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Orchard Hill Park reviews
13
3
Apples!
Reviewed:
Played on:Sep 23, 2022
Played the course:2-4 times
Pros:
+ This land is exclusive to disc golf.
+ The city pumped a lot of money into this course and it shows with the quality of the equipment. Having two baskets and two tees on each hole provides players with quite a bit of variability.
+ Free apples! Help yourself to some tasty and nutritious apples, right off the tree.
+ A nice variety of distances and shots required.
+ The city pumped a lot of money into this course and it shows with the quality of the equipment. Having two baskets and two tees on each hole provides players with quite a bit of variability.
+ Free apples! Help yourself to some tasty and nutritious apples, right off the tree.
+ A nice variety of distances and shots required.
Cons:
- As my group and I were playing here, the consensus was that this course is a clear example of a great use of land, lots of funding, but not exactly a quality design. We agreed that having 18 holes would have made much, much, much more sense. Some of the walks between holes were quite lengthy and we didn't think the 2 pad, 2 basket approach made much sense.
- Everyone on my group slipped on a rotten apple during the round. Be aware!
- Pay2Play at a public park is always a con, there's no way around it.
- Everyone on my group slipped on a rotten apple during the round. Be aware!
- Pay2Play at a public park is always a con, there's no way around it.
Other Thoughts:
It's a good one to check off the list, but I doubt I'll be coming back. I'm glad that McFarland has it's own course, but it seems like a redesign from 9 holes to 18 would make this course much more enjoyable.
14
0
EspressoPatronum
Gold level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience:
18.8 years
256 played
245 reviews
Beware of Falling Apples!
Reviewed:
Played on:Sep 15, 2022
Played the course:once
Pros:
- aptly named with many apple trees on the first several holes
- nice, brand new color coded concrete tees with 2 per hole
- great full color tee signs with maps at each tee
- brand new Mach 7 baskets
- 2 pin positions per hole
- practice basket
- great use of next tee signs for navigation
- picturesque setting away from busy roads, with an area generally devoted to disc golf
- garbage cans on most holes
- well mowed and manicured
- mild elevation change well incorporated
- nice mix of open and wooded holes, with open holes still having some obstacles
- can literally smell the apples on the air!
- good for beginners or intermediate players
- nice, brand new color coded concrete tees with 2 per hole
- great full color tee signs with maps at each tee
- brand new Mach 7 baskets
- 2 pin positions per hole
- practice basket
- great use of next tee signs for navigation
- picturesque setting away from busy roads, with an area generally devoted to disc golf
- garbage cans on most holes
- well mowed and manicured
- mild elevation change well incorporated
- nice mix of open and wooded holes, with open holes still having some obstacles
- can literally smell the apples on the air!
- good for beginners or intermediate players
Cons:
- pay to play (usually not a con in my eyes, and still reasonable at $5, but the first time I've ever paid for 9 holes)
- some rough is a little nasty (hole 4), but isn't too terrible
- no real X factor; while nice, there are plenty of decent 9 hole courses
- relatively low level of challenge
- some rough is a little nasty (hole 4), but isn't too terrible
- no real X factor; while nice, there are plenty of decent 9 hole courses
- relatively low level of challenge
Other Thoughts:
Ok, so I'm really not joking. Nobody wants to get clunked on the head by a full size apple, and with the squirrels mucking around in the trees, it's a real possibility. I've had a lot worse while disc golfing, so I risked it. First, the administrative stuff - yes, it's a pay to play 9 hole course. I think it was worth it to try out a really nice new course, but with all the amazing courses in the Madison area, I'm not sure how many people are going to go for that more than once. I can't imagine paying for an annual pass here, personally. Still, $5 is reasonable and it's an enjoyable round. You can pay online but that adds a $1 convenience fee. While all of the Madison area courses being pay to play can add up, there's no denying most of them are kept in great shape as a result.
Orchard Hill is a brand new course and it shows - in a good way. The concrete tees, baskets, and tee signs are all brand new. The color coding on the tees is great, as is having a tee sign for each tee. Navigation is pretty straightforward, but the use of next tee signs is excellent here so it was never unclear. The course was very empty when I was there and I expect it usually would not be a huge draw.
I love picturesque settings and getting out into nature, and while this course isn't going to blow you away, it was the first one I've played where you can smell apples on the air. I also saw a large hawk. The wooded holes on this course add some decent technical challenge but nothing incredibly hard; they are still fairly open as wooded courses go. Similarly, the more open holes do have tree obstacles, but allow more flexibility. This would be a great course for newer players to start learning about shot shaping and doing more than just trying to throw without nosing up or down. It's not too difficult and can be forgiving, but you do have to think a little bit and start to make those calls.
With 2 tees per hole and 2 pin positions, there are lots of combinations here that can be tried. The long tees mostly don't add a unique line, just some additional distance, but there are some that branch off. I enjoyed my round here and would come back when I'm looking for something short and casual, but I'd probably opt for free courses first in that case. It's definitely worth stopping by to try, but it didn't blow me away in any particular fashion.
There is some elevation change that is well incorporated on the more open holes. It is limited but not bad for the area and the course designers made use of it. I saw some complaint about the rough; hole 4 was a bit thorny and nasty but most of it was a non-factor. There are much, much worse examples of this nearby (Bird's Ruins comes to mind).
This one is worth giving a try if you're in the area or just want a casual morning with some friends. It's good for a little practice but isn't going to give anyone a tremendous challenge.
Orchard Hill is a brand new course and it shows - in a good way. The concrete tees, baskets, and tee signs are all brand new. The color coding on the tees is great, as is having a tee sign for each tee. Navigation is pretty straightforward, but the use of next tee signs is excellent here so it was never unclear. The course was very empty when I was there and I expect it usually would not be a huge draw.
I love picturesque settings and getting out into nature, and while this course isn't going to blow you away, it was the first one I've played where you can smell apples on the air. I also saw a large hawk. The wooded holes on this course add some decent technical challenge but nothing incredibly hard; they are still fairly open as wooded courses go. Similarly, the more open holes do have tree obstacles, but allow more flexibility. This would be a great course for newer players to start learning about shot shaping and doing more than just trying to throw without nosing up or down. It's not too difficult and can be forgiving, but you do have to think a little bit and start to make those calls.
With 2 tees per hole and 2 pin positions, there are lots of combinations here that can be tried. The long tees mostly don't add a unique line, just some additional distance, but there are some that branch off. I enjoyed my round here and would come back when I'm looking for something short and casual, but I'd probably opt for free courses first in that case. It's definitely worth stopping by to try, but it didn't blow me away in any particular fashion.
There is some elevation change that is well incorporated on the more open holes. It is limited but not bad for the area and the course designers made use of it. I saw some complaint about the rough; hole 4 was a bit thorny and nasty but most of it was a non-factor. There are much, much worse examples of this nearby (Bird's Ruins comes to mind).
This one is worth giving a try if you're in the area or just want a casual morning with some friends. It's good for a little practice but isn't going to give anyone a tremendous challenge.
