Pros:
+ A lost disc box, course map and info board are nearby link1.
+ The practice basket is on a daring peninsula in the huge lake by the parking lot.
+ DiscGolfPark baskets are different colors depending on which layout you are playing. They have the built-in guiding arrow.
+ It's such a pleasant and quiet place to be. There are nice views all over the place with its large lake, calm woods and breezey fields.
+ Insane elevation features.
+ Intimidating water carries.
Cons:
- As of late June 2023, the tee signs were just laminated paper on stakes.
- No truly dense forested holes to make you stop and think.
-/+ As of late June 2023, the tees were just turf anchored to a wooden frame. They were wide, long and flat, though.
Other Thoughts:
The disc golf course at Faylor Lake has been around for only a couple of years, yet it already has a reputation that precedes it thanks, in no small part, to some high-profile figures singing its praises. This review will mostly echo those praises.
Let's get the obvious stuff out of the way.
This course is astounding to look at. Before you've even finished parking the car, you get smacked in the face with a lovely view of the titular lake right there in front of you and surrounding the practice basket. Then, once you start playing, you are treated to wonderfully crafted fairways with crisp lines, healthy trees and leisurely greenery. I enjoyed the calming optics of link2 the most because of its shady oblong tunnel. It looked like a great place for a picnic.
Little did I suspect that just a few fairways later would be one of the most jaw-dropping downhill tee-offs I have ever encountered in my disc golfing career so far. From the start I decided to play the gold layout, and I'm so glad I did. (You should, too. Forget about skill level.) Link6 has a long tee that puts the player on top of it all. You can see for miles from up there. Snap a picture or two. Where's the basket? Who knows. Probably to the right or something. Disc golfing temporarily takes a back seat while your brain comes to grips with how high off the ground you are. Then, once you gradually gather the courage to tee off, throwing from such an elevation is a thrilling moment that most courses I've played can't match, and I loved it.
If I'm cold and critical about it, the actual disc golfing part of link6 is pretty bland and straight-forward because the fairway after the tee is wide open and basically featureless. That is easily overshadowed by the fact that you have to descend dozens of stairs just to meet up with your drive. Then, once you do, you can't help but look back and feel dwarfed by just how high off the ground you were. Yeah, link6 was my favorite to play in spite of its open fairway.
There are a few stinkers, though. Link9 is a basic gentle upslope through a too-wide tunnel. Link11 plays pretty wide open alongside a wheat field. And link16 was a slog of a fairway because of how long and monotonous the fairway was in contrast to the rest of the course.
That's as bad as it gets, though. The rest of the course is an adventurous and satisfying circuit dealing with sufficient woods, water carries and tricky topography. At link8, we are placed atop a dam and tasked with hitting the fairway without rolling endlessly down and into the water below. A little bit later at link10, the land slopes dramatically down to the right, and the trees threaten to send our throws into the shadow realm. I would say that this course accommodates the power players over the tacticians because of the lack of any meaty tree puzzles, but any disc golfer can find something to love about this place.
This place was not crafted for the sport of disc golf. Rather, the sport of disc golf was invented for this place. It's a new course, yes, but you should definitely add it to your wishlist. Pennsylvania already has some killer courses. Still, Faylor Lake shines bright as an emminent example of the very best that PA and, if I'm honest, the northeast at large can offer. Emphatically recommended!
P.S. What was with all of that caution tape? In late June 2023, on links5 and 8, the long baskets were removed and their circles surrounded by caution tape. Did I miss something?