Robert Burnaby Park reviews
12
0
30 Local Layout Options.
Reviewed:
Played on:Jun 6, 2023
Played the course:once
Pros:
(2.513 Rating) A mixed wooded and park style course with big ole trees and moderate elevation movement.
- MA3 AND MA4 FRIENDLY - The course difficulty is set an ideal level to please the widest amount of players in my opinion. Some holes will be easy birds for skilled players, while a hole like (6) for example, will be a tough 3. My guess is that even par would net around an 850 rated round or so. Disc loss potential is moderate to low and the ace opportunities are many.
- NATURAL BEAUTY - Of the 4 courses I played in the Vancouver metro area (Eastview, Little Mountain, Quilchena and here), this was the most beautiful of the bunch to me. Mammoth western cedars, douglas firs and hemlocks, made for such a serene environment to throw in. The landscape also has lots of moderate undulations and slope to it. Hole (10) is a really nice looking and fun downhill finish. I ended up scoring this aspect around 65 percentile among the 620 courses I've thrown as of this review.
- TEES AND BASKETS - Yea DISCatchers and Yea turf over big concrete tees.
- COURSE MAP - An up-to-date course map is posted next to the parking area. I highly recommend taking a picture of it to first timers.
- QUICK PLAY - I finished all 10 holes in 25 minutes. The course is confined to a small area. There is only one transition over 300 feet long, (5) to (6). Searching for discs is possible on a few holes, but the overgrowth is not epic bad anywhere that I noticed.
- 30 LAYOUTS - The notion of 30 local layouts could easily be a con, but there is no indication that they exist unless one has a specific disc golf app or follows the local club page. The local layouts are 18 holes and seemingly change weekly. I dig it.
- MA3 AND MA4 FRIENDLY - The course difficulty is set an ideal level to please the widest amount of players in my opinion. Some holes will be easy birds for skilled players, while a hole like (6) for example, will be a tough 3. My guess is that even par would net around an 850 rated round or so. Disc loss potential is moderate to low and the ace opportunities are many.
- NATURAL BEAUTY - Of the 4 courses I played in the Vancouver metro area (Eastview, Little Mountain, Quilchena and here), this was the most beautiful of the bunch to me. Mammoth western cedars, douglas firs and hemlocks, made for such a serene environment to throw in. The landscape also has lots of moderate undulations and slope to it. Hole (10) is a really nice looking and fun downhill finish. I ended up scoring this aspect around 65 percentile among the 620 courses I've thrown as of this review.
- TEES AND BASKETS - Yea DISCatchers and Yea turf over big concrete tees.
- COURSE MAP - An up-to-date course map is posted next to the parking area. I highly recommend taking a picture of it to first timers.
- QUICK PLAY - I finished all 10 holes in 25 minutes. The course is confined to a small area. There is only one transition over 300 feet long, (5) to (6). Searching for discs is possible on a few holes, but the overgrowth is not epic bad anywhere that I noticed.
- 30 LAYOUTS - The notion of 30 local layouts could easily be a con, but there is no indication that they exist unless one has a specific disc golf app or follows the local club page. The local layouts are 18 holes and seemingly change weekly. I dig it.
Cons:
Space available for 18 holes, but not 18 holes.
- NO TEE SIGNS - Four of the five courses I've hit in British Columbia did not have proper tee signs, including this one. Burnaby also did not have numbers on the pads, which was present at the other three that didn't have tee signs. I was constantly checking my map when I played here, up until I ran into another group and joined them.
- NAVIGATION - Again, be sure and take a photo of the course map before heading to tee (1). I started on (6) and struggled getting around at first due to the no signage aspect.
- CROSSING FAIRWAYS - Holes (4) and (5) cross. I've always found crossing fairways to be a design flaw.
- HOLE VARIETY - I scored this aspect slightly below average as the variations are limited. No par 4s and the longest hole is less than 350 feet. A couple holes are guarded well, but most plays are lightly wooded with only a couple features to game plan around.
- NO TEE SIGNS - Four of the five courses I've hit in British Columbia did not have proper tee signs, including this one. Burnaby also did not have numbers on the pads, which was present at the other three that didn't have tee signs. I was constantly checking my map when I played here, up until I ran into another group and joined them.
- NAVIGATION - Again, be sure and take a photo of the course map before heading to tee (1). I started on (6) and struggled getting around at first due to the no signage aspect.
- CROSSING FAIRWAYS - Holes (4) and (5) cross. I've always found crossing fairways to be a design flaw.
- HOLE VARIETY - I scored this aspect slightly below average as the variations are limited. No par 4s and the longest hole is less than 350 feet. A couple holes are guarded well, but most plays are lightly wooded with only a couple features to game plan around.
