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Beaver Ranch - Bluebird reviews
11
0
wolfhaley
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience:
20.1 years
1020 played
588 reviews
Reviewed:
Played on:Sep 27, 2023
Played the course:once
Pros:
The Bluebird putting course at Beaver Ranch is a nice little warm up, or cool down that pairs nicely with the main course onsite. It's all par 2's and requires nothing more than a putter on almost every hole, the longest of which is around 170'.
Multiple natural tees on each hole. The distances are so short that actual tees such as turf or concrete are totally unnecessary. There's multiple tees on many of the holes but that's more for some kind of putting game or something it seems. I played it as a "course" so I honestly didn't check out any of the shorter locations.
The flow and design in general is well done. It starts off to the east side of the pro shop. The first ten holes are mostly flat and play near the parking lot and a small creek. The last ten have you playing up and along the hill to the west of the pro shop before the final downhill hole which gets you right back to the pro shop. This is a pretty quick play and is a neat little addition to the big boy onsite.
The baskets are DGA Mach III's. All in good shape and catch fine. One basket and pin position per hole from what I could tell.
Lots of ace runs obviously due to the extremely short distances on all the holes. This is actually a fantastic beginner/kids course but also works great as either a warm up for the other course or a way to unwind after getting beat down by the main course.
The course features some decent elevation and enough trees to keep things interesting at least. The last ten holes were surprising, in a good way, after playing the first half. Definitely gets a little trickier on the latter half, that's for sure.
Multiple natural tees on each hole. The distances are so short that actual tees such as turf or concrete are totally unnecessary. There's multiple tees on many of the holes but that's more for some kind of putting game or something it seems. I played it as a "course" so I honestly didn't check out any of the shorter locations.
The flow and design in general is well done. It starts off to the east side of the pro shop. The first ten holes are mostly flat and play near the parking lot and a small creek. The last ten have you playing up and along the hill to the west of the pro shop before the final downhill hole which gets you right back to the pro shop. This is a pretty quick play and is a neat little addition to the big boy onsite.
The baskets are DGA Mach III's. All in good shape and catch fine. One basket and pin position per hole from what I could tell.
Lots of ace runs obviously due to the extremely short distances on all the holes. This is actually a fantastic beginner/kids course but also works great as either a warm up for the other course or a way to unwind after getting beat down by the main course.
The course features some decent elevation and enough trees to keep things interesting at least. The last ten holes were surprising, in a good way, after playing the first half. Definitely gets a little trickier on the latter half, that's for sure.
Cons:
A few of the beginning holes play very close to, and even over each other. It's not a huge deal with such short lengths but definitely crowded to start out.
Speaking of the first few holes, that part was a little wonky to figure out. It's not horrible but we definitely misplayed hole 1, by throwing at hole 2's basket. Not a huge deal but the first three or four were really crammed into a tiny area. It'd be cool if there was only two holes in this section and they maybe put two more up on the hill but it is what it is.
Lots of rollaway potential on the last half of the course. That's a pretty steep hill. Not as beginner friendly on this section. But it is for sure the more exciting half for more experienced players.
Speaking of the first few holes, that part was a little wonky to figure out. It's not horrible but we definitely misplayed hole 1, by throwing at hole 2's basket. Not a huge deal but the first three or four were really crammed into a tiny area. It'd be cool if there was only two holes in this section and they maybe put two more up on the hill but it is what it is.
Lots of rollaway potential on the last half of the course. That's a pretty steep hill. Not as beginner friendly on this section. But it is for sure the more exciting half for more experienced players.
Other Thoughts:
This was a fun little course for sure. Certainly worth a spin if you're here for the main course. Definitely not a standalone course for the fee but who's actually going to come here to play only Bluebird? That being said I feel like my 2.5 rating is pretty generous. The front ten is pretty mediocre at best. The back ten is solid though. Unique idea and execution I suppose. Decent.
16
0
Beaver Ranch - Bluebird 2+ years
Reviewed:
Played on:Sep 19, 2021
Played the course:5+ times
Pros:
My three pros:
- The course is not exactly a putting only course as the hole lengths get longer and longer as you progress through the round. It seems the hole length is generally 10X the hole # - hole 9 is about 90ft, hole 15 is about 150' etc. The front nine of the course is basically putt-putt and plays down near the parking and proshop and makes for a nice warmup loop before a round, these holes are basically par 2's. The back nine of the course mainly plays up a hill through tight woods requiring a few gaps to hit, these holes play closer to par 3's. The final hole - #20 - is a fun short shot across the valley right back to the proshop.
- Excellent additional course on site to compliment the main course. The course serves many functions - whether warming up putts on the first few holes before a round, killing some time while waiting for a tee time or giving a few more holes to play after your round on the main course if youre not quite ready to go home yet.
- Holes are fun enough to be compelling for good players while also short enough to play very fun for new players. Low chance of losing a disc on this course. I played the whole course today in 35 minutes. Good signs at each hole and markers indicating where to go make it pretty easy to navigate up the hill.
- The course is not exactly a putting only course as the hole lengths get longer and longer as you progress through the round. It seems the hole length is generally 10X the hole # - hole 9 is about 90ft, hole 15 is about 150' etc. The front nine of the course is basically putt-putt and plays down near the parking and proshop and makes for a nice warmup loop before a round, these holes are basically par 2's. The back nine of the course mainly plays up a hill through tight woods requiring a few gaps to hit, these holes play closer to par 3's. The final hole - #20 - is a fun short shot across the valley right back to the proshop.
- Excellent additional course on site to compliment the main course. The course serves many functions - whether warming up putts on the first few holes before a round, killing some time while waiting for a tee time or giving a few more holes to play after your round on the main course if youre not quite ready to go home yet.
- Holes are fun enough to be compelling for good players while also short enough to play very fun for new players. Low chance of losing a disc on this course. I played the whole course today in 35 minutes. Good signs at each hole and markers indicating where to go make it pretty easy to navigate up the hill.
Cons:
My three cons:
- The front nine holes are short enough to not be considered 'real' holes and are more for long putting practice. The holes still play fun and serve their purpose, but they are too short and too many to really consider this course a real course.
- The first few holes play right around the entry area so on busy days there can be people in the way here and there. Once you start climbing the hill you will seldom see another person but you must keep an eye out at the start.
- Dirt tees at all holes are a stark contrast to the nice tees on the main course. Obviously the holes are pretty short so the tees dont have much impact.
- The front nine holes are short enough to not be considered 'real' holes and are more for long putting practice. The holes still play fun and serve their purpose, but they are too short and too many to really consider this course a real course.
- The first few holes play right around the entry area so on busy days there can be people in the way here and there. Once you start climbing the hill you will seldom see another person but you must keep an eye out at the start.
- Dirt tees at all holes are a stark contrast to the nice tees on the main course. Obviously the holes are pretty short so the tees dont have much impact.
Other Thoughts:
Bluebird is a nice addition at the Beaver Ranch property and can be a surprisingly fun play up in the woods once players make it to the back half of the course. The course covers just about 1.1 miles of walking and only 220' of elevation gain - though it often feels like more. Overall I would recommend players check the short course out when visiting Beaver Ranch as it is a genuinely fun and quick little course.
