Powhatan, VA

The Monster @ Fighting Creek

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2.735(based on 22 reviews)
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9 0
lee76007
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 4.5 years 113 played 110 reviews
3.50 star(s)

A Monster of Variety

Reviewed: Played on:Dec 20, 2021 Played the course:once

Pros:

-An 18-hole course with a variety of heavy woods, open fairways, pipeline fairways, a water carry, hidden gapped fairways, transitional fairways woods to open and open to woods, elevation, gap tee play, and a creek comes into play.

-There are 2 tee pads, and 1 basket placement. A variety of par 5's, 4's, and 3's, requiring technical shots.

-This is the first review in almost six years. The course has been realigned and reshaped significantly since then and would seem to be much improved. It looks like there was a previous realignment 10-12 years ago. IMO the overall DGCR rating no longer represents the course.

-There are elevated tees high above fairway, tees to a straight up hill fairway, and a variety of in-betweens.

-Majority of the holes have outstanding basket placements whether guardian trees, roller greens, fast level greens, placed hidden in tree lines, protected by water whether a pond or creek, and elevated greens. #17 green ranks in my top 50.

-The closing holes 13 thru 18 ranks in my top 10 with variety, and difficulty from the long tees which I played.

-Most of the holes in the foliage months would be scenic, specifically in the woods, and the creek holes.

-Navigation is clockwise, there is some help with white and blue flags marking a dogleg to a basket which I didn't notice until hole 9. Between 9 basket to 10 tee flags marking the trail for the long transition. UDisc would be needed on the course.

-From the bag on the tee a wide range of fairways and drivers. On approaches a variety of discs putter, mid's, fairways, and drivers. I wore out my underworld on turnovers, and at the time I had a Champion Leopard for fades on approaches for hard-to-reach baskets.

-Beginners and Recreation from the short tees you'll find extreme difficulty. Intermediate and Advanced will find the course very challenging and a joy!

Cons:

-The tee pads are bad!! There is carpet that is just a thin rag and wore out. Underneath uneven dirt or a hard clog. When I played it had rained the day before with an overnight below freezing, teeing off still below freezing and some tees were a solid block of ice. Some open tees are on a slope making it even worse to stay on. I found myself moving significantly away where I altered the intended line. I would think the dirt after a heavy rain would turn into a mud quarry on the tees.

-All tee signs are missing except for one which was heavily damaged and unreadable. Perhaps they were removed after the most recent realignment? Just a few bare posts remained. You'll need UDisc for all course information.

-The tee pads and tee signs as a combination brings down the overall disc course experience especially with no navigation help.

-There are several pipeline holes (gas lines) are going to look repetitive from the tee, but those basket placements are going to make up for it.

-The white and blue flags I mentioned to mark the turn of a dogleg pointing to a basket placement are very small and barely off the ground not seen until hole 9. Its possible I missed them on previous holes just not seen. Only noticed them on a few other holes afterwards.

-Its at least a 500-foot walk from basket 9 to long tee 10. Starting from the woods where a trail with a ribbon of those blue and white flags will guide you to an opening then they stop to an open trail. Do I go uphill or downhill? It was a comical moment, pull out UDisc hang a right downhill.

-Loss of Disc is going to be high whether involving water, heavy woods, and blind shots.

Other Thoughts:

The Monster@ Fighting Creek, yes, it is, I found the long tees to be a fun monster! From the first elevated tee to the 18th sloping downward fairway a variety of very difficult holes, and a grinding challenge which I look for in a course. Even the repetitive pipeline holes without tee sign help, I made it a game to guess which side of the fairway into the woods the basket was tucked into scanning the fairway. IMO the course layout by itself is a solid 5.0, but it gets dragged down by the course experience. My biggest personnel con are those tee pads with any type of moisture you may find some of them unplayable. If I play the course again, and I hope too, it will be after at least a week of a dry period and some tees are likely to still be uneven, the carpet is only good for marking the tee location. The tee signs I'm good without as long as UDisc is accurate.

My overall course rating is an exceptional layout especially from the longs tees and the variety that is offered hole to hole, and well-placed baskets is anchored on a 5.0. The time to play was 95 minutes.

"As played from the long tees"

The Pipeline Holes:

These were open tee to open fairways with heavy woods on each side and some holes with a hidden creek, baskets were hidden in the woods and not viewed from the tees.

-No. 6 Par 3 at 429 feet the basket is hooked into heavy woods on the left. the gap is only about 30 feet wide a 90-degree angle with guardian trees. The green drops into the creek about 15 feet past basket and not seen from tee or a fairway approach.

