On the western edge of an enormous national forest area that exists in four states, the Ocoee Retreat Center offers lodging, plus outdoor adventures such as zip lining, mud races, paintball and rafting.

There's also a decent disc golf course. At nine holes, the course includes blue and green Prodigy baskets while offering some good designs and utilization of the space.

The hospitality at ORC is excellent. Be sure to check in and sign the waiver upon arrival. Also, Brett provided us with a laminated map of the course, which was a nice touch.

The course makes good use of the land available, providing a decent diversity of holes. While most of the holes are lightly wooded with trees serving as fairway edges or isolated obstacles, Hole #2 might be the gem of the course. It's the shortest hole on the course but features a picturesque tight line hewn through the evergreens. Hole #3 is another nice hole, and it incorporates a pond; it's the only hole on the course where water is in play.

There's enough change in elevation on several holes to influence your decisions. Hole #5 is uphill, while Holes #8 and #9 offer a casual downhill approach.

Navigation could be a little tricky for first-timers, but if you use the course map, you should be OK. There are no tee signs, but football-sized painted rocks with a number indicate the right spot.

Once you stop at the main center to check in, you'll probably want to hop back into your car and drive another minute to the course. If the gate near the pond is closed, you should park near the teepad for Hole #3 and walk another minute or two to Hole #1.

Due to the location, it's possible you will have the course to yourself during non-summer times. During the summer, you may want to check with the retreat center employees regarding accessibility.

While the baskets are top-notch, the teepads are underwhelming. They appear to be black rubber bathroom mats, which not only provide inconsistent footing but are really short.

Hole #7 involves throwing over two large dumpsters. Not the most visually appealing hole. Also, there's a decent amount of trash visible in between Holes #7 and #8.

The previous reviewer described the holes as "rather short" and "birdieable." I would disagree with this statement. While the holes should be considered par 3s, a 1000-rated round is about three-under par, meaning that most intermediate players will do well to shoot par. The average length of the holes is 285 feet, but there are a few treacherous areas on several holes that could yield bogeys, especially for first-time visitors. For example, my drive on Hole #4 landed in the brush left of the hole (oops!), which added a couple of recovery shots. And some of the wooded areas, especially on Holes #2 and #7, are quite thick and difficult to escape from.

With the recent additions of the Quest Expeditions and Bigfoot Ocoee Outfitters course, there's a decent sample of disc golf in a several-mile radius off of this stretch of I-64, if you can line up the courses' availability.

The ORC design is above average for nine-hole courses. The course nicely finds the equilibrium between being challenging but not too difficult, especially for camp visitors who might be disc golf novices. The addition of better teepads and signage would definitely boost the rating, but for now, it's a reasonable and enjoyable play.

1. New Prodigy T1 baskets.
2. Good variety of shots required.
3. Fairways in decent shape.
4. Main office has loaner discs to use and a few new Prodigy discs for sale.

1. Available map needs work.
2. No signage except for stones with tee #s
3. Rubber tee mats (2' x 4')
4. Navigation issues

This course is located on the campus of the Ocoee Retreat Center (ORC). You must check in at the main office and sign the standard waiver form that they require of all ORC guests. I didn't see an issue with anything on the form.

Some of the tee locations didn't match the map; had to look around a little for some tees; but didn't have to look very long.

The tees have 2' x 4' rubber mats; which wasn't bad for a 1-step shooter like myself, but could be an issue for the many disc golfers with a run-up. Beside each pad was a stone painted white with a number on it. That's the only signage. No fairway length, no par info.

All the holes are clearly par 3s and rather short. None of them are particularly difficult. This is not a long course. Most of the holes are birdieable. Really liked the classic corridor shot thru trees on Hole #2. Hole #3 has a small pond to the left of the basket on approach, and an alternate tee over the pond.

Overall, I liked this relatively new course. I met the designer and discussed my thoughts. Adding proper signage, concrete tees, and an accurate map would make this an excellent small course for anyone; particularly beginners honing their skills. The Prodigy baskets are the shinning jewel here.