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Branchwood DGC reviews
6
0
cbr1000derek
Experience:
69 played
5 reviews
The dog say rough
Reviewed:
Played on:Apr 21, 2024
Played the course:once
Pros:
Easy to navigate. Good signage. Well taken care of. Good baskets. Nice shot variety.
Cons:
Rough is really punishing. Walking path goes through a few fairways, not a real problem just exists.
Other Thoughts:
Course is more challenging than it first appears. Fairways are tight and with small landing zones. Someone to help watch shot landings is pretty clutch to not looking for long times or losing plastic. Not a hard course but shot placement and straight shots are important.
11
1
Could be improved to be more accessible drive by
Reviewed:
Played on:Apr 2, 2023
Played the course:once
Pros:
-Very pretty course on a repurposed golf course.
-good baskets
-easy navigation
-nice to have an ace run on holes 1 and 18
-good parking
-good baskets
-easy navigation
-nice to have an ace run on holes 1 and 18
-good parking
Cons:
This course has potential to be a 3.5-4 star course. The course starts off with a nice shot over a little ditch on hole one. It then goes literally and figuratively downhill from there.
- This course is littered with 350-400ft RHBH hyzers. All of these shots are down narrow fairways with OB on both sides. there is a pretty popular walking path that runs rights next to most of the holes. You need to be able to throw 370-400+ft with control to score on many (1/3) of these holes. This isn't a problem for the top 5% of players but the overwhelming majority of players are not reaching these baskets.
There are many uphill pads and throws uphill as well that just add to the frustration.
Everything is a PAR 3. Even the 580FT uphill around the corner shot on the back 9 that maybe Simon Lizotte could reach....maybe.
No sure why there is a random smattering of Blue baskets. The holes they are on are already very far just to reach the standard basket.
- This course is littered with 350-400ft RHBH hyzers. All of these shots are down narrow fairways with OB on both sides. there is a pretty popular walking path that runs rights next to most of the holes. You need to be able to throw 370-400+ft with control to score on many (1/3) of these holes. This isn't a problem for the top 5% of players but the overwhelming majority of players are not reaching these baskets.
There are many uphill pads and throws uphill as well that just add to the frustration.
Everything is a PAR 3. Even the 580FT uphill around the corner shot on the back 9 that maybe Simon Lizotte could reach....maybe.
No sure why there is a random smattering of Blue baskets. The holes they are on are already very far just to reach the standard basket.
Other Thoughts:
This course could be greatly improved with a another set of pads, especially on the back 9 where most shots are uphill. You put 2 stakes in the fairway I ended up not using the teepads and making up my own distance to make the back 9 enjoyable. I, like most disc golfers, cannot throw 400ft uphill with pinpoint accuracy. So much more could have been done with the design to make this a course that average players and families could enjoy, especially considering its at community centered location with the nearest 18 hole course being 45min away
13
0
dgaficionado
Gold level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience:
33.9 years
278 played
37 reviews
Improvising Detours on Bones of Old Ball Golf Course in Holler
Reviewed:
Updated:
Played on:Mar 16, 2022
Played the course:2-4 times
Pros:
Reborn fairways carve a pleasant route through small valley.
+ course retains much of its former ball golf course aesthetics
+ woods and trees nicely incorporated into layout
+ good signage that includes nicknames for holes (#1 honors "Steady Ed")
+ easy to navigate (course mostly follows walking path)
+ beautifully maintained
+ practice basket across parking lot from start of course
+ additional (blue) baskets on four holes for alternate shots
+ ends with surprising challenge on 18th hole
+ course retains much of its former ball golf course aesthetics
+ woods and trees nicely incorporated into layout
+ good signage that includes nicknames for holes (#1 honors "Steady Ed")
+ easy to navigate (course mostly follows walking path)
+ beautifully maintained
+ practice basket across parking lot from start of course
+ additional (blue) baskets on four holes for alternate shots
+ ends with surprising challenge on 18th hole
Cons:
Minor quibbles slightly detract from otherwise fine course.
- blind tee shot in woods (#5)
- two holes (#16 & 17) play close to roadway
- three of four additional (blue) baskets simply lengthen holes (only #12 offers different shot)
- blind tee shot in woods (#5)
- two holes (#16 & 17) play close to roadway
- three of four additional (blue) baskets simply lengthen holes (only #12 offers different shot)
Other Thoughts:
INFO
Branchwood DGC follows the counter-clockwise loop of a former nine hole, par 3, ball golf layout carved through a woodsy, Bella Vista holler with deep roughs and a small creek that runs alongside the course on several holes. An old cart path now serves as a neighborhood walking path that accompanies the disc golf course. Homes in the residential community surrounding the course sit atop tall treed hillsides. Other park amenities include a recreation center with an indoor pool; playground and picnic tables; plus tennis, basketball and shuffle board courts.
EVAL
This course wonderfully revives the bones of the old ball golf course on which it sits and fleshes out an eighteen hole layout that retains former course aesthetics while improvising detours off the beaten path. Since several holes already utilize the beautifully landscaped fairways of old that bend through the scenic and sheltered valley, the layout also purposefully incorporates newer portions of its plentiful wooded terrain to occasionally branch off from manicured routes. This offers a nice variety to throws and helps to differentiate the newer disc golf design from its earlier ball golf origins.
Twice the layout heads off into woods for back-to-back holes that present leafy obstacles. Other times the layout make good use of trees off to the sides of former fairways or greens which add a degree of difficulty to shot selections and throws. By seeking out such appropriate detours, the designer of this course avoids a boring retread of its earlier layout. It's a very good example of how to repurpose a ball golf course for disc golf play.