-No. 9 Par 5 at 663 feet the basket is also hooked at a 90-degree angle on the right in a moderately wooded setting with a 30-foot gap. A roller green into a creek about 100-feet away.

Notable Holes:

-No. 1 Par 5 at 463 feet is an elevated tee of about 30 feet passing over a ravine with a creek, short tees, and tall thick pine trees to a landing are on the fairway just slightly less elevated than the tee at about 300 feet away, and at that mark a 90-degree dogleg left. There are several pine trees in the middle of the fairway with gaps that seemed less than 10 feet and smaller all the way past the creek which is about 220 feet away but a cleanly passed disc thru the trees will give a memorable flight. The fairway all the way to the basket is bordered by heavy trees and brush with high lost disc potential. The basket sits a little elevated from the dogleg with tree guardians. For an opening hole very intimidating, after a 2 ½ hour car ride and below freezing temps had to talk myself to stay on the long tee, I deflected off one of the fairway trees but over the creek.

-No. 13 Par 4 at 523 feet is a tee out of a wooded gap to an open roller fairway and green. The open portion of the fairway is behind a ballfield and the only hole with a park atmosphere to it. From the wooded setting of the tee your disc will cross a dirt road just 30 feet out and will need to hit a tree line gap at about 170 feet out and 30 feet wide, from that point into the open with a lazy dogleg right and a sloping fairway left to right. The biggest drop in the fairway is just 100 feet past the gap, and a disc can skip or roll at least 100 feet away from basket. The basket sits behind the outfield fence, and a green roller of 100 feet if the grass is kept short. The fairway and basket are not seen from the tee. I hit the gap, but my disc selection had me skipping in the wrong direction away from the basket.

-No. 14 Par 3 at 231 feet an open hole over a pond with heavy brush down the steep banks, the water carry is about 225 feet. The green is short in length from the tee at 12 feet with a steep drop behind the basket into heavy brush could roll 100 feet, from the tee the width of the green is plenty, attacking the basket is risky since the hole has heavy lost disc potential. However, there is a service road to the left of the pond to bailout and no tee sign to tell me if its O.B. I took the bailout basket high and very carefully laid up to the basket.

No. 17 Par 3 at 375 feet is a meandering dogleg right that could look like its straight to the basket. The hole starts level with heavy trees bordering the fairway and a scattering of trees in the fairway offering a narrow gap no bigger than 15 feet to the basket. You'll really have to work the disc to reach the basket. As you approach C2 the fairway starts dipping to the basket. The feature of the hole is the C1 green with the basket sitting on a crown with a triangle shape, a small brook has worked its way around the triangle, and the water is within C1. The water was just a few inches when I played, but the brook can hold a few feet. There're also a few skinnies protecting the basket. Very scenic green, after two tree hits, I decked to layup to the basket and take my bogey.

Signature Hole:

-No. 10 Par 4 at 570 feet is a double lazy dog leg left from tee to basket. The hole stays level until within C2 where the basket is perched on a hill about 15 feet up left side of fairway. From the tee you're shooting out of a gap with plenty of width, but don't want a wayward disc there's heavy brush. The first dogleg is past the shorts at about 200 feet and need to work the disc left to avoid the heavy brush and creek at about 260 feet out. The second dogleg left is another 200 feet and can work the disc left to get up on green or can stay to the right of the basket area for a safe approach. Between the two landing areas the hill to the left bulges into the fairway and the creek from the right giving the shape of an hourglass. Heavy trees and brush both sides. The basket sits on top of the hill middle left fairway on the edge of the hill right and a drop back to the fairway rolling towards the creek about 150 feet away. There're also guardian trees in front and left of basket. Best place to be is left of basket as close as you can because you're putting towards the hill drop. Just a beautiful hole setting, this hole I managed to do it right.

Trouble Hole:

No. 15 Par 3 at 324 feet a 90-degree dogleg left at the short tees 110 feet away with a steep drop-down fairway, a set of wooden steps will help get you down to the lower portion of the fairway. The tee sits on the dam for the pond that you crossed on 14, and very narrow. Water to the right no big deal, you're going left with heavy brush and trees, nothing can be seen it's a blind shot after passing dogleg left, miss the dogleg straight heavy trees and brush happy disc looking. The gap at the dogleg is about 30 feet wide with tall trees at the bottom of the hill and the canopy hangs out over the dogleg. To the basket the gap maintains its pace to a down slope fairway reaching the basket with guardian trees, the creek is within C1. Beautiful setting when peering down from the top of hill at the dogleg, but basket not seen because of canopy, looks like you're getting ready to enter the bat cave. When I checked UDisc for the hole layout I decided to walk down to the gap, I looked down the bat cave and back at the tee and thought WTH I maybe saying good by to a disc. Pulled out a beat up Pink Thunderbird and threw a high arching anhyzer (lefty) and heard tree crash as in canopy, and after a short look on the lower portion manage to put my disc back in the bag.

