Bag used/needed: carried 11 discs, used 7. I could have gotten away with driver/midrange/putter, but I was glad I had left/right/straight options in both long and mid range discs.
Impression: I am so very happy that the Wyoming Valley is finally starting to become a disc golf location. I have been passing through the area on my way to Mountaintop for years and years and years, and have always had to either stop before Wilkes-Barre/Scranton or afterwards if I wanted to feed my addiction. Bravo!
While this is primarily a beginner/intermediate course, I did have enough room to use my drivers, and just enough obstacles to force me to make accurate throws and to pay attention to my flight paths and landing zones. I had a very enjoyable break from driving, and I will definitely come back to throw here again.
Nesbitt Park is a work in progress. I understand that, and I will gladly raise my rating as the course develops. There is a small but growing group of locals here who understand what this place needs to become a better course (alternate tee locations, tee signs, etc. etc.) and I am firmly confident that this course will only get better over the next few years. They have Dubs here on Fridays, and play tag rounds on Sundays; the locals I ran into were very friendly.
As it stands right now, this is just your average disc golf park, and so I gave it 2.5 rating. There is nothing wrong with a decent, typical rating; Nesbitt is a decent, typical (nothing special, but not horrible) place to throw a disc. For being such a long, thin park, this is a nice place to wedge in a little disc golf. It looks like there is some room for expansion towards Kirby Park (and wouldn't that be a wonderful place to huck long bombs
, and so there might be 9 more holes coming in the wooded area to the north.
This was a stop that I am very glad that I made on my way home to Upstate NY.
On a scale of 0 (horrible) to 5 (heavenly):
Scenery:4
Ease of navigation:3 (I threw off the wrong pad a few times, taking what I thought was the logical path)
Tee pads:4 (pavers, yeah!)
Baskets (catchability):4
Baskets (location):3 (could have been more evil
Variety:2
Bomb factor:4
Risk/reward opportunities:1 (none, really, each hole had one main path with no shorter/more dangerous option, and the baskets didn't have any "sphincter pucker" factor)
Fairness:5
Use of terrain: N/A (no terrain really, just trees)
Amenities:2 (no bathroom, etc.)
Beginner friendliness:4 (could be a 5 with short tee option)
Non-disc golfer opportunities for fun:3 (fishing, run/bike/walking path, nearness to Kirby Park)
About the reviewer: I've been playing for over 20 years, and playing seriously since 2007. I throw RHBH predominantly, with a wide arsenal of other shots that I use when I need them; my drives average about 320 feet +/- 30 feet on flat ground. My PDGA rating hovers around 900, which means on good days I shoot a few below par, on bad days a few above.
About my preferences: In my opinion the perfect disc golf course is an interesting walk in a natural space, with a wide variety of challenging but fair opportunities that test ALL of your shot making skills regardless of which hand you favor for throwing discs. I am happiest when I have to think my way from tee to basket hole after hole after hole and have to weigh risks versus rewards. In my opinion the worst disc golf courses have nothing to offer but holes that a) only test of how far you can throw b) only favor one particular type of throw on the majority of holes c) feature "plinko" lines choked with obstacles where luck is more important than skill d) are so short that a putter is all you need e) are so wide open that the only challenge is one of judging distance f) feature lines that discs were never meant to travel (such as a hole with two 90 degree doglegs in opposite directions) g) force you to lose a few discs if you dare to play. I am saddest when I feel bored or cheated by a hole.