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The Beast on Honey Hill reviews
14
0
2+ years
Reviewed:
Played on:Aug 29, 2021
Played the course:2-4 times
Pros:
The only 18-hole course in rarely-traveled Columbus County, the privately-owned Beast on Honey Hill is well worth a trip from the surrounding areas.
+ Excellent hole design, featuring a wide variety of distances and lines. Many opportunities to creatively shape shots through the hallways of pines. The course is mostly wooded, but holes 8 and 9 are more open. The wooded holes include some shorter must-get birdie par 3s, longer tough par 3s, and challenging multi-shot par 4s and 5s. Most of the fairways are very wide and very fair.
+ Lots of elevated baskets, and also baskets perched on well-constructed built-up greens, add to the challenge and add memorable elements. In particular, hole 1's elevated green starts the course on a great note, and hole 9's elevated short basket is one of the signature holes of the course.
+ There are also two ponds that come in to play, and while both are easy to carry, both force players to think very carefully about their shot placement.
+ Two tees on nearly every hole, all on large and smooth concrete surfaces, whose shot angles vary substantially. The long tees are a strong challenge for intermediate players and above, while the shorter tees should be fun for nearly all skill levels. While I personally tend to prefer the longer layouts on most courses, I will say that the short tees here played very well and were surprisingly fun, much better than I'd expected, and I might prefer them over the long tees.
+ The rough on this course is fairly tame, especially by private course standards, making for smooth play. It looks like a prescribed burn was performed fairly recently, which could be an easy way to continue maintaining the rough over time.
+ Excellent blue-banded Discatcher baskets are brand new, fairly easy to spot, and catch well.
+ 'Next tee' signs provide helpful direction in many spots.
+ Concrete culvert pipes serve as much-appreciated benches throughout the course.
+ Very large and spacious parking area, somewhat unusual for a private course. The front 9 loops back and is a fairly short walk back to the parking area, allowing for mid-round breaks if needed.
+ Excellent hole design, featuring a wide variety of distances and lines. Many opportunities to creatively shape shots through the hallways of pines. The course is mostly wooded, but holes 8 and 9 are more open. The wooded holes include some shorter must-get birdie par 3s, longer tough par 3s, and challenging multi-shot par 4s and 5s. Most of the fairways are very wide and very fair.
+ Lots of elevated baskets, and also baskets perched on well-constructed built-up greens, add to the challenge and add memorable elements. In particular, hole 1's elevated green starts the course on a great note, and hole 9's elevated short basket is one of the signature holes of the course.
+ There are also two ponds that come in to play, and while both are easy to carry, both force players to think very carefully about their shot placement.
+ Two tees on nearly every hole, all on large and smooth concrete surfaces, whose shot angles vary substantially. The long tees are a strong challenge for intermediate players and above, while the shorter tees should be fun for nearly all skill levels. While I personally tend to prefer the longer layouts on most courses, I will say that the short tees here played very well and were surprisingly fun, much better than I'd expected, and I might prefer them over the long tees.
+ The rough on this course is fairly tame, especially by private course standards, making for smooth play. It looks like a prescribed burn was performed fairly recently, which could be an easy way to continue maintaining the rough over time.
+ Excellent blue-banded Discatcher baskets are brand new, fairly easy to spot, and catch well.
+ 'Next tee' signs provide helpful direction in many spots.
+ Concrete culvert pipes serve as much-appreciated benches throughout the course.
+ Very large and spacious parking area, somewhat unusual for a private course. The front 9 loops back and is a fairly short walk back to the parking area, allowing for mid-round breaks if needed.
Cons:
- The current temporary tee signs show distance and par, but nothing about the fairway/shot shapes. On quite a few holes, the basket is blind and the fairway is somewhat vague, and I was completely uncertain of what type of shot to throw without walking ahead. Hopefully more informative and permanent tee signs are in development.
- Related to the above, the baskets do not have hole numbers on them, and I wasn't always sure if I was facing the right direction and throwing to the correct basket.
- There are many arrows and markings on trees along some of the holes, and it was not always clear to me which of those were mandos, or if they were old mandos to be disregarded, or if they were simple navigational aids. This made several shot selections unclear.
- No elevation at all, other than the elevated baskets/greens. As a result, some of these holes have a very similar look, and blur together. There's only so many ways a flat hallway of pines can look.
- Some of the tees are a little too smooth and slick, especially when sand is tracked onto them.
- The tees for holes 2/4, 10/11, and 12/15 are quite close together, as the course doubles back on itself at these points. Navigation is a little confusing at these moments. These holes also parallel each other, which may create some safety concerns, though this course is unlikely to ever be crowded outside of tournaments.
- Deep, mucky ditches run across the fairways of several holes, particularly on the back 9. Unless you know the course well, they are hidden from view until you are quite close. If your disc unluckily ends up in one of these mucky ditches, retrieving it could be a difficult and disgusting experience. Would strongly recommend that players bring disc retrievers to this course, solely for dealing with these ditches. Ideally, I would have preferred a course design that avoided these ditches entirely, relegating them to the walks between holes.
- Related to the above, the baskets do not have hole numbers on them, and I wasn't always sure if I was facing the right direction and throwing to the correct basket.
- There are many arrows and markings on trees along some of the holes, and it was not always clear to me which of those were mandos, or if they were old mandos to be disregarded, or if they were simple navigational aids. This made several shot selections unclear.
- No elevation at all, other than the elevated baskets/greens. As a result, some of these holes have a very similar look, and blur together. There's only so many ways a flat hallway of pines can look.
- Some of the tees are a little too smooth and slick, especially when sand is tracked onto them.
- The tees for holes 2/4, 10/11, and 12/15 are quite close together, as the course doubles back on itself at these points. Navigation is a little confusing at these moments. These holes also parallel each other, which may create some safety concerns, though this course is unlikely to ever be crowded outside of tournaments.
- Deep, mucky ditches run across the fairways of several holes, particularly on the back 9. Unless you know the course well, they are hidden from view until you are quite close. If your disc unluckily ends up in one of these mucky ditches, retrieving it could be a difficult and disgusting experience. Would strongly recommend that players bring disc retrievers to this course, solely for dealing with these ditches. Ideally, I would have preferred a course design that avoided these ditches entirely, relegating them to the walks between holes.
Other Thoughts:
This is the only 18-hole course in Columbus County, and fortunately it is an excellent one. Disc golfers in the Fayetteville, Wilmington, and Myrtle Beach areas should seriously consider making the day trip here. That will especially be true when the planned second course on this property is completed.
I was torn between giving this course a 3.5 or a 4.0, and ultimately settled on the former, as there are a few things holding it back from a higher tier at the moment. But there are a lot of opportunities for Cam and others to make improvements, and I could very easily see this course developing into a strong 4.0 in the near future. Though Whiteville is a long ways from anything, I will not hesitate to revisit this course in the future.
I was torn between giving this course a 3.5 or a 4.0, and ultimately settled on the former, as there are a few things holding it back from a higher tier at the moment. But there are a lot of opportunities for Cam and others to make improvements, and I could very easily see this course developing into a strong 4.0 in the near future. Though Whiteville is a long ways from anything, I will not hesitate to revisit this course in the future.