I hope you enjoyed this Monster Review.







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2 2
jsemales
Experience: 19.8 years 91 played 39 reviews
2.00 star(s)

Good, but could be better 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Sep 9, 2016 Played the course:once

Pros:

It's a course that somebody built so it's nice to see in the area. There's a lot of land involved so there's plenty of opportunity to throw some bombs.

That's about it.

Cons:

The tees are hard to find, the overgrowth is out of control, the woods are full of briars, prickers, thorns, ticks, and unhappiness. The answer to every puzzle at every hole is power. Don't end up in the woods, it's not worth it, don't even try.

Other Thoughts:

Get out and give it a run, bring long pants, warm your arm up really well, otherwise it'll be a painful day after.
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1 2
RedElectricDragon
Experience: 1 played 1 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Fun course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 24, 2014 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

Very long course. A nice variety of shots after the 1st nine.

Cons:

Signage should be numbered with the hole numbers. In some places there are multiple unmarked arrows pointing to different tees. Some of the tee signs are broken.

Other Thoughts:

No one wants to talk about hole 10? The tee is behind a baseball field and is hard to find. You have to avoid two huge hazards and the fairway is very small. Need some serious control teeing off here.
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3 1
KniceZ
Experience: 13.1 years 104 played 15 reviews
2.50 star(s)

Quick Comment 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 23, 2013 Played the course:once

Other Thoughts:

Maybe I shouldn't even post a review since I didn't play the course but didn't know where else to provide feedback.

Stopped by twice to play the course but didn't find the starting point the first time (it's not by the library as was described. (I just updated the directions) Keep going to the next parking parking area and you'll see the sign posted in the pics.

Second time we found the starting point but when the wife saw she had to wade through knee deep weeds just to get to the first tee she was less than thrilled. When I waded through and looked at hole #1 it took 10 minues to figure out the basket location. We looked around just to check out holes 9,10 & 11. Never found #10 pad.

A map posted at the beginning of the course would be VERY useful since nothing is posed on here and the posted scorecard is apparently from the older layout and incorrect.

Looks like it could be interesting but I saw no-one playing the course. Needs a lot of work. I gave it only a 2.5 just because I saw no real reason to come back.
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2 3
Auto
Experience: 18 played 6 reviews
3.00 star(s)

The monster it is. 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jan 11, 2013 Played the course:once

Pros:

Decent signs, left to rght mixture of holes. Decent elevation holes.

Cons:

Natural tees are caked in mud and has a piece of carpet to keep your footing. Tee boxes are missing a lot of markers, some of the holes have been altered for the footage.No clear route to take on several holes.

Other Thoughts:

It is always nice to play new courses. A little more TLC and few more lanes this course could really have something. I just felt like I was playing the same hole several times with a long drive and then another long drive for an upshot. It felt like an open driving range then the basket would be tucked away in the woods for a putt.
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4 10
blackmamba5490
Experience: 11.9 years 51 played 9 reviews
3.50 star(s)

What a Pleasant suprise! 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Jan 7, 2013 Played the course:once

Pros:

Long holes
Clear signs detailing where the baskets are for both the long and short tees
A great mixture of long open holes and tightly wooded holes
Carpet tee pads

Cons:

Lots of walking
40 miles from where i reside
A little confusing finding the next holes
score card for this course is wrong ( holes are in different places than what it says)

Other Thoughts:

I have avoided this course because of the bad reviews but i gave it a shot anyway and WOW AM I GLAD I DID! Its got two separate thousand foot par 5's and a lot of hills to climb but i love courses with diversity and this one has got it.I highly recommend this course to anyone who wants to get a workout and play a jewel of a course!
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4 0
DUBONE
Experience: 14.2 years 11 played 1 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Course updates are awesome! 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Dec 19, 2012 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

The new updated course plays so much better than before, the tee boxes seem a little nicer as well. Directional arrows in the trees help out for easy navigation as well as map boxes on each hole. This was my 4th time playing here and the first 3 were not so good, but the new updates to the course made it worth while. I will be going back =)

Cons:

The only con I can think of is a few of the wooded holes have too many trees on them and I also had to jump across the creek a couple of times because there are no bridges.

