Picnic Island DGC reviews
16
1
Hole 1 highs and Hole 18 lows 2+ years
Reviewed:
Updated:
Played on:Dec 23, 2021
Played the course:once
Pros:
- Innova Discatchers. They seem a little on the worn side but this course is directly on the water so I wouldnt expect anything else. They catch just as well as they are supposed to
- Dual Concrete Tees. These were some nice concrete tees. They were long and not worn smooth. The only slight issue is the amount of sand on the course so bring a broom if this is something that will bother you. I swept off the edge of every tee and had zero issue with these.
- Very easy to get to and plenty of parking. You have to drive thru what seems to be a sketchy industrial port area and then the park comes out of nowhere but its completely fine.
- Hole 1 is the signature hole on the course for sure. This course starts out with a bang. Its right on the water with the right side of the fairway being a beach and ocean. Its a pretty simple hyzer but it sure is pretty.
- The course was well manicured when I played the course. The grass was upkept and the fairways were all pretty fair for the most part (more on this later)
- Shot selection had me throwing a lot of different discs from my bag. Not too many big bomber shots out there because of the fairway shapes but I used a lot of discs slower than a distance driver. I threw quite a bit of forehands and backhands as well. I would say that you can get by with just a forehand or a backhand but you will score a lot better if you have both.
- Good mix of open and wooded shots. I would say that this course is a bit more on the wooded/tight side but there are enough open holes out there where you dont just always feel like you are fighting the trees.
- Dual Concrete Tees. These were some nice concrete tees. They were long and not worn smooth. The only slight issue is the amount of sand on the course so bring a broom if this is something that will bother you. I swept off the edge of every tee and had zero issue with these.
- Very easy to get to and plenty of parking. You have to drive thru what seems to be a sketchy industrial port area and then the park comes out of nowhere but its completely fine.
- Hole 1 is the signature hole on the course for sure. This course starts out with a bang. Its right on the water with the right side of the fairway being a beach and ocean. Its a pretty simple hyzer but it sure is pretty.
- The course was well manicured when I played the course. The grass was upkept and the fairways were all pretty fair for the most part (more on this later)
- Shot selection had me throwing a lot of different discs from my bag. Not too many big bomber shots out there because of the fairway shapes but I used a lot of discs slower than a distance driver. I threw quite a bit of forehands and backhands as well. I would say that you can get by with just a forehand or a backhand but you will score a lot better if you have both.
- Good mix of open and wooded shots. I would say that this course is a bit more on the wooded/tight side but there are enough open holes out there where you dont just always feel like you are fighting the trees.
Cons:
- Holes 15-18 left me with a sour taste in my mouth. Hole 15 was a distance driver shot for me being 650' in the set up that I played. I threw to what I thought was the correct basket only to be incorrect and not know that until I was putting on the basket. The basket was in an open field but directly behind a dune like piece of land and I didnt even see it. I played to 18's basket. There was nothing that would have helped here other than playing with someone who knows the course.
Hole 16 then finishes next to the parking lot and is a great natural stopping point for the round. But then hole 17 takes you back away from the parking lot and back into the bulk of the course. I really think that this could have been designed better to have hole 16 be hole 18 so you finish in a more natural place.
- Hole 11 is this huge dogleg left. If you have never played this hole you will go on a safari before playing this hole to try and find the pin. It took me almost 10 minutes to find the pin and make it back to the tee so I could tee off.
- Teesigns were hit and miss. Some were great but others/most were sun soaked and unreadable.
- Each teesign did indicate which pin position the baskets were in but when I played they were not correct. With this being said, I still needed to run up 90% of the fairways to try and find the basket since majority of them are not visible from the tee and the ones that are still had me questioning if they were the correct basket because there were multiple in site.
- Some unfair fairways. There were a few holes where there was no fair line to the basket because of ceiling issues. You had to hope to poke thru some really grabby trees. While at this course I saw 3 separate people climbing trees to get their discs down.
Hole 16 then finishes next to the parking lot and is a great natural stopping point for the round. But then hole 17 takes you back away from the parking lot and back into the bulk of the course. I really think that this could have been designed better to have hole 16 be hole 18 so you finish in a more natural place.
- Hole 11 is this huge dogleg left. If you have never played this hole you will go on a safari before playing this hole to try and find the pin. It took me almost 10 minutes to find the pin and make it back to the tee so I could tee off.
- Teesigns were hit and miss. Some were great but others/most were sun soaked and unreadable.
- Each teesign did indicate which pin position the baskets were in but when I played they were not correct. With this being said, I still needed to run up 90% of the fairways to try and find the basket since majority of them are not visible from the tee and the ones that are still had me questioning if they were the correct basket because there were multiple in site.
