Hanceville, AL

Wallace State Community College

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3.55(based on 8 reviews)
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16 0
Cerealman
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 16.4 years 665 played 192 reviews
2.50 star(s)

Wallace State may infuriate, be annoying to navigate 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Mar 20, 2021 Played the course:once

Pros:

Dubbed "The Lion's Links," the Wallace State Community College DGC uses some of the open, rolling hills area on the backside of campus before interjecting its design near several classroom buildings and other academic facilities.

The course starts with one of its longest holes first; it's the only par-4 on the short design and the fairway travels over a wide-open valley before a steep ascension for the last 100 feet. The opening few holes feature few obstacles, allowing for a warm-up before you encounter some of the more technical holes closer to the center of campus.

Several picturesque holes. The first two holes throw over a beautiful grassy valley. Holes #6 and #7 find a lovely lightly wooded area on campus that is likely gorgeous come summer. Hole #18 overlooks a large lake.

The tee signs that remain in standing condition are colorful and detailed, both verbally and pictorially. The signs include a small "Next Tee" arrow on each map.

The course is fairly friendly to cart users. And the "traversability" is excellent, as you'll be walking on nicely manicured lawns for nearly all of the course.

There are several signs near the parking lot, including a brief history of the course's origination and a large map.

The Wallace State website states that the course is open to the public.

Cons:

The tee signs are some of the most maddening I've seen. Not only were a number of the tee signs broken off or missing, but many of the signs feature a short essay on what is and isn't out-of-bounds. A statement that discs should not be retrieved from the roofs of buildings appears multiple times, which signals a potential issue in the design.

Of course, the dissertation on each hole's boundaries is almost necessary due to the cramped design on numerous holes. Part of the issue is that about half of the holes are shoehorned into areas of campus where throwing discs isn't ideal. On nearly every hole is the opportunity to hit a building, parking lot, culvert or other manmade obstacles. And that's when the campus is empty - as it was on the Saturday morning I played. Add in college students and more vehicles, and this course is likely unplayable at certain times.

The design of Hole #18 is awful and will result in many lost discs. Not only are you throwing downhill with a lake on the right side, but the basket is placed precariously on a steep hill that will result in numerous roll-aways into the lake. Throw a disc you don't mind sacrificing to the water gods here.

After Hole #18, there's about a five-minute walk back to the parking area next to the first hole. And if you baptized a disc on the final hole, the walk will seem longer. It appears from looking at the original map that Hole #17 use to be longer, but it has now been divided into two holes, and the original Hole #18 no longer exists. Also, it appears from the large course map next to the parking lot that an option exists to play a long Hole #19 to what appears to be the practice basket.

The "Lion's Links" sign advertises the WSCC course as "the largest in the state" but also attempts to appeal to both amateur and advanced players by touting multiple teepads and baskets. When I played the course, I didn't see additional baskets, and the long teepad areas (orange) would have been challenging to locate. When the long options are available, it definitely rates as a bomber course. Even in the short (blue) layout, this wouldn't be a good course for novice players with so many obstacles around. The odds of an inexperienced player hitting a building, window, car or roof are high.

Navigation isn't always intuitive, especially with several couple-minute walks from a basket to the next teepad. Without a map, I would definitely have had to do some wandering around. Also, the baskets aren't numbered.

Other Thoughts:

What a mess. There were too many areas where I thought "they probably shouldn't have put a hole in this location" due to safety concerns.

While Wallace State features some good elevation and interesting shot-shaping challenges, the inadequacies and design flaws are definitely detrimental to the course, resulting in a rating that seems a bit punitive but is justified.
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5 0
drumin5216
Experience: 5 played 2 reviews
4.00 star(s)

Fun challenge for experienced players 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Apr 25, 2020 Played the course:once

Pros:

Well designed links style course that winds through the campus that will challenge longer throwers. Fairly open course with a number of holes that have large mature trees that shape your drive. Good use of roads and parking lots as ob that tighten up fairways and greens. I wouldn't recommend the course for players that can't throw at least 330-350'. Those in the 380-400' range can put up a good score with accurate shots, but big arms definitely have the advantage.

Cons:

The course can be brutal when it's windy. Although not to difficult to navigate, it would be helpful to have someone that knows the course in your group. There is a good map on the bulletin board though, so make sure to snap a pic if you aren't familiar with the course. Some directional signage would really be useful. No benches for a course this long is unfortunate. The tee pads are nice and grippy but a bit on the small side. Some of the distance on the tee signs seemed off.