Other Thoughts:
Of the 4 Vancouver courses I played in the metro area, this was my favorite. Just eclipsing Little Mountain on my ledger. Despite this evaluation, I don't find Burnaby to be a destination course. It's a nice throw and all, but not having a full 18 is a substantial omission to be classified as such to me. If they were to ever get the greenlight to add 8 more holes, I would up my score over the 2.75 threshold for a 3.0 without question. Anyways, as is, solid a 2.5 level course to me. If included among my played niners, it would be 90 percentile among that grouping, but it sits just above 50 percentile among all the courses I've played. The course reminded me most of Silver Lake Excalibur among my 20 played Pacific Northwest courses. Other courses that come to mind include Jack Mattox near Chattanooga, Miami Whitewater near Cincinnati, Mills Park in East Tennessee and Miller Park in central Kentucky.
- THANK YOU - I was gifted a stamped club disc by a local player after I hit an ace on hole (3). Thank you Monica for the kind gesture and for letting me tag along for a few holes and for engaging on interesting discussions on the Vancouver disc golf scene.
- THANK YOU - I was gifted a stamped club disc by a local player after I hit an ace on hole (3). Thank you Monica for the kind gesture and for letting me tag along for a few holes and for engaging on interesting discussions on the Vancouver disc golf scene.
10
0
discRabbit
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience:
24.9 years
1136 played
136 reviews
2+ years
Reviewed:
Played on:Nov 7, 2010
Played the course:once
Pros:
Compared with area courses, the Robert Burnaby course has quite a bit to boast about. It is one of the few courses which can challenge players who are a bit more experienced and it has great potential as a safari or practice course.
Penalizing rough: The rough isn't really very thorny or so thick that you can't even get in, but it has enough teeth to adequately penalize shots that aren't thrown properly. You want to be on the fairways and you should be, because the holes are so short. If you miss, though, at least you'll have to really work to save a par.
Variety: Because of the hillsides and tree cover, you'll need a more varied bag of shots than say, Mundy. The distances aren't all that long but the uphill holes and those with low ceiling shots add a bit of additional technical challenge.
Safari Potential: The rolling hills and not too dense tree coverage makes for a nice safari practice course. I could definitely see taking a basket or two out here to add a little variety to the course on a summer afternoon.
Penalizing rough: The rough isn't really very thorny or so thick that you can't even get in, but it has enough teeth to adequately penalize shots that aren't thrown properly. You want to be on the fairways and you should be, because the holes are so short. If you miss, though, at least you'll have to really work to save a par.
Variety: Because of the hillsides and tree cover, you'll need a more varied bag of shots than say, Mundy. The distances aren't all that long but the uphill holes and those with low ceiling shots add a bit of additional technical challenge.
Safari Potential: The rolling hills and not too dense tree coverage makes for a nice safari practice course. I could definitely see taking a basket or two out here to add a little variety to the course on a summer afternoon.
Cons:
Navigation: Finding your way around this park can be quite challenging. When we entered the park, we parked in the incorrect parking lot but even from there and throughout our round, we found ourselves lost at several points with no available signage or numbering to help lead the way. There are several holes that look to be either newly removed or newly installed and it is very difficult to tell if the tee you are standing at actually leads to a basket or if it is possibly just a temporary hole. Likewise, we saw several homemade-looking baskets which had no tee's nearby.
Repetitiveness: The course overall makes great use of the hillsides at this park but you'll find that you will likely be playing several uphill holes in a row and then several downhill shots. Just a consequence of the available land rather than a fault of the current design but it is less than ideal.
Repetitiveness: The course overall makes great use of the hillsides at this park but you'll find that you will likely be playing several uphill holes in a row and then several downhill shots. Just a consequence of the available land rather than a fault of the current design but it is less than ideal.
Other Thoughts:
Overall, Robert Burnaby is definitely worth a play and besides the Langley course, might be the best in the area for players looking for a bit more challenge. The hole lengths might be short, but there are both fairway obstacles and serious rough to contend with - these are often not available at other nearby venues.
1
7
Che Starr
Experience:
20 years
6 played
6 reviews
Wet! 2+ years drive by
Reviewed:
Played on:Nov 2, 2008
Played the course:once
Pros:
Great elevation changes.
Beautiful scenery
Beautiful scenery
Cons:
Don't go when it rains.
No flats, only hills.
Tee pad could use some help
Only 9 holes
No flats, only hills.
Tee pad could use some help
Only 9 holes
Other Thoughts:
The day I went the course was so wet it was unusable. I was with newbies so they won't be playing ever again, too bad.