- Some unfair fairways. There were a few holes where there was no fair line to the basket because of ceiling issues. You had to hope to poke thru some really grabby trees. While at this course I saw 3 separate people climbing trees to get their discs down.
Other Thoughts:
I did enjoy my time at this course. I was just left with a sour taste in my mouth with how the course ended. I would consider this to be a destination course. I wouldn't play this course again. Again I did enjoy my time here, but its not worth it to me to go out of my way to play again. The course was alright but nothing special and 100% not the top course in the state imo. My expectations were also high because this was rated as the top course in the state and it did not live up to my expectations.
If you play here, watch out for pedestrians. The holes next to the beach had a lot of people walking the beach and enjoying their time in the park not playing disc golf. There were also a few random groups of people just wandering about throughout the course enjoying the beautiful weather that FL offers.
If you play here, watch out for pedestrians. The holes next to the beach had a lot of people walking the beach and enjoying their time in the park not playing disc golf. There were also a few random groups of people just wandering about throughout the course enjoying the beautiful weather that FL offers.
12
0
love playing on the beach 2+ years drive by
Reviewed:
Played on:Nov 21, 2019
Played the course:once
Pros:
This was my first time playing on the beach! I've played near the ocean before, but this time I got to throw over it, skip off the sand for a layup. It was great. For the most part, each hole was unique and fun. There were some long ones, some very tight short ones, par 4's a couple par 5's I really enjoyed.
The park was pretty empty when I got there, except for one local I ran into just in time to tell me I was playing a hole backwards. He was very nice and understanding about it.
I played the long tee's, but the short ones looked good as well. I'm not sure if one came before the other, but it seems like they were designed together to make some holes of complimentary skill levels, not just an easier or harder version of the original design.
There was some elevation, but not in any amounts to really change your throw, except on maybe hole 18.
Favorite holes- 1, 17, the dog-leg par 5 (even though I did not play it well and almost lost a disc to the pond I didn't know was there, still was a nice hole).
Tee's were a great size, with good signage on both tee's. They were painted with a colored stripe on the front and back to denote whether you were on the long (blue) tee's or the short (orange) tee's. The baskets were orange DisCatchers, a unique color that I appreciate.
The park was pretty empty when I got there, except for one local I ran into just in time to tell me I was playing a hole backwards. He was very nice and understanding about it.
I played the long tee's, but the short ones looked good as well. I'm not sure if one came before the other, but it seems like they were designed together to make some holes of complimentary skill levels, not just an easier or harder version of the original design.
There was some elevation, but not in any amounts to really change your throw, except on maybe hole 18.
Favorite holes- 1, 17, the dog-leg par 5 (even though I did not play it well and almost lost a disc to the pond I didn't know was there, still was a nice hole).
Tee's were a great size, with good signage on both tee's. They were painted with a colored stripe on the front and back to denote whether you were on the long (blue) tee's or the short (orange) tee's. The baskets were orange DisCatchers, a unique color that I appreciate.
Cons:
I'll just start with the biggest one- the holes where the perfect disc-flight shaped line had a palm tree in the middle. This happened on a few holes, the worst was one that bent right. It turned a forehand hyzer/backhand turnover down a ~12ft fairway, to an either 8ft turnover line or hit the smaller gap with a forehand and get right faster, but either way would've been hard to get parked.
Navigation was a little weird sometimes, but use of the map and/or a little exploration solved most of my problems pretty quickly.
The park plays close to a couple pic nic areas, parking lots, and a road. I can understand after playing that it really is done well with the space, it's just unfortunate to have to share that much space.
Navigation was a little weird sometimes, but use of the map and/or a little exploration solved most of my problems pretty quickly.
The park plays close to a couple pic nic areas, parking lots, and a road. I can understand after playing that it really is done well with the space, it's just unfortunate to have to share that much space.
Other Thoughts:
The luck factor being just a little strong was kind of a bummer. Other than that this is a fun round! Even by myself I enjoyed it. Even with only my travel discs I enjoyed it. I would love to come back with a full bag and really try and tear this course apart. But with only a few big frustrations (mostly me related, not course related) I enjoyed my first round in Florida.
This park is one of the better ones in Florida. I found a lot of courses I played or visited here to be over rated, but this one I fully understand it being rated more highly, even if I rated it a little under. It's a local favorite and for good reason. Just because the visitor (me) doesn't love it as much, I can understand being very proud of this course if it was in my home town. I would be!
This park is one of the better ones in Florida. I found a lot of courses I played or visited here to be over rated, but this one I fully understand it being rated more highly, even if I rated it a little under. It's a local favorite and for good reason. Just because the visitor (me) doesn't love it as much, I can understand being very proud of this course if it was in my home town. I would be!
