-
Discover new ways to elevate your game with the updated DGCourseReview app!
It's entirely free and enhanced with features shaped by user feedback to ensure your best experience on the course. (App Store or Google Play)
Lake Mount Sterling reviews
15
0
A Fun Course With Two Distinct Halves That Will Challenge Intermediate And Advanced Players
Reviewed:
Played on:Sep 2, 2023
Played the course:once
Pros:
Lake Mt. Sterling is an 18-hole course north of town that compliments the other 18 in town by providing more challenge. This course varies between long open shots and wooded fairways, and has a little bit of everything to provide intermediate and advanced players a challenging yet fun round of golf.
LOCATION of Lake Mt. Sterling is north of town via Camden Rd./Highway 99, which becomes 750 E St. as you go north. The park entrance will be on the left after the ball golf course, and it's easy to miss so look out for a shop building by the entrance. The park road follows next to 750 E and then turns right, and the course parking is a strip of gravel next to the first shelter you see on the right. This road is evidently 1175 N Ave. as well. There are some restaurants and gas stations in town for whatever needs you have before or after your round. If you're making a day out of it, Hornet's Nest in town makes for an 18 that's a good warm up to this course, but beyond that, Camp Point is the next closest course.
AMENITIES are a little limited near the course, but are around the campground, which is primarily what Lake Mt. Sterling comprises of. It's $15 a day to camp, and there are also sites with electrical hookups. There's a playground near the course as well as a shelter, but that's really all within a reasonable walking distance. There are bathrooms on site, but they're closer to the far end of the campground.
COURSE EQUIPMENT is in progress, but what is present is very nice. The tee pads are all concrete and given the time between my round and my review I'll assume all 18 are in at this point. The baskets are brand new Chainstar Pros and are easy to spot in the woods and from afar, even for a red-green colorblind person like myself. Outside of that, other touches like 18's elevated basket and some other staircases and bridges show that the local club/parks department are going to make this course fun yet easy to traverse with time, and despite the under construction feel it had during my round, the staircases and other touches that are in place made the hills easy to handle.
COURSE DESIGN at Lake Mt. Sterling is a step up from its older brother at Hornet's Nest in town and is really a tale of two 9-hole tracks. Your front 9 comprises of mostly wooded holes, full of elevation changes and tight gaps and fairway curves to navigate. Your back 9 is much more open and mostly longer as well, requiring you to have some decent distance to challenge for birdies. These two halves make for one course that has a decent amount of variety as well as challenge for intermediate and advanced level players.
ELEVATION plays a big role across the course, especially in the first half. Holes 2 and 6 are steep downhill fairways, while other holes like 12 and 15 play downhill but to lesser degrees. Meanwhile, holes 3, 7, and 9 will require uphill shots that will require more power out of you to get to the pin. Other holes have lesser degrees of difficulty with elevation, such as hole 10 with its green being next to a hill and 15 having a larger drop off/waterfall beyond the pin if you overshoot the green.
SHOT-SHAPING is definitely more present in the front 9 of this course but is also present at times in the back half. Holes 3, 7, 9, 10, and 15 all have left turning bends in the fairway and will favor RHBH shots, while holes 4 and 8 bend right. The rest of the course allows for some flexibility in terms of what type of shot your throw, with much of the back 9 being very open. That being said, holes 2 and 6 will require an exceptionally straight shot downhill, so a shot that has some bend to its flight will likely be punished by trees and cabbage.
DISTANCES vary between 180 and 600 feet, with course length depending on which pin is being used on the 5 holes that currently have multiple positions. The average length of the course is about 350 feet, but the front 9 pars take hole shape into consideration more so than distance. The back 9 is where there's some longer holes, such as 14, 17, and 18, with some of the holes being long enough that rec or intermediate level folks may have trouble giving themselves a decent chance for a birdie.
DIFFICULTY LEVEL at Lake Mt. Sterling is definitely geared towards intermediate to advanced level, as newer players will find both the wooded fairways as well as the distances on site to be a challenge if they don't have accuracy or a strong drive in their arsenal yet. More seasoned players that tend to play open in tournaments will likely find much of the course to be fairly easy, but the pars and distances combined with the wooded holes make for a course that is challenging but fair to the intermediate level player.
