Pros:
WHAT TO EXPECT: *PRIVATE* 9 Hole disc golf course in a gated community in the Willis, TX area just outside Conroe. This course is located inside a gated community with security. You will need to either be a resident of the community, invited by resident of the community, or reach out via phone/e-mail to request and be granted access to play here. You will also need to sign in and answer some questions from security at the gate when you enter. As far as the disc golf goes, mostly flat, sparse trees, open parkish style space in a nice housing subdivision. Very small course with most holes under 200 feet and maxing out at 230 feet.
TEES/SIGNAGE/BASKETS: Tees are natural grass and not labelled or marked with a starting/ending point. Tee signs are white 4"x4" wooden posts with hole number on them, this is your only indication as to where the tee pad should possibly be. Could be either side of the post, who knows. There are tiny little arrows on top of the wood posts that point in the direction of the basket for that hole, which does help, and with everything within like 250 feet, it's pretty easy to spot where you are going. Baskets are older DGA Mach baskets, not sure which version, had one bad spit out but that was from putting too hard I believe. Otherwise, no issue.
DESIGN: Very flat, sparsely treed, no water hazards to speak of, very little chance of going OB, feels more like a warm up course or practice course at best and probably designed for the true beginner or the elderly to enjoy. Every hole is an ace run but does make you throw under, over, and around the few trees on the course in order to get to the green in most cases. So it does provide some minor shot shaping challenges.
EXTRAS: An extremely quick play through for me and buddy who was able to get us access to the course, took two of us 25 minutes start to finish. We each only brought a single putter with us to play and were able to play the entire course with just that one disc each. Well maintained and zero rough to speak of. If this was a public course, it might be an awesome place to play glow.
Cons:
- Difficult to access in order to play if you aren't from the area, and despite free, isn't worth the effort to gain access unless you are a serious bagger trying to catch em all.
- Lack of elevation, water hazards, meaningful OB or any real danger makes this course feel like tossing discs in an open park with a couple trees. Not everybody's cup of tea.
- No chance to bomb anything, very small course, very small space, too many close houses and the course really has no where to grow.
- Pretty stale game play
- I could see playing this course in wet conditions being a nightmare as the ground was pretty soft and slick and it hadn't even rained when we played it.
Other Thoughts:
Ho Hum 9'er, that while private, I wouldn't recommend to people even if it were free to play unless you were looking for a place to take a friend who is brand new to the game to introduce them to disc golf with no risk of losing discs and pretty simple shot shaping required. Grateful for the opportunity to play here as I doubt I'll be back in the area anytime soon, but only serious baggers need apply for this one.