Gobles, MI

Timber Ridge

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sisyphus
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 12.6 years 397 played 383 reviews
4.00 star(s)

Grueling! 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 21, 2015 Played the course:once

Pros:

Having just played the temp course at Timber Ridge for Am Worlds, I thought it might be timely and helpful to throw out a quick review (even if it does help some of the folks I'm playing against: do unto others, you know...). First off: you're definitely going to want to come in rested and refreshed, bring plenty of fluids, and be prepared for some long tournament delays on holes 9, 11, 14, & possibly 9 and 16. Bring a stool, even though a cart would be difficult to drag up the hill all the times you need to 'pay the price' (holes 1, 3, 4, 5, 8! 10, 11, 13 & 15!)

The course will challenge every amateur player this week, but particularly the one aspect of your game most folks don't have a lot of experience with: controlling a steep-dropping downhill bomber. These holes are fun (you paid for it going up there!), but you'll be puzzling a little over which disc might get you the best result. It's easy to turn your drive over on 9 and glide eight or nine hunderd feet down toward the second basket (been there, done that...ugh!)

One of the dastardly tricks to this course is that it's nearly 9300 feet long, but control will absolutely be as crucial as distance. There are OB's marked, as well as deep ravines just off the fairways in many holes, where you might not have a quality shot back to the fairway. So this course is decent on the fun meter, but is really high on the challenge factor.

Memorable holes for me were the big bombers off the top of the world, but also the ravine-crossing hole 5 (don't go left), and the handful of holes where the purest tee shot will afford you a chance at a rare deuce (hole 12 comes to mind).

As a temp course, the tees are large rubber mats, generally leveled and pegged down. Baskets (I heard, donated by Discraft!) are brand new, catch well, and came with white flags for visibility. For the tournament, there are lots of volunteers out there to help spot errant throws (see below), and the ski lodge is awesome, with restrooms , food, a great warm up putting area and views of the hillside action.

Cons:

On the down side (pun intended), the temp tees are difficult on 8 (they weren't able to level it like some of the others, so it slopes steeply uphill), and the one on 13 has had some mud recently, which meant dry, slippery powder today, and it is lumpy underneath. Neither of these is conducive to a great drive on difficult holes.

The fact that they chose ski slope lines means the fairways are often ridges, with steep wooded drop offs on either side. The backups in tourney play came mostly on these, as folks who had trouble spotting, had to really do some searches, and sometimes re-throws (Big Dog was right: throw a Provisional! You're already climbing the hill a LOT). If you can help the group in front or behind do some spotting, please do!

Not necessarily a 'con', but definitely a need to know: you have some tough fairways and greens out there: don't miss long and left on 3, left and short on 5, OB (fairway) left on 6, left on the secondary fairway on 11, down the abyss on 12, mid-fairway left on 13, either side of the fairway on 14, and right of the basket, and just past the basket long on 18 (marshy pond).

Other Thoughts:

Otherwise, there's not much to complain about at Timber Ridge (well, maybe the fact that your ego may take a real bruising!): they have done an awesome amount of work clearing and getting these holes set up. Kudos to the local volunteers and tourney directors for doing what it takes to start an incredible event and a truly monstrously challenging course.
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