CSU San Marcos DGC reviews
14
0
Half Wide Open, Half Random Basket Placement
Reviewed:
Played on:Sep 24, 2022
Played the course:once
Pros:
A remarkably disappointing 18-hole course with humongous safety issues.
-Amenities: Possibly the highlight of the course. Concrete pads, DISCatchers, good signs with info and map. A handful of alternate pin positions as well.
-Split Personality: As many have noted, this course has two dual personalities. Holes (1)-(8) and (16)-(18) are wide open field holes with substantial distance and a little bit of elevation in play. Holes (9)-(15) play straight through the heart of campus in short shots with man-made obstacles. I personally thought the former was much more fun.
-Practice: The (1)-(8) and (16)-(18) are ideal practice grounds. Open and mostly flat, with enough space to rip it out there and no major obstacles.
-Ace Potential: (9)-(15) are full of ace potential. Really short holes, some even puttable. Who wouldn't love to smash chains in the middle of campus?
-Shot Shaping/Gameplay: A decent variety of skills required. Long-ish drives will help at the start, in the middle some slope control will be helpful, in the heart of campus you'll have to get precise with your throwing putters, and towards the end you'll need to make decisions about how to handle sloped greens. In terms of obstacles, the (1)-(8) and (16)-(18) stretches have virtually none, except a great tree on (8), though I could see wind creeping in to the picture. In the middle of campus, most holes have a decent number of obstacles, and the shaping is actually quite good. I just wish it was around trees instead of buildings - see below.
-Amenities: Possibly the highlight of the course. Concrete pads, DISCatchers, good signs with info and map. A handful of alternate pin positions as well.
-Split Personality: As many have noted, this course has two dual personalities. Holes (1)-(8) and (16)-(18) are wide open field holes with substantial distance and a little bit of elevation in play. Holes (9)-(15) play straight through the heart of campus in short shots with man-made obstacles. I personally thought the former was much more fun.
-Practice: The (1)-(8) and (16)-(18) are ideal practice grounds. Open and mostly flat, with enough space to rip it out there and no major obstacles.
-Ace Potential: (9)-(15) are full of ace potential. Really short holes, some even puttable. Who wouldn't love to smash chains in the middle of campus?
-Shot Shaping/Gameplay: A decent variety of skills required. Long-ish drives will help at the start, in the middle some slope control will be helpful, in the heart of campus you'll have to get precise with your throwing putters, and towards the end you'll need to make decisions about how to handle sloped greens. In terms of obstacles, the (1)-(8) and (16)-(18) stretches have virtually none, except a great tree on (8), though I could see wind creeping in to the picture. In the middle of campus, most holes have a decent number of obstacles, and the shaping is actually quite good. I just wish it was around trees instead of buildings - see below.
Cons:
Um one really, really big one.
-SAFETY: The entire middle of the course is designed around university sidewalks, building, roads, lampposts, tables, and gardens. It's the least co-existent piece of disc golf design I've ever seen. A sample of the issues is below - this place would be impossible to play if there was anyone on campus, essentially.
Hole 9 - throw straight at a driveway and building less than 230' away.
Hole 10 - the fairway is a sidewalk that bends left around a bus stop and building. I didn't even play this one.
Hole 12 - play through a small field surrounded by sidewalk. If you finish inside Circle 2 on the left, you'll literally be in the outdoor dining hall seating.
Hole 13 - play blind over a hill, and also over 3 sidewalks you can't see.
Hole 14 - basket is placed in the center of ornamental bushes. It's either chains or smash the hedges.
-Navigation: First, the course is badly disjointed from (6)-(16), requiring long walks. Second, due to the hilly nature of central campus and the rarity of stairs, it's difficult to figure out how to get to the next tee, even if you can see it on satellite map.
-Interest: Beyond the novelty of throwing straight at a building, there isn't that much to keep you amused out here. No way this course would rise above a 2.0 or 2.5 even if it didn't have the other issues.
-Ugly: To put it bluntly, the open sections of the course are very ugly. Wide open field with sparse grass and trash is no pretty view.
-Parking: Not sure there's any way to park other than paying campus parking fees. I figured it out, but it was annoying.
-SAFETY: The entire middle of the course is designed around university sidewalks, building, roads, lampposts, tables, and gardens. It's the least co-existent piece of disc golf design I've ever seen. A sample of the issues is below - this place would be impossible to play if there was anyone on campus, essentially.
Hole 9 - throw straight at a driveway and building less than 230' away.
Hole 10 - the fairway is a sidewalk that bends left around a bus stop and building. I didn't even play this one.
Hole 12 - play through a small field surrounded by sidewalk. If you finish inside Circle 2 on the left, you'll literally be in the outdoor dining hall seating.
Hole 13 - play blind over a hill, and also over 3 sidewalks you can't see.
Hole 14 - basket is placed in the center of ornamental bushes. It's either chains or smash the hedges.
-Navigation: First, the course is badly disjointed from (6)-(16), requiring long walks. Second, due to the hilly nature of central campus and the rarity of stairs, it's difficult to figure out how to get to the next tee, even if you can see it on satellite map.
-Interest: Beyond the novelty of throwing straight at a building, there isn't that much to keep you amused out here. No way this course would rise above a 2.0 or 2.5 even if it didn't have the other issues.
-Ugly: To put it bluntly, the open sections of the course are very ugly. Wide open field with sparse grass and trash is no pretty view.