RISK/REWARD really comes to mind on a few holes. Hole 2's green is right in front of the lake, making the downhill green very intimidating. Hole 15 also has a dropoff not far from its pin. Hole 16 is one that doesn't seem obvious, but if you come up short and go into the brush that is right in front of the pin, you are in for a world of hurt as the bush and tall grass separating fairways are hiding a steep drop as well as thorns and very tight branches that will make it nearly impossible to find your disc. Just trust me and throw wide or long on that hole. Hole 8 also has some water challenges when the water level is high, playing along a creek.
COURSE HIGHLIGHTS should probably start with hole 18, which is a wide open hole that ends with an elevated green on top of a 3 level pyramid, one of the nicer planter/elevated greens I have seen outside of Eagles Crossing. Hole 15's waterfall is a nice and pretty setting when the water level is high enough as well. Hole 6 was also a personal favorite, with a steep downhill shot that has less risk to it without the lake nearby, and made for a fun midrange touchy shot.
LOCATION of Lake Mt. Sterling is north of town via Camden Rd./Highway 99, which becomes 750 E St. as you go north. The park entrance will be on the left after the ball golf course, and it's easy to miss so look out for a shop building by the entrance. The park road follows next to 750 E and then turns right, and the course parking is a strip of gravel next to the first shelter you see on the right. This road is evidently 1175 N Ave. as well. There are some restaurants and gas stations in town for whatever needs you have before or after your round. If you're making a day out of it, Hornet's Nest in town makes for an 18 that's a good warm up to this course, but beyond that, Camp Point is the next closest course.
AMENITIES are a little limited near the course, but are around the campground, which is primarily what Lake Mt. Sterling comprises of. It's $15 a day to camp, and there are also sites with electrical hookups. There's a playground near the course as well as a shelter, but that's really all within a reasonable walking distance. There are bathrooms on site, but they're closer to the far end of the campground.
COURSE EQUIPMENT is in progress, but what is present is very nice. The tee pads are all concrete and given the time between my round and my review I'll assume all 18 are in at this point. The baskets are brand new Chainstar Pros and are easy to spot in the woods and from afar, even for a red-green colorblind person like myself. Outside of that, other touches like 18's elevated basket and some other staircases and bridges show that the local club/parks department are going to make this course fun yet easy to traverse with time, and despite the under construction feel it had during my round, the staircases and other touches that are in place made the hills easy to handle.
COURSE DESIGN at Lake Mt. Sterling is a step up from its older brother at Hornet's Nest in town and is really a tale of two 9-hole tracks. Your front 9 comprises of mostly wooded holes, full of elevation changes and tight gaps and fairway curves to navigate. Your back 9 is much more open and mostly longer as well, requiring you to have some decent distance to challenge for birdies. These two halves make for one course that has a decent amount of variety as well as challenge for intermediate and advanced level players.
ELEVATION plays a big role across the course, especially in the first half. Holes 2 and 6 are steep downhill fairways, while other holes like 12 and 15 play downhill but to lesser degrees. Meanwhile, holes 3, 7, and 9 will require uphill shots that will require more power out of you to get to the pin. Other holes have lesser degrees of difficulty with elevation, such as hole 10 with its green being next to a hill and 15 having a larger drop off/waterfall beyond the pin if you overshoot the green.
SHOT-SHAPING is definitely more present in the front 9 of this course but is also present at times in the back half. Holes 3, 7, 9, 10, and 15 all have left turning bends in the fairway and will favor RHBH shots, while holes 4 and 8 bend right. The rest of the course allows for some flexibility in terms of what type of shot your throw, with much of the back 9 being very open. That being said, holes 2 and 6 will require an exceptionally straight shot downhill, so a shot that has some bend to its flight will likely be punished by trees and cabbage.
DISTANCES vary between 180 and 600 feet, with course length depending on which pin is being used on the 5 holes that currently have multiple positions. The average length of the course is about 350 feet, but the front 9 pars take hole shape into consideration more so than distance. The back 9 is where there's some longer holes, such as 14, 17, and 18, with some of the holes being long enough that rec or intermediate level folks may have trouble giving themselves a decent chance for a birdie.
