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Forest Park reviews
11
0
A Crosswalk Through Alligator Country
Reviewed:
Updated:
Played on:Jun 15, 2022
Played the course:2-4 times
Pros:
There's just enough risk to reward casual play.
+ easy to throw holes for brisk, recreational play
+ a few well placed baskets (#1, 6, 8 & 9) add some challenge
+ numerous, risky water hazards
+ long and short concrete tees
+ easy to throw holes for brisk, recreational play
+ a few well placed baskets (#1, 6, 8 & 9) add some challenge
+ numerous, risky water hazards
+ long and short concrete tees
Cons:
Holes are awfully short.
- mostly simple, short shots
- many missing tee signs
- mostly simple, short shots
- many missing tee signs
Other Thoughts:
INFO
This short, flat, small city course plays over a creek and around the perimeter of a small lake in a placid neighborhood park with stately bay, oak and pine trees scattered throughout that come into play occasionally. The course shares park space with a children's playground, picnic pavilion, fishing piers and a pedestrian walkway which several fairways play alongside. Restrooms are available near the start of the course.
EVAL
Though this recreational course is short and not too demanding, risky water hazards intimidate enough to provide some thrill during brisk rounds. Most holes are easy to throw and require little more than simple shots with midranges and/or putters to reach the bright green Prodigy baskets. Still, a few well placed pin positions combined with the threat of missed throws landing in the lake encourage forethought on the tee and elevate this short course above a typical pitch and putt.
The holes which give one pause are akin to a pedestrian approaching a crosswalk as the timer is counting down, forcing a decision of whether the other side can be reached safely in time. It's not a tough decision, but it requires a quick calculation to assess the inherent risks before proceeding. These short, risky shots just demand a bit more focus and attention. (An alternate pro layout called Scallop on UDisc lengthens holes and poses a much improved challenge for advanced players.)
NOTE
The course begins in Tom "Dooder" Parker Park at Forest Park South and extends via a wooden pedestrian bridge (leading to hole #5) into adjacent "Buck" Griffin Lake park. Homemade wooden tee signs furnished by Eric Mason, Megan Timbers and Joel Miick were installed in June 2020. Long and short concrete tees were added during summer of 2022.
LAYOUT
Play starts near a children's playground with the first hole leading toward a narrow creek which holes #2-3 then throw over and back across. Next hole #4 visits the shade of a quiet section of the park. Across a footbridge holes #5-9 loop counterclockwise around a small, swampy lake upstream from the creek. These fairways run beside walking paths and extend menacingly close to forewarned gator habitat along the banks. Holes #5-7 proceed down the west side of the lake, and holes #8-9 return on the opposite east side with long walks preceding both holes.
This short, flat, small city course plays over a creek and around the perimeter of a small lake in a placid neighborhood park with stately bay, oak and pine trees scattered throughout that come into play occasionally. The course shares park space with a children's playground, picnic pavilion, fishing piers and a pedestrian walkway which several fairways play alongside. Restrooms are available near the start of the course.
EVAL
Though this recreational course is short and not too demanding, risky water hazards intimidate enough to provide some thrill during brisk rounds. Most holes are easy to throw and require little more than simple shots with midranges and/or putters to reach the bright green Prodigy baskets. Still, a few well placed pin positions combined with the threat of missed throws landing in the lake encourage forethought on the tee and elevate this short course above a typical pitch and putt.
The holes which give one pause are akin to a pedestrian approaching a crosswalk as the timer is counting down, forcing a decision of whether the other side can be reached safely in time. It's not a tough decision, but it requires a quick calculation to assess the inherent risks before proceeding. These short, risky shots just demand a bit more focus and attention. (An alternate pro layout called Scallop on UDisc lengthens holes and poses a much improved challenge for advanced players.)
NOTE
The course begins in Tom "Dooder" Parker Park at Forest Park South and extends via a wooden pedestrian bridge (leading to hole #5) into adjacent "Buck" Griffin Lake park. Homemade wooden tee signs furnished by Eric Mason, Megan Timbers and Joel Miick were installed in June 2020. Long and short concrete tees were added during summer of 2022.
LAYOUT
Play starts near a children's playground with the first hole leading toward a narrow creek which holes #2-3 then throw over and back across. Next hole #4 visits the shade of a quiet section of the park. Across a footbridge holes #5-9 loop counterclockwise around a small, swampy lake upstream from the creek. These fairways run beside walking paths and extend menacingly close to forewarned gator habitat along the banks. Holes #5-7 proceed down the west side of the lake, and holes #8-9 return on the opposite east side with long walks preceding both holes.
10
0
Fun Neighborhood Course, Don’t Be Gator Bait! 2+ years
Reviewed:
Played on:Oct 3, 2020
Played the course:once
Pros:
Fun little 9 holes in a region where I have been hoping there would be a course for years. Previous the panhandle had not had a course between Panama City and Tallahassee so it's nice to have something to play in the area.
