Mobile, AL

Spring Hill College DGC

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2.175(based on 3 reviews)
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17 0
wellsbranch250
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 10.8 years 694 played 680 reviews
2.00 star(s)

I Wouldn’t Walk 500 Miles. 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Dec 23, 2020 Played the course:once

Pros:

(2.037 Rating) A very spread out park style college campus course.
- REC LEVEL FRIENDLY - I didn't really know where to begin on this one as the pros are average qualities at best. Anyways, I'll first note that this one is geared very well for the large segment of players rated between an 850 and 900. Modest power is required and a few fairways need to be threaded or need a shaped drive to score well. In addition, the landscape is mostly forgiving. Only a few patches of intense overgrowth and no water hazards. Losing a disc here should rarely happen.
- HOLE VARIETY - About average among the courses I've played. Decent hole length variations, from low 200s to low 500s. A couple holes I'd label as an honest rec par 4. (16) is a fun bomb play from a 30-foot high bluff. The only course I've played in Mobile that has a better elevation play was at Chickasaw Community Park. The technical plays are on the light side, but both (4) and (5) require a little weaving in route to the basket. No water, no Advanced level par 4s.
- CHAINS - Nice Mach 5 baskets with a custom placard on top.
- MOWED - Like most university courses, this one was thankfully mowed for my visit and I would suspect its always that way.

Cons:

This layout seriously needs to be more condensed.
- LAYOUT DISCONTINUITY - There are enormous play gaps on this course. (10) basket to (11) tee is a 700-foot walk. (12) to (13) is 900-feet. (13) to (14) is 400-feet. (14) to (15) is 500-feet. (15) to (16) is another 500-feet. (17) plays back towards (16s) tee instead of towards (18s) tee and thus you have to walk past (17s) basket again and then walk almost another 1,000 feet to get to (18s) tee. Last, I'll note that the walk back to tee (1) and the parking area is another 400-foot walk. Sometimes I'll give a pass on layout spacing if it happens once or twice or if it's a cool hole, but that is not the case here. This is a major flaw in the course.
- NAVIGATION AND SIGNAGE - There are no navigational cues on this layout. I don't think first time players would be able to figure the entire layout out without a navigational app. As for the signage, is subpar. It's just a numbered tee marker that's flush with the ground. This make spotting next tees a real pain.
- PLAY TIME - Due to the two issues noted above, this course is going to take a lot longer then what's presented on paper. Arriving I thought 45 minutes tops. Whoops. Don't forget a disc in the basket on (8) and then realize it on (15). It's like a 20-minute walk between those two holes.
- TEE AREAS - They are not good. First off, natural surfaces and some have tee pitting or root protrusions. The second thing I found disappointing was no benches. It sucks to walk a quarter mile between holes and then have nowhere to sit when you get there.
- HOLE QUALITY - Average, but considering what I saw on this campus, the hole quality was disappointing. Several holes have between zero and two trees in play. There are some heavy woods available to use, and the course only teasingly pokes into it. I did like the vista bomb play on (16), but a great designer would have introduced more than the simple "just bomb-it" aspect.
- TRASH AND NATURAL BEAUTY - Perhaps I caught a bad day, but several individual holes had enough trash on them to fill up multiple garbage bags. This really impacted my score for natural beauty. Add in the fact that there is very little good grass on the course and hole (15) has a 6-foot pit dug in front of the basket. Off the course layout however there are some real beautiful aspects. The Church I saw between (12) and (13) looked fantastic.

Other Thoughts:

An average course at best for most players. If it weren't for the poor tees, poor navigation, trash and massive walks between holes, I'm sure I would have scored it a 2.5 due to the average hole quality. My attribute scores for this course are rather similar to another area course I've played called Mobile University DGC, which i also scored a 2.0. For those traveling to the Mobile area, this one should not be on the hit list unless they've already played ten area courses and they are looking to play something different. Of the 23 area courses I've played as of this review, I've got it at tenth, just behind Mobile University DGC. It will likely drop to 12th in my spreadsheet once I finally bag Daphne and South Alabama. For those that live in town, it's definitely worth checking out at least once. If I went to Spring Hill College, I would likely play here all the time.
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6 1
Mr. Butlertron
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 21.7 years 684 played 131 reviews
2.50 star(s)