DIFFICULTY LEVEL at Lake Mt. Sterling is definitely geared towards intermediate to advanced level, as newer players will find both the wooded fairways as well as the distances on site to be a challenge if they don't have accuracy or a strong drive in their arsenal yet. More seasoned players that tend to play open in tournaments will likely find much of the course to be fairly easy, but the pars and distances combined with the wooded holes make for a course that is challenging but fair to the intermediate level player.
RISK/REWARD really comes to mind on a few holes. Hole 2's green is right in front of the lake, making the downhill green very intimidating. Hole 15 also has a dropoff not far from its pin. Hole 16 is one that doesn't seem obvious, but if you come up short and go into the brush that is right in front of the pin, you are in for a world of hurt as the bush and tall grass separating fairways are hiding a steep drop as well as thorns and very tight branches that will make it nearly impossible to find your disc. Just trust me and throw wide or long on that hole. Hole 8 also has some water challenges when the water level is high, playing along a creek.
COURSE HIGHLIGHTS should probably start with hole 18, which is a wide open hole that ends with an elevated green on top of a 3 level pyramid, one of the nicer planter/elevated greens I have seen outside of Eagles Crossing. Hole 15's waterfall is a nice and pretty setting when the water level is high enough as well. Hole 6 was also a personal favorite, with a steep downhill shot that has less risk to it without the lake nearby, and made for a fun midrange touchy shot.
Cons:
SIGNAGE was not in place during my round and I don't see any indication it's been added yet as of the writing of this review. Given some of the transitions this course has between holes, signage will be a huge addition to the course, and I'll bump my score up once it's in place.
NAVIGATION is also tricky in certain spots, especially given the lack of signage. Hole 2 a bit of a walk from hole 1, and I wouldn't say it's completely intuitive to walk down the road. Hole 8 is another hard hole to find without UDisc or signage, as the staircase to the tee is halfway up 7's hill and very easy to miss. Given the gravel path next to hole 7, I'm sure at least one person has gone on a long detour by now looking for hole 8. Hole 9 is also in a spot where I could see people go to its tee from hole 6 instead of crossing the bridge if they're trying to navigate without a map. Hole 13 also requires you to backtrack the full length of hole 12, which can be over 400 feet in the long pin placement, and some folks I ended up playing with originally were walking towards 14 until I noticed hole 13's pin. Overall, signage is needed on site, not just at the tees but at certain transitions to make sure folks go the right way.
SAFETY/INTERACTION WITH OTHER AMENITIES is also something that came to mind during my round. Hole 1's fairway requires you to throw over the entrance of the parking lot, and an errant shot could easily end up on the park road or near the shelter. Given the distances and fairways in the second half of the course, hole 1 feels like it could have been half the length to omit most or all of these issues. Hole 11's pin also gets close to an RV that looks pretty established in that location, which again feels unnecessary. After that, holes 12, 13, 14, and 15 play close to either buildings or roads, including the 2-lane highway. When you look at the course layout from above, it's easy to imagine the space designers had to work with, and this space probably had to be used to get to 18 holes. That being said, I think the risk that comes with some of these fairways is a little unwarranted, and I'm not particularly a fan of playing that close to a highway with cars going at least 50, particularly on hole 14 where the road is a little above you. Finally, the pyramid on 18 is a little close to the parking lot given how far most players are likely throwing their second drive from, and I found myself overshoot pretty far past the basket. Sure, that's a me problem, but its pretty easy to do on this particular hole, which can lead to cars getting hit on busier days.
COURSE DESIGN also feels progressively more bland as you progress through the round, mainly because of how unique the different holes in the front 9 are. The first half will really have you pulling a variety of discs and shot out, but once you get to hole 12 you are really not challenged much when it comes to obstacles. Hole 15 has a nice green, and hole 17 ends in the wood line, with 18 ending with the pyramid. But with all of that being said, you're just throwing open air bombs for most of the back 9. It's a little jarring after a tricky front half, and kind of takes away from the overall experience playing this course by the time you're done on 18 in my opinion. It would have been great if more wooded holes could have been added to the course, or if some of the open shots could have been spread throughout the course somehow. Again, I imagine there were some tight limits on space, so I imagine this design is pretty close to maximizing the potential of the land.
