-The stunning Mt. Bradford Nature Preserve features a nature trail, an expansive meadow, mature woods, significant elevation change, and a fantastic 9-hole disc golf course.

-The round begins with a beautiful downhill drive framed by a massive sycamore tree, one of the best opening holes I've played. First impression: A+.

-The rest of the course is not short on memorability, either. Holes 2, 3, and 7 have gorgeous greens along the creeks which wind and tumble through the woods. Hole 5 is a short toss to a basket in the bottom of an old quarry — an awesome ace run opportunity. Holes 6 and 8 play uphill through scattered large trees, along the edge of the woods and the meadow.

-With such a beautiful property, it would have been easy to "over-design" the course, but the designers did a superb job creating nine intriguing, well-spaced holes with minimal interference from other park users.

-Great amenities: large paver tees, color tee signs, and two Innova baskets per hole (blue = short, yellow = long). There are some thick rough areas but most of them are only in play for horrendous shots. The course is reasonable for newer players, yet still challenging for more experienced players.

-Fantastic practice area with space for approach shots up to 200' as well as labeled stones marking every distance from 20' to 45' on the putting green.

-Holes in which the strategy is "Blast it up there and scramble for par" are never particularly fun. Unfortunately, this applies to all four of the wooded holes, which lack a reliable line to one or both of the baskets. For me, this is the sole factor holding the course back from a 4.0 (the de facto DGCR best possible rating for a 9-hole course).

-Two baskets per hole are not necessary here. I understand the desire to "legitimize" the course with 18 baskets, but most of the holes would be fine with rotating the basket locations or sticking to one position. For instance, the yellow basket on 5 is an impossible shot and adds nothing to the hole. Rotating basket locations would also minimize erosion on the wooded slopes during wet periods.

-9-hole courses are typically not destinations, but Mt. Bradford is an exception — fully worth a trip. In fact, you'll probably have so much fun that you'll want to go around again.

The best niner I have played. Nine challenging and varied holes that would fit any good 18 holer.


+ Alternate long baskets have been added to the nine holes, most of them creating different looks rather than just adding length (though they do add 4 to par)


+ A few of the added baskets merit extra attention: #2 is deep in a peninsula created by clearing woods; #3 makes the hole play straighter, but the blue basket is creekside; #5 changes the short quarry hole into an uphill dogleg left with rollaway danger; #6 stretches the hole out by another 125 feet, and #8 tempts the big arm to cut the dogleg by playing directly over the tall prairie grass


+ Framed level paver tees throughout, and the signage has been improved from the initial set that used satellite photos. Laminated paper, with map and information for both baskets. Arrows hanging from baskets pointing to the next tee. Well-defined paths and footbridges connecting holes

- They have done a lot of work clearing the three woods holes (3,4,7) since my first visit in the summer of 2020. The initial and alternate basket placements use the hazard of the creek really well on each of these holes. But based on one winter play in 2022, the throwing lines on these three holes are still really tight - and might disappear entirely when leaves are on the trees.

~ The three wooded holes are tough: finding your way through the trees and avoiding the hazard of the creek (steep sides invite rollaways, bad kicks put you down in the valley, water near the baskets). As a rec player, pars felt as rewarding as birdies on the other holes


~ Make time to play the nine twice; the added baskets make Mt. Bradford worth an immediate replay. The only problem is that the course cannot handle traffic more than a nine allows, so try to visit during off-peak hours

Honestly, Mt. Bradford Preserve has changed how I see 9ers. I'm sorting my list by ranking and the bottom half are nearly all 9ers. None have made it past 3 stars and most are far below. They tend to come off as a lot less work, less land, and less effort than an 18 by default - and somehow less serious or fun. Mt. Bradford Preserve DGC breaks those expectations and is a new favorite to boot. It helps that the excellent Anson B. Nixon Park is 16 minutes away.

Coming into the Preserve, the parking lot is upfront with a practice basket uphill and finishing #9 downhill. Across the driveway is #1.

The overall course situation is a hillside. It makes a loop so that the front half of holes tend downward and the backhalf are uphill. I usually dislike uphill portions and especially dread stretches of them. Not looking good. However, the variety turned out to be excellent and I was hardly facing the same challenges twice over.