As a bonus, four of the eighteen holes (#8, 12, 14 & 17) offer alternate throws with the addition of a second (blue) basket. Unfortunately, three of these alternate throws are just similar shots with added distance. Only the alternate on #12 provides a significantly different challenge with a transposed green farther uphill.
My favorite hole is alternate #12, aka Slippery Slope, using the blue basket. Normally, this hole throws uphill along a gradually expanding fairway to a sloped green on the left with a fence and walking path all along the righthand side. The alternate for this hole places the blue basket much farther uphill on the right, across the walking path and up to the ascending backside of a landscaped green (hidden from view off the tee) near a precarious slope leading to deep rough on the right. This alternate plays as a two-shot to the green with plenty of peril to avoid the entire way.
NOTE
Branchwood was originally a 30 year old ball golf course which closed in August 2013 due to extensive flooding. The damage it sustained removed larges sections of cart path, ripped up the main irrigation system and caused stream bank erosion in several places. The course then closed and was converted to a multipurpose park before being repurposed as a disc golf course in 2018.
LAYOUT
The course begins near the playground beside the recreation center with a tree-framed fairway across a small gully on hole #1 that leads to a shaded green. Holes #2 & 3 follow routes past trees along opposite sides of the former ball course's opening hole. Holes #4 & 5 then abruptly head up into woods on a hillside and include a blind tee shot on #5. Hole #6 returns to level ground where both it and hole #8 overlap old ball golf holes on narrow fairways along the floor of the small valley. Intervening hole #7 veers left off the walking path and into an area of tall trees by the creek. Holes #9 & 10 venture past the walking path and into woodlands at the point where the course begins to circle back around to the recreation center.
All subsequent holes leave the woods behind and follow former ball golf pathways to play in the open. Hole #11 gently curves to an elevated basket ringed by bricks. Hole #12 heads uphill to a sloped green separated from the walking path by a long, wooden fence. Hole #13 crosses the walking path to a wide, flat green. Holes #14 & 15 throw back and forth over a deep depression between hillsides. Holes #16 & 17 play past scattered trees with nearby Glasgow Rd on the right. The course finishes with a designated island green on hole #18 where drives must land on a bed of wood chips within a large, oval, brick boundary.
Branchwood DGC follows the counter-clockwise loop of a former nine hole, par 3, ball golf layout carved through a woodsy, Bella Vista holler with deep roughs and a small creek that runs alongside the course on several holes. An old cart path now serves as a neighborhood walking path that accompanies the disc golf course. Homes in the residential community surrounding the course sit atop tall treed hillsides. Other park amenities include a recreation center with an indoor pool; playground and picnic tables; plus tennis, basketball and shuffle board courts.
EVAL
This course wonderfully revives the bones of the old ball golf course on which it sits and fleshes out an eighteen hole layout that retains former course aesthetics while improvising detours off the beaten path. Since several holes already utilize the beautifully landscaped fairways of old that bend through the scenic and sheltered valley, the layout also purposefully incorporates newer portions of its plentiful wooded terrain to occasionally branch off from manicured routes. This offers a nice variety to throws and helps to differentiate the newer disc golf design from its earlier ball golf origins.
Twice the layout heads off into woods for back-to-back holes that present leafy obstacles. Other times the layout make good use of trees off to the sides of former fairways or greens which add a degree of difficulty to shot selections and throws. By seeking out such appropriate detours, the designer of this course avoids a boring retread of its earlier layout. It's a very good example of how to repurpose a ball golf course for disc golf play.
As a bonus, four of the eighteen holes (#8, 12, 14 & 17) offer alternate throws with the addition of a second (blue) basket. Unfortunately, three of these alternate throws are just similar shots with added distance. Only the alternate on #12 provides a significantly different challenge with a transposed green farther uphill.
My favorite hole is alternate #12, aka Slippery Slope, using the blue basket. Normally, this hole throws uphill along a gradually expanding fairway to a sloped green on the left with a fence and walking path all along the righthand side. The alternate for this hole places the blue basket much farther uphill on the right, across the walking path and up to the ascending backside of a landscaped green (hidden from view off the tee) near a precarious slope leading to deep rough on the right. This alternate plays as a two-shot to the green with plenty of peril to avoid the entire way.
NOTE
Branchwood was originally a 30 year old ball golf course which closed in August 2013 due to extensive flooding. The damage it sustained removed larges sections of cart path, ripped up the main irrigation system and caused stream bank erosion in several places. The course then closed and was converted to a multipurpose park before being repurposed as a disc golf course in 2018.
LAYOUT
The course begins near the playground beside the recreation center with a tree-framed fairway across a small gully on hole #1 that leads to a shaded green. Holes #2 & 3 follow routes past trees along opposite sides of the former ball course's opening hole. Holes #4 & 5 then abruptly head up into woods on a hillside and include a blind tee shot on #5. Hole #6 returns to level ground where both it and hole #8 overlap old ball golf holes on narrow fairways along the floor of the small valley. Intervening hole #7 veers left off the walking path and into an area of tall trees by the creek. Holes #9 & 10 venture past the walking path and into woodlands at the point where the course begins to circle back around to the recreation center.
All subsequent holes leave the woods behind and follow former ball golf pathways to play in the open. Hole #11 gently curves to an elevated basket ringed by bricks. Hole #12 heads uphill to a sloped green separated from the walking path by a long, wooden fence. Hole #13 crosses the walking path to a wide, flat green. Holes #14 & 15 throw back and forth over a deep depression between hillsides. Holes #16 & 17 play past scattered trees with nearby Glasgow Rd on the right. The course finishes with a designated island green on hole #18 where drives must land on a bed of wood chips within a large, oval, brick boundary.
