Pros:
Golden Hills - Golden Bear is one of 2 19 hole courses on site here . The parking lot isn't very big , so if you go at peak times , you may have to find off road parking . There are no bathrooms that I saw , but there is a nice shelter that sits in front of the #19 basket . The wall has a kiosk on it .Golden Bear has a first tee that sits behind a mound of dirt , where you have to descend to get to the tee . There are 3 tees for many of these holes . The tee pads are dirt , so you may not want to play in the middle or after a storm . The signage is very worn , so much that on some of them , you can't read anything . They are made of wood , with a little Golden Bear on them , giving distance and par along with hole# . The ones you could read also gave you the amount of elevation from tee to basket . I NEVER see that ! The baskets are yellow banded Discatcher and in decent shape . Print the map . You can see some of the tees from the previous basket , but there are times where you will take an incredible walk to get to the next group of holes ( see cons ) . There is a nice creek that is utilized in a hole or 2 , but you rarely see it . There are nice bridges that go over it , though . Some of the trees are spray painted blue or red to help with the navigation . If you like elevation , you will fall in love with these courses . More than you will ever need ( or want ) . The course will divide itself into 1-5 , 6-15 & 16-19 . The distances of the holes are pretty short . I played straight up from the signs . You may want to play with more than one here . Spotting for each other will help a bunch , especially on holes like 4 & 5 , 12 & 15 , Foliage is especially heavy on the first 5 holes . None of the holes here are ones that will live on in your memory . but overall , you will have a good time . Fun Factor is pretty good . Short holes , big hills . Plenty of spots to hit a bird here and there . The course is mostly woods , from #2 through #18 . Bring your water . The course is popular , partly because there are options to play either course . Or both . No signature holes , but I liked #6 , 271' forcing you to throw between trees right to left on up to a basket sitting on a hill with the green below it . Also #19 has an island hole shot playing left to right at 253' . It took me close to 85 minutes to play this course . Figure a group of 4 , 2 1/2 hours +
Cons:
With the good also come the bad :
#1 Safety . Both with others , there are blind throws that might catch a fellow player by surprise that is looking for a disc in the brush .Maybe grunt or call out before throwing blind . Also slipping downhill or climbing uphill can make for you to be skinned up , yourself .
#2 Navigation . WOW . Once you start the group of 3 different parts of the course , then you have no problems until that group ends . There is a trail that splits after hole 5 . Take the one directly behind the basket instead of the one on the left . I went left and walked probably 400 meters . Another big walk was 15-16 . You have to cross a couple of bridges on that one , along with a long downhill walk to what seemed to be a longer uphill one .
#3 Equipment . The signage wouldn't have been so bad if you could read them all . Also , natural tee pads are not a good idea for a course that sits on what seems a mountain . Plenty of chances to take a long spill from the hill ( check out the blue tee on #2 . I understand that it would be improbable to haul cement up or large amounts of gravel to make tee pads , but what about turf , or carpet .? And how about some wood railings or more steps descending from these slopes ?
#4 Disc Risk . I felt sorry for a man with his 6 buddies that were working on contract nearby and loved disc golf . He had just lost his disc for good on hole #4 . I gave him a driver out of my bag and told them to try and take turns spotting for the rest of the course . Since some of the course plays on hillsides , or with big dropoffs , it would be easy to have a midrange drive hit a root or a rock and roll 150' down the hill . I was penalized on a good midrange shot that rolled over 100' down the embankment . I imagine it's murder to try to find a disc in the leaves of autumn .
The course could use a bathroom and a bigger parking lot. Once you start this course , it doesn't look like you come back to the lot until hole #19
Other Thoughts:
Despite that there is so much room for improvement for Golden Bear , there is still that lingering fun factor here . The course had lots of players here . How can you go wrong with a park that boasts 38 holes of disc golf ?! Not a fast play , this technical course will force you to play within yourself and make decisions on risk/reward fairways and basket placements ( #5 , a downhill putter shot that drops off hard past the basket which is also sitting on the hill ) .I can't give this place lower than a 3 just because of the amount of different holes total . Bring something to drink for afterwards and chill in the shelter like I did . Hell , the parks board should hand you a beer if you complete all 38 holes . Pay attention to the weekly doubles on Wednesday evenings from March thru October .
My Recommendation : plenty of holes , on a popular course . Not as good for family dates or newbies ,or even good intermediates or Pros , but great for locals , enthusiasts , groups , course baggers ( not far off I-81 ) . Give this course a play if not too far ,,,,,