Other Thoughts:

This is a very long course but there are benches and picnic tables along the way if you need a break.
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4 1
ChuckDiscs
Experience: 15.9 years 31 played 2 reviews
2.50 star(s)

2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 17, 2012 Played the course:once

Pros:

One of the longest courses in Virginia if you play from the longs. The hole placements are decent and vary in difficulty. They have drawn maps at each hole (the long pads) to show you the length of hole and where the basket location is. White arrows on trees to point you in the direction of the next hole.

Cons:

Poorly kept, the grass needs to be cut and the short tee pads are in desperate need of attention The pads are a bit small and are what seems to be carpet with crush rock underneath. Which is fine but most of the AM pads are, in my opinion, a little on the small side width wise.

Other Thoughts:

The back 9 was the most memorable for me. There was 4 of us that played and we all seemed to enjoy ourselves. With a little better upkeep and maybe better maps or directions to get to the next hole this course would get a higher rating from me.
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10 0
nygfaninva
Silver level trusted reviewer
Experience: 16.1 years 38 played 36 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Better than advertised 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Mar 10, 2012 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

Challenging course. Nice innova baskets. Good mix of open and wooded holes. Great use of elevation changes! Rubber tees with nice signs on long tees. Nice library at the first hole and practice basket with restroom when open.

Cons:

Long! Not that that in and of itself is a con, but players need to be warned. Long doesn't cover it, LOL. Shorts are poorly marked, no tees or signs for shorts, only pink wooden markers in the ground. very hard to see, let alone find at all. On most courses this isn't a problem because the shorts aren't too far off from the longs, but not at The Monster. The map will help, but it's still a nightmare if you play here for the first time. Try and meet up with someone who knows the place or a long day will turn into an all day event for one round!

Other Thoughts:

After reading all the negative reviews I was expecting far worse. The Monster lived up to its name and was overall a good course. While not for the beginner, if you have played for a while it will be tough but not impossible to complete and maybe par. If both sets of tees were marked with pads and signage it would make for a much better time, as finding your way around would be much easier. Overall I enjoyed my day at The Monster and would return, but with a little tweaking and additions of pads and signs for both tees, this could be a premiere course.

Note: Hole #7 over 1000 feet with left and right hand turns the whole way to the basket was an amazing challenge!

Played at the very end of winter and couldn't imagine playing in the summer with all the growth in full bloom. Discs would vanish into the brush with little effort.

If you get lost at any time, look around you for trees or the ground marked in pink. That will get you headed in the right direction. You will either be headed toward the basket or the next tee. It is really helpful.
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15 0
jaymon1
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 22.8 years 86 played 85 reviews
2.50 star(s)

Long, Wooded, Distinct Challenge 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:May 28, 2011 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

Length, quiet, exercise

Cons:

Length, hard to find tees

Other Thoughts:

There's no course quite like The Monster at Fighting Creek. The long holes along wide pipeline easements, the long walk for the whole course, and the choice of pink to mark all tees are all distinctive features you won't find on any other Central Virginia course. To make the best of your time on this course, you'll need to bring your straightest long range driver, bring your best long game, and be long on patience to find the tees and follow the course all the way through to the end.

Nine of the first 10 holes at Fighting Creek follow the same pattern as #1; if you're playing the longs, find the pink markers set flush in the ground that show the hole (1L). If you're playing the shorts, continue along staring intently at the ground, until you find the pink markers that say (1S) or maybe just some unmarked pink boards, or maybe only some shards of pink wood. Stare down the 30-40 foot wide right-of-way with thick woods on either side, and throw your straight long range driver as far as you can, focusing on simply staying in the easement. Hole #1, and others, may play around a bend, or up a small hill, but otherwise that's the approach, except for the one hole that's mostly in the woods, is a good bit shorter, and has little to no discernable fairway. Most of these holes are bona fide par 4s and 5s, especially from the longer, much better marked tees.

#11 starts a short run of different holes; open shot to a basket set alongside a hill, downhill shorter shot to a basket placed precariously between a retention pond and sharp drop-off, and the a tee right on the same drop-off down to a basket placed back in the woods along a stream. Then from #14 on the holes are maybe not quite as long, but still longer than average, and are pretty much so in the woods, with fairways ranging from pretty well wooded to what some might consider unreasonable.

Even with a map, finding all the tees at this course is a challenge. Playing the longs is a good bit easier in this regard; while the markers are set flush in the ground, most (but not all) were there the times I've been out to this course. A few of these tees have carpet pads, but most are just natural. Even with the map, finding the short tees can be a challenge; some are marked as well as the longs, some have just a bit of pink marker or a flag to indicate their location, most can only be found with careful searching along the ground, and some might not be there at all. If by chance the grass ever got long here, finding the tees, long and short, would be nigh on impossible.

