New London Tech is a long course. It is a long course because it can be. Its discernible quality is its length. It's like saying growing to 7 feet tall is a skill.
- According to UDisc, the average player spends two to three hours playing one round at NLT. It took me an hour and a half to finish all 18. Feel like taking longer would have just been a waste of time.
- For big arm players, if you want to have a big scoring separation between yourself and noodle arms like me, this is a course for you. Congrats that you got a 4 or 5 on a 1200-foot hole while I got a 6 or 7. Were the first 600 feet of the layout necessary?
- The course's most creative, fun stretch was from holes #10 to 14. More creative layouts in this five-hole stretch than the rest of the course.
- After a lot of long holes, it's amazing that a 343-foot hole seems like a legit birdie chance (#12). What's more amazing is that I actually threw two good shots in a row and made a 2 here. This after smacking the rocks in front of #10's basket, eliminating another birdie run.
- The approach on #11 is an amazing view. A straight path leading directly to the basket in what looks like an enchanted forest.
- #7 was the best of the long holes, and I don't think it's even close. A mere 758 feet on this hole after just playing a hole nearly a quarter mile long (#6 at 1275 feet), you start out throwing straight, before the fairway takes a 90 degree turn to the right. So far, so good. You're now throwing over an ever-so-slight valley, past a row of trees before the fairway curves back left. This approach offers a creek in front of the putting circle, rocks on the left and trees long and right. An outstanding station-to-station, multi-shot hole. If this course had more of these types of holes (think Nevin in Charlotte), and my final rating would be much higher.
- Tee signs are outstanding. With the basket not visible on most holes, and many holes not having a visible basket even after two throws, your tee signs are your eyes on the course. In that sense, it gets high marks.
- The course also offers a comedic value. A warning sign that the course is aimed for championship level players despite having little to no elevation, having extremely wide fairways, and little to no punishing rough? Funny indeed.

The first two holes play down the same extremely wide clearing. It's as if the power company came in and did a clearing, and the designer put in two baskets along this right of way. It was at this point that my concerns about the course began to increase.
- That said, this course WILL beat down unsuspecting, unprepared, and unfit players. I did play when temps were in the 40s. Perfect for walking at a fast pace and not sweating. Granted, I had already played 36 holes that morning, including Mayflower Hills. Playing in July when it's 90 degrees out and even fit players will be slowing down considerably throughout their rounds.
- Some players won't have the patience for this course. Taking 4 or 5 throws to get in putting range will discourage some. Seeing a lot of 5s, 6s, and 7s on a scorecard will discourage even more. Seeing a final score in the 80s will cause even more discouragement.
- Course doesn't have a lot of variety, especially when it's taking a couple shots to get to where accuracy matters. On a 1,200-foot hole, does it really matter how accurately your first couple throws are? Not really, it's not until the third, fourth, or fifth throw before those matters. So, in essence, you're just throwing for throwing's sake.
- I'll go back to Nevin in Charlotte. Hometown bias, I know. #12 is 970 feet. But each shot serves a clear purpose. First throw is from the open fairway to the edge of the woods. Better land in/close to an opening. Second shot needs to hit the bend, setting up your approach. Following shots get you in position for a 4 or 5. NLT misses that point on a lot of these longer holes. Rather it's a sword-swinging contest to see who can be furthest down the fairway.
- You're not bailing out early here. If you show up, you know it's a marathon. If you somehow randomly pick this course as a newbie to play, and you ignore the warning signs, and don't know how long 12,000 feet is, then that's on you, my friend.

I was expecting New London Tech to be the highlight of a two day, 15-course trip through central VA and northern NC. It got lapped by Mayflower Hills as the region's best course. And it's not even close.
If you shortened some of the longer holes, you'd have much better appeal. #5 is fine as is. But, holes like #2, 6, 9, 15, 17, and 18 all need some other challenge besides length alone.
- I'm glad I played this once to simply say I played here. Based on every IG post from this course showing the warning sign, I was expecting more actual challenge. Things like elevation, narrow fairways, doglegs, s-curved fairways, or water. Once I realized I could simply throw a 250-300 and straight on every hole, it became a very simple strategy.
- For the modern-day fanboy, I think the main appeal here is the name behind the course. Replace that with a small-town Virginia disc golf club who tried to create one of the longest courses around, and the attitude would be different.
- It was jarring to be playing right up to people's backyards on #9. I'm guessing the selling point for those houses wasn't being located on some 'big time' disc golf course.
- If I threw 100 feet further, I'd probably have shaved 8-10 strokes off my score. Still, my round rating was pretty good. I guess some of the big arms are sailing throws deep into the woods.
- If you want to play here to say you have, then by all means, play here. I'd suggest Mayflower Hills instead. Or, some of the private courses in the region.
- There are some very good aspects here, for sure. It's just a shame that gets lost in the shuffle.

