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Holly Run reviews
12
2
This course is not a 1. 2+ years
Reviewed:
Played on:Jul 14, 2018
Played the course:2-4 times
Pros:
-I usually keep other people's opinions out of reviews, well usually. This time I can't. This course is NOT a 1. If a massive crown fire occurred in the woods, or if a swarming herd of beavers tookover the park and chewed down the entire forest and left the trees in place, this course would still be better than a 1. Don't let the previous reviewer keep you from coming here. He probably thinks no fun is the most fun and would prefer a cookie cutter open course in the middle of an airport, or the old course that use to be here. Holly Run is not in perfect condition, but it is exclusive and legit disc golf. Course is primarily wooded, but holes 16 thru 18 take you out into the open.
-The park is HUGE. It has a swimming pool, a playground, vending machines, and probably other recreational activities I don't know about.
-Thirty baskets here. That means that there are twelve long pins. The par on the longs is 69 and offers a foot blistering and terrifying beast of a course; yet is still shreddable. The short layout is still challenging and is a par 57. I shot -9, which is one of my greatest rounds I've had. I shot a 72 on the longs and wasn't very happy with that. The biggest challenge is accuracy for the most part. But every fairway is fair. If you want to throw a driver on a 450' wooded par 4, then you might be out of luck. But come to think of it, many championship level courses require accuracy on long holes that are not driver friendly.
-The view of the creek is really nice. Water doesn't come into play much on this course, but there are ditches and water does come into play on a couple of holes.
-The greens are mostly intimidating. They are either guarded by trees. Not so guarded to where you'll get sabotaged, but can mess with you head and force you to straddle putt (play the cemetery music now.)
-There are tee-signs and diagrams. You'll be compelled to walk up the fairway, but the diagrams and hole info give you enough on what to expect. There are many "next tee" arrows.
-There's not a hole here that I can say I disliked. It starts off more traditional with the first two holes. Three starts to amp up the originality. Hole 4 is one of the best holes I've played. And it's not even my favorite hole here. The short pin is a 420' par 4 around a creek bed. The long pin is terrifying, but leaves plenty of room for a birdie. It's a 635' par 5 that's sketchy the whole way. The long pin is a hole I always want to birdie or possibly eagle. But I didn't. I got a bogey, but my friend successfully birdied it with a nice sidearm throw off the pad. I was able to birdie this hole in the short pin.
-Holes 7 and 8 are both super fun downhill shots. Hole 7 has two pin positions. The short pin is to the left. Hole is like 225' but plays shorter due to elevation, but will still make you question your gut feeling on what to through. The long pin is scary. Its further down a tight and twisting fairway onto a smaller but steep hill that's rough on rollers. A putt for three can turn into a five. 8's pad is on a deck. The shot is over what you could consider a large ditch or small ravine. Hole is very picturesque, and may make you want to move to Gibsonville if you don't live there already. Awesome ace run hole, but still a hard hole.
-The front nine is almost exclusively "singular." It's very unusual but had me saying "WOW" on most holes. My responses to the holes on the back nine were pretty much the same, but it had more of a familiar taste. For instance, I felt like I was at Goose Landing or Camp Canaan on hole 13. Or at Shaver Complex on 14. And on 15 long, I felt like I was at Bradford or City Lake. Is that a problem? Not at all!
-16 long is an extremely fun par 5 with the gravel road in play the whole way. The tee is in the woods but barely, so you really get to rip it. Beware of the right side of the road, as the woods are pretty dense. Not only can you rip that drive you've been patiently waiting for, but you'll feel the urge to throw a second smash. Once you are past the short pin, more trees appear so the openness closes a bit. But it's still a fun par 5. #17 is beaut of a hole too. The short pin is nearly 400' away so it requires good distance if you want a birdie. The long pin is further down the field and up a hill. It's a challenging but awesome par 4. Not sure if this was my favorite hole or not.
-The park is HUGE. It has a swimming pool, a playground, vending machines, and probably other recreational activities I don't know about.
-Thirty baskets here. That means that there are twelve long pins. The par on the longs is 69 and offers a foot blistering and terrifying beast of a course; yet is still shreddable. The short layout is still challenging and is a par 57. I shot -9, which is one of my greatest rounds I've had. I shot a 72 on the longs and wasn't very happy with that. The biggest challenge is accuracy for the most part. But every fairway is fair. If you want to throw a driver on a 450' wooded par 4, then you might be out of luck. But come to think of it, many championship level courses require accuracy on long holes that are not driver friendly.
-The view of the creek is really nice. Water doesn't come into play much on this course, but there are ditches and water does come into play on a couple of holes.
-The greens are mostly intimidating. They are either guarded by trees. Not so guarded to where you'll get sabotaged, but can mess with you head and force you to straddle putt (play the cemetery music now.)