The Hills Are Alive With The Sounds Of Disc Golf 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Sep 30, 2017 Played the course:once

Pros:

- lots of elevation variety
- informative tee markers: listed hole number, fairway lengths
- a decent variety of fairway lengths
- campus well landscaped
- quality baskets, numbered
- really fun layout, suitable for all levels
- not much brush, hard to lose a disc
- scenic campus

Cons:

- college campus course, doubtful half the course is safe enough to throw on weekdays
- some holes are close to campus buildings, windows, sewer drains, a golf course, ect.
- some fairway overlapping, not much fairway definition throughout the course
- some tees were too close to previously thrown baskets
- navigation was hard to follow at times, campus map tee markings weren't entirely accurate
- tee markers where flat, hard to see. I wasted a lot of time searching for them, even with a map
- ample parking, hard to tell if parking required a permit or not on weekends or weekends
- no multiple pins, no multiple tees
- natural tees

Other Thoughts:

I came to Springhill College expecting to grind out another short, flat, poorly pieced together campus course, it was actually none of the above. What I experienced was a pretty well rounded course, with lots of fun shots. Having read the only listed review after throwing the course, I completely agree with just about every single part of his review. He really nailed it.

The ups and downs of the landscape were nice, as most gulf coast courses lack significant changes in elevation. Many of these holes proved to be more exhausting than necessary because I simply could not locate the tee markers. The markers are completely flat and don't match precisely with a few locations on the campus map. What the fairways lacked in defined lines, or punitive gameplay, they made up for in excitement. Who doesn't like long downhill throws? I thought the distances seemed fairly accurate, though I didn't bring any measuring device to speak off.

As with most campus courses, the biggest limitation of Springhill College DGC will be its close proximity to pedestrians and school property. This also makes the availability somewhat limited. I came on a Saturday and had zero issues, but expect playing here might be difficult, even on weekends, occasionally. Still, I thought everything flowed together nicely, even if there was a little extra walking involved between holes. Bring a map, even if it's not entirely accurate. If you do not have a map, you'll get lost fast

Rating a campus style of course is sort of difficult for me personally. If forces me to value overall design against safety and fairway availability. Comparing these types of courses to something more dg exclusive but ordinary is kind of unfair. On one hand, I greatly enjoyed the course for it's creativity and fun factor, on the other, half the course is hardly playable when people are roaming the campus. All in all, Springhill is one of the better college courses I've thrown, as of yet. I used my complete bag while on the course, sometimes on a single hole. Be prepared for a lot of walking, bring a camera for the scenic landscape and architecture, and don't forget to yield for the occasional student/pedestrian.
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5 0
Decatur540
Experience: 17.6 years 47 played 1 reviews
2.00 star(s)

It was a course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Feb 5, 2017 Played the course:once

Pros:

-Clean and well maintained
-Lots of elevation change. Very few flat holes

Cons:

This course was not easy to navigate

-Tee markers are 2 circles on the ground like you'd find on a ball golf course
-Distances on some markers were not accurate
-Long gaps between a few holes and no signage to point you in the right direction
-Holes 6-10 and are kinda bunched together. Keep a heads up if it's busy
-The gap from 10 to 11 was the toughest to figure out. From 10s basket, go up the steepest part of the hill and hug the right side of the road into the parking lot. Walk about 200 yards to the dumpster by the front right corner of the farthest building.
-Holes 16-17 basically share a fairway. Unless you have a cannon to make it uphill 300+ it forces the hyzer directly toward people coming down the hill on 16
-Hole 18 is a long walk from 17, again no signage to point you in the right direction

Other Thoughts:

This was a fun afternoon course. I wouldn't go out of my way to play it, considering the caliber of some other courses in the area. I feel like we played all 18 at USA in the amount of time it took to navigate the back nine of this one.

Below is a link to a course map that is very helpful

http://www.shc.edu/undergradu...nt/disc-golf/
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