-
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)
Missile Ridge DGC reviews
9
0
Acquire the Launch Codes (aka Map)!!! 2+ years
Reviewed:
Played on:Aug 23, 2020
Played the course:once
Pros:
- Missile Ridge is new-ish course installed last year, and a welcome addition to the "Greater Lemon Lake Disc Golf Metropolitan Area" (a term I just invented right now, trademark pending). Located on American Legion Post 261's property, the designer did a great job squeezing a variety of above average golf holes out of a fairly small area. The front half of the course plays under a huge oak canopy, providing some nice shade. There is also an open grassy area that transitions to a heavily wooded ridge bounded on the edge of the property by train tracks (more on these to come).
The course is named for the two large white missiles standing out front, ready-to-launch by the looks of it, and the wooded ridge. There is also some sort of artillery piece on display. Don't sleep on the spectacular American Flag Eagle mural, either.
- Hole #1 starts inauspiciously on the side deck of the Legion Post itself. We had a bit of trouble finding it at first, so save yourself the walkaround: after pulling into the parking lot, park on the right side and head to the right side entrance of the Post. You'll see #1's sign and a course map. First time players: BE CERTAIN TO ACQUIRE THE LAUNCH CODES (aka MAP) prior to starting your round. You'll thank me. Otherwise expect to do a fair amount of scouting back and forth, up and down fairways, and general wandering. This course's flow is wonky at best (more on this later, too).
- Most of the front nine is park-style golf, but really only the first hole is a gimme. After that, things start blasting off as the large trunks of the scattered oak trees provide plenty of interesting opportunities to pick lines to the basket. On #'s 3 and 4, a wooded area with what looked to be a very small creek or crevice bounds the fairways to the right. Not a huge chance of going in except on #4, a short-ish dogleg right. We were "Disc golfers! Woo hoo'd!" by some disembodied voice coming from one of the houses behind the green. Friendly locals amenable to the disc golfs always helps.
- Hole #6 long is a beast that starts in the grassy open area and dogleg rights up the hilly oaky area to a neat pin position. Hole #'s 5 and 7 throw down that same oaky hilly area, through oak trunks.
- #8 starts into the wooded ridge section of the course on a very tight shot ending in a scrubby dome of honeysuckle and undergrowth at the green right near the train tracks. This green is pretty tight still, and may benefit from some additional clearing.
- #9's tee is right along the train tracks and forces a hyzer shot to a gap maybe 200' down a 340'-ish hole. I like this hole a lot. I've gotten into all sorts of hazards in my disc golf career. I have a soft spot in my heart for the idea of a disc getting obliterated by a passing train. Maybe I need help, I dunno, but this hole design (despite looking super janky at first glance) actually ended up pretty solidly.
- The rest of the course uses the wooded ridge area along the tracks to create a variety of holes: short uphill hyzer shots (#16), very short tunnel ace runs (#17 is only 98' yet doesn't feel too cheap), mixed open/wooded (#14 plays from the traffic cones in the parking lot as a tee, across the grassy open area, back into a wooded section, with a hanging basket. #18 crosses this same grassy area back to the parking lot.
- Color-coded baskets are a mix of brands but all in great shape. Two baskets are hanging affairs, which is always a nice touch. On each tee sign, the color of basket you're throwing to is listed, which is crucial information and something to which you should pay attention first time through. A nice touch by the designers to keep the wonky flow from becoming unmanageable.
- Tees are a mixed bag. #1 uses a deck, #2 a concrete foundation for a pavilion, #15 uses the parking lot and traffic cones. The rest are carpet mats in various conditions...not sure if these are going to be phased out for more permanent tees at a later date, so I'll largely withhold judgement on this issue for the time being, considering the newness of the installation.
The course is named for the two large white missiles standing out front, ready-to-launch by the looks of it, and the wooded ridge. There is also some sort of artillery piece on display. Don't sleep on the spectacular American Flag Eagle mural, either.
- Hole #1 starts inauspiciously on the side deck of the Legion Post itself. We had a bit of trouble finding it at first, so save yourself the walkaround: after pulling into the parking lot, park on the right side and head to the right side entrance of the Post. You'll see #1's sign and a course map. First time players: BE CERTAIN TO ACQUIRE THE LAUNCH CODES (aka MAP) prior to starting your round. You'll thank me. Otherwise expect to do a fair amount of scouting back and forth, up and down fairways, and general wandering. This course's flow is wonky at best (more on this later, too).
- Most of the front nine is park-style golf, but really only the first hole is a gimme. After that, things start blasting off as the large trunks of the scattered oak trees provide plenty of interesting opportunities to pick lines to the basket. On #'s 3 and 4, a wooded area with what looked to be a very small creek or crevice bounds the fairways to the right. Not a huge chance of going in except on #4, a short-ish dogleg right. We were "Disc golfers! Woo hoo'd!" by some disembodied voice coming from one of the houses behind the green. Friendly locals amenable to the disc golfs always helps.
- Hole #6 long is a beast that starts in the grassy open area and dogleg rights up the hilly oaky area to a neat pin position. Hole #'s 5 and 7 throw down that same oaky hilly area, through oak trunks.
- #8 starts into the wooded ridge section of the course on a very tight shot ending in a scrubby dome of honeysuckle and undergrowth at the green right near the train tracks. This green is pretty tight still, and may benefit from some additional clearing.
- #9's tee is right along the train tracks and forces a hyzer shot to a gap maybe 200' down a 340'-ish hole. I like this hole a lot. I've gotten into all sorts of hazards in my disc golf career. I have a soft spot in my heart for the idea of a disc getting obliterated by a passing train. Maybe I need help, I dunno, but this hole design (despite looking super janky at first glance) actually ended up pretty solidly.
