Pros:
Jim Barnett Park was a surprisingly simple, yet well executed, course layout. The course might not have any top-level holes, instead offering one solid hole after another.
- I thought this was a well-designed course. From the long tees, it's a 6600-foot layout, giving us noodle arms a chance to still offer respectable scores.
- The course's biggest strength is that it plays throughout a series of rolling hills, weaving in and out of wooded portions of the park.
- You get a taste of that immediately. Hole #1 is 410 feet, starting in an open field, through a gap in the trees, to a slight uphill basket. An interesting aside: four holes are longer than 500 feet. Besides those holes, #1 is the only other hole on the course longer than 400 feet.
- The course ebbs and flows from more challenging, take-your-par layouts, to shorter and/or easier holes. There were several times throughout the round, I'd get back-to-back 3s where I felt one was a great score and the other was a letdown.
- Hole #6's gimmick layout actual worked perfectly on this course. It's a fake island green, 198-foot layout where players must land inside the artificial 'green' or be considered OB. Normally, I wouldn't like this layout. In this case, you can either have a long walk between #5 & 7; have a simple, wide-open layout; or take a chance with this type of design.
- The course peaked with a wonderful five-hole stretch from #12 - 16 that best reflects this course's best features. #12 is a slightly wooded dogleg. #13 is a sweeping downhill dogleg that starts in a field to a basket in the woods. #14 is a long multi-shot layout that starts tight and ends in an open field. #15 is a wooded, uphill layout. #16, at 574 feet, will reward two solid shots with birdie chances. Sadly, the final two holes are a letdown after this stretch.
- Great tee signs. They're very descriptive and helpful. Tee pads are also solid.
- This is a large multi-use park that offers a wide variety of activities. Throughout the round, you'll play alongside the walking trails, picnic shelters, horseshoe pits and the dog park.
Cons:
My biggest issue with the course is the complete letdown you get with the final two holes. Both need some major love and attention. #17 starts in front of a mudpit/mini-swamp that seems to collect every nasty smell from the entire park. #18 is a 560-foot hole that offers no discernable fairway. I threw my brightest colored disc, hoping it would be easy to find in the middle of the fairway. What a dud that I could just throw a putter 175 feet 3 times in a row then two-putt for an easy 'par' 5.
- In addition to those two holes, there were several other spots on the course where the grass was needing to be cut down. It was essentially the wooded holes that were being neglected - #5, 8 & 9 come to mind as most egregious.
- Signage could be better in a couple of places. Going from #15 to 16, for safety reasons, signs need to discourage players from trying to walk up a steep hill, and point them around the corner instead. Going from #16 to 17, there's a long walk that could be aided with a couple of arrows.
- The entire course is one long loop around the park. There's no easy spot to bail out early. If you're coming for a round, prepare to play all 18.
Other Thoughts:
Jim Barnett Park offered a fun round of disc golf. The course got progressively better for 16 holes, then it came to a screeching halt for the final two holes.
- #17 could be a fine hole if it's cleaned up. As it is, it's a simple par 3 that can be considered a victory if players avoid the cesspool. #18, on the other hand, even if it were cleaned up, doesn't seem like it has the cache you'd want for your closing hole.
- I enjoyed how the course flowed from wooded to open layouts; from flat to uphill & downhill shots; from straight to dogleg layouts. With each hole offering different combinations of those variables, you get a great variety.
- I feel that if I played this course multiple times, I'd have a different favorite hole each time. It's a course that will reward good shot making, but won't punish you too much if you're having an off day.
- Not sure who Jim Barnett is, or was. The top 3 Jim Barnetts on Google were a former wrestler, basketball player, and recurring character on Baywatch. Just a hunch, but I don't think the park was named after any of those 3. Now, if it were the Hobie Buchannon Park, it would all make sense.
- There are several good courses in this stretch of I-81 from Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland. Of the six I played in this area, Ditto Farms in Hagerstown was my favorite and Jim Barnett was second. This is a solid 3.5 rating in my book. I'd gladly play here again if afforded the opportunity.