Fighting Creek is one of those courses that might provoke a wide range of opinions. If distance is the strength of your game, you come with a map and a lot of patience or play a round with some locals (though judging by the unworn state of the teepads, I'm not sure this course has many locals), enjoy long walks in non-distinct but quiet woods, and play on a nice day in fall or spring, then you might really enjoy the course. If you have more of a touch game, like well marked, well played courses in city or state parks, get tired of simply chucking it as far as you can for a bunch of holes in a row, or conversely have a low tolerance for wooded courses, or play on a hot buggy day, well Fighting Creek might not be for you. I've rated it Decent/Typical but really it's anything but Typical. Rather, it's a course of extremes; part frustrating and aggravating, but part interesting and challenging in a way most courses are not.
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9 0
mandingo.chupacabra
Experience: 45.7 years 131 played 2 reviews
2.50 star(s)

meh 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Aug 15, 2010 Played the course:once

Pros:

People went to the effort to build a course that has a well defined sense of self. (This course is meant to be demanding, and it doesn't back down from that on any hole)
...So Kudos to Them!

The complaints about it being difficult to navigate are not really valid. There are problems, but it is not any worse than a run of the mill course.

Holes 11 through 13 are real standout holes. Very well done. When the designers had real options on where to put holes they made good decisions

Cons:

The wooded holes are like Iron Hill, minus the fairways.

The course does not engage your brain. When you are standing on the tee trying to figure out how to get to the pin the answer is almost always power. When the answer is not power it's prayer.

(Some of this is because of the geography. Most of the open holes are down very long easements cut by the county so there are only so many options.)

Portions of the course smell like roadkill raccoon slow roasting over charcoal briquettes made of processed pig poop. That's not really a knock on the course, because you have to work with what's available, but if you have a delicate constitution you should play Bryan instead.

Other Thoughts:

My review may come off as being negative, but on the whole the course makes for a mediocre round of disc golf.

The fact is this course isn't much different than a pitch and putt course, it's just longer.

Given the layout I would have liked to see something on the order of 18 open holes followed by 9 wooded holes (there seems to be space to fit that in), but that is something of a nit-pick.

There are problems with the course, but this is a good start and with a few tweaks over time this could become something special.
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7 2
Bamm
Experience: 13.9 years 113 played 14 reviews
0.50 star(s)

The Monster@Fighting Creek 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 19, 2010 Played the course:once

Pros:

Good parking and a practice basket.

Cons:

Where do I start? The amateur tees were almost non-existent they were so hard to find. Need tee signs. If you're not a long straight thrower, you're in for a long, hot, tick infested, sewer smelling day where more time is spent in the woods than in the fairway. And it's not just "woods" it's briars, and thick, dense stuff. Honestly, it was just misery. Grass was high in the "fairways" and some holes were marked (or not marked, as it was) so badly that we misplayed them completely. Even the guys in our group with solid playing experience were at a loss on how this course played. Too many other courses nearby that i'll be more than happy to drive and play than go here and it's in my backyard. (10 miles).

Other Thoughts:

They told me it was long. But I thought "cool" long, not "are you kidding me" long. I will leave you with this picture and be glad this review is not in "smellomatic".... Sewer lines. Stinking, no, reeking sewer lines on a hot summer day..... Good try guys, but I just have to say "no".....
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7 1
w8nforhim
Experience: 15.2 years 75 played 20 reviews
1.00 star(s)

2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 14, 2010 Played the course:once

Pros:

The course was definitely a challenge, for beginners as well as pros. the one upside to the course was that it definitely gives you practice on your long game. Also no one else was there on a Saturday morning when most courses would be packed. But there was a reason for this.

Cons:

The course was honestly horrible. I went into it very excited as it is the longest course in Virginia. unfortunately it did not live up to my expectations. The first problem I had with th course was the poor marking of tee sights. Most of the open holes were not marked or the brush had overgrown the gravel.

secondly, the course runs over top a sewer system, with pipes breaking the surface occasionally. The smell was overpowering at times.

For beginners this course will probably be too much. the first ten holes are almost all long straight away ending in a dog leg, but each side is lined with thick woods. Much of your time will probably be spent searching for your disc in tick infested woods.

Other Thoughts:

For these and many other reasons I do not recommend this course. If you do choose to play it, you will need to take a printout of the course or a internet enabled phone as the course layout is hard to follow and there are no markers pointing to the next tee. Therefore, you may want to play through this course.
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2 2
Tom.Jones
Experience: 14 years 9 played 4 reviews
2.00 star(s)

Long and Confusing 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:May 14, 2010 Played the course:once

Pros:

Lots of the shots were relatively open

Cons:

Ticks, High Grass, Missing/Non-existent Amateur tees, thick brush on either side of the clearings, smelled like the sewer line that is visible throughout much of the course.

