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Short Mountain Distillery - White Lightning reviews
12
0
12 Good Holes and a Lot More Potential 2+ years
Reviewed:
Updated:
Played on:Feb 28, 2021
Played the course:2-4 times
Pros:
The more diverse, larger of the two courses at Short Mountain, the White Lightning features some great holes in a beautiful setting. (Updates: See first con below, and Other Thoughts.)
-Natural Beauty: Superb. The open holes have great views of the tall hills and meadows around, while the wooded holes are even further isolated from the rest of the property than the Red Apple course, providing tranquil forest scenes.
-Terrain: Mostly great for disc golf. Holes (1)-(6) and (17)-(18) are in rolling meadows with moderate slopes, (8)-(15) play in the mature woods like the Red Apple course with undulating hills and a creek, and the transitional (7) and (16) have a texture between the two and include a pond. A thrill to play on.
-Variety: The open holes don't have many obstacles to deal with, which is a knock, but overall White Lightning delivers excellent variety. The woods section doesn't get old with different shot shapes, lengths, and terrains, while the transitional holes play over their slopes with such natural unaffectedness that I've experienced very few other holes like them.
-Shot Shaping/Gameplay: Of the 12 holes I was able to play, the challenge and excitement of choice were always present. The meadows holes will have you driving; (7) will require great angle control and a nice approach for the birdie; (9) crests a hill and forces both speed and flight path control; (10) and (B) throw substantially downhill, with a creek green on the former; (14)-(15) are excellent two-shot holes in the woods. Probably an intermediate-level challenge that could deliver some great thrill if it was kept up.
-Bonus Holes: (A) and (B) were originally designed as connector holes so that you could play Red Apple (1)-(15), take a loop of White Lightning (A)-(15) and (8)-(B), then finish Red Apple. However, you could play the short two hole loop of (B)-(A) to make White Lightning a little longer. Since the holes had more the character of White Lightning, I listed them on this course's page.
-Facilities: Restaurant and Distillery on site.
-Natural Beauty: Superb. The open holes have great views of the tall hills and meadows around, while the wooded holes are even further isolated from the rest of the property than the Red Apple course, providing tranquil forest scenes.
-Terrain: Mostly great for disc golf. Holes (1)-(6) and (17)-(18) are in rolling meadows with moderate slopes, (8)-(15) play in the mature woods like the Red Apple course with undulating hills and a creek, and the transitional (7) and (16) have a texture between the two and include a pond. A thrill to play on.
-Variety: The open holes don't have many obstacles to deal with, which is a knock, but overall White Lightning delivers excellent variety. The woods section doesn't get old with different shot shapes, lengths, and terrains, while the transitional holes play over their slopes with such natural unaffectedness that I've experienced very few other holes like them.
-Shot Shaping/Gameplay: Of the 12 holes I was able to play, the challenge and excitement of choice were always present. The meadows holes will have you driving; (7) will require great angle control and a nice approach for the birdie; (9) crests a hill and forces both speed and flight path control; (10) and (B) throw substantially downhill, with a creek green on the former; (14)-(15) are excellent two-shot holes in the woods. Probably an intermediate-level challenge that could deliver some great thrill if it was kept up.
-Bonus Holes: (A) and (B) were originally designed as connector holes so that you could play Red Apple (1)-(15), take a loop of White Lightning (A)-(15) and (8)-(B), then finish Red Apple. However, you could play the short two hole loop of (B)-(A) to make White Lightning a little longer. Since the holes had more the character of White Lightning, I listed them on this course's page.
-Facilities: Restaurant and Distillery on site.
Cons:
Some major problems need to be addressed for White Lightning to realize its potential.
-Maintenance: The huge and obvious knock on my visit was that (2)-(6) and (17)-(18) were unplayable. The grass was far too high on (2)-(5), while the other three played through a horse enclosure and didn't seem highly safe. Regardless, out of those holes only (5) had a basket. With this setup, (1) is so far from the rest of the holes as to feel pointless, effectively eliminating the open half of the course. UPDATE: It basically didn't change from one September to the next February, which leads me to guess that it's unlikely to ever progress past having only half of the course playable.
-Amenities: Mostly lacking. The holes with baskets have decent Mach III's, and several holes had distance on their tee signs, but otherwise there wasn't much. Natural tee pads and no indication of fairway bends. On the plus side, spray paint marks the hole transitions pretty well, and the maintained holes all had clear numbers.
-Cows: Like Red Apple, there are cows on most of the course that leave pies. Some horses as well, though I didn't venture on that part of the course.
-Visibility: Some of the baskets are hard to spot from the tee. They could use brighter flags or more indicators.
-Tight lines: The lines in some of the woods are questionable. No single one stands out, but several will require choosing your 5-foot gap a hundred or more feet off the tee.
-Getting There: Like with Red Apple, I have no idea what the correct route to the first tee is. I found a way from Red Apple, but to get that far I had to hop a gate.
-Maintenance: The huge and obvious knock on my visit was that (2)-(6) and (17)-(18) were unplayable. The grass was far too high on (2)-(5), while the other three played through a horse enclosure and didn't seem highly safe. Regardless, out of those holes only (5) had a basket. With this setup, (1) is so far from the rest of the holes as to feel pointless, effectively eliminating the open half of the course. UPDATE: It basically didn't change from one September to the next February, which leads me to guess that it's unlikely to ever progress past having only half of the course playable.
-Amenities: Mostly lacking. The holes with baskets have decent Mach III's, and several holes had distance on their tee signs, but otherwise there wasn't much. Natural tee pads and no indication of fairway bends. On the plus side, spray paint marks the hole transitions pretty well, and the maintained holes all had clear numbers.
-Cows: Like Red Apple, there are cows on most of the course that leave pies. Some horses as well, though I didn't venture on that part of the course.
-Visibility: Some of the baskets are hard to spot from the tee. They could use brighter flags or more indicators.
-Tight lines: The lines in some of the woods are questionable. No single one stands out, but several will require choosing your 5-foot gap a hundred or more feet off the tee.
-Getting There: Like with Red Apple, I have no idea what the correct route to the first tee is. I found a way from Red Apple, but to get that far I had to hop a gate.
Other Thoughts:
White Lightning has great potential. I think if they maintained the open half and added amenities and signage, this would be a 3.5-4.0 course and the main draw of the two. It's a beautiful tract and many of the holes are of an intermediate difficulty that makes for fun gameplay.
As a whole, the complex is really lovely, and I think the distillery is missing out on some leverage by not advertising and polishing these courses. Especially in something of a dead zone for disc golf (other than Burde Ridge, obviously), this is a welcome pairing of courses.
2nd Update: After some time and reconsidering, the state of the course is such that it deserves to be more in the top of the Decent category. The existing holes are fun, but don't hold up as well after 260 courses as they did after 80. With a makeover it could still be excellent.
As a whole, the complex is really lovely, and I think the distillery is missing out on some leverage by not advertising and polishing these courses. Especially in something of a dead zone for disc golf (other than Burde Ridge, obviously), this is a welcome pairing of courses.
2nd Update: After some time and reconsidering, the state of the course is such that it deserves to be more in the top of the Decent category. The existing holes are fun, but don't hold up as well after 260 courses as they did after 80. With a makeover it could still be excellent.