Other Thoughts:

Overall, the course made for a very enjoyable round if you're looking to rip some drives. Some added amenities like benches and signs would help to make this a top notch course.
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3 2
PapaRick1959
Experience: 8.3 years 27 played 7 reviews
2.00 star(s)

Long, Boring Course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 10, 2019 Played the course:once

Pros:

Some great basket placements.

Cons:

If you don't throw 400 this is a long tedious course. Has great potential but you need a major league arm to stand a chance.

Other Thoughts:

Pass on this course and play the other two in town.
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14 0
wellsbranch250
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 10.9 years 707 played 686 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Where Do We Go Now? 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Dec 22, 2017 Played the course:once

Pros:

(2.976 Rating) A long open layout featuring duel tees and alternate baskets on many holes.
- CHALLENGING - The Orange to Orange configuration here should very much please the best players around. A 10,000 foot layout that requires monster drives and the avoidance of ever present OB. Unfortunately, I'm not now sure how often they use the Orange (back) basket placements. During my round, only one basket was placed in the Orange position. This makes rating the challenge of this course very difficult as the toughest scenario could very likely only occur once or twice a year for a tournament. As an intermediate level player I finished over par on the blue to blue layout on a windy and rainy day.
- UNIQUENESS - Not to be confused with shot shaping, but the hole type variety here is well above average and it was my favorite aspect of the course. Lots of bomb-it par 4s and one par 5 from the back tees. Water comes into gut checking play twice on the last two finishing holes. (17) and (18) are also big dogleg left holes on the orange tee to orange basket configuration. However the appeal to these two holes is flawed due to property hazards. There are two substantial missing features. There are no well defined tunnel shots or pockets to play into.
- ELEVATION - A bunch of 20 to 25 foot elevation plays. I unloaded my bag on hole (2) which was an obstacle free 25 foot down shot. Despite all the elevation, bringing a disc golf cart here is very doable.
- CHARACTER - A touch above average but with some basic omissions. The tees are above average being concrete and sized 4 feet by 12 feet. A majority of the holes have two tees (Blue and Orange), However, I constantly found myself starting my run up from off of the tee. The 4 by 12 foot size is just not adequate enough for the numerous holes exceeding 400 feet. In addition to the duel tees, there are also multiple basket locations on a majority of the holes (Blue and Orange). The baskets are in great condition as well. The omissions include no seating at the tees, no practice basket, no restrooms and no finishing shelter with picnic tables.
- SIGNAGE - The course map and hole signage is very attractive and is generally very informative. A big error to not include the direction to the next tee on the hole signage with a layout that jumps around as much as this one.
- MAINTENANCE - The grounds were well mowed upon my arrival here. The course appears to be constantly trimmed and manicured. There was very little trash spotted despite a lack of garbage cans along the layout.

Cons:

A seemingly awesome course on paper that's marred with issues.
- DESIGN FLAWS - The degree that property damage and safety issues come into play is very concerning. I admire the drive to deliver a challenging course but it should not be done at the expense of putting people and property at risk. The issues are constant throughout the layout. I personally had a glancing blow off a truck's tire on hole (3). There are several blind plays next to parking and walking paths. Fairways cross roads and parking. Upon finishing the course, what I had initially thought was a practice basket, turned out to be basket (18/19). How awesome is it that the course map instructs parking to be located in (18's) fairway approach line.
- MISSED OPPORTUNITIES - In addition to the design flaws there are some big misses. There is a nice wooded area just south of (1) and (2) that was completely skipped over. Behind basket (6) is the perhaps the best wooded area where the fairway line could have been punched deep in. The blue tee to blue basket on (16) could have been blind placing the basket much further down the slope and taking more of the road out of play.
- NAVIGATION - Despite an attractive course map and hole signage, maneuvering along this layout is not the easiest. There are no directional cues along the layout. The DISCatchers are somehow not numbered. Hole signage does not indicate the direction to the next tee. The course jumps around a lot and several walks between holes exceed 200 feet. I often found myself walking in what seemed to be the intuitive direction only to then become confused after several hundred feet, at which point I would check my photo of the map and then realize I had walked in the wrong direction. I strongly encourage having a printed copy of the map on a first go here.
- LAYOUT FLOW - The fact that the Orange tees and Blue tees don't follow the same layout after hole (9) is a head scratcher. Hole (10) for the Orange tees is a 300 foot water clear that omits a Blue tee. At this point, Blue hole (10) will correlate with Orange tee (11). I had never seen such navigational blunder like this before which unnecessarily causes layout confusion. Hole (15) Blue and hole (16) Orange share the same tee but play to different baskets. Blue tee (16) then plays to hole (16) Orange basket. On (17), the Orange and Blue tee layouts match again only to have the layout break apart again on the same hole. There are 19 Blue layout holes and 18 Orange layout holes, what a cluster. In addition, with no basket at the before mentioned Orange only hole (10), there were only 17 playable Orange holes on my visit.
- NATURAL BEAUTY - The are some really awesome looking holes out here, but there are even more duds. Either buildings, roads, parking or sometimes all three are in view on every tee shot. Most of the building are descent looking but I'll take a scraggly looking fairway with bordering trees over buildings any day. In totality I scored the course just below average. The views of the water, elevation features and the few woodsy areas cancel out a lot of the undesirables.
- PARKING - Located in the path of play on (18/19)
- TIME PLAY - I was not able to play this one in under an hour solo and I consider myself a quick player. Figure a group of four could be here 3 hours.
- WIND - With most of the holes having an openish feel to them, expect wind to play a big factor here.

