Newtown, PA

Tyler State Park - West

4.35(based on 20 reviews)
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13 0
Pierparknut
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 10.9 years 89 played 85 reviews
4.00 star(s)

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 19, 2023 Played the course:once

Pros:

-Holes 19-36 at Tyler State Park, the West Course plays through a more rugged, secluded section of the park. The course includes concrete tees, Mach V baskets, two practice baskets, and restrooms. With the exception of holes 25 and 34-36, every hole is heavily wooded.

Note: I've copied portions of my review of Tyler East which also apply to this course.

-If Tyler East is 10/10 difficulty, Tyler West is 9/10. The first seven holes are relatively short, clean, and better birdie opportunities, before the course becomes long, steep, and tough on the back nine. Hole names such as Heartbreak Ridge, Hellbent, Constant Sorrow, and Green Mile are appropriate descriptions.

-Holes 20 and 23 are fun downhill shots, but my personal favorite was #26 "Boulder," playing down and then up a ridge to a precarious basket, a fitting introduction to the tough section of the course. The final hole is the only opportunity for a maximum distance drive.

--The QR code on the tee sign for a hole flyover video is a fantastic feature, especially if you're playing all 36. The layout is easier to follow than the East — no pedestrian trail to cross half a dozen times.

-Each hole has three basket positions (A, B, and C), which add an incredible amount of variety to the course. Many holes can be short birdie opportunities one week; long, winding, and challenging the next. Only seven holes play as a par three in every position.

Cons:

-The course has experienced substantial renovation in the last few years. While all the holes are finished and fully playable, it's not completely broken in yet. The rough is thick in many spots, and several holes play near a low-lying area with bugs, frogs, and all sorts. Long pants are highly recommended.

Other Thoughts:

-Both courses are long and rugged with long walks between holes. If you're visiting, bring multiple bottles of water and plenty of snacks. I played all 36 in one day, which totaled 8 miles walking.

-Makes You Want To Come Back — to experience the different pin positions and figure out the trickier holes.

-Tyler West has always and will always live slightly in the shadow of the East course. It's slightly shorter and does not feature the creek or quite as many memorable holes. Still, it's a tough test and a whole lot of fun.
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14 0
HyooMac
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 6.8 years 419 played 387 reviews
4.00 star(s)

Don’t Sleep on Tyler West

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Jan 15, 2024 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

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*** REVISED AND UPDATED: 2024 ****


+ Holes are numbered 19 - 36. Old DGA baskets that still catch fine and have very visible numbers atop (with blue backgrounds to distinguish from East's red backgrounds).


+ Compared to the East course, West has thicker woods and a lot more elevation change. It's much more of a workout (the climb up to tee 27 is a killer - and if 27 is in the long position, it might be the hardest hole on the property). Don/t even consider a cart, unless you like dragging it's full weight behind you as you climb hills.


+ That warning aside, it feels like there's less walking between holes than on the East course. The first noticeably long walk is 27 to 28


+ The run of holes 27 - 29 is especially good (and challenging). 27 plays entirely different depending on the tee: The back tee is a long, mostly flat par 3 along a narrow valley floor with steep hillside on the right, and swampy trouble along the left. Middle pin is tucked behind a few large trees. The short tee is a top-of-the-world down with that steep hillside all along the right. You can see the basket tucked in the trees way below, but the hillside threatens to kick things way left toward the swamp all the way down.


+ As mentioned hole #28 might be the toughest on the property: a long (up to 500') par 4 with a turning dogleg left. The teeshot has to get up over a bluff to land safely in the narrow fairway. That leaves you with a 250ish touch shot: you're throwing downhill to a basket placed on a precarious hillside, with swampy trouble long and left. Even if you lay up, you're likely looking at a death putt


+ Hole 29 is mercifully flat (or only slightly downhill), a 400' par 3 with a gradual left-to-right shape. The green is guarded by trees on either side and a tall bunker wall across. The basket itself is elevated on a rockpile. You're trying to get up above the bunker wall without flying far past the pin, leaving you with a long putt at a high basket. Devious.

