The Patriot course at Pineland Farms is truly a great course. Of the 7 Maine courses I have played now, it is near the top of the list, in very close competition with Troll Valley. Instant favorite for sure.

The set up is done well. Tees are rubber mats on good foundations that I had no issues with. The signs have the relevant info you need to get through each hole. All baskets are in good form. Most transitions from hole to hole are logical, but there are a couple of longer walks. Signs are there to point the way.

There are many great holes on this one, most featuring mature trees and elevation change, others are covering open spreads of grass. The edge of a small pond is in play on 16 and 17. It's more of a factor on 16 as there is a bit of a water carry if you choose to take a direct line.

The first hole is hum drum, but use it as a warm up and the disappointment will fade rapidly. 2 is a big downhill that requires perfect mix of trajectory and power to find the right distance and negotiate gaps between a stand of tall trees. It was probably my favorite hole on the course. 4 Is long and open, with a nice altitude fall off the tee, and some contour to the fairway as well. The edges roll off down to the tree line, and the pin is atop a bit of a hill. The fairway on 8 is a fun drive, with the trail to the right, and heavy woods to the left. The basket is left side and downhill in a clearing, and it takes a nice rip to get there.

10 is lengthy and steadily uphill, with a bit of a bend to the left mid fairway. There are different gaps you can sneak into, but the central line has a clear advantage on the second shot approach if you can hold it. 11 is also uphill, but not as much gain, over less distance. 13 is a slight downhill and one of the shorter holes, but the pin position is surrounded by trees, and it takes a well controlled shot that doesn't tail off to one side or the other to hold the green. 16 is over the reeds on the banks of a small pond. It isn't very long, and you can play the right side if you want to minimize risk. Throw short and you're in trouble, too long and you are past the pin and running downhill. It's an ace run I nearly hit, but wound up with an uphill comeback that I did not get. 17 is open for the first half, then gets into trees that are thick on both sides of the line. Entry point is critical, and the drive must have a low trajectory with plenty of momentum to have a shot at a birdie here.

It costs money to play these two magnificent courses, boo hoo. A few holes are on the bland side, such as 1, 5, and 15. You are likely to have joggers and bicyclists passing on the trails that traverse the park near the course in a few spots.

This one is a tough round, and novice players are likely to have a long day here. It takes good technique and ability to get distance with accuracy to score well. Hills are not extreme, but there is a lot of up and down. The footing may be rough in spots, especially when you leave the fairways.

The Patriot is fantastic. Minuteman course is also a fun track, shorter with roller coaster elevation changes. The Pineland Farms also has many other activities. I enjoy having a beer and wine trailer near the office, it makes a great place for a pit stop between rounds.

Patriot hit me hard on the scorecard. No birdies and 12 over par. I had 4 double bogies and 4 bogies. There are seven par 4 holes, with four consecutive on holes 4-7. Several of the par 3's are very unforgiving. This is a legit par 61. Maybe I'm a wierdo, but the +12 here is more satisfying than the -12 you might bag at Pleasant Hill or Sabuttus Hawk.

If you're in the area and have the chance, I recommend that you play both courses at Pineland Farms. Patriot is a championship level test of skills, and Minuteman is a romp around non-stop hilly birdie holes. A great way to spend a morning.

-Amazing hole designs. Just super fun golf.
-Great mix of open holes that have great design (Hole 4 is about as perfect an open hole bomber gets) with tight, but fair wooded holes.
-I'm an elevation whore, so I love courses that utilize good elevation and this course has some of the best I've seen in Maine.
-Good sized concrete tees with plenty of grip, but not overly grated.
-Nice Discatcher 28's
-Good descriptive tee signs
-Natural flow from hole to hole with only 2 decent walks between holes.
-Amenities galore!! A HUGE market that sells booze to be consumed on the course, lobster rolls, a bakery, jerky, homemade crafts. I had a wonderful sandwich after a long day of frolfing with locally brewed beverages in an air conditioned building. Pretty freaking dreamy.
-Clean bathrooms, benches, trashcans
-Plenty of holes that bait you into risk reward lines like hole 18. There is a small cut out window through the rough that you just absolutely have to pure a FH to utilize, but if you do gets you waaaay up the fairway quick.
-Another course on site that is much shorter, but techy and fun for warmup or cooldown.
-Super friendly staff
-Pro shop on site

-Hole 1 is a pretty boring hole for an otherwise wonderful disc golf experience. I honestly wondered if we made a mistake adding this complex in stepping up to hole 1.
-I didn't care for hole 6 either. Most of the other holes that used a service road as part of a fairway seemed much more interesting and unique. This one felt contrived and forced with disgusting bumble just off the fairway. Just my opinion though.

