The course is my 'home' course, 5 minutes away and I'm beyond blessed to have this gem so close and have played it 185 times as of writing this review. It is in my top 5 courses ever played (out of 550). Learning this course will make you a better player. The course is set for some upgrades in the near future including White tee pads being poured (and for several holes, the current Blue becomes White, current Gold becomes Blue, and new Golds poured), hole 12 will be lengthened to play to current hole 16 basket and will be a par 4, avoiding safety concerns from a blind drive into a walking path, hole 16 will be entirely new). Hole 13 will become a par 5, giving it the signature hole status it deserves, and hole 17 will have the pin moved back 'over' the pond and become a true par 4.
Course walkthrough (from Blues)
1. I love open crusher holes to begin a round (2 off 1, right?). OB lines the ditch along the left side of the downhill fairway, while large, grabby trees on the right will punish discs that turn over. Put a stable disc slightly out to the right and let it slowly hyzer in past the dominant fairway tree approaching the green. If you can FH your upshot, being right of the opening is good, if you only BH, you want to be left/even with the opening to avoid hyzering past the basket on your approach. The green is well protected with a narrow 'mouth', including Mutombo fingers that will knock down any upshots with too much height. Beware the downslope 5 ft left of the basket. A birdie here feels like a must-get for a good scoring round.
2. This 250 ft. drive features the straight gap putter/mid drive or a hyzer through the right gap. The hyzer is a bit of poke/pray after the initial gap, as trees are scattered along the fairway. The fairway gradually slopes just after the basket to an OB path. Going left off the tee brings bogey into play, and hitting first available and kicking right can also reach an OB walking path.
3. Birdies here require a 350 pinpoint FH or a throw-in on the upshot. Missing the fairway almost guarantees a bogey. A large rock dead-center fairway should be the goal of your drive, leaving a technical upshot to get the quality par (hole averages a 4.01, a full 1.01 strokes over par!)
4. One of the holes that radiates the Echo Valley vibe of green tree-lined par 4 holes not reachable on the drive. Several good options exist for the right-handed player, with all of them requiring navigation of the first set of guardian trees. The goal is to get to the 'OB valley' 3/4 of the way to the basket. I prefer being at the left approach landing zone for a FH upshot, while others like being near the bridge the BH approach. I think the safest drive is a BH hyzer up the right gap (or a flex anny FH on the same line). Once reaching the landing zone, the upshot is uphill, and as long as you don't go 30 feet past, you are safe to give a soft run on the approach.
5. A definite WOW! hole when you walk up to the blue tee (the shot is almost blind from the gold). 335 ft huge downhill shot easily reachable with a putter/midrange. This is the only hole I've aced at Echo (with a Luna). The trees on both sides of the fairway down the hill are very grabby, and there is often a headwind coming up the hill, requiring a careful angle of release to compensate and get a nice straight shot to avoid the right drift that often moves shots into bogeyville. The 'road' at the bottom of the hill is marked OB during tournaments. I have seen thumbers work on this hole if you have that kind of shot/power.
6. A beautiful tee shot deep in the pines that requires either a dead straight shot or a hyzer that has to dodge guardians at the end of the flight to reach the green. This is reminiscent of Blue Ribbon Pines signature tee shots. All drives should avoid getting too high to avoid the plethora of limbs waiting to knock down discs.
7. The first of the par 4 stretch (Holes 7-11). In my opinion, this stretch makes or breaks a scoring round. A good round requires playing at least -2 on these holes. I've played -5 on the stretch only 1 time! There is a road that runs along all of these holes (OB). On some holes like 7, it is more of a mental worry than an actual threat. On hole 7, the true OB worries are the creek 2/3 of the way up the fairway and fence-lined OB area of trees as the creek goes into the woods. This means a straight or right-moving shot is a must, almost all hyzering shots will challenge the OB on the left (unless you lay up short of the creek, which is a great MA40 move). The green is sloped, often resulting in rollaways on the approach. If you have a 'soft' disc to absorb the landing, this is a good spot to employ that strategy.
8. The OB road here is a true threat, as the best to get a clean approach is to throw over the road to the right of the guardian pine and allow the disc to hyzer back to the fairway. This does bring the chance of hitting overhanging branches and dropping OB, so beware. If you have a 330+ dead straight drive that can stay low (or 400+ power to go high), then by all means, take the gut shot. Any drives that filter left will require either a sacrificial 'out' back into the fairway, or a risky forehand roller to try to advance up the fairway and get back into position. Typical good drives will end up near the rocky midpoint. The hole finishes on a dogleg left, with a good approach being a high spike hyzer pushing almost past the basket to avoid getting caught up in the large pine in the fairway. I suggest you walk up to the basket to note just how far the tree sticks out. If your drive gets through the gap but moves too far left, there is a sneaky, low forehand upshot that can come into the green from an unconventional direction.
9. The hardest of these five par 4 holes. The land slopes left, often pulling drives into the left woods. This immediately takes par out of the equation, and often boosts scores to 5+. This is the 3rd hardest hole on the course with a 4.82 average. The goal is to make the initial gap with power, pushing a shot dead straight as far as possible to open up the dogleg right finish. IF you can let the disc finish slightly left, it enables a 2nd shot to access the green. If your drive moves right, you are playing for par. An ideal drive finishing left lets you glimpse the basket and throw a FH that finishes with a flair right to get into C1 with an overstable disc. Be careful of OB both left and long of the basket (reachable only if you crush your 2nd shot or it gets flippy).
