Pros:
Opened in December '20, Davie Park is the newest 18-hole (plus two) layout in the Triad area. Here's hoping this heavily wooded layout plays tougher once the leaves are on the trees.
- I think the parts are greater than the sum here. There are some truly good hole layouts. The stretch of three par 4s in four holes (#11, 12, & 14) are the best this course has to offer. Throw in some other layouts that play alongside the creek (#6, 7, & 15), you've also got some very scenic layouts.
- Ahhhh. That new course smell. Course opened with a bang. Tee pads, great tee signs, bag hooks, lots and lots of next hole signs. Time, effort, and money were poured into making this course as appealing as possible.
- Hole A (ummm, explain that thought process?) is a nice, simple, birdie-able opening hole. My tee shot landed two feet from the basket, so of course I was pleased with this dogleg left, 230 foot layout.
- A tale of two 10s. The front 10 (A + #1-9) is 2,988 feet; the back 10 (#10 - 18 and B) is 4,040 feet. Divide those numbers by 10 and you can see the sides average 106 feet difference in length. I threw a lot of mid-ranges off the tee on the front side. There were a lot of drivers being thrown on the backside.
- Along those lines, get your birdie 2s on the front side. Get your birdie 3s or settle for 3s on the back. Front side had one par 4, one par 5, and eight par 3s. Backside had six par 3s, one par 5, and three par 3s.
- #7 is the best hole on the front 9. It's a 287 foot, slight downhill, slight dogleg left that plays parallel to the creek. Maybe the most picturesque hole on the entire course (along with the backdrop of #13's basket), this has a little bit of everything that makes a hole and course enjoyable.
- Several blind tee shots as baskets are hidden due to elevation. There were a couple holes where I wished I had a spotter so I could be more aggressive off the tee. I didn't feel like searching for discs that I couldn't see sail away.
- If you're fans of disguising a long walk across a field as actual holes, you'll enjoy holes #1 and B. 17 holes are in the wooded/back portion of the park. To get to the course, you're crossing a 600 foot field. So, why not put holes here? I'd have rather just walked across the field than throwing and searching for discs.
Cons:
The course's biggest flaw is that it feels rather generic. I felt like I was playing a lot of B+ to C+ holes. There were very few mediocre/bad holes. But, there also wasn't a truly great/excellent layout.
- I think #18 was a massive fail. S-curved, 615 foot par 4 with a fairway that will remind anyone of a Nevin-level fairway in terms of tightness. I hate having a bridge & creek right in the middle of the fairway. I disliked that there wasn't a true landing zone in this entire area. I holed out from 80 feet for my par 4. I just feel this is a poorly executed station-to-station layout.
- Course was extremely muddy in many areas. Granted, I played in December. Just keep in mind if you're playing here in Winter that you should wear a good pair of mud boots.
- Yeah, the idea of having A & B holes instead of #19 & 20 makes no sense. It really seems this is an acknowledgement these are temporary holes so don't get too accustomed to them.
- There were some tighter fairways, even with the leaves down in the dead of Winter. When Springtime arrives, these are going to be exceptionally tight lines with a higher lost disc factor. The only group I came across found a lost disc already, and the course was less than a week old. Picture the longer searches for discs on holes such as #8, 14, 16, & 18 when the underbrush is much thicker.
- Along those lines, not sure the actual intended audience with this layout. Casual players will struggle with the longer, tighter lines whereas advanced players are going to tear up the front nine. Seems like this may be a case of trying to appeal to everyone when the opposite may have been the result.
- The front nine has a fair amount of basic, non-memorable holes. I remember every single hole from the other two courses I played the same day. Yet, by the time I was on the back nine here, I was trying to remember how certain holes played.
Other Thoughts:
Davie Park has some good qualities to it. A nice place for a good round of disc golf.
- This is a solid addition to the Triad's disc golf scene. It's another decent disc golf course for the region, which just further highlight's how much better Keeley is than the other courses around here.
- #10 is one of the few holes that actually plays in the open. Starting in the woods, you're 223 woods to an approach and green in the open. Nice birdie run.
- There are a handful of split fairways, much more than your average course. Seems like they were relied on a bit too much when other obstacles weren't available.
- It would have been nice having one hole place closer to the creek. Even if it's just teeing off along the banks of the creek, embrace the locale.
- Maybe I'm ignorant, but whose picture was on all the tee signs? Was it a pro, one of the course designers, a local, or some model/stock photo?
- #11 - 14 was easily the best stretch of holes, with #14 being the best of the lot. 416 foot par 4 with a sharp dogleg right. Thanks to playing in Winter, my tee shot that sailed to the right and deep into the woods, was in a location that I could take aim for the basket. Nice tap-in 3 here. This will be a tough, tough hole starting in April.
- I'm torn about how I feel about the course. There's some quality here. An 18-hole version of #10 - 14 equals a 4.0 - 4.25-level of course. But there were some bland layouts and a few too many longer layouts that just weren't that good. #9 is an easy par 4, but a brutal par 3. It's a true par 3.5.
- This is right in the 3.0 - 3.5 range, probably depending on the time of year. I want to play this again once there are leaves on the trees. I want to get a true sense of how the fairways are supposed to look and see the course at its peak.