Pros:
-A course with solid variety of heavy woods, lightly wooded meadows, creek comes into play on several holes, an elevated basket, one street play hole, and a few downhill and uphill holes. Majority of the course is scenic!
-If you have played here before the course has been realignment from holes 6 thru 10. Holes 6 and 7 have been stretched out to par 4's. Hole 6 tee to 7 basket, Hole 7 is now 8 tee to 9 basket. Hole 8 is the old hole 10. After the current hole 8 there are now 2 new holes 9 and 10. From 11 thru 18 just as you remember it.
-Some good stretches of scenery and challenging holes. Holes 6 thru 10 meadows and creek to woods. Holes 15 thru 17 more difficult and scenic with heavy woods to meadow and creek.
-New tee and directional signs coming in Spring 2022! Current tee signs have hole number, distance, par, and map. Baskets catch well!
-Navigation is a figure 8 starting clockwise and finishing clockwise. Suggest UDisc until the new directional signs are added in the spring.
-Farmington Park was my 6th and final 18-holer in Rocky Mount, and I rank it personally 3rd behind Nash Community College, and Sunset. The local club has done an outstanding job! On the realignments.
-From the bag mid's, and drivers.
-Beginners and Recreational are going to find mostly a pleasant walk but will be challenged by the difficulty of the course, and not to lose a disc. Intermediate and Advanced will find the course challenging enough choosing the correct disc on the more difficult holes and enjoy letting loose on the longer meadow holes.
Cons:
-#18 the shortest hole is a weak finishing hole compared to the previous 17 holes played. Open tee to a basket nested in pine trees was my only birdie.
-Until the new tee and directional signs are installed in a few months' navigation can be confusing holes 6 thru 10. Old tee signs have been pulled, and a few remained with the wrong hole number. Use Udisc. This will no longer be a con after the new signs are installed.
-Holes 2 thru 4 in the heavy woods lots of overgrowth and they looked too scruffy. From hole 5 thru 17 the course show's its beauty. Perhaps the overgrowth will be taken care since the realignment is complete? To match the rest of the course.
-I didn't see them myself, but have seen photo's of snakes in the creeks along fairways.
-High lost disc potential for 13 of the 18 holes that play thru heavy woods and brush, and along the creek. A few of the others the potential is there.
Other Thoughts:
I really liked the realignment at Farmington Park stretching out holes #6 and #7 to add on Par 4's in the meadows is a plus. Add on holes 12 thru 14 in the meadows is one of a handful of times when the more open holes won me over the wooded holes which I normally favor. If your taking risks, the course can become very difficult on most holes, but you may be rewarded with birdies. Pick your spots and you can keep it at par. My overall rating is based on the inclusion of the new tee and directional signs arriving soon, since the local club has fulfilled on the other two courses. My biggest personnel con will be the overgrowth on holes 2-3 and creeping in on 15-16. Even if those holes are groomed, I don't think there will be a bump on the overall rating?
My overall rating is anchored on the variety of the layout and difficulty, fun factor, and the realignment, and that will be a 5.0. The time to play was 65 minutes.
Notable Basket Placements:
-No. 4 at 277 feet is a straight away thru heavy woods to an elevated basket in the open C1. The basket sits 6 feet high, behind the basket is a road. Very narrow from the tee, and I was slapped down by an overhanging limb.
-No. 5 at 279 feet is a straight away hole with a narrow fairway trees all the way down left, and a creek on the right. A tree is right in front of C1, the basket is placed just 20 feet to the creek, on a slope to the creek going right. Putted for birdie out of the creek.
Notable Holes:
-No 6 Par 4 at 473 feet one of the realignment holes passing thru tree gaps and working your way around other trees and bushes. The hole is a straight away and slightly upslope about halfway down. Open meadow space on the fairway, but slopes towards the creek. The first gap of two trees is about 100 feet down, and 25 feet wide with overhanging branches. The second gap at about 200 feet down with two gaps covered by tree bushes. The first gap on the left is about 20 feet wide the second gap in the middle about 20 feet and you're going to be arriving very low to clear the first gap. About 150 feet from basket left center fairway is a huge tree bush, anywhere behind it you'll be blocked to the basket which sits in the open with heavy trees behind it. Beautiful hole!
No. 11 Par 3 at 293 feet is straight up hill thru a tunnel of about 15 feet wide until 170 feet out. Heavy trees and brush on both sides of tunnel. Opens to a street that is downhill, and no longer used for traffic. The basket is tucked to the left with guardian trees just off the street. Very intimidating hole from the tee. A late release went thru the trees on left, found disc in the street.
-No. 12 Par 3 at 346 feet is a straight away from the open tee a gentle down slope to a basket open but protected by guardian trees and bushes with overhang about 6 feet high, and the gap about 15 feet within C1. To the right a bulge of trees at 100 feet just short of fairway middle. To the left another bulge of trees to middle of fairway about 170 feet down, the gap between both bulges is about 15 feet, so need to work the disc.
-No. 16 Par 3 at 299 feet is straight from the tee until about 80 feet when theirs a dogleg right. On the right from the tee heavy woods and bushes with extended branches. On the left the creek runs middle left with heavy woods on other side of creek. As a lefty not too bad, for righties need a forehand here. The basket is set between two guardian trees.
Signature Hole:
No. 13 Par 4 at 573 feet is an open gentle upslope hole that doglegs right at about 320 feet. There are utility wires at about the 200 feet mark that crosses fairway, so if you tend to throw high tee shots, you may want to adjust. About 60 feet from dogleg are two bushy wide trees with a 10-foot gap, very small so I went up and over on my approach just needing about 20 feet. Past the gap the fairway narrows in the meadows, and your now downslope. The basket sits behind guardian trees to the left. I thought this was the most scenic hole on the course, and very challenging, going to the left or right of gap could cost strokes.
Trouble Hole:
No. 15 Par 4 at 431 feet from an open tee to a basket with a creek inside C1. From the tee there's a sharp dogleg left at about 200 feet with heavy trees and bushes on the right, to the left a creek that runs middle fairway all the way to the basket with heavy trees and bushes extending over the creek and branches extending from the left, only about 20 feet of room at the dogleg, and opens some to the basket. The basket sits across a cross section of two creeks with both in C1, and trees on the right blocking a putt basket high. The hole has a gruffy beauty to it, so maybe leave this one alone? A lefty late release caught branches and fell into the creek, my approach from the creek went into the second creek to the right of basket and managed a 2-putt.