Pymatuning frustration

[gcoghill]

I got an itch to hit a new course today and thought I would take a fairly long drive (3 hours round-trip) out to the Pymatuning (http://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.php?id=140) course in Pennsylvania late this afternoon.

Long story short, I made it out to the course but didn't get to play. I couldn't find the tee for the first hole or any of the front nine holes. I could see baskets all around, but only tees for the back nine.

It ended up getting too dark to even consider finishing 9 so I just headed home, wasted all that gas money and time.

Curious if anyone that plays there has any suggestions for others who might want to check the course out, it was frustrating as hell. I am also curious what the course is like; the holes I could see for the back 9 just looked like baskets out in a semi-hilly grass field, wasn't all that inspiring on top of it all.

The state park itself was beautiful though, right on the lake edge. Very cool.

[timg]

MattK's review mentioned only the back 9 were complete. Looks like there hasn't been much progress in the year since he played there. The guy that runs Flying Disc Magazine is involved with that course in one way or another so he might have some answers if this thread doesn't provide the info you're looking for.

[gcoghill]

I checked out the "official" site (linked to from the course listing here on DGCR), and they mentioned a back nine/front nine so I just assumed there were 18. I defintely saw baskets marked "1" and "7", and saw plenty of tee posts with 10, 13, etc. them so it would seem they have 18 out there now - but maybe not. The sole review there does state that only the back nine is complete, but on their official page they have a course overview: http://www.flyingdiscmagazine.com/4141discgolf.com/Pymatuning/1.html and it references 18 holes.

The odd thing on that "photo tour" is that hole 2 has a temporary/portable basket... I am wondering if they have holes staked out, but no tee pads or baskets set up for the front (or not all of the front)?

The photos here on the DGCR page even start with a shot of the basket for hole 7...

Probably wasn't the best idea going out to a new course with so little time to spare. Still, I looked around for 30+ minutes and just ended up call it a day when I realized I was making no progress.

For anyone considering heading out there, I would see if you can contact someone here that can fill you in on the situation, or just plan on throwing the back nine only.

I met the Flying Disc mag guy (Rich) out at my home course (Hudson Springs (http://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.php?id=539)), and I believe he told me they had 18 out there, but I don't really remember now. I had emailed him after I had met him about playing with him out there, but never got a reply.

Anyways, heads up to the board on this course. Hopefully this post will either clear things up or save someone else the frustration.

[MattK]

Wow. It looks like they have made zero progress there in nearly a year. This is more than a little disappointing. The back nine was done when I saw it last year - complete with signs, 3 sets of rubber tees and brand new baskets. The part that was complete really seemed like a 1st class job.

The front nine however was a work in progress, with the baskets for 1,2,7,8 and 9 in place and the tees marked with temporary flags. I had hoped that it would have improved since, but the course website, along with the Pittsburgh league site have been pretty silent about it and now I know why.

[gcoghill]

Thanks MattK, that explains a lot. The back nine definitely seemed like a quality effort. Now that I know the front nine is still in progress, my experience makes more sense.