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Liberty Woods reviews
9
0
The best church course I've played 2+ years
Reviewed:
Played on:Nov 3, 2021
Played the course:once
Pros:
The course designers did a fantastic job of making the most of this space and creating a course for disc golfers of all skill levels. Full round of applause. The design features a TON of different shot shapes/obstacles. This course is a lot of fun, and there's room to improve it. Adding true tee pads to all the tees would bump this up to a 4 for me.
PROS:
-Multiple pin positions for varying skill levels
-Quality baskets on every hole.
-Easy to navigate. Hole 9 is the only tricky one, and that's easy to avoid (read about that in my hole breakdown below)
-Great design with different obstacles almost on every hole for the thrower to navigate
-Requires both forehand and backhand shots, but high-level players could get away with just one.
-Memorable holes. At the moment, Hole 16 is on my dream 18 if, I'm only including holes I've played.
-The front 9 ends at the parking lot, so you can play 9 and not have to trek back a distance to your car.
PROS:
-Multiple pin positions for varying skill levels
-Quality baskets on every hole.
-Easy to navigate. Hole 9 is the only tricky one, and that's easy to avoid (read about that in my hole breakdown below)
-Great design with different obstacles almost on every hole for the thrower to navigate
-Requires both forehand and backhand shots, but high-level players could get away with just one.
-Memorable holes. At the moment, Hole 16 is on my dream 18 if, I'm only including holes I've played.
-The front 9 ends at the parking lot, so you can play 9 and not have to trek back a distance to your car.
Cons:
CONS:
-Many tee positions don't have a tee pad, from the shorts to the longs. The short/red tees for example mostly have a red square on the ground. I appreciate that they're marked, but they're also so low/small they can be hard to find. If you play the short tees, look at the tee sign from the long position to gauge where the short tee is.
-The rough is rough. To some disc golfers, that's good design. To others, especially new players, it's frustrating. There are a few holes where you could throw a disc to where you can't find it.
-No bathrooms that I saw, but I imagine you could go in the church.
-Many tee positions don't have a tee pad, from the shorts to the longs. The short/red tees for example mostly have a red square on the ground. I appreciate that they're marked, but they're also so low/small they can be hard to find. If you play the short tees, look at the tee sign from the long position to gauge where the short tee is.
-The rough is rough. To some disc golfers, that's good design. To others, especially new players, it's frustrating. There are a few holes where you could throw a disc to where you can't find it.
-No bathrooms that I saw, but I imagine you could go in the church.
Other Thoughts:
HOLE BREAKDOWN - Most of these descriptions will apply to every shot. I played the short tees, so I may be off somewhat on the longer positions. Some holes, like Hole 14, have drastically different positions for the tees.
Hole 1 is a straight to left fading shot. There are a few small trees to throw around/past/over to get to the pin. The basket is on a slight elevation moving away from the tee, so it can throw off your judgment a bit. I thought my drive went 45 feet left of the basket and I had maybe an 18-foot putt.
AS SOON AS YOU DRIVE ON HOLE 1 - look left. You'll see a basket next to the tree line. This is the basket for hole 9. I'd advise all first-time players to go look at this & how tight it is to the tree line. Also, from your current viewpoint, the fairway for 9 is to your left and around the corner. I'd suggest you look at this as well. Hole 9 from every tee is a true par 4. Understanding what you need to throw now will save you strokes once you get there.
Hole 2's tee is close to hole 1's basket. It plays slightly up hill and requires a right fading shot. It's tucked into the tree line, so you'll need to either keep it below the branches or skip it right into the basket. You could probably throw dead straight and end up with a 35-foot putt.
Hole 3 starts in the woods, and you throw out of it. This is a great hole that you need to play a few times to understand the right flight. You throw uphill through a tunnel, woods on your left, right, and above. Once you get through the gap, the ceiling goes away, and the ground is flat. You need to fade your disc left, but 15 to 20 feet past the basket the land starts a slight downhill, so the disc can carry further easily. I threw a few drives here and my stable putters/drivers overshot the hole and left me with an awkward putt in the rough. My over stable putter put me about 15 feet from the basket.
Hole 4 is a short, tight wooded hole. It's mostly a straight shot, but the basket is slightly to the right. You need to get through the tunnel here. Hit anything short and you'll have a tricky scramble with so many branches in the way. Stepping up the tee, this feels like an ace run, but the basket is tucked so tightly to the corner you fade around, that it's easy to go way long and leave yourself a 40+ foot putt. If you want to ace, I think you'll need to cut the corner early and get lucky avoiding the few trees around the basket.
