NAS - Whiting Field is a 9 hole course just north of Pensacola, FL. (NAS stands for Naval Air Station I believe) I didn't realize the amount of naval installations before visiting the area but upon reflection, makes sense given the gulf location. 7 of 9 holes were pretty heavily wooded, always a plus in my book, and were of a decent design if quirky. Mostly fun lines, one kinda goofy crazy anny (with a hero straight line) ~120' shot but mostly putters and mids on different angles through the woods. I enjoyed the lines off the tee, but stick me in any short woods course and I'm going to love to figure out those challenges.

Doesn't seem like the course gets much play. Undergrowth in the fairways was higher / thicker than the normal I see. Nasty Florida viney / sticky stuff as well. Hole 5's basket had vines growing through the basket so that wasn't ideal... Holes 3 and 8 were the longest holes with a chance to air them out, but were both significant hyzers which were confusing lines to get a birdie for this first time player. Teepads were concrete but were pretty tiny for today's standards. Baskets are also old DGA Mach somethings in deteriorating condition.

Take a left before the guard station to get to the course. I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into going in but just cruise through the campground and the start of the course is at the end of the road. Fun play, would recommend but hopefully locals get out there and clean out that junk in the fairway.

(1.714 Rating) A short and technical layout.
- CHALLENGING - For courses I've scored this low this is definitely one of the more challenging courses I've played. Holes (3) and (8) are both 350 foot big turning hyzer shots, while many of the rest of the holes require insanely precise shots with lanes under 6 ft wide in some cases. Some of these tee shots border on notion of being labeled poke and hopes, but they are short enough to still leave a good attempt to make par after hitting a tree.
- SHOT SHAPING - Way more than your average 9 hole course. Three shots bend over 45 degrees, (3) (6) and (8).
- QUICK PLAY - 30 minutes solo. Figure less than an hour for a group of four players.
- ACEABILITY - Several short but technical chip shot ace runs, four of which are under 200 feet. Players that hit the right line or that can speak to the trees correctly, will probably hear the sound of chains.

Lots of issues with NAS Whiting Field, but I've much worse.
- SKILL LEVEL FRIENDLY - I'm not really sure who this course appeals too. I'm an intermediate level player who likes technical courses and this one doesn't appeal to me. Advanced players won't be challenged and will get frustrated when they score a 3 on a 120 foot hole. Too many holes require a bit of luck to park a short hole. As for rec and beginning players? Way too technical.
- TEES - Concrete yes, but some of the worst concrete pads of seen for 2 reasons. First, way too small, 4 feet by 8 feet. A majority of regulars don't stand and putt outside of a 150 feet. Second, they are so old that algae is growing in the pores.
- FORGIVENESS - I hit a tree on all nine holes. Even when I hit a tree late it seemed to always ricochet away from the basket and leave a line without a play at the basket. Hole (8) has an unforgiving fence with razor wire along the right side of the fairway for the first couple hundred feet. Any disc that goes over is a loss without access to the airfield. Thankfully however, no water in play.
- UNIQUENESS - Unless a players two favorite shots in the whole wide world are 150 gauntlet putter runs and 350 foot RHBH hzyers they won't appreciate the diversity. No open shots, bomb-it shots, par 4s, par 5s or water. There are 7 technical tunnel putter runs and two big long left hooking shots.
- ELEVATION - Really none to speak of. I know that this is typically for Florida, but this course is flat for even Florida standards. No more than 10 feet of change throughout the entire course layout. Good for the disc golf cart however.
- CHARACTER - Missing signage on 6 holes. Overall subpar navigation. There is a course map, but it seems to be ever so slightly a bit off. No benches at the tees or places to stow a bag. No practice basket, multi tees or alternate basket locations. There is a restroom and finishing shelter with picnic tables.
- NATURAL BEAUTY - About average due to the fully wooded layout. Course however does have a bit of a overall rundown feel to it. A road is in play along hole (3) and a chain link fence is parallel to hole (8s) fairway.
- BANANA SPIDERS - I hate these suckers. 6 inches in size and they occupy several throwing lanes and ricochet areas. Not poisonous thankfully but they will freak you out.

A nice break course for the workers at the naval air station, but after that there's not much of a reason to travel here. Definitely a must play for course baggers like Mr. Butlertron and myself. However, players that want to throw the best area courses, should stick with Gator Links, or head a bit further and check out Sunset or the Blue Angel Courses.

- free to play, plenty of parking
- low traffic course
- numbered, quality baskets
- concrete tees
- numbered tee signs with distances
- challenging short course with technical fairways
- intuitive course design
- information kiosk at beginning of the course
- bathrooms on location
- room for additional course development
- hole 9 loops back to the parking lot
- cart friendly

- repetitive holes
- not much length variety
- course needs some TLC
- does not require many discs (could be a plus)
- fire ants mounds and spiderwebs dominate the course

NAS Whiting DGC is a technical pitch'n putt located just outside a naval (not the belly button type) air station security gate. Turn left just in front of the gate, drive all the way down the parking lot to the left, park next the bathrooms. There you will find an information kiosk, followed by the tee for hole 1. The course flows in a counter clockwise path, is cart friendly, and throwers do not run much risk of losing a disc. The short woodsy fairways are narrow with a low ceiling. The course fairways largely reward control over distance. Most holes were short enough that you could get away with just using a putter from each tee. Hole 8 is the only hole I used a driver for, but I could have done just as well with a mid.

