Pros:
- OUTSTANDING layout. I mean it....it's really phenomenal and if it had alternate pads, better baskets, and was mowed a little more on the regular, this course would be an easy 4.5 if not a 5. Set in the rolling hills that comprise Jasper County, Lewis Club Park (affectionately shortened to simply "Colfax" to us locals) literally gives you everything a die-hard disc golfer could hope for in a course: Valleys; long, open, downhill bombs; short, tight shots through the woods that test your accuracy; uphill shots that test your power; water & shule hazards; lefty dreamer shots; and sick, adrenaline-pumping ace runs make this course an instant classic. Allow me to delve into a couple specifics:
#1 gives you a taste for what you're about to take on, starting off with a shot over what I call "the valley." Uphill from the tee, you've got to keep it high enough to clear the hill without fading into the OB tennis court, and low enough to beat the hill without cut-rolling to the left or turning over into the bushes in the neighboring backyards.
The difference between the pin locations on #2 are so extreme that it makes for a completely different hole, requiring a completely different shot....but both positions are really fun. It's downhill from the tee regardless, but the short position is on a hill that slopes right while the long position is at the bottom of the hill protected by trees and both have a fence that's OB on the right.
#3 is a shot over the creek to a pin a little ways up the hill, but the long shule on the left in the summertime make finding your disc a trek worthy of Indiana Jones should you fail to get that beautiful S-curve we chuckers so enjoy. Creek is obviously OB here, but the OB fence on #2 carries all the way up the hill so you don't want to be right, either.
#4 is a short, fun little ace run on flat terrain, but if you misjudge your shot and it fades too hard or kicks left off the basket, you'll have to climb down a ravine to retrieve your plastic. And if it's in the water you're probably better off re-teeing because that hill is STEEP.
#5 is a test of your power. A long, straight, uphill shot in a very well-defined fairway with long shule on either side, it takes *really* big arm to even have a run at a deuce. Most players will four this hole...which, in my opinion, is par.
#6 is a LONG, gradual downhill bomb that finishes to the right. "Lefty Dreamer" in the disc golf dictionary redirects to this hole. Another par four (IMNSHO), it has the long shule from #5 and the creek you cross on #3 to the left, and another fence that's OB to the right. If you stay in the fairway this hole is ridiculously fun; if you end up in the shule or the water you're gonna have a bad time.
#7 is another fun, slightly uphill possible ace run that crosses that creek from 3 & 4. However, instead of being open like 4, you have a very tight window to make it to the pin. If you miss, your disc will either end up in the creek or on the steep crevasse that guards the green. I don't use the word 'crevasse' lightly here; you can literally snap your ankle on the rocks on the hill and burn 500 calories before you hole out here. Extreme caution is advised.
#8 is an homage to North Carolina: a tight shot through the woods slightly downhill that finishes left with an OB fence behind the basket, a deft touch is required and accuracy is paramount.
#9: "The Worst Hole in the 515" is what I call this monstrosity. Playing extremely uphill from the tee, you have to make it to the plateau about 225 feet away to even have a hope for an upshot. That doesn't sound like much, but the elevation change here makes it play more like 300...and you're throwing at almost a 45 degree angle. With woods, shule, and nasty, thorny bushes on either side of the 15-foot wide "fairway," if you're not in the short grass it's bad news and your best play is to lay up to the flat landing area at the top of the hill. Once you make it to the plateau you have a downhill look at the pin, but it's on a hill and guarded by the shule and woods and overall nastiness that line the "fairway" off the tee. A seriously messed up test of your abilities. If you take a four on this hole, count your blessings and move on.
....I'll skip the rest except to mention the two most fun holes within a 30-mile radius: #12 and #17: Both start at the top of a HUGE hill, but #12 has an island pin that (for most people) requires a driver while #17 most can reach with a mid. They're both empty-your-bad type holes that really allow you time to enjoy the flight of your disc and root for those chains. Just good, clean fun.
- Grippy concrete teepads and relatively easy to navigate.
Cons:
- Straight through 18. There's no logical way to play a quick 9 without a serious walk. You could play 1, 2 & 18, but Colfax doesn't lend itself to a quick few holes. You're pot-committed, so to speak; but I suppose if you drove all the way there you intended to be. Point is, if you just wanted to check out a couple of the stand-out shots be prepared for some exercise.
- Amenities lacking. No alternate tees, very few benches, and pretty far from town. Alcohol use is prohibited here as well.
- Crappy baskets. Single "chained," pseudo-DisCatchers that may or may not have been made in a third-world country. The "chains" (such as they are) are flimsy, almost plastic-like abominations that don't catch well at all. Spit-outs are common and exceedingly frustrating.
- CRAZY foliage. It's disc golf: throwing Frisbees in the woods. I get it...there's bugs and pointy plants and lions and tigers and bears (oh my!). I'm not saying this is anything out of the ordinary, but since this course doesn't get a mani/pedi with any regularity, I implore you - if you're one of those who likes to wear flip-flops or some other manner of open-toe foot appendage - wear shoes if you're going to play this course. Between mad briars, wicked thorn bushes, and crazy shule blooming out of the ground like the devil's botanical Bellagio, you WILL be sorry if you don't wrap your piggies in some Kevlar.
- No topless Hooter's girls frolicking along the #8 fairway.
Other Thoughts:
Colfax is a true gem of a course that has all the potential of a Championship-level course if it were just given some new equipment and a little more TLC. Despite these petulant gripes from a disc golf snob who's been spoiled by the outstanding courses in Des Moines, Lewis Club Park is eminently playable and empirically fun. As I said before, it could be an easy 4.5 with a little money thrown at it and regular grooming. Anyone who enjoys the game should do themselves a favor and make the trek to Colfax to play it. Verily I say unto you, this course is worth the trip out of your way.