Pros:
- good baskets (Discatchers), adequate concrete tees
- well maintained facility and overall good interaction between course and buildings/paths
- golf is simple but almost every hole provides a unique challenge and should be enjoyable even to advanced players
Cons:
- 5's fairway now obstructed
- 7's tee is slightly misaligned relative to the basket, making footing awkward
Other Thoughts:
This course is 5-10 minutes from I-79 in Weston, WV. It plays through Jackson's Mill, a "special-mission campus of West Virginia University" and "site of the first statewide 4-H camp in the nation." This property is owned and operated by the WVU Extension Service, which has a mission to positively impact youth and communities statewide. It is located around the childhood home of Confederate General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, and has multiple event facilities and lodging available.
The course starts (holes 1-7) at one end of the camp, near the main entrance, through the southeast end of the camp. It then dives into woods for holes 8-14. Holes 15-18 play through the other end of camp before a long finishing hole closes the loop near the main parking area.
Though the course clearly caters to younger and less experienced players, the golf itself is very fun from beginning to end. Only holes 17 and 18 are true distance shots, but holes are not overly short in general. There are six holes in that 280' to 320' range that required me to power up a midrange or throw a decent shot with a fairway driver. Holes 2 through 4 are good examples, with 2 being a cool line into a basket placed on an open green sloping down from left to right. A large tree obstructs the RHBH hyzer line, so the perfect shot here is a gentle, 300' RHBH turnover. It's a simple shot, but I liked the design (and failed to hit the shot). Hole 3 is another very simple but enjoyable ~300' shot, an elevated tee with trees favoring a simple straight/hyzer line. I threw a bunch of discs and will do the same next time I'm here. 4 is also a fun one with a late but wide gap into a green surrounded by marsh. I think these three holes give a good idea of what the course is about: nothing too complicated or challenging, but simple shots that consistently require even skilled players to pick and hit a line. Some of the wooded shots are particularly fun (esp 12-13), one is laughably short (10), and some are a little bit of both (9, 14). Hole 15 is a straight 300 footer into a simple left side green. An OB parking lot punishes you if your RHBH straight-to-hyzer has too much straight.
Holes 17 and 18 are wide open and on the longer side, 17 being a little over 400' and 18 being a little over 500'. These are a good way to end the round, with some opportunities to dust off all those neglected drivers.
Access: It's not far from I-79. The property is quite large, but the location for the course is easy to find. I followed Google Maps to Jackson's Mill and parked close to 18's basket, visible on pulling into the main entrance. I parked here and started at hole 1, behind Lewis Cottage. This is close to the Visitor's Center, and I'm sure someone there could point you in the right direction if lost.
I work in healthcare, and I found it interesting that Novo Nordisk has clearly financed some of the course. Every hole had a decent tee sign with hole layout, and also had a separate plaque with information on diabetes and obesity. These provided good information and are clearly aiming to inform West Virginians about diabetes while getting them outdoors to play some disc golf.
A word about the subpar par scheme: I shot a 17-down round and felt like I played poorly. I've played many courses with similar pars, and I don't count it against the course whe. The real surprise to me was that DGCR rated my round at 949. This is probably just an indicator that there haven't been many recorded rounds here. It seems like any hole longer than 300' was assigned a par of 4, with the only 500' hole called a par 5.
There were a couple negative quirks about the course. The biggest thing is that there's a very large permanent structure (multiple residential yurts, bathrooms, and a land-bridge with other walkways - perhaps it's new?) smack dab in the middle of 5's fairway. The hole is sub 250', and this structure blocks 100% of the fairway width as well as over 50% of its length. I threw 2 shots, a RHFH that hit a roof and still ended up in circle 1, and a RHBH hyzer that cleared all obstacles and also reached circle 1. This needs to be addressed. Another thing I found funny was 7's tee pad. Whoever poured the concrete aimed this pad directly at a 2' wide tree, despite there being a direct line to the basket. This was clearly a mistake, and it does make the tee shot footing awkward. The only other issue with the course was 14's basket, which was substantially tilted after being hit by a vehicle or mower.
Rating: I agree with a 2015 review. It's a 3.0 "good" for me. The course is simple, but it has a good fun factor, is well-maintained, and has an appropriate level of challenge. I'd be happy to have a course like this close to home.
Everything about the course and design matches the mission of the event center. Job well done, and thank you WVU Extension Service!