-Parking: Not sure there's any way to park other than paying campus parking fees. I figured it out, but it was annoying.
Other Thoughts:
This campus course is half wide open and boring, half a menace to the student population via randomly dropped baskets in the heart of the college. If it was just the first, I'd be a little more generous, as these kinds of zero-obstacle courses are still serviceable. Due to the second, I can't recommend anyone play here. That said, early on a Saturday morning the central campus was empty and I was able to play all but a couple of holes. I didn't relish it, though, especially when factoring in all the extreme walks. I'll call it Passable, but it's one of the worst 18-hole courses I've been to.
~Similar Courses: For the open half - Hampton High School (Hampton, GA), Lenora Park (Snellville, GA), Columbia State (Columbia, TN). For the campus half - um, nothing this crazy, but maybe a bit of similarity to Calhoun College (Huntsville, AL) or Jefferson County Courthouse (Golden, CO).
~Similar Courses: For the open half - Hampton High School (Hampton, GA), Lenora Park (Snellville, GA), Columbia State (Columbia, TN). For the campus half - um, nothing this crazy, but maybe a bit of similarity to Calhoun College (Huntsville, AL) or Jefferson County Courthouse (Golden, CO).
7
0
endermetal
Experience:
10 years
40 played
8 reviews
Not a Good Time
Reviewed:
Updated:
Played on:May 15, 2020
Played the course:once
Pros:
CSU San Marcos is a free to play course that plays around and within the university campus. Holes 1-8 and 16-18 are situated on the outskirts of the campus while the middle holes play near the quad.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, there are only a handful of courses open in San Diego county. I was pleasantly surprised to find this course not only open, but basically empty when I played on a Friday afternoon. (Edit: I'm not certain if the course is open or not. While the baskets were installed and I didn't see any signs saying the course was closed, I noticed the SD Aces website lists it as closed. My apologies if the course was technically closed when I played.) I initially planned to play Kit Carson, but I found there were several large groups playing, and I surmised it would have been difficult to maintain appropriate social distance at Kit Carson.
There are a few notable positives to CSU San Marcos: The baskets are still relatively new and great catching Innova Discatchers, the teepads are evenly poured concrete, and the signs are colorful infographics. Otherwise, there's not many positive things I can say about this course.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, there are only a handful of courses open in San Diego county. I was pleasantly surprised to find this course not only open, but basically empty when I played on a Friday afternoon. (Edit: I'm not certain if the course is open or not. While the baskets were installed and I didn't see any signs saying the course was closed, I noticed the SD Aces website lists it as closed. My apologies if the course was technically closed when I played.) I initially planned to play Kit Carson, but I found there were several large groups playing, and I surmised it would have been difficult to maintain appropriate social distance at Kit Carson.
There are a few notable positives to CSU San Marcos: The baskets are still relatively new and great catching Innova Discatchers, the teepads are evenly poured concrete, and the signs are colorful infographics. Otherwise, there's not many positive things I can say about this course.
Cons:
Holes 1-6 were unplayable because of 4 foot weeds growing everywhere. If you're going to play these holes then good luck! Locating your disc on a shanked drive would be nearly impossible. The weeds were overgrown on some of the teepads, making a run-up difficult.
Navigation was difficult, which is putting it mildly. The course map I found on the CSU website was outdated, so I had to use a YouTube video for help... and even with the visual aid, navigation was still a problem, with many long walkouts between holes. (UPDATE: There are QR codes you can scan on the tee signs to bring up an interactive course map. I, unfortunately, overlooked this...)
Most of the holes are extremely beginner friendly with minimal challenge or creative shot-shaping required. I ended up shooting a -7 while skipping the first 6 holes, and I'm an intermediate level player.
Hole 15's basket was pulled and I was unable to locate the new position. The original hole 15 seemed like a fun, albeit dangerous shot, so I understand why they removed this hole.
Navigation was difficult, which is putting it mildly. The course map I found on the CSU website was outdated, so I had to use a YouTube video for help... and even with the visual aid, navigation was still a problem, with many long walkouts between holes. (UPDATE: There are QR codes you can scan on the tee signs to bring up an interactive course map. I, unfortunately, overlooked this...)
Most of the holes are extremely beginner friendly with minimal challenge or creative shot-shaping required. I ended up shooting a -7 while skipping the first 6 holes, and I'm an intermediate level player.
Hole 15's basket was pulled and I was unable to locate the new position. The original hole 15 seemed like a fun, albeit dangerous shot, so I understand why they removed this hole.
Other Thoughts:
CSU San Marcos feels like a shoehorned disc golf project; the terrain does not lend itself well to a disc golf course. Several of the holes were unplayable. I did not enjoy myself.
I was able to find street parking on Industrial St and was able to save myself a few bucks by walking a few blocks instead of paying for parking at the campus lot.
Only with serious renovations, upgraded landscaping, and a course redesign would I consider checking out this course again. It pains me to say this, but this is the worst course I've played in San Diego County, and I've played a majority of them.
I was able to find street parking on Industrial St and was able to save myself a few bucks by walking a few blocks instead of paying for parking at the campus lot.
Only with serious renovations, upgraded landscaping, and a course redesign would I consider checking out this course again. It pains me to say this, but this is the worst course I've played in San Diego County, and I've played a majority of them.