-New London Tech is one of the hardest courses in the world from the golds. You are faced with a serious demand every time. We thought Independence was incredibly hard, and it truly is, but New London Tech is harder. Just about all of the fairways are logical and offer a clear line to have some sort of chance for birdie for the pros. One thing this course truly needed was some shorter pads that are a little more forgiving and more accommodating. They are still very difficult, but have less barriers to fight through. There are a few par fives that are less than 750'. Two of which, are open and give bigger arms easy birdie looks and possible eagle opportunities. Still, several of the holes on the shorts are incredibly tough and even still probably rates about 940-950. My guess on the golds is 1022.

-Incredibly well polished. As hard as this course is, most of the fairways are very clean and more than 40' wide. The tighter fairways are well polished too.

-Great tee signs with hole information and diagrams. The diagrams can really help you strategize since all OB is marked on the signs. The front nine has three times as much OB as the back nine. There's a lot of danger, but a lot of distance needed to cover even with the danger. So the hole diagrams are especially useful at a course like New London Tech. You have to know which side of the fairway you want to lean more toward. The right side is OB the entire way on holes #1, #2, #3, #6, and #9. Holes #5 and #7 I would recommend walking up at least half of the fairway before throwing. #5 has a TON of OB, both left and right and on the wood line on the left of the entrance where the basket is. There's also a pond as if that isn't enough OB already. #7 has OB on the right side all the way to the first landing zone, and it's to the left the entire way until you clear the second landing zone. This is a shorter but strategic par five.

-There is a driving range beside the parking lot in the open strip of land. There are markers placed in increments of hundreds so that you have a good idea of how far you threw. You will want to throw some practice drives. There are woods on both side of the driving range; it is maybe 100' wide. My recommendation, keep throwing drivers in the driving range until you throw at least 85% of your max distance straight and accurate.

-Blue Chainstar Pro baskets. They are cool and they catch well. Green turf tees that are laid out on even ground.

-Few very interesting upshots that you are left with. #6 being an island green over a conservation area and #7's being over a small valley that plays as OB. #14's green was probably my favorite. I enjoyed this hole the most. It's one of the least difficult holes. You throw out of a small shoot from the woods and cross the open strip of land back where #13's tee is and enter the other side of the woods downhill to a slightly elevated basket. The green is surrounded by some pretty grass.

-There's a great mix of open and wooded. The first four holes are all wooded. #1 and #2 give more room for drivers. #3 and #4 are still pretty roomy but they are a little more narrow than the first two. #5-7 are still pretty wooded for the most part but are more spacious. #6 and #7 are on a strip of open land with woods on opposite sides. A few holes are very open and call for longer drives. Most players won't be able to par these holes by routinely throwing mids and putters, so you're really called to throw drivers over 350' accurately from the longs. The shorts are much more accommodating and have less distance requirements and reward players that can throw a long way.

-For a course in Virginia that's close to Liberty University, Independence Park, and Mayflower Hills, all of which are very hilly, I wish there was more elevation at New London Tech. Many holes on the longs have elevation changes around 20', but remember that it's 11,400 feet from the longs. 20' isn't that much, especially when the degree angle of the hills are mostly very slow and acute. All things considered, for a course this long, the elevation is light.

-#13's fairway is the only fairway that I had an issue with. It's very deceiving off the tee. You tee off on an open strip of land and enter the woods through a gap that instantly splits into two incredibly tight lines that go left and right. This hole isn't impossible; it's right in the middle of the pack I'd guess. It's just not very rewarding.

-#5 can be a pain. You throw blindly over a hill that quickly descends back down. The hill prevents you from seeing the OB on the left and right. There's a lot of tall grass over the hill shortly before the pond. You don't want to go big off the tee on this one unless you can throw over 500' comfortably. It takes a good 500+ shot to clear the OB pond. The entrance to the woods is probably close to 600' from the tee. The left side of the entrance of those woods is OB too. The chances of you going OB are much higher than you staying in bounds by the time you finish #5. If you are having an off day, you could potentially throw multiple OBs on this one.

-Honestly wish there was a "make or break" type 250' ace run here from the longs. One that's very attackable but scary and penalizing. Would be a nice confidence booster for players with better control. #4 isn't much longer than that at 287', but it's a good bit uphill so it doesn't really feel like a "must get" for pros. I've played many courses where even rates over 1000, and several of them have one or two holes that are shorter and a little more gettable. The new course at Buffalo Mountain is a prime example.