Hole 5 is the toughest on the course in terms of shot shape(s). From the long tee, the overall hole shape is close to a long S curve. A Pro might be able to throw a right-hand flex backhand all the way to the basket, but that's not the optimal play here. There's a lot to miss and the corners you need to hit will pinch you hard if you're not in the landing zones. Much wiser in my opinion to play this par 4 for 3. From the long tee, you'll throw straight and need to fade slightly right to hit a landing zone inside the wooded area. This isn't a tunnel, but you throw from a more open space & hit a gap to enter the second part of the hole (which is where the short tee starts). Once you've hit that gap, the next throw needs to fade left, but there's a very tight corner to hit. You don't have a lot of room due to the ceiling, and you need to throw something stable that will both fade around the corner and push forward. If you just push forward and don't fade enough, you'll have an upshot from the rough. The basket is left of this second gap. I'd throw over-stable putter off the tee and an over-stable fairway driver/firebird like disc for the approach.
Hole 6's flight is 2/3 uphill followed by 1/3 flat ground. You throw up and need to fade left. There's a large bush at the top of the hill you're throwing at. You want to fade well before this bush and push forward left. I threw to this bush and faded in front of it, and I left myself a 40 ish foot putt.
Hole 7 is down from hole 6 towards the open field. There's a path near Hole 6's basket that leads back to the woods. Don't take it. You can see Hole 7's tee from Hole 6's basket easily. From the long tee hole seven is a right bending shot. From the shortest tee it's a straight shot. The trick here is to get your shot shape right and watch speed control. The slope fades down right from the basket, so it's easy to carry this one too far. Also, the grass here is grabby, so you won't get much ground play short of the basket. Throw something you expect to stick.
Hole 8 is neat because the shorter tees and the long tee play completely different. The long tees have essentially a hyzer that fades right. The shorter tees need to hit some fair gaps and essentially throw a straight shot. There's a small tree to the right of the basket. This is the most ace-able hole on the course from the shorter tees.
Hole 9 is a Par 4 from all three tee positions, which is pretty cool when you play it and understand the shot shape. The long tee includes 200 feet of distance to get to a pretty tall hill. The short tee is pretty close to the start of the elevation. The hill slopes from left to right, with a wood line on the left side. The trick here is to stay on the right side of the fairway. The further right the better. The left side has some space cut out, and your disc can fade in to where you don't have a clean upshot. The right side will give you room to throw a spike hyzer into the green. I faded too far left off the tee and had to throw a forehand cut roller around the corner to the basket. The corner is tight. From the rough on the left, it's a hard 90-degree angle turn. The basket (which you should have looked at on hole 1) is tight to the wood line.
Hole 10 may be the dullest on the course. It's essentially a straight shot. The danger is the woods long and right of the basket. Stay out of there and you should have a putt.
Hole 11 is uphill, but there's not much of anything in the way. The grass was taller around the edges here, but the green / fairway has quality footing.
Hole 12 is fantastic. It's a downhill hole where early on your throw through a tight tunnel, probably 60 feet long, then you finish downhill into a field. The basket is tucked behind a small tree line, and there's a creek short of the basket. You need to finish right of the basket to miss the tree line entirely, and this will give you a 20 - 30-foot putt to your left to the basket. I imagine this hole plays tougher during warmer months with more foliage. The fairway requires the disc to move right from the tee, but you can get away with going straight at it.
Hole 13 you throw through a gap made by two bushes. You could throw over the left bush if you prefer. The basket is tucked up next to a large bush right of the tee, and you can't see it from the tee. Throw a right fading shot and don't end up in that bush. You'll end up with a short putt back to the basket.
Hole 14 is one of the most unique. Each of the three tees plays completely differently. I never saw the long tee. The other two tees give you a hyzer shot through a mostly open field into a highly wooded green. The trees surrounding the basket force you to hit a gap. If you hit a tree and end up outside the green, you probably have a 30 - 40-foot putt to the basket.
Hole 15 is a simple straight shot with a left fade at the end. You can see the basket from the tee, but a bush on the right side of the fairway sticks out covering up part of the basket. I hit the edge of this bush and my over stable putter still fell forward enough to give me a 15-foot putt.