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Cons:

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- The tee signs are impressive: hand painted with extensive drawings and distances for every pin position, but they're showing their age and some are becoming hard to read. The short tees don't have signage, and a few of them are just rubber mats. The concrete tee on the top-of-the-world hole 23 is unfortunately slanted a bit downhill

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Other Thoughts:

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~ The West course "lets up" a little at the end, because the 34 -36 are much more open than anything before them. 34 and 35 are pretty easy. 36 is long (700' par 4 from the longs) and it adds challenge by narrowing the fairway with OB left and woods right. One pin placement uses a grass island in the parking lot.


~ Designer added some staked OB (24 is an uphill dog leg left with stakes along the left. 25 is a shortish par three, but it is a semi island hole, surrounded along the back and side with OB.


~ Tyler West isn't as beat-in as East, and it lacks some of the tweaks that East has benefitted from over time. West is a more rugged play, but it's no less a course than East. The combination of thicker woods, more elevation, and fewer "short" holes makes West equal, if different, in challenge. If you're playing them back-to-back, you might start with West, to handle the more physically taxing course first.


~ Thanks to designer Joe Mela, and The Bucks County Disc Golf Alliance for this beautiful and challenging course


.
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10 0
Ryal
Gold level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 6.9 years 222 played 184 reviews
4.00 star(s)

Bring Your Best To Tyler West 2+ years

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Mar 11, 2019 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

+ Most of the holes have solid tee pads with enough room to get a good start. The newer ones are tessellated brick. They are sturdy and flat beneath your feet.
+ One pin per hole, but three possible pin locations provide some nice variation.
+ I very much enjoyed how the course felt like it was part of the landscape itself. Hills, trees, shrubs, stumps, boulders, dirt mounds and ditches are all utilized whenever possible to give the player the sensation that each layout sprouted up as part of the environment.
+ The fairways are clearly distinguishable from the rough and OB areas, and the rough itself can be treacherous but isn't insurmountable.
+ I love how each hole has a name of its own and a diagram that is hand-made with painted illustrations for the locations of the tee pads and targets- including their distances. The newer holes will likely have them installed in the near future.
+ Many of the holes have sturdy wooden hook stands for the players' disc bags and benches to sit on. Many considerations have been made for the players' comfort and convenience.
+ The elevation challenges are some of the steepest in the region. Lofty tee-offs downhill and steep throws uphill will force a player to put more thought into their throw instead of mindlessly tossing.
+ The tunnel shots, like the elevation challenges, force a player to improve on the spot if they are not normally accustomed to throwing through narrow passages of trees.
+ A few opportunities at the back nine to wind up and unleash.
+ Plainly visible and numerous 'next tee' signs. They are vital to guide players through the new holes.

Cons:

- A few of the tee pads haven't been installed yet. I suspect that this will change in a few months' time.
- As much as I love those hand-made diagrams, I felt as though their relative scale inaccurately represented how far each pin location was relative to the other pins and to the tee pads.
- The course is nestled within a state park, which means a lot of other people are walking around, and there is no guarantee that they will understand what you are doing there. Occasionally, you might have to patiently explain to someone why you didn't want your disc thrown back to you.
- Despite the picturesque landscape, it began to feel repetitive to my mind until I arrived to the more open holes. Grand elevation challenges and fun little hikes between holes do not make a person forget that they are still surrounded by trees in all directions.

Other Thoughts:

The Tyler West update has been completed! Normally I would wait until everything is in place before updating my review, but my previous review had wildly incorrect information as it pertains to the course's current state. So, I am breaking form here and updating the review a bit early with the hopes that the course will reflect what I've written.

My favorite hole here is the fifth hole: hole 23. It is a splendid downhill tee off that can fly forever if you throw it just right. I have a soft spot for downhill tee-offs (probably because it makes me feel like a better player than I actually am!), and hole 23 delivers. My least favorite hole might be the new 28 hole because of the plain and direct nature of the hole.

