Pros:
(3.925 Rating) A charming Pro level players course.
- CHALLENGING - As of this review (280 courses played), personally the most difficult course I've ever played. Sure, it was 45 degrees out, the wind was howling above. Although, the trees below Roy G's majestic canopy offered some protection, it was so windy that the gusts still made it to the surface. I consider myself an Intermediate lever player, yet even from the front tees at Roy G I was painfully humbled. I shot +12. This course requires the combo of length and precision off the tee like no course I've ever played. To the average Joe that throws 300 feet, the birdies might only come in the form of 50 foot putts. I didn't make one birdie and all my birdie tries were from outside the circle. A few years back at the Texas State Championship, a +3 round from the back tees netted roughly a 1000 rated round. Any player that averages below par out here deserves a sponsorship. It's that intense. Any player that craves the ultimate challenge needs to plan a round here.
- NATURAL BEAUTY - For non-advanced players like me, the siren wooded looks below this tranquil canopy is the saving grace. I was constantly pulling out my camera to snap tee shot photos. There's not a boring shot out here. Nearly 100 percent wooded and just about no manmade structures in view. It's player versus nature out here and it makes taking 5s and 6s on these difficult par 3s and 4s a little easier to swallow.
- SIGNATURE HOLE - Hole (17) gets my vote. The tunnel leading to the basket frames a portion of the downtown Austin skyline. As one approaches the basket, the view of downtown becomes wider and wider. It's amazing.
- TEES - The gold standard for championship sized tees. They are so large that one could BBQ on the back side with a costumer counter and have a standing line of ten individuals. Yet with all this, there would still be room to tee off. The tee pad's paved surface area has a 3 foot deep foul line extension, a 4 foot deep walk-up extension and 1 foot wide side buffer. Total size, 8 feet by 19 feet for both the front tee and back tee configurations! I personally prefer a little Texas brisket before every tee off.
- CHARACTER - In addition to awesome tees, Roy G has a lot of the niceties that appear at the well-funded established courses. A pair of awesome concrete benches at every tee. I've played in several regions now all over the country and the Austin area courses seem to do this feature better than anywhere else I've traveled. There is also fabulous informative tee signs, shading and lots of trash cans at the tees as well. The baskets, are the perfect brand for a wooded course like this with the unmistakable yellow band peeking through the tree coverage. The parking lot had a porta-potty on my visit but it is really only accessibly before heading to hole (1) or after (18). Missing features include, no practice basket, no multiple basket placements, no community board with course map and no finishing shelter.
- NAVIGATION - Not flawless obviously with the no course map onsite as noted above, but not too bad. Hole signage indicates next tee direction, there are lots of intuitive mulched pathways and there's a downloadable map on DGCR. I wish there were a few directional cues on the transitioning pathway but really the biggest navigation issue isn't the directions, it's the journey to (1) (see cons Missing Bridge).
- MAINTENANCE - Major kudos to the club and/or parks department. This is such a large sprawling park that upkeep needs a lot of involvement. Fairways where mowed, fringes were thinned out and trash was minor.
- UNIQUENESS - A touch better than average but flawed in some regards due to the consistent backdrop hole after hole. Players that enjoy risk reward shot shaping drives will really love the engaging challenges presented here. I think the course favors RHBH dominate players but there were still a few right breaking shots. Lots of long multi-play holes that require hole management and also just taking what the course gives you on the lie. No elevation and no water.
Cons:
Epic in many ways but with undeniable flaws.
- MONOTONY - Despite hole after hole of immeasurable beauty, every hole generally has the same overall feel. A beautiful, technical, long, twisting guarded basket placement. Its equivalent to going on 18 dates with the same model who gets a kick out of S & M, and you're the slave. It gets real old after a dozen dates. The only curve balls out here are the walk to the course and hole (17).
- LACK OF ELEVATION - Players that love the signature look of rolling and cliff terrain won't find it here. I don't think one hole out here changes by more than 10 feet. One may conclude then that bringing a cart out here is easy. Nope, they'd be wrong. See below.
- MISSING BRIDGE - The original bridge leading to the course was destroyed in a flood in 2015. Normally a park and recs department that handles park maintenance will put these little foot bridges back within a few months or less. Unfortunately, this is not that type of bridge. The bridge once spanned over 100 feet and was made out of reinforced concrete. There were articles in the paper in Austin that quoted prices over several million dollars to fix it and the erosion problem. So yeah, it's not surprising that it's still gone. This makes taking a cart out here real challenging. Is it possible? Yes, but it requires either parking by (2) and adding an extra long walk, or if the creek water is low, it requires hoisting a cart down the creek gorge and walking across creek stones. I watched my playing partner attempt this and he pulled it off at age 60. I did have to help a couple times.
- DISCONTINUITY - From what I've heard, when the creek water at the location of the washed out bridge is up high, players will park by Hole (2), as noted above. This requires a near mile walk of backtracking to get between (18) and (1).
- BEGINNER FRIENDLY - If you've played less than 100 rounds, stay far far away unless you enjoy getting your head beat in... mentally.
- SKILL LEVEL FRIENDLY - There is going to be substantial segment of the disc golf population that will not enjoy this course due to the challenge. Some 850 rated recreational players could struggle to finish +15 from the short tees.
- FORGIVENESS - The fairways lanes standing on the tee pads seemed reasonable. Lanes of twenty feet wide or more were common place, but with well placed pinch points and a continuous 20 foot high canopy. Straying off path with a grip lock or pinging a tree in the wrong way could be very punishing. Losing a disc may occur for those not willing to spend 20 minutes searching in the heavy overgrowth areas.
- POISON IVY - It's here, but it appears that either the club or maintenance is coming through and taking some of it out. It seemed only heavy in the far ricochet areas or not in play.
- TIME PLAY - This monster is going to take some time out of your day, which plays at nearly 10,000 feet from the back tees. My partner and I spent some good time searching for errant discs and it took us 2 hours to complete our round. Figure your average group of 4 skilled players will play this in 3 to 3 1/2 hours.
Other Thoughts:
Roy G was my 250th played course and it was destination number 1, on my 5 day roady back to Austin Texas. This city is where I feel in love with the sport. I selected Roy G partly due to reading an article early in 2018 about the possible demise of the course from to a stadium proposal. When I had left Austin in May 2016, I was constantly kicking myself for never having had the guts to play it. The course no doubt delivered the feeling I wanted in a milestone/destination course and I am so thrilled that the stadium proposal appears dead. Now scores of more players will have the opportunity to engage in Austin's most herculean challenge. Players looking for pro level difficulty, need to play this course.
- THANK YOU - A sincere thanks to my friend Gary who threw four rounds with me on this horrible weather day. He also let me crash a couple days in his RV so I could save some dough on what was already an expensive trip. Gary, as of this review, holds the distinct notion of having played the most different courses with me, 11. In total, we've thrown over 50 rounds together, of which almost all them were played Wells Branch DGC.