Hole 16, by far, was my favorite hole on the course. This was course # 194 for me, and I don't remember anything quite like it. It plays extremely uphill. The long tee says 257, but I imagine power-wise it's closer to 320 or 350. From the long tee, you have a tight gap between some trees to hit (with a small ceiling where some branches come together, and the fairway moves uphill and right. This is not a hard hole to birdie if you hit the gap from the tee (the short tee starts at the gap, so you essentially skip it). As a right hander, I don't think I'd be able to get a forehand that high and fade it far enough to get to the basket. The best shot to birdie is a sky anhyzer flex shot with a backhand. You need to flex the disc because it would be terribly difficult to hit the gap if you're already moving right. Going that far uphill, it's hard to get the power on a disc to turn it over and keep it pushing right. I was able to give myself a 45-foot putt throwing a 165 gram Leopard 3 off the tee.
Hole 17 is a straight to left fade finish. It's slightly uphill, and the wind can play a big factor here. The basket it behind some sort of electrical machine, which has a net up to protect it.
Hole 18 plays back toward the parking lot. From the long, you'll want to get as much distance as you can and keep an eye on your throw. There are no trees in the way, but the grass is long off the fairway. The fairway though is more of a walking path. The green is sloped slightly downhill from the tee, so land close to the basket to give yourself an easier putt.
Hole 1 is a straight to left fading shot. There are a few small trees to throw around/past/over to get to the pin. The basket is on a slight elevation moving away from the tee, so it can throw off your judgment a bit. I thought my drive went 45 feet left of the basket and I had maybe an 18-foot putt.
AS SOON AS YOU DRIVE ON HOLE 1 - look left. You'll see a basket next to the tree line. This is the basket for hole 9. I'd advise all first-time players to go look at this & how tight it is to the tree line. Also, from your current viewpoint, the fairway for 9 is to your left and around the corner. I'd suggest you look at this as well. Hole 9 from every tee is a true par 4. Understanding what you need to throw now will save you strokes once you get there.
Hole 2's tee is close to hole 1's basket. It plays slightly up hill and requires a right fading shot. It's tucked into the tree line, so you'll need to either keep it below the branches or skip it right into the basket. You could probably throw dead straight and end up with a 35-foot putt.
Hole 3 starts in the woods, and you throw out of it. This is a great hole that you need to play a few times to understand the right flight. You throw uphill through a tunnel, woods on your left, right, and above. Once you get through the gap, the ceiling goes away, and the ground is flat. You need to fade your disc left, but 15 to 20 feet past the basket the land starts a slight downhill, so the disc can carry further easily. I threw a few drives here and my stable putters/drivers overshot the hole and left me with an awkward putt in the rough. My over stable putter put me about 15 feet from the basket.
Hole 4 is a short, tight wooded hole. It's mostly a straight shot, but the basket is slightly to the right. You need to get through the tunnel here. Hit anything short and you'll have a tricky scramble with so many branches in the way. Stepping up the tee, this feels like an ace run, but the basket is tucked so tightly to the corner you fade around, that it's easy to go way long and leave yourself a 40+ foot putt. If you want to ace, I think you'll need to cut the corner early and get lucky avoiding the few trees around the basket.
Hole 5 is the toughest on the course in terms of shot shape(s). From the long tee, the overall hole shape is close to a long S curve. A Pro might be able to throw a right-hand flex backhand all the way to the basket, but that's not the optimal play here. There's a lot to miss and the corners you need to hit will pinch you hard if you're not in the landing zones. Much wiser in my opinion to play this par 4 for 3. From the long tee, you'll throw straight and need to fade slightly right to hit a landing zone inside the wooded area. This isn't a tunnel, but you throw from a more open space & hit a gap to enter the second part of the hole (which is where the short tee starts). Once you've hit that gap, the next throw needs to fade left, but there's a very tight corner to hit. You don't have a lot of room due to the ceiling, and you need to throw something stable that will both fade around the corner and push forward. If you just push forward and don't fade enough, you'll have an upshot from the rough. The basket is left of this second gap. I'd throw over-stable putter off the tee and an over-stable fairway driver/firebird like disc for the approach.
Hole 6's flight is 2/3 uphill followed by 1/3 flat ground. You throw up and need to fade left. There's a large bush at the top of the hill you're throwing at. You want to fade well before this bush and push forward left. I threw to this bush and faded in front of it, and I left myself a 40 ish foot putt.
Hole 7 is down from hole 6 towards the open field. There's a path near Hole 6's basket that leads back to the woods. Don't take it. You can see Hole 7's tee from Hole 6's basket easily. From the long tee hole seven is a right bending shot. From the shortest tee it's a straight shot. The trick here is to get your shot shape right and watch speed control. The slope fades down right from the basket, so it's easy to carry this one too far. Also, the grass here is grabby, so you won't get much ground play short of the basket. Throw something you expect to stick.
