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Golden Bear DGC reviews
13
0
Not A Cupcake Niner 2+ years
Reviewed:
Played on:Nov 24, 2020
Played the course:once
Pros:
(1.943 Rating) A satisfying niner with a pucker-up water clear shot.
- CHALLENGING - I was surprised that this was not a simple course, being the first course in the small town. Posting even par would probably equate to an 880 to 890 rated round. Poor accuracy on a couple holes will result in water OB and pinging a tree early will leave tough par saves on a few other holes. I thought the distances were Rec level to perhaps Intermediate level. It's a nice challenge considering the size of the park and what was available to work with.
- CHAINS - One of the few courses I've played that has had Monkey Trap baskets. So far they seem to catch well the couple of times I've thrown to them, and they look great too.
- TEE SIGNAGE - Respectable. They have an artistic image of the line and hole obstacles. A distance and par figure is given too, but the next tee direction is omitted.
- EXTRAS - Nice shelter with picnic tables by both tee (1) and basket (9). A great choice by those that laid out the course to start and finish the layout by this feature.
- SIGNATURE HOLE - Without question hole (3). A water clear framed by four prominent trees.
- RECREATIONAL FRIENDLY - This course is perfect for those between an 840 to 920 rating.
- QUICK PLAY - Solos should be done in less than a half hour. I was here 35 minutes total, but I took a lot of pictures.
- MAINTENANCE - This looks like the type of park that's regularly mowed during the summer.
- CHALLENGING - I was surprised that this was not a simple course, being the first course in the small town. Posting even par would probably equate to an 880 to 890 rated round. Poor accuracy on a couple holes will result in water OB and pinging a tree early will leave tough par saves on a few other holes. I thought the distances were Rec level to perhaps Intermediate level. It's a nice challenge considering the size of the park and what was available to work with.
- CHAINS - One of the few courses I've played that has had Monkey Trap baskets. So far they seem to catch well the couple of times I've thrown to them, and they look great too.
- TEE SIGNAGE - Respectable. They have an artistic image of the line and hole obstacles. A distance and par figure is given too, but the next tee direction is omitted.
- EXTRAS - Nice shelter with picnic tables by both tee (1) and basket (9). A great choice by those that laid out the course to start and finish the layout by this feature.
- SIGNATURE HOLE - Without question hole (3). A water clear framed by four prominent trees.
- RECREATIONAL FRIENDLY - This course is perfect for those between an 840 to 920 rating.
- QUICK PLAY - Solos should be done in less than a half hour. I was here 35 minutes total, but I took a lot of pictures.
- MAINTENANCE - This looks like the type of park that's regularly mowed during the summer.
Cons:
A small park with limited resources.
- MULTI USE HAZARDS - This is a park style course that was fit in between existing park amenities. There are no egregious safety hazards here, but there are times where caution will be needed and times where throwing will need to be paused. A walking trail comes into play a few times. Low-use roads come into play a couple times. There's a ball field in play on (6) along the right too.
- HOLE VARIETY - Among 9 holers I've played, this track is slightly above average for hole variety. Water comes into gut checking view twice and in fringe situations on (7). There is a moderate amount of elevation change with hole (2) teeing up a good 25 feet above the basket. Distance variation is mild from mid 200s to high 300s. No multi-play holes and the course layout doesn't go through any heavily wooded areas. There is a bunch of artificial OB that I thought was unnecessary, especially on (7) through (9). Overall however, I thought the designer did a good job incorporating what was available to use.
- BEGINNER FRIENDLY - Beginners can be brought here, but they'll have to skip hole (3) or they'll likely lose your disc. Hole (5) is another hole with the ability to claim plastic or at least provide interesting retrieval efforts. The rest of the course should be just fine for beginners, although the distances on a few holes may be intimidating.
- NATURAL BEAUTY - Overall I felt that the park landscape here fell on the bottom half for beauty compared to all courses I've played. There are some cool monster oaks in the park, but there are also some monster dead and dying ones two. Sure there's a pond and small creek, but I didn't think it had the grace that one finds when these types of features are incorporated in a state park setting. Overall I scored this aspect 40 percentile.
- MULTI USE HAZARDS - This is a park style course that was fit in between existing park amenities. There are no egregious safety hazards here, but there are times where caution will be needed and times where throwing will need to be paused. A walking trail comes into play a few times. Low-use roads come into play a couple times. There's a ball field in play on (6) along the right too.
- HOLE VARIETY - Among 9 holers I've played, this track is slightly above average for hole variety. Water comes into gut checking view twice and in fringe situations on (7). There is a moderate amount of elevation change with hole (2) teeing up a good 25 feet above the basket. Distance variation is mild from mid 200s to high 300s. No multi-play holes and the course layout doesn't go through any heavily wooded areas. There is a bunch of artificial OB that I thought was unnecessary, especially on (7) through (9). Overall however, I thought the designer did a good job incorporating what was available to use.
- BEGINNER FRIENDLY - Beginners can be brought here, but they'll have to skip hole (3) or they'll likely lose your disc. Hole (5) is another hole with the ability to claim plastic or at least provide interesting retrieval efforts. The rest of the course should be just fine for beginners, although the distances on a few holes may be intimidating.
- NATURAL BEAUTY - Overall I felt that the park landscape here fell on the bottom half for beauty compared to all courses I've played. There are some cool monster oaks in the park, but there are also some monster dead and dying ones two. Sure there's a pond and small creek, but I didn't think it had the grace that one finds when these types of features are incorporated in a state park setting. Overall I scored this aspect 40 percentile.
Other Thoughts:
One of the better 9 holers I've played in North Alabama. Golden Bear offers the right mix of challenge and fun factor to warrant a lot of local play for a broad range of skill levels. Novice level players will be pushed to their limit and Intermediates will be satisfied. Not a destination course beyond a 25-minute drive range as there are 18-hole courses with better land and gameplay just beyond that range. This will be a harder course to check off for the course baggers as it's not near any major highway. Perhaps they can pick it up during a 3-course combo when adding both Loretto and St. Joseph.