-There are tee-signs and diagrams. You'll be compelled to walk up the fairway, but the diagrams and hole info give you enough on what to expect. There are many "next tee" arrows.
-There's not a hole here that I can say I disliked. It starts off more traditional with the first two holes. Three starts to amp up the originality. Hole 4 is one of the best holes I've played. And it's not even my favorite hole here. The short pin is a 420' par 4 around a creek bed. The long pin is terrifying, but leaves plenty of room for a birdie. It's a 635' par 5 that's sketchy the whole way. The long pin is a hole I always want to birdie or possibly eagle. But I didn't. I got a bogey, but my friend successfully birdied it with a nice sidearm throw off the pad. I was able to birdie this hole in the short pin.
-Holes 7 and 8 are both super fun downhill shots. Hole 7 has two pin positions. The short pin is to the left. Hole is like 225' but plays shorter due to elevation, but will still make you question your gut feeling on what to through. The long pin is scary. Its further down a tight and twisting fairway onto a smaller but steep hill that's rough on rollers. A putt for three can turn into a five. 8's pad is on a deck. The shot is over what you could consider a large ditch or small ravine. Hole is very picturesque, and may make you want to move to Gibsonville if you don't live there already. Awesome ace run hole, but still a hard hole.
-The front nine is almost exclusively "singular." It's very unusual but had me saying "WOW" on most holes. My responses to the holes on the back nine were pretty much the same, but it had more of a familiar taste. For instance, I felt like I was at Goose Landing or Camp Canaan on hole 13. Or at Shaver Complex on 14. And on 15 long, I felt like I was at Bradford or City Lake. Is that a problem? Not at all!
-16 long is an extremely fun par 5 with the gravel road in play the whole way. The tee is in the woods but barely, so you really get to rip it. Beware of the right side of the road, as the woods are pretty dense. Not only can you rip that drive you've been patiently waiting for, but you'll feel the urge to throw a second smash. Once you are past the short pin, more trees appear so the openness closes a bit. But it's still a fun par 5. #17 is beaut of a hole too. The short pin is nearly 400' away so it requires good distance if you want a birdie. The long pin is further down the field and up a hill. It's a challenging but awesome par 4. Not sure if this was my favorite hole or not.
Cons:
-This place is new. So be patient and try to stay positive because it has some new course flaws. There are some drag piles in the rough on a few holes. There is poison ivy on some fairways, so that needs to be gone in the future. Especially the walk from 12 to 13. It just needs to go.
-It's a beatdown. You're going to get exhausted and you'll regret it if you don't eat between rounds if you play both layouts. The nearest restaurants are pretty secluded. So I'd take advantage of the drink machines on the other side of the parking lot. Not to mention the creek beds and ditches are steep. I twisted my foot and now I'm walking like Kurt Stryker and a few people thought I was weird (I probably am.)
-18 short seems a bit out of place with the rest of the layout. It's a good hole. But the long pin is by a huge pond. I think the long pin should be the original and there should be a long pin pushed back. There are many possible opportunities for an epic monster finisher.
-It's a beatdown. You're going to get exhausted and you'll regret it if you don't eat between rounds if you play both layouts. The nearest restaurants are pretty secluded. So I'd take advantage of the drink machines on the other side of the parking lot. Not to mention the creek beds and ditches are steep. I twisted my foot and now I'm walking like Kurt Stryker and a few people thought I was weird (I probably am.)
-18 short seems a bit out of place with the rest of the layout. It's a good hole. But the long pin is by a huge pond. I think the long pin should be the original and there should be a long pin pushed back. There are many possible opportunities for an epic monster finisher.
Other Thoughts:
-This course is off the chain. If you don't like this course, then I would not advocate you play courses that are private or that are considered "more exotic" than most others. When I saw that this was a redesign, I looked at the pictures of the old layout and surprised on how mediocre it looked and how much wasted potential there probably was. It's like the designers were so fed up with Russell sucking the fun out of disc golf down in the triad and planned a revolution with a stellar park course that looks like a private course and went even further by creating a beast of a long course out of it. Drew, James, and BrotherDave practically turned poison into a fine wine. Please redesign Cane Creek and Frank Liske. You have it in you!
-I can't even pick a favorite hole. There are at least ten signature holes from each layout. #13 is a beast of a hole. It's almost like a double dogleg from the long pin. I think that will be the most favorited hole in the future. Or at least the most memorable.
-Play this course. It's a true gem. Courses like this are what's making the game grow. I'll seriously update to a 5 if the poison ivy growth is gone or at least controlled.
-I can't even pick a favorite hole. There are at least ten signature holes from each layout. #13 is a beast of a hole. It's almost like a double dogleg from the long pin. I think that will be the most favorited hole in the future. Or at least the most memorable.
-Play this course. It's a true gem. Courses like this are what's making the game grow. I'll seriously update to a 5 if the poison ivy growth is gone or at least controlled.