-Another course in Virginia that will leave even the best of the best players struggling to shoot par. It's an absolute beast! None of the holes here are easy to birdie, several are not easy to par. Several of them are so difficult to where a bogey doesn't feel bad at all. In the 2021 Battle for Bedford, there were 109 players in the open division and 322 total rounds played/completed. Four holes were birdied less than ten times. With #6 being birdied only twice out of those 322 times it was played, and #17 being birdied only one out of those 322 times it was played (congrats Evan Scott!).

-From the longs, there are two par fives that measure over 1200'. #6 being 1275' and #9 being 1234'. They are very different from each other aside from length. It's like Gustave the man eating crocodile in the Philippines that was hopefully captured by now and Dorrie the Sea Dragon from Mario 64. Gustave is probably the most vicious reptile of all time and Dorrie is a friendly sea dragon that minds his business and doesn't hurt anyone.

#6 is lethal the whole way through. There's OB entirely on the right hand side and some difficult rough on the left hand side. The tee shot is difficult enough. You want to throw about 300' straight and have a left fade at the end without skipping OB. If you throw over 350', you'll still have 900+ to go and the second landing zone before the intimidating upshot is over 600' from the first one. I had two good drives on this one. I didn't make it to the second landing zone on my second shot because I can't throw 600'. I then threw a putter on a slight hyzer to lay up and have a good look at the basket to hopefully par this hole. I missed the island and ended up taking a double bogey. #9 was a pretty routine par. There's some OB on the right, but the fairway is wider. There are several rows of trees on the left, but they aren't too punishing. For players that can throw 400' ust throw a big drive on a slight hyzer, and then throw two more big drives right to left and you'll probably make a par. A birdie is in reach here for distance throwers. Of course, if a couple of drives go wrong you will struggle but this one is very attackable. Probably one of the least intimidating holes on the course. It's incredibly long, and there are barriers to entry due to distance, but it'll give anyone that can throw at least 300' the "can do" feeling. My guess the open division, which a rating average presumably 970 will average between a 6.7 to 6.8 on #6 and between a 5.2 to 5.3 on #9. If you watch the Foundation Disc Golf Video where Paul and Brodie walk you through the course, you'll see Paul describe #6 without any emphasis at all. He describes it like it's just a normal hole. It's hilarious!

-#2 and #18 feel like par fives, and would be in most cases. They are par fours from the longs. Especially #2 being 970', wooded, and OB completely on right side. There was the prospect that this may be the hardest hole on the course. The fairway is over 50' nearly the whole way, maybe until the last 200'. I threw two drivers pretty accurately and was left with about 200'. This hole is a good bit downhill (maybe 25' in total) so it loses some of its long distance and has a pretty spacious fairway considering it being wooded. It still feels like a par five. #18 is 849' and is probably 25' up. It's open, and the fairway could be 100' wide. But boy it's brutal. I threw a driver too aggressively and landed in the right side of the woods and took a 6. Hoping to birdie this beast of a finisher while standing on the tee will leave you disappointed. You'll feel like you're trying to rescue a submerged bodybuilder from the deep end of a swimming pool playing #18 long.

-#18 is a par four from the long and a par five from the short. The long is 849' and the short is 672'. Not in support of the shorter version being a par five and the longer being a par four, even when the shorts are more for advanced amateur players. I know that the shorts are supposed to be less difficult, but #18 short still isn't long or technical enough for advanced players to not be able to make a three. It's blatantly a challenging par four from the shorts for ams and a challenging par four from the longs for pros. #9 short should be a par four too. It's 716' and very open.

-Personally, it's not really up my alley. It's well kept and has clear lines, but it isn't a rewarding course. You could do everything well and still end up with a bogey or worse. I like the mix of open and wooded. The approach shots on #6 and #7 are memorable in a very positive way. The split fairway approach on #17 was neat too. I love that the fairways are a little more welcoming so that there's room to throw a driver in the woods. I wish there was more elevation and maybe one shorter hole where most players won't feel like they have to throw a driver. I like Independence (Venhorst) better. It's the other course in Bedford that Paul designed. The other private course that Paul designed is even better than Independence!

-I signed up for the Battle for Bedford and we are playing New London and a new private course. It was three rounds last year (which I did not play). I wish there could be a third round at Independence for the pros. It's another beast of a course that rates over 990. It has as much character as New London Tech, it has a little less variety than New London Tech since it's mostly wooded and the hole distance range is 270'-670' while New London Tech has a range close to 1000' (287'-1275'). Independence has lot more elevation and water. To me, Independence is the better course of the two that Paul designed here in Bedford. But that's just how I feel. I think it's overhyped.