Hole 8 is neat because the shorter tees and the long tee play completely different. The long tees have essentially a hyzer that fades right. The shorter tees need to hit some fair gaps and essentially throw a straight shot. There's a small tree to the right of the basket. This is the most ace-able hole on the course from the shorter tees.
Hole 9 is a Par 4 from all three tee positions, which is pretty cool when you play it and understand the shot shape. The long tee includes 200 feet of distance to get to a pretty tall hill. The short tee is pretty close to the start of the elevation. The hill slopes from left to right, with a wood line on the left side. The trick here is to stay on the right side of the fairway. The further right the better. The left side has some space cut out, and your disc can fade in to where you don't have a clean upshot. The right side will give you room to throw a spike hyzer into the green. I faded too far left off the tee and had to throw a forehand cut roller around the corner to the basket. The corner is tight. From the rough on the left, it's a hard 90-degree angle turn. The basket (which you should have looked at on hole 1) is tight to the wood line.
Hole 10 may be the dullest on the course. It's essentially a straight shot. The danger is the woods long and right of the basket. Stay out of there and you should have a putt.
Hole 11 is uphill, but there's not much of anything in the way. The grass was taller around the edges here, but the green / fairway has quality footing.
Hole 12 is fantastic. It's a downhill hole where early on your throw through a tight tunnel, probably 60 feet long, then you finish downhill into a field. The basket is tucked behind a small tree line, and there's a creek short of the basket. You need to finish right of the basket to miss the tree line entirely, and this will give you a 20 - 30-foot putt to your left to the basket. I imagine this hole plays tougher during warmer months with more foliage. The fairway requires the disc to move right from the tee, but you can get away with going straight at it.
Hole 13 you throw through a gap made by two bushes. You could throw over the left bush if you prefer. The basket is tucked up next to a large bush right of the tee, and you can't see it from the tee. Throw a right fading shot and don't end up in that bush. You'll end up with a short putt back to the basket.
Hole 14 is one of the most unique. Each of the three tees plays completely differently. I never saw the long tee. The other two tees give you a hyzer shot through a mostly open field into a highly wooded green. The trees surrounding the basket force you to hit a gap. If you hit a tree and end up outside the green, you probably have a 30 - 40-foot putt to the basket.
Hole 15 is a simple straight shot with a left fade at the end. You can see the basket from the tee, but a bush on the right side of the fairway sticks out covering up part of the basket. I hit the edge of this bush and my over stable putter still fell forward enough to give me a 15-foot putt.
Hole 16, by far, was my favorite hole on the course. This was course # 194 for me, and I don't remember anything quite like it. It plays extremely uphill. The long tee says 257, but I imagine power-wise it's closer to 320 or 350. From the long tee, you have a tight gap between some trees to hit (with a small ceiling where some branches come together, and the fairway moves uphill and right. This is not a hard hole to birdie if you hit the gap from the tee (the short tee starts at the gap, so you essentially skip it). As a right hander, I don't think I'd be able to get a forehand that high and fade it far enough to get to the basket. The best shot to birdie is a sky anhyzer flex shot with a backhand. You need to flex the disc because it would be terribly difficult to hit the gap if you're already moving right. Going that far uphill, it's hard to get the power on a disc to turn it over and keep it pushing right. I was able to give myself a 45-foot putt throwing a 165 gram Leopard 3 off the tee.
Hole 17 is a straight to left fade finish. It's slightly uphill, and the wind can play a big factor here. The basket it behind some sort of electrical machine, which has a net up to protect it.
Hole 18 plays back toward the parking lot. From the long, you'll want to get as much distance as you can and keep an eye on your throw. There are no trees in the way, but the grass is long off the fairway. The fairway though is more of a walking path. The green is sloped slightly downhill from the tee, so land close to the basket to give yourself an easier putt.