Other Thoughts:

It needs more people to play it to get the fields worn down - though the map is relatively useful, it seemed as if it was made on the site plan and not what's actually in existence.

Also, there were various youth groups walking through the woods around holes 1 and 2 - hope they brought tick repellent.
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4 3
xxxvictimizerxxx
Experience: 20.8 years 12 played 9 reviews
2.50 star(s)

The Monster! 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:May 14, 2010 Played the course:once

Pros:

Long holes. Variety of shots. Open, Tight in trees. Left turns, right turns. Super long holes for those who want to test their arms.

Cons:

This might be the first course I have reviewed where the cons might outweigh the pros. Lets start off and say this course heavily favors Pros. The pro tees are much easier to find then the ams...get back to that soon. All of the pro tee boxes are also nice. there are either rubber mats, or gravel tee boxes. As far the ams go...none of the such. Some of the tees have pink tee blocks showing you where to throw from, but some are missing, or were just impossible to find.

If you aren't a great player, you might be spending a lot of time hunting for discs. We didn't lose any, but most of the fairways are lined with thick trees on both sides, so unless you can throw long and straight every time, be ready.

Also...the ticks are horrible!

And on to the course layout. The map is somewhat helpful, and impossible to navigate the course with out it, but even with it, the course is still very hard to navigate. If you are playing the pro tees, you will have a little easier of a time. The AM tees thought...which we played from, were impossible to find on some holes. We ended up just throwhing from the Pro tees on some holes or just making up our own starting blocks. But make sure you print out the map! Impossible without it!


Oh, and the grass is over a foot tall on most of the open holes.

Other Thoughts:

I think the cons some it up. This course has potential. There are a lot of fun holes, but it does not have enough players playing this course to ware down on the trail and to make the paths visible

Summing it up.

Mow the grass!
Put up signs on each hole.
Make better amateur tees!.

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7 2
DWill
Silver level trusted reviewer
Experience: 45.8 years 322 played 45 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Raw Monster 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Apr 23, 2010 Played the course:once

Pros:

Dual tees, where the long tees are really long, so big arms should love them. There is a good mix of holes, some wooded, some semi wooded/open and some mostly open.

Elevation is used very effectively, seldom are you not throwing up or down a hill or slope. Nice basket placements, optimizing the maximum difficult available.

Though, there are no next tee signs, there are pink spots on nearby trees to aid in course navigation. Course map is very good and a must to navigate the course, so make sure you have one before playing.

Plenty of parking, with bathrooms available next door in the library.

Cons:

Finding tees, especially the short tees is very difficult, if not impossible, without the course map. There were a few short tees I still couldn't find. A little confusing finding #13.

Since some of the holes are very long, and you must throw through some tight blind fairways, without a spotter, losing a disc is a good possibility.

Other Thoughts:

This course still has that raw feel to it. The last 4 holes are very wooded and tight, and probably need some more thinning out to make them more reasonable.

From the short tees, there are only a few deuce holes, so if you are looking for a pitch and putt course, this isn't for you.

Better identification markers for the tees would make this course so much easier to navigate. As the course matures, this would improve the enjoyment of playing this course.
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9 0
optidiscic
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 21.8 years 156 played 147 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Huge Monster Lives up to it's title 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Mar 18, 2010 Played the course:once

Pros:

