Simpsonville, SC

The Gospel DISCovery

2.135(based on 4 reviews)
Filter course reviews

Filter reviews

Filter reviews

The Gospel DISCovery reviews

Filter
9 0
sjutton
Experience: 3.8 years 25 played 9 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Fun local beginner course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Mar 5, 2022 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

From a beginner perspective, (updated 7/2022)
- Good signage.
- Holes 5-6 are wooded, 7 has a tunnel shot out of the woods. The other holes are open or mostly open.
- Variety: As a chill new player I personally liked the gimmicks such as the "Island" hole 1, Mando on hole 3, etc. The #8 tall basket drives me nuts cause I can't putt.
- Hard to lose a disc, especially in winter
- Holes 5-7 will test beginners accuracy off the tee due to trees (mid/putter shots)
- The OB areas on 1 and 9 will also challenge.
- Longer throwers will find some challenge on the black tees, specifically holes 1-3.

Cons:

- Not all tee pads are concrete, yet, but the course creator is making improvements as funds are made available.
- The rough will get thick in summer and is good at hiding those inaccurate throws (fire ants abound).
- Holes 5, 6 and the 7 tee will get "mucky" after heavy rains.
- Long drivers will not find a lot of challenge on the green tees, but for most beginners several holes are long enough to pull out a driver.
- Only 9 baskets, though you can play 18 holes by using short (green)/long (black) tees. The shorter green tee's will allow most beginners to get birdie chances on accurate short shots.

Other Thoughts:

- The longer black tee on #1 is on the parking lot framed by black tape. Typically, no one parks on it, but it's possible. You'll need an accurate drive of close to 300 to reach the "island" for any chance at birdie here.
- This course is designed for outreach to the community, so you'll get some "Christianity 101" consisting of short Bible messages on each hole sign.
- Is it a "destination" course, you'll want to drive 1 hour to play? Probably not.
- That being said, I think this course is plenty of fun for the locals in the area. I think the course designer did a great job, reflecting a heart of love for young players and disc golfers of all stripes.
Was this review helpful? Yes No
16 0
DiscGolfCraig
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 20.4 years 622 played 569 reviews
1.50 star(s)

No DISCord. No DISContent. No DISCredit. No DISCouragement. Just a DISCussion. 2+ years

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Oct 23, 2020 Played the course:once

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.
Was this review helpful? Yes No
4 8
Puckstopper
Silver level trusted reviewer
Experience: 23.4 years 36 played 36 reviews
0.00 star(s)

5 year olds will score well here 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 27, 2020 Played the course:once

Pros:

Literally nothing. This course is a waste of time, effort and resources.

Cons:

Gimmicky holes, preachy tee signs and more absurdly forced shots that y'all can shake a gol' darn stick at!

Other Thoughts:

I admit, I should have done more research that seeing a 3.9 rating on uDisc and a 4.0 here and having high expectations, but that's just what I did. Then I arrived and realized that this course was most definitely NOT going to be the sort of challenging, fun round I expect from a highly rated course. Things got worse when I arrived at the first tee sign and was greeted with scripture! I'm neither pro nor anti religion, but I really prefer to keep my faith personal and not have it pushed on me. So, we're not off to a great start already. Then.....

Then I looked at the rest of the tee sign and see that I'm throwing to a fake island green. I despise artificial obstacles, but ok, there wouldn't be much to this hole without it and I can just ignore "The Law" (corny hole name) and play how I want since I very much doubt Jesus will smite me if I don't take a penalty stroke.

Rounding out the gimmicks are the "crown of thorns" around hole 2, the pearly gate you have to pass through to get to hole 3 and the really poor hole placement requiring much of hole 9 to be OB.

If you like arbitrary gimmicks, preachy tee signs and a complete lack of challenge, well then by gum c'mon down the Gospel DISCovery! If you want to play a round with my next time I'm in town for work, c'mon over to any other course in town, 'cause by God I'll never play this one again!
Was this review helpful? Yes No
4 8
THEGOSPELDISCovery
Experience: 4.4 years 1 played 1 reviews
4.00 star(s)

Fun - Technical - Outreach 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 22, 2020 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Has different obstacles / Mandos / Islands not seen at other courses in area.

Mix of open and wooded shots.

Cons:

Short course, all par threes.

Other Thoughts:

Lots of thought went into the layout and design of course. Have not see something like this.. Mix of fun, technical and missions. It is on a church grounds and used as outreach to community.
Was this review helpful? Yes No
Top