Pros:
As far as corporate campus courses go, Marcom Woods isn't bad. It's a great amenity for Cisco employees and their guests. That said, this is a pitch and putt course. All holes are between 125 and 200 feet. I would say the best way to play the course is with one putter, running between holes to see how fast you can finish, and to get exercise. Otherwise, it's a below average course, compared to public and pay to play courses, and isn't designed with the serious player in mind.
+ A couple of unique holes with obstacles you don't usually see. I liked the 2nd hole, which is downhill with low tree cover, forcing you to try to skip the disc to the basket.
+ The 3rd hole is fairly tight, by this course's standards at least, with a long berm on one side and a tree line on the other.
+ The 4th hole plays across a ravine and then up a steep hill, beside and walking bridge to the right, trees to the left, and low branches straight ahead. A challenging little hole.
+ The 6th tee is literally underneath a low balcony of an office building. It's not particularly challenging, just different.
+ Three holes play across open fields with narrow fairways and landing areas that you have to hit in order to make birdie: holes 1, 7, and 8.
+ There are ace runs galore at this course (literally every hole). Holes 5 (127 feet) and 9 (130 feet) are particularly ripe for the picking.
Cons:
Here is where Marcom Woods stacks up against the other campus courses in RTP:
1. IBM - 3.0 (only 18-hole track of the bunch)
2. SAS - 2.0
3. LORD - 1.5
4. RTI - 1.5
5. Cisco - 1.0 (aka Marcom Woods)
6. Lenovo - 1.0
(I gave it the same rating as Lenovo, but Lenovo is a legit 1.0 course whereas Marcom Woods was borderline 1.5 for me.)
- This is an exceedingly short course, and mostly open too, but it's spread out over a massive campus. You have to walk the equivalent of an 18- or 27-hole course to play 9 very short holes.
- Most players will not find this course challenging at all.
- You have to double-back through a hole you just played a few times.
- There is no signage pointing to the next hole. You'd better have a map. And the walks between holes are long in places, and not intuitive at all. You finish the 9th hole and have to walk half a mile back to where you parked.
Other Thoughts:
I probably won't play it again, but I do think this is a nice amenity for Cisco employees. I would use it to practice throwing putters off the tee and trying to run through the course with one disc.