DGCR research aside, do you ever just know that a course is going to be amazing - before you even tee off? That's the feeling I got when I stepped onto the first pad at Rainshadow DGC.
This 18-hole course is located in the northeastern corner of the scenic Olympic Peninsula in Washington state. It's only a couple of minutes drive off of US-101, the main road that runs around the outside of the peninsula. Once you exit US-101, there are clear signs pointing towards the course as you approach. The course's name reflects the fact that it sits in the "rainshadow" of the Olympic (mountain) Range - an area of relatively low rainfall that is the result of the mountains causing all the moisture to rain out of the clouds on the opposite (Pacific Ocean) side. Reviewer Phlick went into a lot more detail about this below, if you are curious!
Rainshadow DGC is set in a park dedicated to disc golf only. The park is quite hilly, and mostly covered in towering spruce trees. Even in June, I caught a whiff of pine needles on a few occasions. The trees and elevation changes are used throughout the course to create all kinds of interesting holes. You could probably ask five different DG'ers what their favorite hole is and get five different answers. Some of the most memorable for me were:
- #1: The first hole features a beautiful view of the Olympic Range from the tee pad. If you can bear to look down from that, it's only a 224' downhill throw to the basket and the fairway is wide open. You'll probably want to throw more than one disc at this ace run, but beware - the terrain slopes downward into thick rough on both sides. Tough recoveries for par (or worse), or even lost discs would be possible here - especially on windy days.
- #2: The second hole tees off from a safe distance behind the first basket. The first 200' or so of the fairway continues down the same hill, but then it turns very sharply to the right and moves into the woods, back up and over a smaller hill for another 275' or so to the basket. The angle of the turn is way over 90 degrees, but the woods are so dense that cutting the corner off appears to be pretty much impossible. Par 4.
- #5: Fun downhill throw through the woods on a fairway carved out in a gentle "S" shape. Signed as a par 4, but birdies are definitely possible on this 388' hole if you can follow the line.
- #7: This is the only hole with two tee pads. From the long Blue tee, it measures 481'. You will tee off from the top of a very steep hill, with another nice view of the valley below. Your target is a straight but relatively narrow grass-covered fairway that begins about 150' off the tee at the bottom of the hill. Thick rough on both sides. The grassy fairway is about 250' long and fairly level, then the last part of the hole curls to the left to the basket. What wasn't obvious to me until after I threw is that the rough also slopes steeply down from the fairway on both sides - making things a whole lot tougher if you miss the fairway. Disc loss is a very distinct possibility here - use a spotter if possible. I actually gave my RHBH drive way too much anhyzer and it may have been lost to the woods even with my spotter there, but I got very lucky and it kicked hard off a tree right back onto the fairway near the short pad. That short pad is near the beginning of the grassy fairway, and makes this hole a lot more approachable for newer disc golfers.
- #11: This one may have been my personal favorite. It's a 433' throw that initially curls to the left, then kinks back to the right and plays down and back up a valley dotted with trees. Very picturesque.
I literally deleted a couple of other memorable hole descriptions here - you get the idea! Overall, the variety is great. There are left turns, right turns, and straight throws. Obstacle-wise, there is everything from the completely open beginning hole, to #13 (only 158', but with a very tight but fair line to hit in the woods). Holes play downhill, uphill, and along undulating terrain - and a couple are even flat. In general, this is a technical course that will require accuracy over distance. Hole distances range from the 158' to 481' numbers mentioned above, with the average hole distance being about 280'. There aren't any gimmes or easy ace runs here though, other than maybe that first hole. I felt like I threw a very good round overall, and finished three over par.
The fairways are a mix of dirt, and grass that was freshly mowed when I visited. The park appeared to be very well maintained, despite being in what felt like the middle of nowhere.
The baskets are yellow banded DISCatchers - they are in great shape and are easy to spot. One pin position per hole. There is a practice basket as well, on the opposite side of the parking lot from the first tee.
The tee signs have the hole number, distance, par, and a rough map of the hole. There is one tee position per hole, with the exception of #7 as discussed above. There are two different trails from #6 leading to the two different tees, and they are well marked.
That brings me to the other signage here, which is impeccable. There is a huge kiosk at the parking lot that has a detailed course map, park rules, and other information. High quality "Next Tee" signs are pinned to trees wherever needed. When there are other paths leading off into the woods, these are also marked. For example, a service road that is presumably used to maintain the course is identified with signs. There are cautionary signs at what appeared to be a couple of ORV trails that skirt the edges of the park, warning anyone who may enter that way of the potential flying disc hazard. There is even a trail that leads from the far side of the course back to the parking lot that has clear signage explaining what it is for.
The front nine and the back nine each loop back to the parking lot. Between this design feature and the cutoff trail mentioned above, you could easily play a 9-hole round or some other number of holes if you are short on time.
There is a porta potty available at the parking lot.