Pros:
- Two-thirds thickly wooded, one-third sparsely treed, grassy, multi-purpose park with a small river bisecting the two distinct parts. A raised railroad bounds one side of the course, its picturesque stone archway crossing the river and adding a distinct visual touch on #7.
- Tight, technical disc golf. Because of the small park area, this course is necessarily on the short side. To compensate, the designer opted not to create just another beginner-level, boring, easy, mindless 9-hole course; instead, the thick woods making up six holes is fully implemented to create short but tight lines. A variety of hyzers, anhyzers, and straight shots are required.
- Great use of the river on #7. The basket is a straight shot basically down the length of the river, but definitely make-able. A bailout route to the right offers safety for the less adventurous. Anything finishing left is in the river and gone forever.
- Great use of the limited, but fairly decent, elevation. #8 offers a short blind uphill shot. #9 has a wooded left-to-right slope bounding the left of the fairway. #2's long tee is nicely elevated, as is #4's.
- Dual concrete pads offer a more straight-forward, short beginner style course. The longs could be challenging for most experienced discers. Even players throwing putters or mids off the longs would still have to hit fairly demanding, narrow flight paths. The longs don't simply add distance but completely alter the look of each hole. #4's long tee position is sick, with a great split tree directly front and center.
Cons:
- #'s 7-9 play through a multi-purpose park area. This grassy, sparsely treed area contains a small pavilion, benches, a wooden walkway (which is slippery as hell when wet...watch out). This area could definitely cause conflicts and/or safety hazards under busy conditions. However, the park is pretty small and looked a bit unused, so perhaps the non-disc traffic never gets to the point of interference.
- No signs yet, which makes things a bit tricky first time around. The baskets are labeled correctly, though, which helped immensely. The practice basket near #7's tee is unmarked. (UPDATE: Signs are in the mail and should be installed in the next week or so.)
Other Thoughts:
- This review reflects the state of the course at the time I played it (12/15/12). Tees, pins, and fairways are all present, but the course was definitely still a bit rough around the edges. I expect Flaherty to become more polished with time. A lot of great work has already happened here, and now it's at the point where the final details can get worked out. With the addition of the signage, I expect this course to rate above average for a 9-holer. Even with some work yet to be done, I rated this at 2-discs with the chance to score a 2.5 at a later date. That score would make this the highest rated 9-hole course I've played.
- I drove an hour in the dark to hit this course shortly after sunrise. Believe it or not, one of the local crew was out working on clearing up the edges of the fairways. This course is an excellent (and much needed!) addition to the area. The local crew (Amenz, Dan, et al.) should be applauded for their hard work in getting this course installed. I wish more small park 9-hole courses were of this caliber.
- Finding the course. Until the bridge goes in, don't park in the first lot but proceed to the second, gravel lot (across from the large city maintenance garage). #1's tees are to the right.