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Emerald Hills reviews
7
1
Disc vs. Ball – To the Death! 2+ years drive by
Reviewed:
Updated:
Played on:May 26, 2016
Played the course:once
Pros:
• Good tee pads (rubber mat type)
• Great signage. Best I've ever seen.
• Excellent color-coded baskets
• Restrooms/water nearby
• A decent mix of shots
• Grass under your feet!
• Great signage. Best I've ever seen.
• Excellent color-coded baskets
• Restrooms/water nearby
• A decent mix of shots
• Grass under your feet!
Cons:
• Cost
• Not beginner friendly
• Cost
• Tee terrain. Wait a sec?! You put tees in the "Pros". I did. I like the mats but some of the terrain needs to be flattened out under the mats in a few spots.
• Not beginner friendly
• Cost
• Tee terrain. Wait a sec?! You put tees in the "Pros". I did. I like the mats but some of the terrain needs to be flattened out under the mats in a few spots.
Other Thoughts:
Tips:
• There is no map (yet) so do read up and pay attention to signage to get around.
Random Thoughts:
Rating this course is a bit tricky for a few reasons: 1: It shares its land with a ball golf course, which is obviously very unusual. I've played one other course like this so I have a frame of reference but you do have to take into account that the land is set-up for one purpose and that isn't disc golf. 2: There's a cost to play. Another unusual scenario so it depends on your views on that in general as to if you think it's 'worth it'. 3: Based on what I read before I got there it seems like it's still evolving which is ok but you have to keep that in mind as you read the rest of this. So with that said...my wife and I had a pretty good time out here but there are a few misgivings. The course is in really good shape in that the grass is well kempt. The signs and baskets are absolutely fantastic. I hadn't seen painted baskets like this before but it definitely helps in spotting the right basket, which leads to another cool feature. Every hole has two tees and two baskets. So technically there are 4 distinct shots per hole which was a very nice surprise, although a few back tees look unfinished thus my earlier comments on "evolving". Having said that though, the 'back/pro' tees are NO JOKE on a few holes. I consider myself an above average player and there was no way I was throwing the back tee on a couple of these holes unless I decided I really didn't care if my disc ended up at the bottom of the swamp or someone's back yard. These are legit advanced shots where you better be able to throw straight for 350' or better or else...pain. Now the good news for the sub-advanced player is that you can just play the front tees and you still have two baskets with two different challenges, so you can play '18' without ever daring the back tees. So that's a good thing. But even with that said, I would not call this a "beginner friendly" course. There's water very much in play on a couple holes and there are several basket positions that are punishing if you miss the landing zones. And by punishing, I mean both the 'disc in trouble' variety and the 'penalty stroke' variety, because you can't forget that the greens and sand traps are OB and they are always nearby. Personally, I like the latter challenge but the former got a little borderline in a few spots. What I mean by that is that a few baskets are placed in very precarious spots, like on the side of a steep hill. This means you can land the disc right on the basket and it still might roll down a hill. Not exactly best for beginners who don't think about things like 'landing angles'. I recognize that there are only so many places you can put these baskets so maybe the course crew did the best they could but I would personally reconsider a few positions. With that said, these situations are the minority. For the most part, I really enjoyed the challenges presented by each shot. There's a good mix of shapes or 'shots in the bag' to choose from so bravo on the use of tee positions and obstacles (mostly trees). I left the course +3 for 18 with a couple unforgivable birdie misses, so that's fair in my book. I also felt REEEEEALLY good that I out drove a couple ball golfers (even drove two 'greens') with just me spindly arm.
And with that said, we come to...the cost. I was shocked when the gent behind the counter said '$15 for 9 holes'. Umm what? This was on a weekday morning too. Now I chose to interpret this as '$15 to go around the course once' as in, 'feel free to play multiple shots on each hole'. I'm probably wrong about this (and I do see $22 for 18 on one site) but I wasn't going to ask any clarifying questions because there was no way I was plunking down $30 to play 18 on a course I've never been to. And it didn't stop there. My wife, who was just going to walk with me that day because she wasn't feeling 100% had to pay too. I'm familiar with this practice in my prior life ball golf travels but disc golf? Thankfully, my wife was a good sport and decided to throw a few with me but she definitely didn't get her money's worth. You have been warned. Lastly, I'm sure some of you are wondering what it's like to share the course with ball golfers. Well, we can't help much here, because there were only 3 other people on the course and they were all in front of us. But here's a funny; we were playing faster than them so they let us play through. Nice folks though, so no issues to speak of.
