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Eagle Pines reviews
16
0
Potential, potential, potential 2+ years
Reviewed:
Played on:Mar 29, 2021
Played the course:2-4 times
Pros:
1) As the name would maybe have you assume, Eagle Pines plays entirely in a former (or more aptly, abandoned as it doesn't seem like it's been properly managed for years) pine plantation. There are some baby oaks coming into the stand, mostly on the north/east side, but otherwise it's almost 100% red pines planted in perfectly straight rows. There is very little underbrush in most places (hole 14 is the main exception and it extremely thick between the two fairways) but there are prickly vines all over the place so if you aren't wearing long pants definitely look out for them to not tear up your legs. It's not the most natural setting and there is very little wildlife, but it's a good place for a disc golf course and provides some tight tunnels and interesting lines.
2) The course layout (ignoring the navigation issues in the cons) is pretty good. It's set up in two distinct 10-hole loops that start and end right at the parking lot. This allows you to easily start on the front/back, only do a half round as you see fit, or stop at the car mid round to re-stock whatever your mid-round goodies are.
3) Hole design is mostly pretty good. Some of the holes are a bit awkward, but the course still seems to be very much a work in progress and there are many trees/low hanging limbs are flagged with red tape which I assume means they are slated to be cut down/trimmed, respectively. If this is the case, many of the overly tight/awkward holes will be much nicer after this is completed. There aren't really any 'wow' holes here, but there isn't (with the exception of #9) anything atrocious either.
4) There is good variety, and it seems to play pretty evenly for left vs right handers. Though, there is some repetitiveness of shot shapes; the 'basket barely tucked left/right at the end of a tunnel' is a very popular hole shape here. Most of these holes, I think, would be better served if they were just straight tunnel shots. A couple holes also have nice risk reward where the regular line will leave you around circles edge with a good shot but the risky line can get you parked if you execute, hole 10 is a good example of this.
5) It looks like there may be plans to have two sets of tee pads, at least on some holes. A couple holes have two tee posts, but as of now there is only one marked tee area. If this is the case, the locations where the extra tee posts are look like great tee locations that will make the holes play differently and not just 'the same shot, but longer.'
6) Mach 5 baskets, catch great. I played the course in some monster wind (20mph+ sustained all day) and was rocketing them in to the chains and they still caught everything reasonable that I threw at them.
2) The course layout (ignoring the navigation issues in the cons) is pretty good. It's set up in two distinct 10-hole loops that start and end right at the parking lot. This allows you to easily start on the front/back, only do a half round as you see fit, or stop at the car mid round to re-stock whatever your mid-round goodies are.
3) Hole design is mostly pretty good. Some of the holes are a bit awkward, but the course still seems to be very much a work in progress and there are many trees/low hanging limbs are flagged with red tape which I assume means they are slated to be cut down/trimmed, respectively. If this is the case, many of the overly tight/awkward holes will be much nicer after this is completed. There aren't really any 'wow' holes here, but there isn't (with the exception of #9) anything atrocious either.
4) There is good variety, and it seems to play pretty evenly for left vs right handers. Though, there is some repetitiveness of shot shapes; the 'basket barely tucked left/right at the end of a tunnel' is a very popular hole shape here. Most of these holes, I think, would be better served if they were just straight tunnel shots. A couple holes also have nice risk reward where the regular line will leave you around circles edge with a good shot but the risky line can get you parked if you execute, hole 10 is a good example of this.
5) It looks like there may be plans to have two sets of tee pads, at least on some holes. A couple holes have two tee posts, but as of now there is only one marked tee area. If this is the case, the locations where the extra tee posts are look like great tee locations that will make the holes play differently and not just 'the same shot, but longer.'
6) Mach 5 baskets, catch great. I played the course in some monster wind (20mph+ sustained all day) and was rocketing them in to the chains and they still caught everything reasonable that I threw at them.
Cons:
As mentioned above, this course very much seems like a work in progress at the moment. That's where most of these cons are coming from.
1) Only a few holes have tee pads, the rest are just natural grass, dirt, and/or pine straw. The pads that are there are pretty grippy textured rubber mats. I like them and would be plenty happy to see them on every hole. Most of the holes without pads are marked with a small red stake at the front of the tee area, but some are completely unmarked. A couple tee areas (hole 8 specifically) are extremely lumpy and just not fun to throw from.
2) The holes that have tee pads also have tee signs, but they are not that great. They are just sheets of laminated paper that are mostly just laying on the ground held in place by a rock. Only a couple are at all accurate. Hole 19s sign shows a quite inaccurate map of the hole and literally says "unknown yardage" for the distance. While this is kind of funny, it's not at all useful.