Other Thoughts:

Wallace State most closely resembles nearby regional courses Sportsplex and UAH. Players that like those layouts will likely enjoy this one as well. For me, the course was a letdown. I was expecting something more in line with Clay, Indian Creek or Inverness considering its current rating but it's nowhere close. I personally do not find throwing around manmade objects and implied OB areas as entertaining as throwing through carved wooded fairways. I took off 0.195 rating points for all the layout spacing issues.
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11 0
Urmomsbf
Gold level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 15.7 years 800 played 119 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Lefty's dream. 2+ years

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Aug 13, 2016 Played the course:once

Pros:

Located on a beautiful college campus with short and pro tees/layout. Good elevation through most of the course. Nice bright orange baskets and excellent tee pads.

Cons:

Too repetitive. A lot of the same shots over and over. I rarely throw a RH Flick, but I did on a majority of these holes. Not much challenge on a majority of the holes besides distance and OB. Hole 6 was an awesome hole, but a pavilion is right in a RHBH line.

Other Thoughts:

There really wasn't enough of a challenge to make me want to come back and play this course again. The areas of Holes 1, 2, 18, and 19 were a huge disappointment when you see the land available.
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1 2
bpartrid
Experience: 13.4 years 81 played 27 reviews
4.00 star(s)

Pleasantly Surprised 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Dec 12, 2015 Played the course:once

Pros:

This course has just about any shot that you would like to try, so bring all your discs and strength. It has good tee boxes, signs, and baskets. The overall layout and design of the course is great. It is very enjoyable. The holes and throws can be technical, difficult, or long and open, so it has a good mixture. I played this one with a group of guys and everyone liked this course. There are some memorable holes and throws that you will remember from this course.

Cons:

I don't have many cons. Maybe that there is only a couple of short Par 3's, so an ace opportunity is less likely here. Thus, this course can play long in some regard.

Other Thoughts:

I thoroughly enjoyed this course and would recommend it to any players that area at least moderate in experience/throwing ability. This course will likely be frustrating to beginners. Also, pictures of the actual course on this website will be very helpful in helping others decide to play here, because they should.
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2 4
AUfantastic
Premium Member
Experience: 29.5 years 176 played 17 reviews
4.50 star(s)

Challenging and fun 2+ years

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Sep 27, 2015 Played the course:once

Pros:

A great course. Nice tee boxes and usually more than one per hole. Challenging holes to par especially when out of bounds is played. Well kept with nice ups and downs as well as variety of trees in play without any dense wooded areas. Never crowded on weekends because very few students stay on campus. Several wonderful holes. Loved it overall. Will go back soon.

Cons:

Needs to give some help in transitioning from one hole to another. However, in the meantime, just look closely and anticipate where each next tee box will be and you can figure it out. Oh yeah, numbers ON the baskets would be nice. Last, sometimes 2 hole numbers were on one sign and we were confused.

Other Thoughts:

NOTE..... We read the directions and never found hole 1 until we completed hole 19. Turn into the college off of Highway 31 at the Hardee's intersection. After you drive past the tennis courts on your right, continue approximately 100 feet, turn left on a street and park on your left. Hole ONE is across the street. It goes across an open valley and the basket is at top the hill on the other side.
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2 8
ljray13
Experience: 12.5 years 8 played 2 reviews
5.00 star(s)

Excellent Course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 8, 2015 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Great diversity of holes and shots. Very challenging, yet fun and rewarding. Has multiple layouts that can be played in many ways. An all around great course and definitely one that will keep you coming back.

Cons:

Its a long course that requires quite a bit of walking. Signs can be a bit confusing to follow due to the multiple layout options but nothing that takes more than just a couple minutes of analyzing.
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