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Nichols Park - South reviews
6
0
Fun course with novel, well-designed targets 2+ years drive by
Reviewed:
Played on:Sep 23, 2017
Played the course:once
Pros:
-the tone pole targets
-nice "disc golf land" with some water obstacles (no real carries, but plenty of risk), trees, and elevation
-that combination makes for overall good disc golf holes that are often very challenging (e.g. late double mando on #2)
-some of these holes are particularly awesome (#18 is the signature, I'd say. Definitely a great disc golf hole)
-more than 18 holes to the course; I wish more courses would do this, as the "18 hole course" seems like an unnecessary tradition inherited from ball golf
-nice park, which seems well-maintained, void of excessive garbage, not overly busy, and easy to access from I-40
-has potential to be even better than the "North" course, except for...
-nice "disc golf land" with some water obstacles (no real carries, but plenty of risk), trees, and elevation
-that combination makes for overall good disc golf holes that are often very challenging (e.g. late double mando on #2)
-some of these holes are particularly awesome (#18 is the signature, I'd say. Definitely a great disc golf hole)
-more than 18 holes to the course; I wish more courses would do this, as the "18 hole course" seems like an unnecessary tradition inherited from ball golf
-nice park, which seems well-maintained, void of excessive garbage, not overly busy, and easy to access from I-40
-has potential to be even better than the "North" course, except for...
Cons:
-no clear tee space/boxes or tee signs (yet) - there were at least two holes with yellow flags that I assumed were tees, but I either didn't find the rest of them or they were gone
-as of the date I played, there were no images up yet (also no course map) on DGCR - these images were key to successfully navigating the North course
-as the course gets the tees/signs, there will still be a couple issues with park traffic (e.g. the playground, picnic tables, and park road; the road comes into play on about half the course)
-as of the date I played, there were no images up yet (also no course map) on DGCR - these images were key to successfully navigating the North course
-as the course gets the tees/signs, there will still be a couple issues with park traffic (e.g. the playground, picnic tables, and park road; the road comes into play on about half the course)
Other Thoughts:
I can't wait to get back here. First off, the tube tone targets are unique, well-designed, well-made, and functional from a disc golf perspective. I'd love to see Paul McBeth or Ricky Wysocki banging these from 100' out. Chain outs? Nope. DONG! Hole out. Period. I haven't played many object courses, but I'd have no complaint playing more of these. If you're designing a course and can't decide between basket manufacturers, get in touch with these folks and see if they can hook you up. They might be even better a little higher off the ground or cemented better into it, but they are fine as they are.
Playing here (especially North and South) was a little frustrating but very enjoyable. First off, a note on the park. I got confused right off the bat because I saw targets/tube-tones on the north side of the park (toward the rodeo arena and dirt bike trail). I assumed this was the "North" course but was wrong. These were actually the beginning and ending holes of the "South" course. In the end, this made sense because the South course travels close to the park's south entrance, south of Nichols Lake, after going over the dam and overflow bridge close to the west side of the park (and both entrances off of Lake Road). This brings me to another point, which is that one small thing that could make all the courses easier to play is a simple overlay onto a Google Maps terrain map. Arrows from tee to target and general orientation with respect to parking lots, park entrances, park roads, and other features would make the course much easier to navigate. Next time I make it out, it will be a piece of cake. But first time navigation is tough.
The vast majority of the holes were good to excellent, and some of the holes were awesome. As I mentioned above, #18 was as cool of a signature hole as just about any course's I've played. I'm guessing it's around 450' or longer, but there's a serious drop-off for the entire fairway before a steep climb back up to the target. Stall out early with a RHBH (or only throw 300'), and you're stuck throwing a steep uphill shot from the bottom of what's basically a ravine. I threw a RHFH which wasn't particularly good, but faded into the hillside so that I didn't have quite as bad of an uphill shot. Fun hole.
As far as tees go, it would be nice to have some kind of stones or definite markers on the ground. I kinda just picked tee locations based on joshua323's hole info in his review. This sort of worked, though I probably missed some of the exact spots the designers wanted me to play from, and therefore didn't know which lines they wanted me to attempt. I'm sure I threw to some incorrect baskets toward the South end of the course. Tee signs similar to the North course (with the hole number and a general direction to throw) would be a tremendous help, so that would be a good start. I believe signs are already in the works, but didn't see them during my visit. Again, both North and South courses would be easier to navigate with a Google Maps overlay.
Rating: I can't go above 3.0 yet, and that's entirely due to navigation frustration and lack of clear tee areas. Thanks to joshua323 for the great targets, and again to him and others for the hard work setting up these courses. I could easily see it getting up to a 4.0, but probably wouldn't go higher just because the park road comes into play on so many holes and because of throwing so close to the playground. I'd love to get back out here and would easily improve this rating based on some small improvements.
Playing here (especially North and South) was a little frustrating but very enjoyable. First off, a note on the park. I got confused right off the bat because I saw targets/tube-tones on the north side of the park (toward the rodeo arena and dirt bike trail). I assumed this was the "North" course but was wrong. These were actually the beginning and ending holes of the "South" course. In the end, this made sense because the South course travels close to the park's south entrance, south of Nichols Lake, after going over the dam and overflow bridge close to the west side of the park (and both entrances off of Lake Road). This brings me to another point, which is that one small thing that could make all the courses easier to play is a simple overlay onto a Google Maps terrain map. Arrows from tee to target and general orientation with respect to parking lots, park entrances, park roads, and other features would make the course much easier to navigate. Next time I make it out, it will be a piece of cake. But first time navigation is tough.
The vast majority of the holes were good to excellent, and some of the holes were awesome. As I mentioned above, #18 was as cool of a signature hole as just about any course's I've played. I'm guessing it's around 450' or longer, but there's a serious drop-off for the entire fairway before a steep climb back up to the target. Stall out early with a RHBH (or only throw 300'), and you're stuck throwing a steep uphill shot from the bottom of what's basically a ravine. I threw a RHFH which wasn't particularly good, but faded into the hillside so that I didn't have quite as bad of an uphill shot. Fun hole.
As far as tees go, it would be nice to have some kind of stones or definite markers on the ground. I kinda just picked tee locations based on joshua323's hole info in his review. This sort of worked, though I probably missed some of the exact spots the designers wanted me to play from, and therefore didn't know which lines they wanted me to attempt. I'm sure I threw to some incorrect baskets toward the South end of the course. Tee signs similar to the North course (with the hole number and a general direction to throw) would be a tremendous help, so that would be a good start. I believe signs are already in the works, but didn't see them during my visit. Again, both North and South courses would be easier to navigate with a Google Maps overlay.
Rating: I can't go above 3.0 yet, and that's entirely due to navigation frustration and lack of clear tee areas. Thanks to joshua323 for the great targets, and again to him and others for the hard work setting up these courses. I could easily see it getting up to a 4.0, but probably wouldn't go higher just because the park road comes into play on so many holes and because of throwing so close to the playground. I'd love to get back out here and would easily improve this rating based on some small improvements.
