Pros:
- Shu Pond, a private disc golf refuge designed and maintained by owner Casey Shufelt, is located on a 6th generation family farm. An orchard and garden, as well as a small creek and pond, are central to the property. The course wends in and out of several wooded areas, with many holes either playing into the woods from the open or vice versa. Although the course is really probably "moderately wooded" it plays more along the lines of "heavily wooded" in many places. The rough is brutally punishing towards bad shots, but fair on decently executed ones that are only slightly wayward.
- Water comes into play on three holes (#'s 4, 5, and 9). Hole #4's tee sits in the woods, with a RHBH and RHFH route available through tight gaps in the trees out into the open. The pond lurks to the right, pin sitting on the edge. Putts outside the circle force a "layup or risk being wet" decision to be made. Hole #5 shoots over the pond (kinda), a wall of trees with a few gaps to hit, a small creek, and up a slope to an open-area basket. This hole forces either a massive shot through or over the trees, or a strategic layup short of the stream. Although the pond sits to the left, the real risk of getting wet is missing a gap in the tree wall and falling into the creek.
- Elevation is used spectacularly well throughout. While Shu Pond's property does not contain any epic- level elevation, all the good stuff is used to its utmost potential. Hole #4's pin placement near the pond bank creates good risk and reward. #5's sloped green and stream create a nice "down then up" wrinkle. Hole #6 shoots off the high point of the course, past a solitary tree in the middle of the fairway, down into a heavily wooded area, basket tucked into the trees maybe 50-60'. Hole #8 is, to me, the signature hole of the course. Teeing off down a dirt road, the fairway slopes off to the right and left. Left of the road and you're left with a blind up and over out of the rough. Right of the road leaves a low-ceiling, tricky approach (perfect for rollers). Down the road leaves a good approach, but with the basket recently pushed back farther into a green surrounded by tree branches, you'll need a bit of luck to pick up a three. I kept referring to #8 as "The Sidewinder" because of the way it appears like a gigantic snake, twisting it's body back and forth. Hole #9, "The Top of The Pond" shot, shoots from the same pad as #6, only heading in the other direction. The creek is far to the left, but still in play on wayward shots. A downhill shot requires navigation around a few mature trees and good placement to have an open approach to the final basket. A large barn to the right cuts off some of the wider hyzer routes.
- The trees are used very well. Tight gaps out into the open. Tight gaps from the open into a wooded green. "Gates" through which one must execute their approach to reach the green (#'s 5 and 7). Lone guardian trees. Dark fairy tale looking pine forest. Scrubby deciduous woodland. Lots of beauty throughout the course in this regard. Casey seems to have a really good eye for picking out parts of the property with really cool trees, and maximizing the design around them. At one point it feels like a video game transition from an idyllic grassy field into a dark foreboding patch of pine.
- Amenities are scant but sufficient for a guided round. Without signage, a guide that knows the layout is a must. Bridges to cross the stream, mulch in low-laying areas, and other similar treatments make this course easily accessible for most. Tees are mixed, with the country road in front of the house serving as #1's tee. Several tees have some sort of boxed-in mulch or similar tee. A few are natural dirt/grass. They all play decently enough, with #4 and #7 being the only ones where I wish I had a bit more room to work with. The baskets are a mix of random practice baskets and homemade targets. The homemade targets incorporate old tires and actually catch reasonably well.
UPDATE: to reflect dual tees and pin positions, I bumped this course rating up .5 discs. Variety is the spice of life, and multiple Shu Pond layouts is tastysauce.
Cons:
- Occasionally the course does not reward good shots. #8's green and right-side of the fairway being the most glaring example. A great drive on that hole would time and time again lead to almost no look at birdie and sometimes wouldn't even result in par, due to the low-hanging branches preventing a clean look at the basket.
- A lack of signage is understandable, but would go a long way to making this course more presentable and professional looking. Not necessarily detailed maps; but something uniform and clean looking.
- The tees, while serviceable, were probably the main drawback to this otherwise fine course. Tee areas could be widened/cleaned-up just a bit more than they were. Large groups would have a tough time squeezing into some of the tee areas.
- Mosquitoes. Ho boy. Bring bug spray. If you're from the immediate area, you already know what's up. If not, this course is basically unplayable without spray. That said, what Midwest course doesn't struggle with skeeters from time-to-time? More of a public service announcement than a true con.
- The course heavily favors a RHFH approach, although there's enough variety to keep it from being every single shot. Hole #'s 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, and 8 all favor RHFH to some degree, with #'s 1, 2, and 6 being the most egregious offenders.
Other Thoughts:
- To the right of #8's tee, off the fairway, is what I can only describe as a "dead hooker pile." Old mattresses, ashes, and random rusty junk: that screams "dead hooker pile" to me. Stay out of the dead hooker pile unless you're jonseing for a hybrid case of lockjaw-syphilis.
- I kept circling around and playing again. Every time through I thought, "I can score better than that." Every time I got roughed up again. And I kept wanting more. There's no real "signature" hole out here...in some respects they are ALL signature holes, with #1 perhaps being the weakest of the nine. Hole #'s 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 are all awesomesauces. This is the most epic nine hole course I've played to date. Shu Pond might be a bit rough around the edges, but it's a diamond in the rough.
- Be sure to contact Casey prior to showing up for a round here. He's a good guy and super fun to disc with, so don't be shy! Make a new friend! Say hello to Cooper the disc dog! Enjoy yourself in the small but cozy clubhouse pre- and post-round! Walk a mile in Casey's Shu, I guarantee you'll find a challenging, progressive brand of disc golf that's incredibly fun and addictive!
- UPDATE: 7/18/2022. Shu Pond has aged like fine wine, and a lot of work has gone into getting it just right. I've held back awarding a 4-disc rating to any 9-hole course for almost 12 years now. But the truth is, I haven't played a better 9-hole course in all that time, so Shu Pond truly deserves it!. 4-discs it is!