This is a purely passive recreation park with a playground, some pavilions and walking paths around the ponds being the main attraction.
It's a pretty and well maintained area and the park itself is quite pretty.
Course starts by the entrance and on hole one as is the case with most of the holes, you can either throw a backhand hyzer or a forehand flex shot. Those two lines depending on your intestinal fortitude exist on almost every hole.
It's pretty flat, which makes it easy if you have kids or older folks in tow, but the water is in play to some degree on all but two of the 9 holes to some degree.
There is also a good bit of road and playground OB to make it a little more challenging.
Baskets are new and in good shape, Prodigy T1s I think. The green ones either the web shaped chains, which catch harder putts pretty well. Don't do a fluffy loft putt with these.
Signs are hand painted and pretty accurate for the most part.
Will stop by again if I'm close.
This is a purely passive recreation park with a playground, some pavilions and walking paths around the ponds being the main attraction.
It's a pretty and well maintained area and the park itself is quite pretty.
Course starts by the entrance and on hole one as is the case with most of the holes, you can either throw a backhand hyzer or a forehand flex shot. Those two lines depending on your intestinal fortitude exist on almost every hole.
It's pretty flat, which makes it easy if you have kids or older folks in tow, but the water is in play to some degree on all but two of the 9 holes to some degree.
There is also a good bit of road and playground OB to make it a little more challenging.
Baskets are new and in good shape, Prodigy T1s I think. The green ones either the web shaped chains, which catch harder putts pretty well. Don't do a fluffy loft putt with these.
Signs are hand painted and pretty accurate for the most part.
Will stop by again if I'm close.
Cons:
The fact that they fit a reasonable course in here is commendable but there are a few things that detract. The gator filled ponds are the main challenge, sure there are some trees around that add challenge but it's not even wooded enough to mark that as a feature.
The signs are mainly pretty good but a few are loose and others the basket isn't really where it indicates. I would have had one more birdie(shot -4) if I'd really known where the #5 hole was.
The natural tees are basically just sandy circles at this point, worn way down and with little grip in spots.
The signs are mainly pretty good but a few are loose and others the basket isn't really where it indicates. I would have had one more birdie(shot -4) if I'd really known where the #5 hole was.
The natural tees are basically just sandy circles at this point, worn way down and with little grip in spots.
Other Thoughts:
This is a fun place to play a casual round, and though I had my full bag, all I really needed and indeed used was my putter and a coupe of midranges. Honestly, with so many holes being near water I used my Stego more than anything, you know it will fight back and be accurate, so that was a nice trick to have.
One thing that was funny to me is that Butlertron said he only threw backhand hyzer shots here and I only threw 3, the other 6 were FH flex shots with the Stego.
Good place for ace runs if that's your thing, I was close on 2, holes 7 and 8. Pretty close on 3 and 6 too honestly, with no holes over 250 or so you need to be running everything! Just watch for the dinosaurs in the water. We only saw one small one but he surely has friends.
One thing that was funny to me is that Butlertron said he only threw backhand hyzer shots here and I only threw 3, the other 6 were FH flex shots with the Stego.
Good place for ace runs if that's your thing, I was close on 2, holes 7 and 8. Pretty close on 3 and 6 too honestly, with no holes over 250 or so you need to be running everything! Just watch for the dinosaurs in the water. We only saw one small one but he surely has friends.
11
0
Vanilla flavored bagger course 2+ years
Reviewed:
Played on:Aug 2, 2020
Played the course:once
Pros:
- Free to play
- Well maintained park
- Easy to follow intuitive layout
- Each hole has a hand drawn tee sign, lists fairway distance
- Ace runs galore
- Forgiving layout, beginner friendly course
- Quality baskets
- Superb Bathrooms, very clean
- Well maintained park
- Easy to follow intuitive layout
- Each hole has a hand drawn tee sign, lists fairway distance
- Ace runs galore
- Forgiving layout, beginner friendly course
- Quality baskets
- Superb Bathrooms, very clean
Cons:
- Natural tees
- Flat course
- Not enough distance variety
- RBBH theme fairway bias
- Fairways are mostly open, not much shot shaping besides hyzer lines
- I used just 2 discs for the whole course
- Gators
- Tee signs are low quality, will not withstand more that a few season of weathering
- Flat course
- Not enough distance variety
- RBBH theme fairway bias
- Fairways are mostly open, not much shot shaping besides hyzer lines
- I used just 2 discs for the whole course
- Gators
- Tee signs are low quality, will not withstand more that a few season of weathering
Other Thoughts:
Forest Park DGC is a short neighborhood pitch and putt course that flows counterclockwise around two park ponds. Tees are natural, fairways are basic, and most holes have some sort of water OB in play. The general course theme was grab a stable/slightly overstable mid and ace run. I liked how long #5 was hole 5+6 combined. Overall, my experience was pleasant. The course was a little boring, but they did just about as good as you can with the small plot of land.