3) Navigation is pretty rough. Even with UDisc, I struggled to find a couple routes between holes and tee pad locations. The aforementioned tee signs do have hole numbers on them but the tee posts (where they exist) have nothing on them, nor do the baskets, to indicate which hole you are on or where you are going. There are also no directional arrows or anything to guide you on the longer/less intuitive walks between holes. Between having to find the tees, and walking fairways to find the baskets on some holes, my first round through took about twice as long as my second one. It flows well, but you definitely need to know where you are going or you'll almost certainly get turned around at some point.
4) There are some very awkward holes; 5, 6, 9, 15, 16, 18, and 19. I don't remember if all of these holes had trees flagged to be removed but just taking out one or two on most of them would make the holes significantly better. Some will still be very tough, but good players should be able to hit the lines consistently enough to get near to C1. Hole 19 will probably still be questionable, but not necessarily bad. Hole 9, though, I think needs a rework. The current tee pad is maybe impossible to put it in C1 off the tee without a monster flex shot with a Tilt, a really tight cut roller, or some dumb luck. I threw like 15 shots and got to C2 once from the tee. I think moving the tee back and left would keep the idea of the tight S bend the hole has but make it much more reasonable.
5) Pretty minor, but no benches or trash bins anywhere. If you need to take breaks mid-round definitely pack a stool with you. The lack of bins, hopefully, shouldn't be a major issue, since the course is in quite a rural area and shouldn't see that much traffic, but I did see a couple beer cans laying around. Please pack out your trash, it's not that hard!
1) Only a few holes have tee pads, the rest are just natural grass, dirt, and/or pine straw. The pads that are there are pretty grippy textured rubber mats. I like them and would be plenty happy to see them on every hole. Most of the holes without pads are marked with a small red stake at the front of the tee area, but some are completely unmarked. A couple tee areas (hole 8 specifically) are extremely lumpy and just not fun to throw from.
2) The holes that have tee pads also have tee signs, but they are not that great. They are just sheets of laminated paper that are mostly just laying on the ground held in place by a rock. Only a couple are at all accurate. Hole 19s sign shows a quite inaccurate map of the hole and literally says "unknown yardage" for the distance. While this is kind of funny, it's not at all useful.
3) Navigation is pretty rough. Even with UDisc, I struggled to find a couple routes between holes and tee pad locations. The aforementioned tee signs do have hole numbers on them but the tee posts (where they exist) have nothing on them, nor do the baskets, to indicate which hole you are on or where you are going. There are also no directional arrows or anything to guide you on the longer/less intuitive walks between holes. Between having to find the tees, and walking fairways to find the baskets on some holes, my first round through took about twice as long as my second one. It flows well, but you definitely need to know where you are going or you'll almost certainly get turned around at some point.
4) There are some very awkward holes; 5, 6, 9, 15, 16, 18, and 19. I don't remember if all of these holes had trees flagged to be removed but just taking out one or two on most of them would make the holes significantly better. Some will still be very tough, but good players should be able to hit the lines consistently enough to get near to C1. Hole 19 will probably still be questionable, but not necessarily bad. Hole 9, though, I think needs a rework. The current tee pad is maybe impossible to put it in C1 off the tee without a monster flex shot with a Tilt, a really tight cut roller, or some dumb luck. I threw like 15 shots and got to C2 once from the tee. I think moving the tee back and left would keep the idea of the tight S bend the hole has but make it much more reasonable.
5) Pretty minor, but no benches or trash bins anywhere. If you need to take breaks mid-round definitely pack a stool with you. The lack of bins, hopefully, shouldn't be a major issue, since the course is in quite a rural area and shouldn't see that much traffic, but I did see a couple beer cans laying around. Please pack out your trash, it's not that hard!
Other Thoughts:
Overall, in it's current condition, this course is definitely good but is a bit rough around the edges. There is a lot of potential for a very good, maybe even great, course but it definitely needs a bit more TLC before it gets there. As it stands, I can't rate it higher than a 2.5. With a full set of tee pads, better navigation, and removal of the flagged trees I will up this to a 3.0 for sure, maybe a 3.5. A second set of tee pads and/or some reworking of the more questionable holes would make a 3.5, maybe a 4.0 if it all comes together really nicely.
If you are in central Wisconsin, within an hour, and have a free day I think this course is worth a drive out to. Especially if you are a fan of woods golf. Normally I wouldn't say that of a 2.5 but I think the potential that's here will speak for itself if you can get past the existing cons of the course that are bringing my rating down. Though, I would not recommend coming here over the Stevens Point area courses (Standing Rocks or Yulga) if you have not played them yet. Maybe in the future, but not currently.
If you are in central Wisconsin, within an hour, and have a free day I think this course is worth a drive out to. Especially if you are a fan of woods golf. Normally I wouldn't say that of a 2.5 but I think the potential that's here will speak for itself if you can get past the existing cons of the course that are bringing my rating down. Though, I would not recommend coming here over the Stevens Point area courses (Standing Rocks or Yulga) if you have not played them yet. Maybe in the future, but not currently.