14
0
Give Me Liberty Woods or Give Me...Well, Maybe Not Death... 2+ years
Reviewed:
Played on:Sep 26, 2020
Played the course:2-4 times
Pros:
- Located at the back of a large church's parking lot, Liberty Woods offers 18 holes of rolling elevation, a couple of moderately wooded areas, and a large open prairie area. Three sets of tees on most holes offer distinct looks for each level of player catered to here: Blue, White, and Red. Blue is intermediate or advanced, White is amateur, while Red is rec or beginner. The course starts along the edge of the woods (#'s 1-2), plays through the heart of the moderately wooded section (#'s 3-6), back out along the far side of the woods into the prairie section (#'s 7-11), crosses the street to a section of mixed prairie/woodland (#'s 12-16), before crossing the street again to finish in the prairie area (#'s 17-18). Hole #'s 5 and 9 seem to be the signature holes. #5 blue is a long winding affair through a narrow wooded fairway and is the longest wooded hole. #9 blue is a huge uphill affair that starts flat, works it's way up the hill to a landing zone well wide to the right of the woodline, and then requires a shot around the corner of the woods to a basket in the open.
- Subtle, effective use of elevation throughout. Uphills (#'s 3, 6, 9, 16), downhills (#'s 7, 12, 18), and using the rolling open area ( #'s 10, 17, 18) to good effect throughout makes effectively managing the elevation a necessary but not overwhelming aspect of shooting well. The biggest elevation comes on #9 Blue, with a massive uphill shot where a landing zone is required before turning the corner of the woods, all while going up the second largest hill on property. Elevation also makes some basket locations increase rollaway hazard potential, such as on hole #'s 6 and 18. Hole 12 is a fun downhill shot through a tunnel of pine trees back out into the open, basket tucked near a small thicket.
- Signs, flow, navigation, routing. A+ Gold standard navigation here. If you get lost here, please find a new hobby.
- Baskets and tees. Brand new baskets in fine shape. Tees currently in the process of being installed. Every tee pad is marked with color coded wooden markers. Each hole has separate tees for blue (long), white (medium), and red (short); with the exceptions being hole #'s 4 and 13, where white and blue share a tee pad. The tees that are installed are long, level, color-coded artificial turf. The other tees are natural, but still in new enough shape to not detract from the round. I'm going to rate this course as though the entire set of tees had been installed, as it looks to be a work currently in progress.
- A good mix of left and right turning holes (assuming RHBH). Hyzer shots include hole #'s 1, 3, 6, 9, 14, and 15. Anhyzer shots required on hole #'s 2, 4, 5, 12, 13, 16.
- Subtle, effective use of elevation throughout. Uphills (#'s 3, 6, 9, 16), downhills (#'s 7, 12, 18), and using the rolling open area ( #'s 10, 17, 18) to good effect throughout makes effectively managing the elevation a necessary but not overwhelming aspect of shooting well. The biggest elevation comes on #9 Blue, with a massive uphill shot where a landing zone is required before turning the corner of the woods, all while going up the second largest hill on property. Elevation also makes some basket locations increase rollaway hazard potential, such as on hole #'s 6 and 18. Hole 12 is a fun downhill shot through a tunnel of pine trees back out into the open, basket tucked near a small thicket.
- Signs, flow, navigation, routing. A+ Gold standard navigation here. If you get lost here, please find a new hobby.
- Baskets and tees. Brand new baskets in fine shape. Tees currently in the process of being installed. Every tee pad is marked with color coded wooden markers. Each hole has separate tees for blue (long), white (medium), and red (short); with the exceptions being hole #'s 4 and 13, where white and blue share a tee pad. The tees that are installed are long, level, color-coded artificial turf. The other tees are natural, but still in new enough shape to not detract from the round. I'm going to rate this course as though the entire set of tees had been installed, as it looks to be a work currently in progress.
- A good mix of left and right turning holes (assuming RHBH). Hyzer shots include hole #'s 1, 3, 6, 9, 14, and 15. Anhyzer shots required on hole #'s 2, 4, 5, 12, 13, 16.
Cons:
- Just a bit on the cramped side in a couple of spots. Slightly exacerbated by the three sets of pads per hole. Almost had my head taken off by an errant throw during my short time here. They could have had one of two things: an awesome array of three tees per hole creating good variety, or they could've had single tees and safe spacing. I understand why they chose as they did, and it largely works, just be aware out here for other discs.
- No benches? I don't believe I saw any benches, if that's your thang. Personally doesn't affect my enjoyment of the round or impact the rating.
- No benches? I don't believe I saw any benches, if that's your thang. Personally doesn't affect my enjoyment of the round or impact the rating.
Other Thoughts:
- Nothing earth shattering, but a MUCH welcomed, very solid layout worth hitting up if in the area for, say, Rogers Lakewood. This course almost feels like a lil' brother version of RLW. Some tough shots from the blues, while the reds offer a fun beginner course or deuce-or-die ace run gauntlet.
