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Vandalia DGC reviews
12
0
I Wonder If Inmates At The Correctional Facility Are Forced To Play This Course In Place Of Solitary Confinement
Reviewed:
Played on:Jun 3, 2024
Played the course:once
Pros:
Vandalia DGC is a short recreational 9 that snakes around other park amenities. This will be a putter-midrange course for most players of any experience but is a good spot for new players to get the hang of the game.
Location of Vandalia is about 20-25 minutes east of Route 61 and Bowling Green, the closest access point most folks would be using in the area. Tri-County Park is off Union St. which can be accessed by going sound on Clark St. as you go along Route 54 in town. There are a couple gas stations in town, along with a DQ. There's also a women's correctional facility behind the town welcome sign, which feels like unfortunate placement.
Park Amenities include walking paths, an exercise trail, an aquatic center, tennis and pickleball courts, playground equipment, and bathrooms.
Course Equipment that is present is in decent shape. The signs have distances, pars, and a very basic hole layout with next hole directions. The baskets are white Dynamic Patriots and are in great shape being only about 4-5 years old. Hole 1 has a course map as well which is handy and also helps point out the awkward transition from hole 1 to hole 2.
Course Design is geared around short and mostly wide-open holes, which is about the only design that would fit in this park. While a couple of holes have more intentional angles, you're mostly fine with straight shots or whatever you are most comfortable throwing.
Shot-Shaping can be found on hole 1 with a bit of an anhyzer and hole 2 with a left or right hook around a tree. That's about it.
Distances range from around 130 to 225, making this a nice putter or putter-midrange course. I took out all of my drivers from my bag for my round, and I honestly could have gotten away with just a putter, a berg, and a buzzz and still felt like I was carrying too many discs.
Difficulty is definitely geared towards new players, with birdies being very gettable on every hole. If you can throw over 250 accurately, you're going to really challenge for a 9 under at this course.
Location of Vandalia is about 20-25 minutes east of Route 61 and Bowling Green, the closest access point most folks would be using in the area. Tri-County Park is off Union St. which can be accessed by going sound on Clark St. as you go along Route 54 in town. There are a couple gas stations in town, along with a DQ. There's also a women's correctional facility behind the town welcome sign, which feels like unfortunate placement.
Park Amenities include walking paths, an exercise trail, an aquatic center, tennis and pickleball courts, playground equipment, and bathrooms.
Course Equipment that is present is in decent shape. The signs have distances, pars, and a very basic hole layout with next hole directions. The baskets are white Dynamic Patriots and are in great shape being only about 4-5 years old. Hole 1 has a course map as well which is handy and also helps point out the awkward transition from hole 1 to hole 2.
Course Design is geared around short and mostly wide-open holes, which is about the only design that would fit in this park. While a couple of holes have more intentional angles, you're mostly fine with straight shots or whatever you are most comfortable throwing.
Shot-Shaping can be found on hole 1 with a bit of an anhyzer and hole 2 with a left or right hook around a tree. That's about it.
Distances range from around 130 to 225, making this a nice putter or putter-midrange course. I took out all of my drivers from my bag for my round, and I honestly could have gotten away with just a putter, a berg, and a buzzz and still felt like I was carrying too many discs.
Difficulty is definitely geared towards new players, with birdies being very gettable on every hole. If you can throw over 250 accurately, you're going to really challenge for a 9 under at this course.
Cons:
Course Design is very bland feeling, which just comes with the limitations of the park. There's aren't many open areas with trees in spots that can make for creative lines. That being said, it doesn't make for much fun during a round here.
Course Safety is something that comes to mind on a few holes, as the course often plays close to the walking paths around the park. Hole 2 mostly plays directly along a path, as does hole 7, with 7 also going over an exercise station. If you're going to have a course where every hole is essentially 150 to 200 feet long and wide open anyways, there's a few spots in the park where holes could have been placed that aren't so close to other park uses. The park does get plenty of use based on my round here, especially in the summer with the pool, so even jut moving hole 7's pin and turning hole 2 a bit would go a long way to avoid issues.
Course Equipment is fine, but missing tees, which makes it hard to tell where to throw. Not the biggest issue in the world, but on some holes like hole 1, it can make a big difference.
Course Safety is something that comes to mind on a few holes, as the course often plays close to the walking paths around the park. Hole 2 mostly plays directly along a path, as does hole 7, with 7 also going over an exercise station. If you're going to have a course where every hole is essentially 150 to 200 feet long and wide open anyways, there's a few spots in the park where holes could have been placed that aren't so close to other park uses. The park does get plenty of use based on my round here, especially in the summer with the pool, so even jut moving hole 7's pin and turning hole 2 a bit would go a long way to avoid issues.
