Uploaded By: gottafixit
Hole #20 (Taken 7/2010)
Hole #20 (Taken 7/2010) 
3 / 347ft. 4 / 438ft. 3 / 447ft. 4 / 518ft.
Par / Distance:
Hole #20 Basket
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Reviews: 12
Avg. Rating:
Details
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A Fantastic Layout in Amish Country 
5+ 
7/25/2010 
7/25/2010
Review By: vslaugh 
Played: 38 Reviewed: 18 Exp: 17.1 Years
This review was updated on 12/19/2010
Pros: There really are a lot of fun, high-quality holes at Roland Park. The old gems that allow you to air out your shots with a view of Lancaster County farmland were kept (even improved, at least design-wise), and the new woods holes pleasantly surprised me for how they were fun, challenging, and fair. There are even a couple really cool holes up on top of the hill that take advantage of some light density woods. The course is mostly navigable now, with "Next tee" signs in abundance and little orange flags marking your path to the next tee on many holes. (Update: most little orange flags are gone, but layout isn't terribly difficult to follow.)
The Front 9 (the old Back 9) and plays almost entirely out in the open, basically in a big gently sloping valley. A couple healthy ace runs, a couple long downhill shots, a couple Par 3.5/4 holes, and a couple holes where a pond come into play keep it interesting.
The Middle 9 (including old holes 1-3), offers two open holes before diving into the woods for the rest of your round. Save for a couple short holes and a couple Par 3.5 holes, you're basically playing a bunch of fun woods holes for the rest of the Middle 9 and the Back 9. Almost all remaining holes have a clear grass fairway (with punishing rough to the side) with one or multiple good-size throwing lanes and have some combination of elevation change, sloping fairways, and turning fairways.
I should emphasize that I really like the new holes (15-17,18-27). It's a PA woods golf dream for anyone who thrives on the hyzer flip. Hole #23 long basket approach shot is really cool with a panorama of Lancaster County farmland in the background through a row of trees. Fairways are very fair and force you to know your discs and make good shots. Fairways seem wide enough but not too wide, and there always seems to be some trouble to get into, so there's a clear risk/reward for playing aggressively. I'd guess you should see nice scoring spreads in tournament play on almost every hole.
The Front 9 (the old Back 9) and plays almost entirely out in the open, basically in a big gently sloping valley. A couple healthy ace runs, a couple long downhill shots, a couple Par 3.5/4 holes, and a couple holes where a pond come into play keep it interesting.
The Middle 9 (including old holes 1-3), offers two open holes before diving into the woods for the rest of your round. Save for a couple short holes and a couple Par 3.5 holes, you're basically playing a bunch of fun woods holes for the rest of the Middle 9 and the Back 9. Almost all remaining holes have a clear grass fairway (with punishing rough to the side) with one or multiple good-size throwing lanes and have some combination of elevation change, sloping fairways, and turning fairways.
I should emphasize that I really like the new holes (15-17,18-27). It's a PA woods golf dream for anyone who thrives on the hyzer flip. Hole #23 long basket approach shot is really cool with a panorama of Lancaster County farmland in the background through a row of trees. Fairways are very fair and force you to know your discs and make good shots. Fairways seem wide enough but not too wide, and there always seems to be some trouble to get into, so there's a clear risk/reward for playing aggressively. I'd guess you should see nice scoring spreads in tournament play on almost every hole.
Cons: The baskets aren't top-of-the line, and many of the old concrete tees need re-done and the new rubber tees are currently being installed. Informational signs are pretty much limited to the new hole numbers near the tees and on the baskets. It sounds like it's pretty much a one-man show when it comes to work there...thanks, Bill! Hopefully he'll get more support soon.
I like to see better defined Par 3s and Par 4s for the various skill levels. I think the new holes could use a little more variety in terms of length, par, and difficulty...although different tee pads and pin positions could help. The wooded section of the course could use another ace run or two, and maybe a real Par 4 just to give the course a fresher feel. It's tough to play so many Par 3/3.5s in a row without a couple good looks at the basket from the tee. (Update: this aspect looks to be improving. It'll be nice once distances and preferred blue/white/gold configurations are set.)
The new area of the park in the woods used for the disc golf course could use a little more time to get broken in.
I like to see better defined Par 3s and Par 4s for the various skill levels. I think the new holes could use a little more variety in terms of length, par, and difficulty...although different tee pads and pin positions could help. The wooded section of the course could use another ace run or two, and maybe a real Par 4 just to give the course a fresher feel. It's tough to play so many Par 3/3.5s in a row without a couple good looks at the basket from the tee. (Update: this aspect looks to be improving. It'll be nice once distances and preferred blue/white/gold configurations are set.)
The new area of the park in the woods used for the disc golf course could use a little more time to get broken in.
Other Thoughts: As the course matures, it looks like the plan is to have long/short tees and long/short baskets.
The open holes are rather unique in my experience, and the wooded holes remind me of some sort of cross between West Virginia's Seth Burton Memorial DGC and Knob Hill Park in Pittsburgh.
Each of the nine hole loops starts and ends close to the central parking area.
If you're a fan of layout, hole design, and shot-making, it's time for you to get back to Roland Park. If you care about tee/basket quality and amenities, you might want to hold off a little longer.
