Pros:
The Black Course presents a unique challenge with some massive elevation changes and very long holes. The course is spread throughout a huge, superbly maintained park that has a ton of activities available. The park consists of two disc golf courses, a ball golf course, a high-ropes course with zip lines, and has a dozen or so newer cabins that you can stay in. This really is a property where you can spend the entire weekend.
The course offers many nice amenities with benches and trash cans throughout, three different sets of rest rooms, very nice course maps and scorecards, and discs for sale at the main office. The Yellow Course starts at the same spot and is a good warm-up.
A ton of thought and effort have been put in to make the course the best it can be. The fairways have been freshly mowed and the rough trimmed every time I've been here and there are landscaped greens around most of the pins to add to the aestheticism. The tee pads are now longer and smooth (which is a big upgrade from before). Black DISCatchers have flags on top, which is very helpful in spotting them from a distance. Multiple signs pointing to the next hole make navigation easy.
Best of both worlds in that it is located on secluded, scenic property rather than your typical city park setting, but has the upkeep to rival the best maintained public parks out there. It's pretty awesome when you first drive into the park, a kind of other-worldly feeling.
This course is a beast, with a lot of risk/reward due to the fast elevation changes and several very long holes. There is a great variety in hole length - ranging from 178-1,008 feet -and pars with 4 par 4's and 7 par 5's. There is also a great mix of open holes with vast elevation changes and tight holes in the woods. My favorite holes on the course come from both of these kinds of holes, from 5, 6, and 9's tight lines, to 13 and 18's wide open shots with massive elevation changes. Using the road as O.B. also makes some of the more straight forward bomb shots more interesting like on holes 8 and 16.
Did I mention the elevation yet? It is used in so many great ways, whether it is by throwing straight up steep hills on 7 and 17, playing on side-sloping hills on 3, 10, 13, and 15, or launching down enormous hills on 8 and 18. This is one of the finest course designs using elevation that I have played. There are not many real death putts here other than the huge drop-off behind 9's basket, but fast greens will challenge your approach game on many holes.
Cons:
-There aren't really any major detractors on this course. Mostly, the cons of this course are based upon my personal preference of course design and some are a little nitpicky. No huge negatives here, more just a reflection of the type of golf I enjoy.
- I would have liked to hit more specific lines on some of the long shots instead of playing on so many wide open holes.
-To continue along the same lines, a few holes are pretty bland. I think the reason I feel this way is that, again, at least half the holes on this course are for the most part wide open. The elevation presents a great challenge for the open holes, but I would have liked to have had more specific line options to choose from.
-Some holes play dangerously close to or across park roads. Believe it or not, this park gets busy in the summer with cars constantly passing through. Not a big deal, just play carefully when the park gets busy.
-This is a hiking man's course with a lot of long walks and elevation. Not a con in my eyes but may be for some. This course can be brutal in the hot weather so bring a lot of water, more than you usually would.
-The course is in somewhat of an inconvenient location. You most likely will be traveling a out of your way to get here, depending on what direction you're coming from. Roads are a little rough and windy. Nothing that should stop you from coming here, just something to keep in mind.
-Holes 1 and 2 share tee pads with holes 2 and 3 of the Yellow Course
-It'd be nice to have a pictured layout of the holes on the tee sign, especially for the longer holes.
Other Thoughts:
This is a terrific course that I would encourage any golfer to play, as long as they don't mind the hike. It is a unique experience that will challenge your long game and cause you to battle fast elevation changes. I think that it is worth going out of one's way to play because there is no other course like it, at least that I have seen. It has great design using the park's woodenness and elevation, just too many straight-forward holes for me to bump its rating up any higher. With the Yellow Course also on site, Grandvue Park truly offers the player a satisfying day of disc golf. Come enjoy some of WV's finest golf!