Bottom Line:
As long as you come to this course with your eyes wide open that this is a challenging course that's going to cost some $ to play, then you'll probably enjoy your time out here. While it still has some warts to work out, you can feel the love that's being put into it thus far. If those issues end up sorted, this will really be something special to visit.
• There is no map (yet) so do read up and pay attention to signage to get around.
Random Thoughts:
Rating this course is a bit tricky for a few reasons: 1: It shares its land with a ball golf course, which is obviously very unusual. I've played one other course like this so I have a frame of reference but you do have to take into account that the land is set-up for one purpose and that isn't disc golf. 2: There's a cost to play. Another unusual scenario so it depends on your views on that in general as to if you think it's 'worth it'. 3: Based on what I read before I got there it seems like it's still evolving which is ok but you have to keep that in mind as you read the rest of this. So with that said...my wife and I had a pretty good time out here but there are a few misgivings. The course is in really good shape in that the grass is well kempt. The signs and baskets are absolutely fantastic. I hadn't seen painted baskets like this before but it definitely helps in spotting the right basket, which leads to another cool feature. Every hole has two tees and two baskets. So technically there are 4 distinct shots per hole which was a very nice surprise, although a few back tees look unfinished thus my earlier comments on "evolving". Having said that though, the 'back/pro' tees are NO JOKE on a few holes. I consider myself an above average player and there was no way I was throwing the back tee on a couple of these holes unless I decided I really didn't care if my disc ended up at the bottom of the swamp or someone's back yard. These are legit advanced shots where you better be able to throw straight for 350' or better or else...pain. Now the good news for the sub-advanced player is that you can just play the front tees and you still have two baskets with two different challenges, so you can play '18' without ever daring the back tees. So that's a good thing. But even with that said, I would not call this a "beginner friendly" course. There's water very much in play on a couple holes and there are several basket positions that are punishing if you miss the landing zones. And by punishing, I mean both the 'disc in trouble' variety and the 'penalty stroke' variety, because you can't forget that the greens and sand traps are OB and they are always nearby. Personally, I like the latter challenge but the former got a little borderline in a few spots. What I mean by that is that a few baskets are placed in very precarious spots, like on the side of a steep hill. This means you can land the disc right on the basket and it still might roll down a hill. Not exactly best for beginners who don't think about things like 'landing angles'. I recognize that there are only so many places you can put these baskets so maybe the course crew did the best they could but I would personally reconsider a few positions. With that said, these situations are the minority. For the most part, I really enjoyed the challenges presented by each shot. There's a good mix of shapes or 'shots in the bag' to choose from so bravo on the use of tee positions and obstacles (mostly trees). I left the course +3 for 18 with a couple unforgivable birdie misses, so that's fair in my book. I also felt REEEEEALLY good that I out drove a couple ball golfers (even drove two 'greens') with just me spindly arm.
And with that said, we come to...the cost. I was shocked when the gent behind the counter said '$15 for 9 holes'. Umm what? This was on a weekday morning too. Now I chose to interpret this as '$15 to go around the course once' as in, 'feel free to play multiple shots on each hole'. I'm probably wrong about this (and I do see $22 for 18 on one site) but I wasn't going to ask any clarifying questions because there was no way I was plunking down $30 to play 18 on a course I've never been to. And it didn't stop there. My wife, who was just going to walk with me that day because she wasn't feeling 100% had to pay too. I'm familiar with this practice in my prior life ball golf travels but disc golf? Thankfully, my wife was a good sport and decided to throw a few with me but she definitely didn't get her money's worth. You have been warned. Lastly, I'm sure some of you are wondering what it's like to share the course with ball golfers. Well, we can't help much here, because there were only 3 other people on the course and they were all in front of us. But here's a funny; we were playing faster than them so they let us play through. Nice folks though, so no issues to speak of.Bottom Line:
As long as you come to this course with your eyes wide open that this is a challenging course that's going to cost some $ to play, then you'll probably enjoy your time out here. While it still has some warts to work out, you can feel the love that's being put into it thus far. If those issues end up sorted, this will really be something special to visit.
