Faylor Lake is located near the small town of Beaver Springs in central Pennsylvania. The 18 holes of disc golf here were originally established as a DiscGolfPark, but apparently the sponsorship recently changed to Discraft. This review is based on the infrastructure as of late June 2024 when I played the course.
The design here is incredible. The park covers a beautiful piece of hilly property surrounding one side of the namesake lake, and that terrain is utilized to THE FULLEST. The course starts off with some nice sloping holes that have wide-ish grassy fairways pockmarked with tree trunks. I really liked hole 4, which is a gentle right turn that starts mostly open and flat, but then dips downhill and plays through a moderately wooded valley the rest of the way to the basket. The long basket is on top of a little ridge with rollaway potential in both directions.
But then I reached hole 6's long tee and my jaw dropped. I haven't ever seen a top-of-the-world throw quite like this. You are throwing off the top of a huge hill, with an enormous field about 100' vertically below functioning as your landing zone. In that field the fairway continues sloping gently downhill for what looks like miles and miles. The long basket is actually "only" 1000' away on the edge of a little pond. What's even more wild is that I just described hole 15 too, minus the pond. On both of these you can turn back halfway down the fairway, look back at the huge flight of stairs you just walked down, and your jaw will drop a second time. (Do be aware, there is some very thick rough off on the left side of hole 15 that is kind of hidden off the long tee, but that your disc will find if it fades too early. You will be sad if your disc flies in there, and you might not find it. Don't ask me how I know.
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Although those two holes are the most extreme, there are great elevation changes and water hazards in play throughout the course. I think the only place where players actually HAVE to carry the water is hole 7 off the long tee, and that will be a pretty easy carry for players choosing that tee. Another epic hole is #8, which starts in the open and then dives through a little tunnel in the woods angling downhill to the long basket just on the edge of the lake. The long tee also requires players to throw around or across another corner of the lake. All four of the holes so far mentioned are memorable, but my favorite was actually #12. This is one of the shorter holes in the course, but it plays up and over a wooded ridge to the basket perched right on the edge of a steeper drop with a great view looking out over the lake, the more open areas of the course, and the rolling farm fields and Appalachians beyond.
The baskets are currently DiscGolfPark Pro models. There are two installed per hole - the short ones are painted blue and the long ones white. The tee pads are the DiscGolfPark turf. They are nice and big, level, and well secured to the ground so I can't really complain. There are two of these per hole as well to create four playable layouts. The long to long layout is comfortably over 10,000' and will challenge the best of players. The short to long and long to short layouts are each great options that provide two different challenges to intermediate level players. The short to short layout could be manageable for recreational players in good physical shape. I was happy with the short to long layout, and would have played the long to short as well if I had the time and energy. Regardless of layout, there is a great overall mix of open vs. wooded, left vs. right turning fairways, and longer vs. shorter holes.
The practice basket is apparently the first thing that was converted to Discraft, as that is a red Chainstar Pro. It is also on a narrow peninsula jutting out into the lake at the parking lot. This is cool, but I don't think I have ever thought about losing a disc before the round even begins before! (The peninsula is that narrow). There is a pavilion at the end of the parking lot that appeared to be still under construction when I visited. The pavilion will have restrooms, and it looked like possibly also a concession stand and pro shop. Hopefully there will also be a water bottle filler.
Neither a pro or con:
- There are a few really nice benches, branded with "Faylor Lake DiscGolfPark". But these are only at some of the long tees. A course this grueling would benefit from at least a cheap bench at every long and every short tee.
- There are only a couple of trash cans, and none at the parking lot. The ones that are present are in good locations, but more would be good.