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Grants Nonesuch Valley Farm Disc Golf reviews
15
0
Somewhat Entranced At Grants Nonesuch
Reviewed:
Played on:Jul 22, 2022
Played the course:once
Pros:
+ The course occupies a quiet area featuring some healthy hills, peaceful fields and pockets of tree tunnels.
+ All 18 holes have flat, long and wide tees made of sturdy identical pavers.
+ All 18 baskets are bright red for visibility and have circle strings tied to them so you can judge your spot in circle-1.
+ All 18 holes have next signage after each basket, even when they're not necessary.
+ Most holes have a bench, table, recycle and trash bins. Please don't litter, folks. This is private property.
+ The grounds appeared decently-maintained and improving.
+ Welcome area has practice baskets and payment box, but...
+ All 18 holes have flat, long and wide tees made of sturdy identical pavers.
+ All 18 baskets are bright red for visibility and have circle strings tied to them so you can judge your spot in circle-1.
+ All 18 holes have next signage after each basket, even when they're not necessary.
+ Most holes have a bench, table, recycle and trash bins. Please don't litter, folks. This is private property.
+ The grounds appeared decently-maintained and improving.
+ Welcome area has practice baskets and payment box, but...
Cons:
- ...no information/map board or lost disc box?
- About a third of the tee signs were faded, damaged or missing altogether.
- A lot of different fairways are pretty close to one another.
- It's kind of easy and straight-forward.
- About a third of the tee signs were faded, damaged or missing altogether.
- A lot of different fairways are pretty close to one another.
- It's kind of easy and straight-forward.
Other Thoughts:
This review is based on my visit in July 2022, so some of my observations could be out-of-date.
Good infrastructure and upkeep can do wonders for a course. It can make a good course great and a great course spectacular. A boring course can be made tolerable and an awful course made painless all because of mowed lawns, consistent tees, managed undergrowth, etc. In the case of Grants Nonesuch Valley Farm Disc Golf Course (to be referred to as "Nonesuch" for the remainder of this review), the upkeep takes this plain course and make it good.
The disc golfing itself at Nonesuch is just fine and pretty balanced. Things start wide open for the power throwers. Hole1 might be a bit too open. I liked that one the least because it's too direct and obvious. On hole5 I was amused to see distance signs facing the tee pad so players could have a visual representation of how far their drive flew. Then, by the second half of hole8, the experience shifts gears into wooded disc golf for the tacticians. Things don't get too crazy in there, though. There is enough space between trees that most players won't feel hopeless. Hole14 was my favorite hole to play because, even though it was an open sky tunnel shot, the terrain and trees were still enough of a challenge to keep my interest. And if you do have a nasty deflection, the undergrowth isn't insurmountable. I don't imagine there is a large dedicated team keeping this place in order, so two or three fairways might seem unkempt. Then from 15 until the end, it's wide open again with three hily fairways for the finale.
These are all the kinds of holes that you've played before, though. Nothing here jumped out at me as categorically "New England-style" or grabbed my attention. I think that the course designers might have been aware of this and therefore increased the upkeep aspect to put it a step above many of the other common courses that you've seen and played.
Helping in that regard, I will say that the venue is really nice. In a rural region of Maine along a road where cars seldom travel, this course feels like an oasis of tranquility. And once you start playing and get further away from the road into the woods, it's not hard to feel as though you're suspended in time with how quiet and pretty it is. Hole6 gets a special mention because of its perfectly-trimmed foliage carving a circle around the basket as seen from the teepad. That's a nice touch.
So, in closing, I recommend Nonesuch. The $5 per visit is worth it. It doesn't dazzle, but the basics are rock solid. This is just the place to go with your buddies to turn on some chilled music, achieve a nice vibe, take multiple throws off the tee and forget about life for a few hours.
Oh, one more thing. If you're allergic to bee stings, don't forget your epipen here just in case. There are some spots where I saw a bunch of them buzzing around. Holes5 and 17, I think.
Good infrastructure and upkeep can do wonders for a course. It can make a good course great and a great course spectacular. A boring course can be made tolerable and an awful course made painless all because of mowed lawns, consistent tees, managed undergrowth, etc. In the case of Grants Nonesuch Valley Farm Disc Golf Course (to be referred to as "Nonesuch" for the remainder of this review), the upkeep takes this plain course and make it good.
The disc golfing itself at Nonesuch is just fine and pretty balanced. Things start wide open for the power throwers. Hole1 might be a bit too open. I liked that one the least because it's too direct and obvious. On hole5 I was amused to see distance signs facing the tee pad so players could have a visual representation of how far their drive flew. Then, by the second half of hole8, the experience shifts gears into wooded disc golf for the tacticians. Things don't get too crazy in there, though. There is enough space between trees that most players won't feel hopeless. Hole14 was my favorite hole to play because, even though it was an open sky tunnel shot, the terrain and trees were still enough of a challenge to keep my interest. And if you do have a nasty deflection, the undergrowth isn't insurmountable. I don't imagine there is a large dedicated team keeping this place in order, so two or three fairways might seem unkempt. Then from 15 until the end, it's wide open again with three hily fairways for the finale.
These are all the kinds of holes that you've played before, though. Nothing here jumped out at me as categorically "New England-style" or grabbed my attention. I think that the course designers might have been aware of this and therefore increased the upkeep aspect to put it a step above many of the other common courses that you've seen and played.
Helping in that regard, I will say that the venue is really nice. In a rural region of Maine along a road where cars seldom travel, this course feels like an oasis of tranquility. And once you start playing and get further away from the road into the woods, it's not hard to feel as though you're suspended in time with how quiet and pretty it is. Hole6 gets a special mention because of its perfectly-trimmed foliage carving a circle around the basket as seen from the teepad. That's a nice touch.
So, in closing, I recommend Nonesuch. The $5 per visit is worth it. It doesn't dazzle, but the basics are rock solid. This is just the place to go with your buddies to turn on some chilled music, achieve a nice vibe, take multiple throws off the tee and forget about life for a few hours.
Oh, one more thing. If you're allergic to bee stings, don't forget your epipen here just in case. There are some spots where I saw a bunch of them buzzing around. Holes5 and 17, I think.
