+ It has more elevation than my 18-hole home course...!
+ One or two devious pin placements.
+ Wide open holes for driving and approach practice.
+ Clean and clear of obstacles and undergrowth.

- So very very brief; the longest hole is 250 ft.
- Tee pads are just grass/dirt marked by wooden beams at the top edge.
- Some branches dangle right in your face at tees 2 and 5.
- No wooded golf here.
- Most of the baskets are visibly tilted. The course doesn't appear to be maintained beyond lawn mowing.
- No current tee or next tee signs.

Despite its small size, I have a favorite and least favorite here. My favorite hole is 3 because it is the most technical by giving the player multiple approaches to the basket whether they are righty or lefty! My least favorite hole is 1 just because of how straightforward and plain it is.

The course as a whole is a good example of the wide-open basics done right. I wish there were more of it so I could give it a higher rating, but there are only five holes, after all. There is some slight variation between them, but it doesn't quite satisfy, and it's over just when things are beginning to get good. The course is brief, so this review is unavoidably brief, too. Still, absolute beginners and experienced players who need a worry-free environment to practice the basics will find Olde Towne to be just the place to go.

Don't come here for serious play or to see a masterfully crafted course. It's meant to serve as an entry point for the sport. A happy distraction from everything. An excuse to go outside for some fresh air. A target range for more experienced players to fine-tune their approaches. Olde Towne will not dazzle, but it might remind players of how it feels to be starting out. Sometimes that's important.

+ a short and simple layout in a nice neighborhood

- The teepad on #2 faces the wrong way (across the field). Look to your left: it's a hyzer shot along the trees.

~ I played once just because I wanted to check it out. If I lived closer I might use it for practice, or bring a beginner to introduce them to the game.
~ I love neighborhood courses and scout projects. They generally don't make for great courses, but they're a great way to introduce people to the game.

That means it has five baskets, five signs and five tee pads. Olde Towne Park is the park in Branchburg, New Jersey where every word has to end with an "E". This mid-sized community parke has basketballe courts, a playgrounde, hockey rinks and a ballfielde in the middle. And I'm going to quit trying to put an "E" at the end of every word as it is driving my spellcheck crazy.

The course begins over behind the ballfield's backstop. The amenities are pretty simple. There is a Disc Golf rules sign at the start. The tee signs are short little 6" red poles with a house number on the top. There is a front board, also painted red with a natural pad behind. Evidentially this course gets enough use that the natural tee pads are a bit muddy in places. The baskets are nice Mach II models complete with a number in the middle.

The course plays at a recreational level with the holes all playing between 200' and 250'. # 2 forces you to throw a little hyser. # 3 basket is hiding on the far side of a grove of trees and # 4 has a branch down just in front of the tee.

The little five hole course does basically loop you back to the parking lot.

Other than only have five holes and being recreational in length and challenge and having natural tee pads, I do have a couple of other concerns such as:

The # 2 tee pad faces across the field while the hole is actually a hyser around the trees.

The area around the # 3 basket was quite soggy here in late April.

The # 3 basket is leaning.

This is not the worst course in Jersey. It's actually a decent little recreational course with a couple of fun little throws. I'd come and here if I lived close. There was actually one other fool playing today in 45 degree weather and blustery, windy conditions making the wind chill temperature about 25. My excuse was I was bagging a course. His excuse? I don't have a clue!

This is a nice, forgiving beginner course. Each basket offers something a little different from the last. The holes are mostly open, but during the summer the growing vegetation can create some fun challenges.

Hole 1 is pretty straightforward, with just a few trees dispersed closer to the basket. Hole 2 is at the end of a long tree line to the left. Hole 3 rests on the other side of a big set of trees you must decide to go either left or right around. Hole four looks like a simple open drive, but is nestled in a wooded area which could affect your line to the basket depending on where your drive ends. Hole five has some sloping branches at the start that could swat your first drive, with the basket nestled down a hill and to the left of a wooded opening.

The course map notes an eventual location for that elusive sixth basket, which hopefully will arrive soon. Then you can play three rounds for a perfect 18!

Scoff at just five baskets if you like, but this short course has single handily built a legion of disc golfers. This may one day be considered the course that puts the Beautiful Game on the map for good.

The park is located in the middle of a residential area, and the basket for Hole 3 is kind of close to someone's backyard pool. (Though if you manage an ace, you've earned a dip!) Hole 4 if you shank a drive hard right will also put you close to fences of other homes. Hole 3's tee also is not far from the street on the right side.

This course just cannot offer the variety and appeal to different skill levels that 18-hole courses have the potential to do. I would love to see the government flex it's eminent domain muscles to create the space necessary to turn this course into a real 18-hole gem.

Here's a tune of a local folk hero reworked to commemorate this special place. You'll recognize it right away.

This Olde Towne, is where I live
And in that park, I throw my discs
I played with friends, until the sun went down
I banged some chains, in this Olde Towne

This Olde Towne, you can't wait to leave
Greystone Woods, Field of Dreams
But it holds you tight, and won't let go
The roots run deep, down in your soul

I play Disc Golf, in this Olde Towne
I feel like a brother, to her now
I think of old games, I have known
Wiffleball and frisbee, they've long gone

Some discs bang chains, some fly west
Some of them just, get lost I guess
Some discs we've had, long slipped away
Memories linger, but the ghost remains

There's five holes, in this Olde Towne
Where the chains I love, are always hanging out
I try and see them, when I can
I hope it won't be long, 'til Hole 6 is joining them

This Olde Towne, knows all my dirt
Just one frisbee, all my hurt
And all the swats, I left behind
Heads in chains, every unplayable lie

This Olde Towne, I still call my home
As if it was, the only place I've known
and though I try to, play new tees
This Old Towne, is still part of me

This Olde Towne, is where I live
And in that park, I throw my discs
I played with friends, until the sun went down
I banged some chains, in this Olde Towne

This Olde Towne

Nice place to introduce new players to dg.

Not too many spots to lose a disc.

Fairways don't cross sidewalks.

Tees nicely marked.

Baskets in new condition.

Not going to challenge anyone past a beginner.

Short course a with few obstacles. This is a good entry level course. Think pitch & putt. Intermediate players will have a birdie look on each hole.

Hole 1, open with a 2 trees near the basket. Hole 2 curves around a row of trees to the left. Hole 3 is a dogleg left. Hole 4 is straight with the basket guarded by a few trees. Hole 5 is downhill to the left with a few branches blocking a straight shot.

Nice place to introduce new players to dg.