Most courses you want to know if you might lose a disc or two...this is the first course where I lost my arm. Yes be sure to sharpie your name and number on your throwing arm as you too may lose it on this enormous big arm course. I found a few arms lying in the retention basin on hole 12 and a few off to the side near 652 ft uphill #6 and surprisingly a few just left in the middle of the 1087 ft fairway of hole 7. Seems the Monster likes the taste of weenie arms as much as plastic. So be prepared this is a course for those with stronger arms.....A real game changer...the first 10 holes are unlike any DG experience I have ever had prior. Combining massive length with enormously wide but well defined fairways through dense woods. These holes are all routed atop an enormous pipeline system that must be visible from outerspace via satelite, so the fairways are wide and every branch from the ground to treetop is cut so there is zero overhang here. What you are left with are 10 low cut grassy fairways that are between 70 ft and 130 ft wide and avg 600 feet in length with massive hardwoods towering but not impinging the defined lanes. These 10 holes are massive and often dogleg and change direction. The sheer size of the holes make's one feel as though they are riding a moped on an airstrip...as in feeling miniature and meek as you drive, drive and drive again. The fairways are more than ample but given the great distances I found myself often fading or turning into those thick schule filled woods and had to pitch out and drive again.I would imagine this is a big arm player's dream course though as there is no where else that I have played with such a unique and big arm tempting look. 2 holes had intersections (7 & 9) where you could easily overthrow and go through the hyzer intersection and would have to drive back and anhyzer back to fairway. A unique feature that I have often envisioned and am glad to have seen it finally. (yeah I missed the hyzer both times and had to reverse re-drive both holes with anhyzers) Once your out of the craziness of the monstrous fairways it's off to 2 great more traditional field holes 11 shoots out of some small woods over a wide open field to a sloped green and 12 fires over a road and around some trees over a retention basin to a fast green. After that the course dives into the woods on 13 which is fun and from there its a smattering of tight technical holes where you will escape the bigness of the beast but have to deal with the shorter but equally tough and tighter woods golf until you finish your day. There are multiple tees and plenty of parking and a practice basket available. Course flows intuitively so lack of tee signs not too much of a problem. Map and info is available online and is quite sufficient. Follow the purple markings...they are everywhere. Some unique features of this course besides the superhero size of those 10 early holes are the raised basket and fast green of hole 1...the across the road bomb to start hole 2. The uphill struggle of hole 6. The dive into the woods of hole 13. The guarded basket of hole 15, surrounded by trees and a moat and the tight downhill drive of 16.

Cons:

It's really too much of the same thing for 9 of the first 10 holes...massive drives with little room for error considering the length required. I would have scored better if I had tried to control my drives and keep them straight and low but it's hard to not try to unleash the drive of your life once you see these amazing fairways. As wonderful as the fairways were for the front 10..only once did the repetition cease. #5 was the only woodsy break from the sheer distance madness. NO ace runs anywhere on this course. The long holes are too long and the woods are too technical so I would imagine birdies and aces are quite rare. Sloppy tees and lacking in signs as of spring 2010 (I don't care but many require this) I think some better greens for the big arm holes..maybe a raised basket or a scenic green with some more options upon approach would add something that seemed to be lacking. As for the final 5 holes...they need to be thinned out a bit to really be considered fair or realistic. Just too extreme even by Paw PAw and East Coast Standards. It's new so it's raw and I imagine these complaints will remedy in time.

Other Thoughts:

I think one day this will be a great tournament course. I would love to see big arm pros throw down those monstrous fairways. If you find my arm in the woods somewhere near the fairway for 15 please contact me on DGCR. I really don't think anyone would want to use it for themselves especially after the abuse it received here.
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gottafixit
Silver level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 21 years 861 played 68 reviews
3.00 star(s)

The Pink monster 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Mar 7, 2010 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

- Dual tees
- Longs have gravel or rubber mats
- Good variety
- Long arms welcomed
- Practice Basket
- Painted basket rungs and trees aid in navigation.
- Parking is near tee 1 and the course loops you back to the start.
- Park has other amenities for kids.

Cons:

- Tees have no distance marked on them and are only marked with flush arrow boards, shorts easy to miss or not found on 10,12, and 18
- Fairways on wooded holes are extremely heavily wooded
- Mats used at long tees with gravel could be moved to short tees to aid visibility
- No kiosk with course map, or maps/scorecards to take with( in the works, funds being raised)
- Painted trees on 18 I found misleading or the fairway is that dense
- Course leaves you kinda out there after 9(it's a long course)

Other Thoughts:

I came out after I first heard about the course and played what I could find which was holes 13 through 18. I then heard a lot of buzz about the work going into the course on the local board and looked forward to getting back out to play the whole course. Well I got back out there and gave both the longs and shorts a go just to be fair.

Finding the course was much easier this time as a nice Pink sign near the practice basket welcomes you to the course. From what I had heard and/or seen I think one and two kinda got flopped or maybe just one reversed, but this made a huge difference as you can now find one's tee with no problem. On the county site they have maps and scorecards available and are planning/raising money for tee signs and a welcome station, when it goes in it will be a big help. Without a map navigation is reasonable because there is a painted rung on top of the baskets that leads to the next long tee and most fairways have some trees with paint on them to help guide you way along the fairway. I still had to check the map on my phone a few times as the short tees are hard to see(didn't find the short tees for 10,12, and 18). The long tees are gravel and/or rubber mats, and the shorts are natural. All tees are marked with flush Pink arrow boards, but there are only hole numbers listed on them. I notice a couple single Pink arrows that help point you in the right direction, but may be confused with the short tees. The course is a hike so with holes 11 and 12 playing near some of the other facilities in the park you may be able to take a break, but then 13 takes you back into the woods and 18 brings you full circle back to 1.