Tee pads were excellent, roughly 10'x5.5', and the same cement tile make as nearby Anson Nixon Gold pads.

I also liked the old pond by #3/7, with the 19th century wall and structures. Scenic. At this time in late winter/early spring it sounded like a bunch of ducks quacking, but no fowl! Turns out it's tree frogs doing their mating dance. TIL.

8/9 Holes are big positives. I liked them all!

#1 is a 380ft open steady downhill, basket behind a tree.

#2 is an open left turn to a slightly downhill basket, hidden from tee. Halfway in is a light grove of trees, on the small side, to contend with and fly over.

#3 is by far the most treacherous of holes and the best. Teeing from an old shed, it's a 300ft bend way to the left. HOWEVER, very quickly two streams merge to cordone off both sides of the fairway until narrowing into a triangular peninsula that the basket sits on. Not only that, they somehow become miniature grand canyons by then and are at least a good 10 ft deep, maybe more. It's a death drive, death layup, and a death putt. Lost my disc left side trying to stick the layup and waited until #7, across the bank, with much easier access, to retrieve it.

#4 is a treed gauntlet. Mostly straight run but there are other possibilities. Basket perched near stream but not treacherously so.

#5. Another favorite and easy. A straight short shot at a basket in an old quarry pit. More scenic than challenging but the view is nice. Some obscuration from the tee.

#6. The dreaded uphills were coming. But this first long one is open again and has the fairway split in halfway up with a sizeable grove of trees where the basket lay. Two clear avenues to attack the basket or try to punch through the middle.

#7. Teeing off near #3's peninsula basket, it's fairly level in the woods turning left, with the basket on its own island, cut off by the stream which has no steep banks this far up.

#8. Uphill, and open. Gets steep on the last third. A few trees in the middle standing gaurd. Throwing into an opened circular grove in the treeline with the basket tucked into the very back of the wood's edge.

#9 is a half-backtrack to the tee. It's an open right curve to finish the course and a bit of an anti-climax to an excellent course. But it's quick and overall...

+Simply Phenomenal. This is the reason I play disc golf. Not just for the holes, which were excellent here, but also for some nature and scenery as well.

Downsides? Downsides... Hm...

As someone reminded me, I'm playing a preserve in middle of winter. General improver of open and semi-open Disc Golf courses so your mileage may vary greatly in warm seasons. So mowing or lack of and upkeep may change all that.

Hm.. the tee signs were made with satellite imagery (like google maps) and I'm not a fan of that. Satellite imagery is fine for tracing real paths for quick maps but actual illustrations on a light background would be far easier to read. Given that they are laminated copy paper stapled on wood leads me to believe they're just temporary anyhow. I hope.

Not gonna complain how it's not 18 holes. What's there is there, the rest is just theoretical. 9er that exists > imaginary 18er that's never made.

-Not a beginner course.

Out of XXXXX:

Terrain: XXXXX - I think this is the best terrain Pennsylvania forest can give with a few unique features to give it some character. #3 couldn't exist in most parks around here. Neither #5 or 6.
Execution: XXXXx - Phenomenal. I don't think anyone could have laid out a better course here. Signs are a bit weak.
Upkeep: N/A. New.
Difficulty: XXXx - Intermediate. It's in-between community park and state park distances often. #3 is the apex of difficulty here but otherwise it's toned down.
Fun Factor: XXXXX - I couldn't stop smiling. Even as I lost (later retrieved) my disc. Even on the uphills, which I usually HATE.
Crowded: N/A. I came here on a slightly drizzling Sunday and no one else was there my entire play. Empty parking lot. I was shocked.
Overall: XXXXx - The best 9er I encountered, by far.

Takes advantage of available terrain and some altitude.

Course is in process. IMO...A few holes need better lines with light tree clearing. Only 9 holes.

Nice work by the crew to add more courses to the area

Balanced course for a 9 hole: some holes primarily open, some holes heavily wooded. Good mix of shots required (forehand and backhand). Management of plants in fairways recently improved. Loops back to start

6/9 tee pads in place at the time of this review. The abundant plants/trees/bushes can make it challenging to find discs

Hole 5 can be aced and is probably the most unique/pretty hole on the course