Pros:
Far Hill DGC is located in Sparta, MI which is about 25 minutes north of downtown Grand Rapids. The course plays in the far back area of a multi-use park, well away from other park amenities.
This 18-hole course plays as two loops, each of which circles back to the starting area. The first loop of holes 1-13 is relatively flat for the most part, with fairways cut through a meadow and mixed forest. Most of these holes are at least in part thickly wooded, but there are a few scattered open areas. The distances range from approximately 200' to 650', with the majority of holes between 250' and 350'. This isn't a championship level course, but I think the distances and technical challenge are enough to keep most DG'ers interested.
Holes 14-18 are generally more open, and play up and down a couple of bigger hills. Hole 17 is only 230' but plays up the steep hill to a basket perched on the slope near the top. Serious rollaway potential on this one. Hole 18 was my favorite. It's the classic downhill bomber to end your round, but with a twist - to reach that downhill your disc first has to travel up and over the top of the ridge. The tee pad is far enough back that it's a blind throw over the top.
The baskets are blue banded DISCatchers. There are two pin positions per hole, a Blue layout and a White one. The baskets are periodically rotated between the two pin positions, i.e. you can only play one layout at a time. I played the White layout on my visit. There is also a practice basket that is red banded to differentiate it from the others.
The tee pads are large, flat, new slabs of concrete. One per hole. The tee signs are nice - showing the hole number, map of the hole, and distances to both pin positions. A few trash cans and benches are strategically located at tees throughout the course.
The navigational signage is good. Next Tee signs are placed where needed, and painted red for high visibility. A couple holes also had mandos clearly marked in this same style.
Cons:
I saw a couple of safety issues.
- Right behind hole 10's basket is a barbed wire fence. A long drive or errant approach shot could easily clear this fence.
- Hole 5 is a 290' left turn with another short fence defining the right side of the fairway. Beyond this fence is a short uphill with a busy road (M-37) at the top. It would take a very (edit: VERY) errant throw to reach the road, but I thought it was a little too close for comfort. I would feel better if a higher fence were installed here.
- Several fairways run pretty close together. Some of the mandos were placed to help address this, but errant throws could still land in the firing line of other holes in a few places.
The rough here is unforgiving. The thickets of saplings add challenge, but the ground cover looked like it could be dense enough to hide discs in the summer months (I played in November when it was less of an issue). In many places, it's the sort of rough where you basically have to just shrug your shoulders and lay up straight back out to the fairway, instead of being able to really "recover" by throwing out of the rough towards the basket.
A couple of finishing touches are still missing, like a kiosk/course map and porta potty.
The course backs up to M-37 and there is plenty of road noise throughout.
Other Thoughts:
I was between a 3.0 and 3.5 rating for this one. My verdict of 3.5 is kind of assuming that a couple last tweaks and add-ons (kiosk, etc.) are coming soon. This is not a destination course, but another nice option for locals or visitors on the north side of Grand Rapids. If in the area, you could do worse than Far Hill!
UPDATE JUNE 2022 - Just played the course again today. This time, most pins were in the Blue layout position. I say "most" because I think a few pins were in a longer position that is not marked as either Blue or White on the tee signs. There is a tournament coming up here this weekend so that may explain the extra challenging pin positions. Other than that, the only real change I noticed since last fall is the addition of a small flag next to the first tee which was blue when I visited. I assume this is to tell disc golfers which pin position is currently in place.
The Blue layout is definitely a little bit more challenging than I remember the White layout being. As I predicted, the rough was pretty thick in spots and I had to search for a few minutes multiple times to find discs (didn't lose any though).
UPDATE FEBRUARY 2024: A smallish dirt parking lot has been added back at the course, eliminating what was about a 1/4 mile walk back to the course from the main park. Visiting the course for a 3rd time today, I can say that the rough here is definitely tough to deal with at any time of year. I honestly think that a little more clearing could be done on holes 1-13 to make the lines a bit easier to hit, while still maintaining plenty of challenge. Overall, I'll leave it at a "weak 3.5" rating. Some finishing touches and/or permanently installing both sets of baskets would cement this one in as a solid 3.5 for me.