The open holes are rather unique in my experience, and the wooded holes remind me of some sort of cross between West Virginia's Seth Burton Memorial DGC and Knob Hill Park in Pittsburgh.
Each of the nine hole loops starts and ends close to the central parking area.
If you're a fan of layout, hole design, and shot-making, it's time for you to get back to Roland Park. If you care about tee/basket quality and amenities, you might want to hold off a little longer.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.
Report this Review Needs The Final Spit-N-Polish 
Pros:
27 holes. The long-n-wide-n-flat-n-graded rubber teepads on13-18 were excellent. Variety - about 40% of the holes are on the (wide) open side of things, another ~40% have challenging-but-generous, tree-scattered fairways found in small pockets weaving through a wood, while the remainder are on the multi-tree-length-of-hole tight-side of the spectrum. Met course POC Bill Geibel, and he was very helpful.
27 holes. The long-n-wide-n-flat-n-graded rubber teepads on13-18 were excellent. Variety - about 40% of the holes are on the (wide) open side of things, another ~40% have challenging-but-generous, tree-scattered fairways found in small pockets weaving through a wood, while the remainder are on the multi-tree-length-of-hole tight-side of the spectrum. Met course POC Bill Geibel, and he was very helpful.
Cons:
Some holes are multi-tee, some holes are multi-basket, but w/o any information, other than the hole-#, at the tees themselves, it is impossible for a visitor to know what options are available. The tees on the open front-12 are concrete, but a bit short and deteriorating, while the tees on the back-9, though marked, are a work-in-progress - some are carpet, most are dug-out pits. After finishing #27, natural walk back to car is down #19's fairway.
Some holes are multi-tee, some holes are multi-basket, but w/o any information, other than the hole-#, at the tees themselves, it is impossible for a visitor to know what options are available. The tees on the open front-12 are concrete, but a bit short and deteriorating, while the tees on the back-9, though marked, are a work-in-progress - some are carpet, most are dug-out pits. After finishing #27, natural walk back to car is down #19's fairway.
Other Thoughts:
Course initially plays in the sloping open space, with a pond, then moves into the woods and tracks/paths, of a large public park. The first 12 holes are mostly open, but have some type (change of elevation, hedgerow, water, a few trees) of challenge to the hole. Holes 13-18 are wooded throughout, some thickly, some along the sides with scattered trees at various points, minor elevation changes, relatively tight. The new holes are 19-27 (actually, 19 is an old basket but approached from the opposite direction than previously). The remainder play similarly to each other - grassy fairways surrounded by trees and brush, gentler elevation changes, fair blend of left/right/no-turning throws needed, trees causing shot-shaping early and/or middle and/or late, longer than the previous, tighter holes - very nice blend compared to the early-open and middle-tight.
On #4, the basket is up-n-over the bank of the pond, between the two rightmost trees. The pond ends at the lamppost further right, so if you want to avoid the water altogether, be right of this post. Need to re-trace your steps from basket-4 to find tee-5, which has the pond to its back and goes down to a basket in the far left corner of a field. No basket-27 the day we played, so the designer told us to play to long basket #18. Small orange flags help you navigate 19-27, but essentially 19-23 take you away from the road/parking lot/tee-1/pavilion, and 24-27 bring you back, finishing near basket-18/tee-19.
If you find yourself parking in a small gravel cul-de-sac near the pond, you'll find short tee-10 to your left. Tee-1 is actually up the hill, to the right of the pavilion, which is to the right of basket-10.
Playable, navigable, and enjoyable the day I played (7/17/10), but finishing the back nine tees and having informative tee signs throughout will certainly make this course shine.
Course initially plays in the sloping open space, with a pond, then moves into the woods and tracks/paths, of a large public park. The first 12 holes are mostly open, but have some type (change of elevation, hedgerow, water, a few trees) of challenge to the hole. Holes 13-18 are wooded throughout, some thickly, some along the sides with scattered trees at various points, minor elevation changes, relatively tight. The new holes are 19-27 (actually, 19 is an old basket but approached from the opposite direction than previously). The remainder play similarly to each other - grassy fairways surrounded by trees and brush, gentler elevation changes, fair blend of left/right/no-turning throws needed, trees causing shot-shaping early and/or middle and/or late, longer than the previous, tighter holes - very nice blend compared to the early-open and middle-tight.
On #4, the basket is up-n-over the bank of the pond, between the two rightmost trees. The pond ends at the lamppost further right, so if you want to avoid the water altogether, be right of this post. Need to re-trace your steps from basket-4 to find tee-5, which has the pond to its back and goes down to a basket in the far left corner of a field. No basket-27 the day we played, so the designer told us to play to long basket #18. Small orange flags help you navigate 19-27, but essentially 19-23 take you away from the road/parking lot/tee-1/pavilion, and 24-27 bring you back, finishing near basket-18/tee-19.
If you find yourself parking in a small gravel cul-de-sac near the pond, you'll find short tee-10 to your left. Tee-1 is actually up the hill, to the right of the pavilion, which is to the right of basket-10.
Playable, navigable, and enjoyable the day I played (7/17/10), but finishing the back nine tees and having informative tee signs throughout will certainly make this course shine.
7 of 7 people found this review helpful.
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