As for the course as a whole, Tyler West is a good continuation of Tyler East. The recent updates to the course have had the unfortunate result of eliminating some of the sharper elevation challenges, which I think is a bummer. They don't have much character yet, and there is still a bit of work to do. However, it is all to make Tyler West a complete 18-hole course again. So I am glad to see such progress happening.

The holes that West offers utilize the landscape's hills and forest like any good wooded disc golf course ought to do. The trees all around force the player to focus and work around any obstacles.
And those hills make for some good exercise! Pack your hiking boots. Be careful about coming here after any rain. The hills mean that some of the lower areas will inevitably get soaked to the point where they become unstable.
Of course, wet conditions always mean mud and slippery leaves no matter where you are, but a hilly park like West becomes just a little more dangerous than other places under soaked conditions.

In closing, Tyler West is a classic wooded disc golf course that has survived a partial redesign. There are hills, tight tunnels, open hallways and a vast meadow or two. Tyler East is far and away superior to it, but you would be doing yourself a disservice by skipping it.

Just have fun. It's hard not to at Tyler West.
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9 0
sidewinder22
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 17.8 years 302 played 198 reviews
4.00 star(s)

Tyler Durden - West 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 22, 2016 Played the course:once

Pros:

Vast course amenities including multiple large concrete tees and tee signs with pin locators, bag hooks, and benches. Great use of the available elevation, mostly wooded terrain, creeks, and incorporating some of open field space to provide a variety challenges from short ace-run par 3s to some hard par 5s. The wooded fairways are well defined and tight while the open holes allow you air out some, however still require precise landing areas with the OB and well placed trees.

The Tyler SP courses have the manufactured feel of some ball golf courses for better or worse as they do add to the challenge of some of the holes. The courses play well from rank beginner to expert. Port-a-potties in parking lot.

Cons:

Like Forrest Gump said, playing Tyler is like a box of chocolates, you never know what pin positions you are going to play unless it's a tournament. Being the more newer part of the course, the West Course needs to be broken in more and is rougher than the more established East Course. I wish the holes were numbered 1-18 instead of 19-36. The tightness in the woods can be a little repetitive, and there is no real grip and rip here.

Beware of other park users and discers roaming around the course. I had some random park user walking down the fairway of hole 32 who didn't realize he was on a disc golf course. He was fascinated by the pin markers and thought they were some kind of explosive device until I told what they really were for. There is not much seclusion from other holes and park activities. Lots of foot traffic on the course and erosion although some control measures have been taken.

Navigation can be tricky in a couple places, some backtracking, a map is helpful for the uninitiated. Tall grass OB and the large creek to maybe lose some discs and some poison ivy. Only one loop of 18 holes back to parking lot. For whatever reason I had a number of spit outs here on the normally trusty ole Mach IIIs.

Other Thoughts:

As the Tyler Durden review title suggest this course is pretty bad ass and you never know what to expect layout wise which can be a pro and a con. It's probably quite rare to ever play the same layout here casually as the local club seems to move baskets often and constantly improve things. As noted the Tyler SP courses have a manufactured design element to them that make them feel like ball golf in a way, which can also be seen as both a pro and con - being it takes away from the more natural and organic design element that disc golf has traditionally used and been praised for.

The West course definitely boasts more elevation and more left or right turning shots and some fast greens. Some of the more fun elevated tee shots were just touch putter shots where I'd like to be able to rip them harder off the tee and watch them soar longer. This course might be enjoyed more by shorter throwers although the West still has some teeth on many holes. I can't remember which hole (#29 maybe?) it was, but it was a new hole that was my favorite on this course, it was a fairly flat and straight shot off the tee, slightly right, with the basket raised on a large natural mound.

Regardless taken as a whole the Tyler SP courses are supremely enjoyable to play and some of the best disc golf you will find in the area that is renown for disc golf.
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