Why hadn't I heard more about this place on DGCR?? This was just an add because it was a close well rated complex near another well rated complex (Bittersweet Ridge) and seemed like a good day of disc golf.

This course blew away every other course we played in Maine. And Maine has all the disc golf culture and all the perfectly maintained complexes with competing pride on who offers the best golf. This place wins. It's not even that close.

Huge Kudos to all those that work on this course. As we were finishing hole 18, someone was digging holes to plant new trees to frame the green. Just constantly working on adding beauty and making the best disc golf experience possible.

- High quality baskets, Good tees
- Great mix of wooded and open holes. After the first 3 holes they're all on the longer side, but provide enough variety of situations to test your whole repertoire of throws.
- Beautiful, immaculately maintained grounds (Pineland also operates a working farm on their massive property, so they have plenty of full-time, experienced groundskeepers)
- Adjacent to the excellent Pineland Farms market, providing the best pre/post round refreshments of any course.

These aren't really negatives as much as things you need to know before playing it. If you're not prepared for it, you likely won't have a good time.
- This is a long course that plays even longer due to elevation changes and above-average distance between holes. Prepare like you would for a hike, not a walk.
- There's a few very punishing holes in the middle that can be a bit demoralizing if you don't know what you're in for. One follows a dirt road on a steep slope to the left that is just all trees to the left of the road. From a crest in the road, the basket is downhill and into the trees. There's also a 700+ft wooded, uphill hole where the basket is like an extra 50ft past where you expect it to be.
- Shop is small with a pretty basic selection of discs/gear/accessories

The only reason I don't play this course more is the length. Since I play seasonally, I need some time to build up the stamina for it in the spring, then I don't really want to play it in 90 degree heat in the summer. I hear they're building a second, presumably smaller, course, which will be a welcome addition.

- On at least half the holes, when I got to the tee I said "wow!" Spectacular use of a gorgeous undulating piece of property.
- It's very quiet out here. No planes, trains or automobiles, just nature at it's finest.
- You will need your whole bag for all different kinds of shots. Long arms have an advantage, but precision helps as well.
- Nice baskets, teepads, signage.
- I highly recommend the stopping by the market (next door to the Outdoor Center where you check in) for lunch, snacks, chilling after the round, and perhaps for something extra to take home.

- Beginner to intermediate golfers may get discouraged by the challenging nature of the course. A set of short tees would make the course more accessible and fun for novices.
- It's a long hike to play 18, so some more benches would be welcome.

With a bit more seasoning, this course could rank right up there with Brewster Ridge and Maple Hill as one of the best in New England. Can't wait to see a tournament hosted at Pineland Farms!

This is a brand new course that was just opened up on 7/6/15. I got a chance to play it just a couple of days later during opening week. This is a 9 hole course, but do not undervalue it because of it being only 9 holes. It's worth it! Read on:

This is a pro par length style course. Every hole has either far distance, funky pin placements or tight lanes. If you walk out of here with just par you probably did pretty well.

Each hole has a different plan of attack. I didn't feel myself using the same disc for the same shot that can sometimes happen at poorly set up courses. This course made me use everything in my bag and think about the consequences of what I was going to throw.

For just opening up, this is a pretty well maintained/groomed course. There are great signs for each holes, the paths are very walkable and the greens are all mowed well. Many courses open up barely playable then improve from there, but this course got to a good spot before opening up to the public.

These aren't as much cons but just small things to improve upon over the next few months or years depending on Pineland's desires to make this a top quality course:

Tee pads - Hole 1's tee pad you should be careful on. It has this weird divot pattern, so be careful with your ankle. The rest of the tee pads are just dirt. This isn't a big deal, but it's just not top quality at the moment either.

Shrub/tall grass around the fairways - The tall grass that surrounds a couple of the fairways can be extremely difficult to find your disc. We played for a few hours recently and took about 30+ minutes out of the day to find discs through 18 holes.

No benches or trash cans at the moment - I can only assume they'll add these things in over time, but as of right now they are not there.

The above things aren't really deal breakers - they don't take away from the awesomeness that is this course, it could just be slight touches to improve the place. Here's hoping!

Don't worry about the course being 9 holes. It's very long and I would be surprised if many people play it more than two times. You'll get your normal 18 holes in. Plus, with how challenging the course is, you'll have a great opportunity to get vengeance on some of the holes by repeating them on your second round.

When you pull into the property, the practice basket is immediately to your left and so is Hole 1 Tee pad. Go inside (directly behind you to the building behind hole 1) to pay your $5 one round (9 holes, twice) or $8 all day greens fees.

This is an amazing course. If you live anything nearby, you owe it to yourself to check it out. You will not be disappointed.