Pros:
Is it possible to retire a simple, beginner friendly layout, then years later install a new simple, beginner friendly layout, and somehow be worse?
- This might have been the most non-descript course I've played in a long time. As I write my review six days after playing, I'm at a near loss trying to remember any discernible features of the course.
- The course is entirely in the woods. It's nine straight holes of hitting narrow fairways, or hitting one of multiple lines on each hole. There's going to be a certain level of luck involved in many rounds here. A throw two feet off line is smacking a tree. A throw eight feet off line avoids said tree and ends up close to the basket.
- This is a putter course. I carried two putters. I could have cut my load by 50%.
- It's an AcePlace course, meaning it's meant for beginners. The longest hole is only 189 feet, and it's slightly downhill. This is a great spot to introduce kids to the game. When they get better, there are plenty of quality courses in the Triad.
- Holes #7 - 9 is probably the best three-hole stretch; granted, that's a low bar to clear. #7 slight downhill layout. #8 is a tight, straight shot, slightly fading to the left at the end. #9 is an uphill layout.
- Lots of birdie and ace runs. Hence, the AcePlace moniker.
Cons:
Course just seems like a weird addition to this place. Congrats on another course, but there is a table scraps vibe to the course and its location.
- When you're a course that has two simple layouts at 58 and 79 feet respectively, you're throwing away two holes. Maybe this is a sign the space is too small if these are two options.
- As part of that, not a lot of variety. You can throw around a couple trees and go slightly left, slightly right, slightly uphill, or slightly downhill.
- Signage on where to park and where the course is located should be better.
- The course itself has zero amenities. The other parts of the park have them.
Other Thoughts:
This is a very bland course. There's really not much memorable or exciting about Beth Schmidt.
- The biggest emotion I felt on this course was having to search the leaves for a disc. I thought I landed near the basket, but couldn't find my disc. After several minutes, I finally found it buried about six to eight feet from the basket.
- This would be a good course to bag an ace on. Just keep looping through the nine holes multiple times, and keep making runs at the basket, and you'll get one before too long.
- In spirit, a comparable course to this should be Fewell Park in Rock Hill, SC (around the corner from Winthrop). Fewell, however has solid variety and good flow for a short course. That's the difference between Fewell and Beth Schmidt.
- Writing this review, I felt like I was trying to remember a course from months earlier, not days. The fact this course was instantly forgettable sums up my feelings for this course.