- The rest of the course uses the wooded ridge area along the tracks to create a variety of holes: short uphill hyzer shots (#16), very short tunnel ace runs (#17 is only 98' yet doesn't feel too cheap), mixed open/wooded (#14 plays from the traffic cones in the parking lot as a tee, across the grassy open area, back into a wooded section, with a hanging basket. #18 crosses this same grassy area back to the parking lot.
- Color-coded baskets are a mix of brands but all in great shape. Two baskets are hanging affairs, which is always a nice touch. On each tee sign, the color of basket you're throwing to is listed, which is crucial information and something to which you should pay attention first time through. A nice touch by the designers to keep the wonky flow from becoming unmanageable.
- Tees are a mixed bag. #1 uses a deck, #2 a concrete foundation for a pavilion, #15 uses the parking lot and traffic cones. The rest are carpet mats in various conditions...not sure if these are going to be phased out for more permanent tees at a later date, so I'll largely withhold judgement on this issue for the time being, considering the newness of the installation.
Cons:
- Tees are a mixed bag. I can see #'s 1 and 2 being impeded by American Legion-goers when using the outside patio and pavilion. The carpet tees (which, again, may not be the permanent tees), are very lumpy and stumpy in spots, and beginning to fray a bit. I think it's #11 that has a super lumpy tee with a stump at the end, which quite frankly is pretty bad. It's stuff like this that makes me think a tee upgrade is in the works at some point. At least, one can hope.
- The flow here, being kind, is wonky as can be. Because the designer clearly emphasized good, fun-packed disc golf shots over navigation and safety issues, there are several issues worth noting. Three holes share one tee pad. I think it's #6 short, #8, and if I remember correctly, #13. Wasn't an issue during our round (no other players present) but I cannot imagine the clusterf**k waiting to happen here with more than a couple of groups. Likewise, there seems to be a lot of fairway scouting to see the basket on the first half of the back nine, in the wooded ridge section. Some of the tees (#9) are uncomfortably close to the previous hole's basket. Fairways are tight against each other as well.
- Missile Ridge is, aesthetically speaking, a little scruffy at the moment. There was a fair amount of trash (I threw a roller that bounced off a Natty Lite beer can, for example), some of which had to have been there when they started clearing holes. A large amount of rusty metal juts from the ground; however, they were all marked with pink spray paint, which is greatly appreciated and helps mitigate a safety issue. There were large tires, and what looked like an old rock tumbler strewn about as well. Less of an issue, but worth mentioning, were the numerous ash piles found in the fairways, no doubt remnants of recent hole clearing. I expect this course will "clean up around the edges" as time goes by, but at the moment a lot of the natural beauty potential is spoiled by the random trash.
- It is DRY DRY DRY here right now, and yet there still were some muddy-ish areas. I can't imagine there aren't some major mud issues during a more normal amount of precipitation. Some of this was mitigated by mulching, but they'll have to do a lot of work on this to keep it from becoming totally sloppy.
- The flow here, being kind, is wonky as can be. Because the designer clearly emphasized good, fun-packed disc golf shots over navigation and safety issues, there are several issues worth noting. Three holes share one tee pad. I think it's #6 short, #8, and if I remember correctly, #13. Wasn't an issue during our round (no other players present) but I cannot imagine the clusterf**k waiting to happen here with more than a couple of groups. Likewise, there seems to be a lot of fairway scouting to see the basket on the first half of the back nine, in the wooded ridge section. Some of the tees (#9) are uncomfortably close to the previous hole's basket. Fairways are tight against each other as well.
- Missile Ridge is, aesthetically speaking, a little scruffy at the moment. There was a fair amount of trash (I threw a roller that bounced off a Natty Lite beer can, for example), some of which had to have been there when they started clearing holes. A large amount of rusty metal juts from the ground; however, they were all marked with pink spray paint, which is greatly appreciated and helps mitigate a safety issue. There were large tires, and what looked like an old rock tumbler strewn about as well. Less of an issue, but worth mentioning, were the numerous ash piles found in the fairways, no doubt remnants of recent hole clearing. I expect this course will "clean up around the edges" as time goes by, but at the moment a lot of the natural beauty potential is spoiled by the random trash.
- It is DRY DRY DRY here right now, and yet there still were some muddy-ish areas. I can't imagine there aren't some major mud issues during a more normal amount of precipitation. Some of this was mitigated by mulching, but they'll have to do a lot of work on this to keep it from becoming totally sloppy.
Other Thoughts:
- I had a fun round here, despite the slightly annoying navigation issues. I liked it enough to suggest playing a second round (vetoed by my travel companion in lieu of bagging a couple of other nearby courses). There is enough variety, and it's obvious the designer has a very good eye for setting up some pretty darn righteous disc golf.
- I feel like, given a chance to design some good golf vs. keeping it "by the book" in regards to navigation and safety issues, they really hit it out of the park. It's an interesting balance, and one that may prove untenable if this course starts seeing more traffic, but in a vacuum I understand why they did what they did.
- Missile Ridge starts kinda weird, seems solid after a bit, and then finally comes into its own on the back nine. Lots of fun, good shot-shaping opportunities for arms of all sizes and play styles. By the end, nothing but respect, warts and all.
- I feel like, given a chance to design some good golf vs. keeping it "by the book" in regards to navigation and safety issues, they really hit it out of the park. It's an interesting balance, and one that may prove untenable if this course starts seeing more traffic, but in a vacuum I understand why they did what they did.
- Missile Ridge starts kinda weird, seems solid after a bit, and then finally comes into its own on the back nine. Lots of fun, good shot-shaping opportunities for arms of all sizes and play styles. By the end, nothing but respect, warts and all.
