Pros:
After seeing the Gospel DISCovery course originally posted on this site, I couldn't believe anyone would try to build a gimmick course. On my quest to playing every course in South Carolina, I had to check it out.
- Is 'not as bad as I expected' a compliment? That was my initial thought. Seven of the nine holes have some sort of obstacle or gimmick, but it didn't seem that extreme.
- You start out with an island hole on #1. Not so bad as I've played the island green layout plenty of times, including three more times that same day.
- What surprised me most is that I liked the tunnel mando on #3. From the long tee, it's 363 feet. And with the mando, it takes away two of the three lines. On a course with minimal other challenge, I like the added degree of difficulty.
- Course has dual tees on every hole but one. On #5, you have a singular tee; however, you have two separate mandos. How's that you ask? From one layout, you have to throw the left route of the large tree. On the other, you're throwing the route to the right of the tree. Again, this surprisingly works here. After that, the gimmicks start wearing thin.
- A solid course for beginners, casual players, or locals looking for a quick, relaxing round.
- Excellent, descriptive tee signs. Tee markers are easy to spot making for a quick, easy round.
- Good midrange course. The longest holes, with the elevation factor added is the long tee on #2. It's 347 feet and uphill.
Cons:
Too many gimmicks. Several serve no purpose whatsoever and are just forced on players.
- I don't understand the stakes around #2's basket. Sure you could hit one with your approach shot. That just means you have a 15 foot putt instead of 10.
- There's no need for a hanging basket on #6. I didn't even realize it was a hanging basket until I was lining up my putt and noticed there's no pole.
- I'll accept either the buried basket on #7 or the raised basket on #8, but not both. Again, having on consecutive holes a hanging basket, a buried basket, and a raised basket, that's too much. The only defense is that without the gimmicks, seven of nine holes are in an open field.
Other Thoughts:
The Gospel DISCovery course had some serious attention put into its effort. It's nice seeing the church use the entire back field for a disc golf course.
- It's a church course, and the church does share its vision. I didn't notice most of it until I looked back at some of my pictures afterward.
- That said, as disc golfers, we're all open-minded, respectful people. I reckon that means if you have issues with a church course promoting its message on its tee signs, you also have an issue with public courses promoting hole sponsorships, nature trail courses promoting environmental issues, or other private courses promoting their causes. We wouldn't want to be disingenuous.
- I think #3 would have been the course's best hole without the triple mando tunnel shot under the sign. Use that obstacle on one of the field holes instead and create two decent holes instead of just one.
- I played both the long and short layouts. There were plenty of birdies to be had.
- The signs around the basket can range from good, positive reminders to a deeper, more esoteric belief.
- It's a perfectly basic course for a one-time or occasional play. I wouldn't be a fan of this being in my regular rotation. I expected a bad course, instead I got a decent layout.