10. The easiest drive of the par 4 holes requires getting past the large pine on the right about 250 feet down the fairway. I prefer a drive that slowly works left to right with enough height to hook up at the end and come back left. Large arms might consider going straight over the pine to finish slightly left. The green is a dogleg left and slightly uphill, and is well protected by shrubbery and a large tree with many reaching arms. Depending on the exact landing zone, choose a straight FH up the left gap or a high hyzer or low, skipping hyzer up the right side. An OB fence does prevent any huge over the top hyzers, but is 50+ ft past the basket, so should not be a concern.
11. The challenge of this hole is boosting your drive 300+ dead straight between 2 large fairway trees 80 feet off the teepad without turning over to flirt with the OB road to the right. The hole ends uphill on a dogleg left. A drive that moves too far left will pinch off most approaches and result in a forehand roller or sky anny FH to try to access the green, pretty much a hero shot. A perfect 350 ft drive up the center leaves a ~100 ft technical upshot through some scraggly trees to access the basket. Epic rollaways (100+ feet) are seen here too often.
12. When putting out on 11, take the 'high' path towards 12 to see the basket before dropping down to the tee. Although it is the shortest hole at 243 ft, it still averages 0.3 strokes over par because of the drastic uphill nature of the tee shot, and the protected green keeping discs at the edge of C1. While standing on the tee, the goal should be to throw a FH moving right (or turnover BH) directly towards the large tree with all the bark peeling off. If you can just miss that tree, you will be in an ideal place to putt for 2. The only bad mistakes are to shank your drive right and not make the corner (immediate bogey), or throw 300+ dead straight, resulting in encountering an OB walking path that you should never see.
13. In my opinion this is the Echo Valley signature hole. Lush green fairway dominated by large mature trees with defined lines. If you get off the line, you can hit every third tree. I've snowmanned this hole. Two good shots off the tee both end up 'right' at the end of their flight. Option 1 is the flat, strong forehand up the left side that finishes with a flair skip right. Option 2 is the backhand turnover that finds the right open fairway line and floats down to the landing zone valley. Both shots require missing the huge tree directly in front of the tee. Don't let it dominate you, make sure you are well left on your shot. The safest upshot is a wide hyzer working right to left finishing soft as the hill slowly slopes down. I have buzzed the basket with the straight shot, but when you inevitably miss, you are moving slightly downhill and end up in C2. This is a great par on the 4th hardest hole (4.78 average).
14. The third easiest hole (4.04 average), and would be much moreso if not for the OB fence lining the left of the fairway on the drive. This fence goes into a park neighbor's property. If you go in there, please do not retrieve your disc. We need to respect the No Trespassing signs. The other threat is the dead tree dominating the fairway right in front of you. Ignore it. Aim for the gap. Hit the gap. I used to say 'Hit the tree' and I'd avoid it. Now I keep hitting it so I just pretend it isn't there. Works sometimes. The best play off the drive is to throw dead straight 230-250 feet with a disc that will finish left as it tires. I prefer a slightly overstable fairway or a neutral mid with some height. This should put you in a landing zone leaving an uphill 150 shot with a really wide gap straight to the basket up on the soccer field. I wish this basket would be pulled back into the copse of trees (and turned into a par 3).
15. One of the few ace runs on the course, which my buddy hit on his first time playing here. Requires a dead straight shot, although you can get lucky with any angle approach (but there are tree limbs everywhere!). The best play is to keep a straight midrange low and drive it into the uphill slanting fairway in front of the basket, counting on the skip/slide up the hill. A fairway can work, but often will result in being 40+ long if you don't hit the hill right.
16. The fifth hardest hole on the course (3.78 on a par 3). Going early left is the definite worst. Look at the vine-encrusted large tree dead center fairway. A straight shot just to the left of that tree, or a slightly hyzer just to the right are the two ways to give yourself a chance at a birdie look. Be careful of the huge skip if you hyzer too much, OB lines the entire (admittedly large) green. In addition, the green slopes away, so be careful with your approaches or risky runs, as you truly risk a birdie-to-bogey (or worse) scenario if you get an unlucky roll.
17. Currently, the second hardest hole on the course before it is lengthened and changed to a par 4 (3.92 on a par 3). There is an OB road crossing the fairway about 275 ft off the drive, making it a risk-reward decision on the tee. Ideally, a shot will be driven straight off the tee, with good 2nd shot options for both the slight turnover and baby hyzer finishes. If you drive short of the road, the hyzer upshot up the right side if the best play. If you can finish past the road on the left, there is a back door perfect for a FH approach. The land does slope slightly downhill past the basket towards a pond, but I've never seen anyone get close, so you'd really have to yank your upshot to worry about OB.
18. A fun finishing hole that pulls you out of the woods (and into possible vigorous headwinds!). I've seen multiple tournaments flip leaders on this final hole. While is it the easiest hole on the course (the only one scoring under par, 3.93 on a par 4), score separation still is highly probable. If you have 350+ ft of power, you should drive over the 'bog' OB. You won't likely be in putting range, but will have a much simpler upshot. The best drives move slightly left to right as they go over the bog. If you don't think you can get that distance, throw a putter/midrange 200-220 ft, setting yourself up for your actual drive (~300) on your 2nd shot. Be careful of throwing too far on the first shot as the land starts to slope down and makes for awkward footing on your 2nd. I've found the the best approach is to try and land near the only tree in the fairway (up the right side). This allows for a hyzer drive into the green (recognizing you need to keep it low as the green is protected from the right).