NAVIGATION is also tricky in certain spots, especially given the lack of signage. Hole 2 a bit of a walk from hole 1, and I wouldn't say it's completely intuitive to walk down the road. Hole 8 is another hard hole to find without UDisc or signage, as the staircase to the tee is halfway up 7's hill and very easy to miss. Given the gravel path next to hole 7, I'm sure at least one person has gone on a long detour by now looking for hole 8. Hole 9 is also in a spot where I could see people go to its tee from hole 6 instead of crossing the bridge if they're trying to navigate without a map. Hole 13 also requires you to backtrack the full length of hole 12, which can be over 400 feet in the long pin placement, and some folks I ended up playing with originally were walking towards 14 until I noticed hole 13's pin. Overall, signage is needed on site, not just at the tees but at certain transitions to make sure folks go the right way.
SAFETY/INTERACTION WITH OTHER AMENITIES is also something that came to mind during my round. Hole 1's fairway requires you to throw over the entrance of the parking lot, and an errant shot could easily end up on the park road or near the shelter. Given the distances and fairways in the second half of the course, hole 1 feels like it could have been half the length to omit most or all of these issues. Hole 11's pin also gets close to an RV that looks pretty established in that location, which again feels unnecessary. After that, holes 12, 13, 14, and 15 play close to either buildings or roads, including the 2-lane highway. When you look at the course layout from above, it's easy to imagine the space designers had to work with, and this space probably had to be used to get to 18 holes. That being said, I think the risk that comes with some of these fairways is a little unwarranted, and I'm not particularly a fan of playing that close to a highway with cars going at least 50, particularly on hole 14 where the road is a little above you. Finally, the pyramid on 18 is a little close to the parking lot given how far most players are likely throwing their second drive from, and I found myself overshoot pretty far past the basket. Sure, that's a me problem, but its pretty easy to do on this particular hole, which can lead to cars getting hit on busier days.
COURSE DESIGN also feels progressively more bland as you progress through the round, mainly because of how unique the different holes in the front 9 are. The first half will really have you pulling a variety of discs and shot out, but once you get to hole 12 you are really not challenged much when it comes to obstacles. Hole 15 has a nice green, and hole 17 ends in the wood line, with 18 ending with the pyramid. But with all of that being said, you're just throwing open air bombs for most of the back 9. It's a little jarring after a tricky front half, and kind of takes away from the overall experience playing this course by the time you're done on 18 in my opinion. It would have been great if more wooded holes could have been added to the course, or if some of the open shots could have been spread throughout the course somehow. Again, I imagine there were some tight limits on space, so I imagine this design is pretty close to maximizing the potential of the land.
Other Thoughts:
Overall, Lake Mt. Sterling is a great addition to this town, and compliments the simpler Hornet's Nest very well. The mix of woods and longer open holes does make for a fun round as a whole, and the addition of signage will elevate this course's rating for me. It's clear the course is getting a lot of love during its construction between 18's pyramid and the various bridges and staircases that have been installed. This is a course that could age very well as it continues to get improvements and adjustments, and the lack of other park uses on the land the disc golf course uses might also mean more freedom to add new pins or even new holes over time. The local club looks pretty active, which is always fun to see in smaller towns and will help this course thrive long term.
Rating this course is a little tricky for me, as there is a wide range of quality on site when it comes to individual hole designs. Like I said before, signage will elevate my score, but the back 9 does leave me wishing they had more wooded space to work with in the design phase of things.
This course is a little off the beaten path, but it does make for a fun round overall. If you're driving along highway 24, this combine with Hornet's Nest makes for a decent 36 holes in town, and this course combined with Camp Point's Bailey Park could make for a very fun double header. If you're driving through and have time, this one is definitely worth taking a stretch break to play.
Rating this course is a little tricky for me, as there is a wide range of quality on site when it comes to individual hole designs. Like I said before, signage will elevate my score, but the back 9 does leave me wishing they had more wooded space to work with in the design phase of things.
This course is a little off the beaten path, but it does make for a fun round overall. If you're driving along highway 24, this combine with Hornet's Nest makes for a decent 36 holes in town, and this course combined with Camp Point's Bailey Park could make for a very fun double header. If you're driving through and have time, this one is definitely worth taking a stretch break to play.