The course has a good mix of holes, 1,2,3,4,6,7,8,9,10,11,12 play mostly in the open along some pipeline right of ways. Holes 1,4,10,11,12 stand out for bringing trees into play somewhere along the hole and thus giving it some Challenge, hole twelve even has a retention pond to watch out for. The rest have wide enough fairways so the challenge is the length. Holes 5,13,14,15,16,17,18 are in the woods, and I mean woods. Two holes stood out 13 and 15. On 15 you have a slight uphill shot with a horseshoe at the end. On 13 you throw down a nice hill into the woods with a creek just behind the basket. 13 is the only hole I think looks noticeably different than the last time I played. All of the wood holes I hope will see a lot of work in the future as they are extremely dense and almost more luck than skill. The painted trees really help guide you in the woods but be careful on 18 as the paint spots don't seem to mark the hole correctly.

I have greatly mixed feelings about this course. There are some great holes here but the longs are too long for my taste and I don't know if some of the longer holes truly benefit from there length. Future improvements considered IMO the biggest flaw at the moment is the woods need a lot of definition; however I'm sure being as new as it is this will be overcome. I found I really liked some of the long tees and some of the short tees or that I thought there would have been a great place for a tee somewhere in between. A few things to suggest, one is move the mats to the short tees where gravel is already at the longs, two move 8s basket to the other side of the fairway and on top of the little hill, and three the short tee on 12 could be on the far side of the pond to make a short but really challenging shot. Overall it's a good course and will grow into a great one, glad to have it join the greater Richmond areas collection of courses.
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2 3
indigo
Experience: 2 played 2 reviews
2.00 star(s)

Almost Too Long 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jan 16, 2010 Played the course:once

Pros:

If you want the game to go on for a real long time, this is a good course.

Cons:

If it was just with my husband, then alright. We brought our 8 and 2 year old....Yikes! There are A Lot of little stumps, so my 2 year old kept falling down. Tee boxes were a bit confusing at first. Not too clearly marked. Basket #12.....We nicknamed it THE PIT.

Other Thoughts:

I would probably come back when it's a bit more user friendly.
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dobsonr
Bronze level trusted reviewer
Experience: 15.8 years 40 played 33 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Monster Mash 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Jan 5, 2010 Played the course:once

Pros:

The Monster, as mentioned in earlier reviews, is still very much a work in progress. I decided I had to check it out after hearing that this was the longest course in the state, and it definitely lives up to the hype - this course is loooong! I played from the short tees and it was STILL a long course. The Monster isn't just about length, though; the layout is very creative and makes great use of the land. The first 12 holes are dominated by long, rather open shots down tree-lined fairways. Nothing boring, though - lots of different doglegs, uphill drives, downhill drives, and plenty of chances for big throws.

My favorite holes here are in the middle of the course. Hole 11 is in an open field with the basket on the side of a hill. Hole 12, my personal favorite, throws from an elevated tee by the baseball field, over a road, to a basket placed dangerously close to a nasty reservoir which will be sure to claim many discs as this course grows (the long tee on 12 is great - similar shot from an elevated tee, but you have to throw through the "field goal" of trees).

Hole 13 tees off from the crest of a hill, throwing downhill and into the woods. Holes 13-18 are all wooded and require more technical shots, providing a nice relief from the big open holes. That relief doesn't last too long, though, because these holes are not easy. The wooded section of the course features mostly tight fairways with lots of small trees just waiting to get nailed with a disc.

Bonus points also awarded for having a practice basket.

Cons:

Because this course is still in the works there are several obvious cons to point out, but I'll try not to dwell on them. First of all, tee signs are a must - currently, the tees are all marked with small pavers, which can be quite difficult to find on such large fairways. I have heard that there will be signs placed at the long tees in the near future, but I would recommend (if/when the budget allows) putting signs at the short tees as well (so that they can actually be seen). For now, the best way to find the next tee is to check the top of the basket and see where the painted rung points (same system used at Bryan Park).

Eventually the course could also use a few small bridges over streams, as well as some benches sporadically placed throughout the course (I believe the only bench I saw all day was at hole 17). I noticed that the website for the course lists the lengths from the long tees - it would be nice to know the distance of the shorts as well. Par info would be good too.

Other Thoughts:

There is still work to be done before the Monster lives up to its potential. That being said, most of the cons listed above are likely to be addressed in the near future. All things considered, this is a well-designed course that will challenge even advanced players. You won't be able to play a quick round here, but don't be scared. The Monster doesn't bite.
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