Pros:
There are elements of your typical school course here: short, easy, filler holes; some interesting layouts due to playing around the school property; and several decent layouts.
- Holes #1 & 2 are bad. The quintessential throwing out and back simply to get to 9 holes. The basket for #2 is close to #3 so there's a reason to this madness.
- The course really starts at hole #3. It's 292 feet across an open field. The basket plays in front of a fence, with Lovills Creek 30 feet past that. #4 then is only 104 feet. The basket plays in front of a fence, so be aggressive, making a run for the basket. If you go long and hit the fence, you've still got a near gimmie birdie putt.
- #5 is the most scenic hole. Teeing off alongside the creek, the basket is protected by several tall, mature trees. This is the best hole on the course and the only one that doesn't have a 'school course' vibe.
- #6, 8, & 9 all have school structures serving as the obstacles. #6, at 318 feet, is the easiest of these three. Wide open to the left, you're throwing around an equipment shed to the basket. Your only obstacles are if you cut it close to the building, or if you go to the right.
- #9 is a fun, unique layout. You tee off underneath a wooden stage, throw around the fenced-in tennis courts, have a small structure to throw over, all to get to the short, dogleg right basket. At only 243 feet, a high sweeping shot takes care of all your obstacles.
- #8 may be the course's signature hole. It plays around the perimeter of the baseball field's outfield fence. Teeing off in the corner of the left field foul line, you're around the entire outfield, to the basket behind right field. Along the way on this 597 foot par 4, you've got a series of mature evergreens beyond the outfield fence, to the left of the approach and basket, and the scoreboard to the basket's right to contend with. It's also a taller fence to scale. So if the gates to the field are locked, have fun climbing and jumping over.
- With the exception of #9, most tees/tee signs are close to the previous hole's basket, making this a relatively easy navigation for first time players. The hardest part, if you're not using an online map/directions, is finding the first tee.
Cons:
Natural tee pads. An overall simple layout. Some construction/install work was going on by holes #1 & 2 when I played, leaving the tee sign for #1 on the ground away from where it should be.
- As stated above, it's hard for a course to recover from the notion that holes #1 & 2 are filler holes. 144 feet out on #1; 177 feet back in on #2. There's plenty of space in the area to the right of holes #5 & 6 to make another nice layout. Find a spot to throw in another filler 144 elsewhere and you can have a better layout without any effort.
- Course isn't difficult. It's an option for students to play while on campus. That doesn't mean a little more challenge or appeal should be overlooked.
- The fence and creek that run behind #3 and to the right of #5 could cause problems for discs that sail off line.
- Not many obstacles throughout the course. #1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 have no obstacles between you and the basket. You've got to throw an exceptionally bad shot on #1, 2, or 6 to not be having some form of a birdie putt. #4, despite being the shortest hole, actually presents a slight challenge if you go more than 15 feet left of the basket as the fence ends up blocking your line.
Other Thoughts:
This is a nice, simple layout. After two bad holes, it seemed the course got progressively better over the next several holes.
- There is absolutely no elevation factor to this course. It really is in the flats down by the creek.
- I wonder if the course would be better if it were installed across the creek at Veterans Memorial Park.
- Any course is better than no course, especially when you only have one other nine hole layout in town. Westwood Park is considerably better than this layout. After that, you're 15-20 minutes to Armfield, the closest public 18-hole course.
- This is a quick play. It took me less than 20 minutes to play all nine holes, and that included time to snap some pictures.
- This course has all the look and feel of Mount Airy. It's a nice small, mountain town. You're only a couple minutes from downtown and some nice restaurants. If you're in town, it's worth bagging. Otherwise, unless you're like me, there's no reason to make a long detour to play.