Course Equipment is fine, but missing tees, which makes it hard to tell where to throw. Not the biggest issue in the world, but on some holes like hole 1, it can make a big difference.
Other Thoughts:
This course along with Twin Pike YMCA are smack dab in the halfway point of Quincy, IL and St. Louis; too far to really warrant their own trip from where I live, but too far to really play while we visit my in-laws in Quincy. Given we have two dogs that are terrible on a leash and now a baby as well, stopping on a 40-minute detour during a 2-hour drive isn't really in the cards either. I have stared at these courses on the map for four years waiting to bag this course, and yesterday, I was given a golden opportunity to get up and finally check this course off the list. And what a gloriously bland round it was. Longing to play a course like this really tells me a lot about myself.
I came, I played, and I will never go to Vandalia again. Not worth going out of your way for unless you're a course bagger that likes bland 9-holes.
I came, I played, and I will never go to Vandalia again. Not worth going out of your way for unless you're a course bagger that likes bland 9-holes.
17
0
Cerealman
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience:
15.9 years
593 played
179 reviews
Simple, speedy and in the snow
Reviewed:
Played on:Dec 27, 2022
Played the course:once
Pros:
The Vandalia DGC offers a good introduction to disc golf in a small city park setting.
The course definitely fits the pitch-and-putt description as all the holes are 100 to 210 feet in length. The Vandalia course would be a fine choice for someone playing their first few rounds of disc golf. It's fairly flat and straight, though a couple holes prompt a bit of shot-shaping around a tree or two. You could play the course with two discs and be just fine.
There's a gravel parking lot right next to the course, and Hole #9 finishes right next to the first teepad. A sign with basic rules, course map and hole distances marks the start of the course nicely. And the Patriot baskets meet the standard for this course.
Navigation is fairly straight forward after you find the second teepad.
The design is simple but adequate. With limited space to work with, it might have been tempting for the designer to force some oddities into the mix. Thankfully, they didn't.
The course definitely fits the pitch-and-putt description as all the holes are 100 to 210 feet in length. The Vandalia course would be a fine choice for someone playing their first few rounds of disc golf. It's fairly flat and straight, though a couple holes prompt a bit of shot-shaping around a tree or two. You could play the course with two discs and be just fine.
There's a gravel parking lot right next to the course, and Hole #9 finishes right next to the first teepad. A sign with basic rules, course map and hole distances marks the start of the course nicely. And the Patriot baskets meet the standard for this course.
Navigation is fairly straight forward after you find the second teepad.
The design is simple but adequate. With limited space to work with, it might have been tempting for the designer to force some oddities into the mix. Thankfully, they didn't.
Cons:
There's not much variety here. Hole #1 is to the right and requires a slight dogleg to get around the large tree, but every hole is basically straight. Also, from the first teepad, you might see the basket for Hole #9 on the left first.
After completing Hole #1, you'll have to backtrack counter-clockwise around the tennis courts to find the next hole.
Some of the teepads are natural, while several of the holes utilize the walking track around the park's perimeter.
This course won't be a challenge for anyone with a few rounds under their belt. Decent players will likely ring up an ace every dozen rounds or less. My drive on Hole #1 bounced off the cage and several more drives landed a few feet from the basket.
The course is fairly isolated from other disc golf offerings; the closest courses are about 30 minutes away.
After completing Hole #1, you'll have to backtrack counter-clockwise around the tennis courts to find the next hole.
Some of the teepads are natural, while several of the holes utilize the walking track around the park's perimeter.
This course won't be a challenge for anyone with a few rounds under their belt. Decent players will likely ring up an ace every dozen rounds or less. My drive on Hole #1 bounced off the cage and several more drives landed a few feet from the basket.
The course is fairly isolated from other disc golf offerings; the closest courses are about 30 minutes away.
Other Thoughts:
I played the Vandalia course in about 20 minutes, near sundown, in 30-degree temps with an inch of snow on the ground. I birdied every hole but the last one, and I'll blame my cold hands on that shaky putt.
With its simple style and lack of amenities, the Vandalia nine-holer feels like a 1.0 rating, though it fits the "Passable" descriptor more so than "Bad."
An interesting fact about Vandalia is that about one-fourth of its population of 4,000 is housed in the women's correctional facility. However, I didn't see any inmates during my disc golf round.
With its simple style and lack of amenities, the Vandalia nine-holer feels like a 1.0 rating, though it fits the "Passable" descriptor more so than "Bad."
An interesting fact about Vandalia is that about one-fourth of its population of 4,000 is housed in the women's correctional facility. However, I didn't see any inmates during my disc golf round.