I'm not sure if anything has changed much since the last review 4 years ago. Clearly, MWR maintains/clears the fairways, other than that, everything else looked a little run down. The concrete tees need a good pressure washing. They were covered in a thin green layer of growth that made footing slick. The pad length was short, which was to be expected for such a short course. No run ups needed. The signs indicated the hole numbers, distances were marked. Tee signs were accompanied by laminated sheets of paper showing each individual hole's layout. Some sheets were found on the ground next to the tee, others were missing. Signs noting the location of a known gopher tortoise den were much higher quality than that of any tee pad. I consulted the map at the course kiosk before starting my round. This made simple navigation even easier. Hole 8 was the only tee difficult to find, remember to note the tee location before starting your round.

The course was somewhat unremarkable. I thought the holes were technical, yet fair. I was in and out quick and enjoyed the course

Its a tight knit 9 hole course with a nature trail and a awesome view of the air strip.

Beware of "Spider Gully" at hole 5, I skipped my disc half way into the drain pipe and had to stuff my friend in there on the other side to get it out. Its full of thorns and spiders larger than your hand.

Hole 8 over looks the air strip and has a distance of over 400 ft,theres a possiblity of throwing into a drainoff gully w/ small cactus at the top of it.

If you're military you can rent disc on the base.

Lots of flying/stinging/biting insects in the summer.
Rattlesnakes are common,so be careful.
And watch out for slow moving beavers when you leave,I had one go through the front of my car.

Bring insect repellent!
A machete would be wise ,in case you throw into the woods.

Peaceful and quiet course. Just 9 holes but plenty of room for expansion(why don't they?). Fairly tight course but played fair if you keep it straight.

A little out of the way, but easy to get to. Needs some maintenance around the bathrooms.

Looked to be enough room to add 27 more holes.

Basic small course. Good for short play. Very private. We where the only ones playing. Trees and brush where not to bad. Just don't get to far off the fairway.

Baskets where very hard to find. They just need to have some yellow paint on them to see them easier.

Once you get to 8 do not follow trail. Look to your far left and you will find hole 9. We walked around before we looked at the sign where it told us 9 was.

Had the course all to myself. Peaceful and quiet. Nice variety of mid range shots off the tees. Course is well maintained and marked with small ground signs pointing to next hole.

Bathroom was disgusting. No running water in bathrooms. No distance markers or hole maps.

I was able to play 18 holes in about 45 minutes in between work meetings. Very convenient if you are in the area. Alot of blind holes where you either walk up to find the basket or just sit something down in the middle of the fairway and then walk out and figure out which direction the dogleg goes. Fun course overall.

Perfect if you just wanna go out real quick and get some mid range practice in. Cement tees, a little small but better then nothing.

very tight with only 2 open holes at 3 and 8. absolutely not the course you wanna play on a windy day

a very average course and not one to go out of your way to play unless you r stationed at nas whiting field because it is literally right outside of the base

Concrete tees at all holes.
Signs pointing out direction of next tee.
Generally empty and you do not have to be in a hurry or worry about other players.

No tee signs-pretty much have to figure out where the basket is and distance, left or right turn.
Mach 3's are pretty hard to see unless you are right on top of them.
Seems like upkeep has gotten a bit slack as of late.
***Update 11/29/11 Course looks great. Mowed and friends and I picked up all trash.

I play this course a lot and it helps me with my game. 3 & 8 are big, grip it and rip it kinda holes which I enjoy. 5 is a fairly long distance hole where your tee shot has to have some thought and execution. A couple of holes are a bit too tight and more poke and pray instead of skill. Overall, challenging and if you can score below par, you've had a pretty good round.

Concrete tees on each hole, good signs telling you where the next tees are. Apparently there is disc rental available but I do believe you have to be a military member because everything is on base.
Tight holes but I felt they were fair and had a good variety for shot selection.
We had the place all to ourselves.
Nice bathroom and picnic facilities at hole 1/9 common area.

No distances on the signs or anywhere so you pretty much had to guess where you went.
I can imagine that the summer overgrowth would make things rough but it was ok in the winter.
Tees on the very small side, but only really matters on the 2 long holes, the others don't need a run-up.

This is a nice little 9er that needs a play or two if you are in the area. You will feel all by yourself out in the woods (you most likely are). The Mach 3 baskets catch pretty well and are hard to see like all mach 3s so you probably have to scout ahead to see where you are throwing for most holes.

There are 2 holes (3 and 8) that you can really air it out, other than that, bring your mid and putter game and hope it is on!

requires more skill than just throwing a disc straight, challenging, almost had an ace the first time I played it.

very tight in some places, easily can lose a disc with a bad throw, not for beginners, next to WNAS and can fly onto base near the long water drain

Very scary when first looked at and requires skill to set up next shot, can be a monster when in the trees and have to lay up just to get to the next shot

Has 2 open holes to balance out the 7 short tight holes. There are tortoises on the 3rd hole!
Well maintained, free to play. Tough. Well marked, cement tees.

Most of the tight holes are unrealistic. Jets may go overhead and blow you away with the boom.

Though really tight and you can expect to miss many fairways, the rough is not nasty and the woods are pleasant.