
Other Thoughts:
There is a significant amount of land that could be used to spread out the layout and make for a very nice 9 or maybe even 18 hole course. Something, anything, should be done to remedy the layout, as you are just asking for trouble with the current configuration.
After playing, we were discussing the course in the car, and I realized I couldn't give it a very high rating. This is a shame, as I had a ball playing this little 9-holer coming back from Highbridge, but there are far too many flaws to earn more than a "passable" rating, and I'm really pushing that rating in the first place.
The bad layout is not a deal breaker, as there are not many people in the UP in the first place, and this park was deserted when we played. As long as you understand up front that you need to be careful of errant discs, this course can be fun.
My advice is, if you are in the area, come to Al Quaal, keep your head up, your wits about you, and carry a very overstable disc that is 3-4 speeds too fast for you. It may be the only one you throw.
After playing, we were discussing the course in the car, and I realized I couldn't give it a very high rating. This is a shame, as I had a ball playing this little 9-holer coming back from Highbridge, but there are far too many flaws to earn more than a "passable" rating, and I'm really pushing that rating in the first place.
The bad layout is not a deal breaker, as there are not many people in the UP in the first place, and this park was deserted when we played. As long as you understand up front that you need to be careful of errant discs, this course can be fun.
My advice is, if you are in the area, come to Al Quaal, keep your head up, your wits about you, and carry a very overstable disc that is 3-4 speeds too fast for you. It may be the only one you throw.
