Lexington, VA

Washington and Lee University

2.715(based on 14 reviews)
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10 0
dino2disc
Silver level trusted reviewer
Experience: 25.3 years 84 played 39 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Overgrown, but with fun closing holes 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 16, 2021 Played the course:once

Pros:

- Nice Discatcher baskets in good shape.
- Long concrete tees (for all 3 tees).
- The 3 tees per hole and 2 potential basket placements on many holes make for a surprising amount of variety, though there isn't much difference between the short (red) and intermediate (white) tees other than distance.
- Although there isn't a lot of topography to work with, a few of the hole designs capitalize on the slopes well to offer you some downhill (#9, 11, 16) and uphill (#15, 17) holes.
- The diagrammatic tee signs provide detailed info and seem pretty accurate. Just wish they were posted at the long (blue) tees too.
- After the relentless, tight, overgrown #3-#14, holes #15 through #18 give you fun and much needed relief to close out your round with the best birdie opportunities you'll see throughout the entire course. Well planned so you can leave with a smile! They are lightly wooded, allowing more open bomb shots, and they have more slope in play than the rest of the course.

Cons:

- I didn't have any issues parking during the summer, but parking might be an issue during the academic year. Not sure about the lot designation by the tennis center on this campus, but parking in any university campus lot always seems like a ticket in waiting during the school year...
- WAY overgrown during the summer. It might be more open if you play in winter, but during the summer you really need line control to save time disc hunting.
- Repetitive tight and straight tunnels (#3, 5, 7-10, and 14) start to get a little boring, though #5 is a fun and shorter ace run opportunity.
- #11 is simply a frustrating layout: from any of the tees you are facing a downhill right turn into a tightly wooded opening with a low and completely blind landing zone. You are more or less guaranteed to have to go hunting for your disc no matter where you throw it. And if you happen to hit the "hole" through the gap from the tee, you'll find that there's no fairway down in the valley to the basket. Bogey is a good score on it.
- Navigation from the #9 basket through the #13 tee is a bit confusing due to the dense set of tees all over this area. Keep the course map image handy.

Other Thoughts:

- Overall it's a solid university course. If I went to Washington & Lee I'd definitely play it often and have a lot of fun.

- Some of the long (blue) tees were a bit hard to find as they were buried in leaves and some overgrowth. Clearly the middle (white) tees are the most played. With enough searching you can find them all though, and they will make for a decent challenge for most intermediate players.

- Just a short drive off of I-81 so it can make a nice stretch break on a road trip. #2 and the closing holes (#15-18) are the highlights that make it definitely worth checking out.
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12 0
aredoubles
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 8.5 years 261 played 41 reviews
3.50 star(s)

2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 9, 2020 Played the course:once

Pros:

Tucked into the back corners of this scenic campus lies a gem of a little course.
+ Outstanding mix of holes. From short and technical wooded holes, to wide open mashes, and everything in-between, this course has some of everything.
+ Encourages a great variety of shot shapes from your bag. Big hyzers, to careful turnovers, to pure tunnels, and everything in-between, across all different distances.
+ Nice use of elevation. Some wooded downhill throws where you crash into the green, some challenging uphill rips, and finally on holes 16 and 17 the fun wide-open downhills that everyone loves.
+ Three teepads on almost every hole offers enjoyment for all skill levels. The concrete white teepads are especially popular, and should be equally enjoyable for almost everyone. For true beginners, red teepads are clearly marked by stumps in the ground, and are a very friendly play. Strong advanced players wanting to mix things up can play from the concrete blue tees, but see below.
+ Several holes have multiple pin positions available, mixing up the experience even further from time to time.
+ Fairways have been well worn-in, making for a smooth play.
+ Good Discatcher baskets, clear tee signs at the white tees, a great course map at the start, and some navigational arrows in the woods all ensure a smooth experience.
+ Largely manages to stay out of the way of other campus facilities, only briefly flirting with a baseball field, some roads, and a ropes course. Otherwise the course is quietly tucked into hidden woods.
+ All in all, an incredibly fun course design that will appeal to pretty much everyone, and that can be replayed over and over again.

Cons:

- The long tees are somewhat overgrown, and seem to rarely get played. And the more they get overgrown, the less appeal they have, and then they deteriorate even more, etc., a vicious cycle.
- Without those long tees in reasonable condition, this is not a challenging course for serious advanced players. Though I still maintain that they will have a lot of fun racking up birdies on all of the different shot types on offer.
- The tees, fairways, and baskets for holes 9-12 all pile on top of each other in a frightening four-way intersection. At best it's confusing navigation, at worst it's a safety nightmare. Not sure how this happened, since the rest of the course is so smoothly laid out.
- Navigation is generally good in the woods, but the pointers all vanish out in the open, and you may have to do some hunting and searching in these sections to find the next tee. The course map does help with this.
- Some inconsistency in teepad quality, as a few of the white tees were natural instead of the usual concrete. But these were generally on short holes where it wasn't a major issue.

Other Thoughts:

For a course that's only 4600 ft. long (from the white teepads), this is about as fun of a course as you can possibly have. Given how short and modest it is, nobody will mistake this for an en elite championship-caliber destination. But for what it is, this excellent design massively exceeded my expectations, and I had a real blast. Absolutely worth a stop if you're in the area.
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5 0
Dice
Experience: 17.8 years 25 played 5 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Hilly and fun 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:May 19, 2019 Played the course:once

Pros:

1. Critical updates to this course are complete. Lots of new concrete tee pads and brand new baskets.
2. It is a fun (smaller) 18-hole course with lots of challenging woods shots.
3. This course has some beautiful elevated shots.

Cons:

1. A few woods-holes have short tee pads that require maintenance.
2. The paths and rough could use some trimming and maintenance (it is easy to spend a lot of time looking for discs).
3. Very few all-out holes/lots of short holes.
4. Signage (orientation thereof) on a few holes was confusing.

Other Thoughts:

A nice small course. I enjoyed the up and down of this course. The course-improvements make for a better all-around course. If you're in Lexington or playing courses up and down Interstate 81, this course is worth a stop.
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5 0
Hamelguy
Experience: 47 played 1 reviews
4.00 star(s)

New changes make for a great course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Mar 23, 2018 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

New concrete tee pads and multiple pads for beginners, intermediate players and experts provide a new course for all levels of players. More elevation changes, more challenging shots requiring the use of your entire bag, new tee signs and markers, and more creative use of the wooded areas create a totally new experience for the course.

Cons:

Some baskets are worn. New Innova Discatchers Pro 28's will be installed soon, however.

UPDATE: Baskets have been replaced with brand new DISCatcher Pro 28's!

Other Thoughts:

In addition to the new 18 hole layout, another 9 hole layout will be installed in the coming years. This will be a even more challenging 9 hole course with longer fairways.
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3 0
leaves2199
Experience: 11.5 years 13 played 1 reviews
4.00 star(s)

Good for Beginner/Intermediate 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Oct 15, 2017 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Mix of open holes and wooded holes!
Short holes ranging from 120 to 300 feet offer good introduction to sport for beginners.
White and Blue offer good challenge to those looking to develop skill.
Offers many technical shots! Forces me to vary my throws.

Cons:

Not all white and blue holes have concrete tees yet.
The course seems to be in the process of renovation.
Only one hole allows for full out throws.
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3 1
splatbaseball51
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 15.7 years 182 played 59 reviews
2.50 star(s)

As average as Average comes 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Dec 26, 2014 Played the course:once

Pros:

I've seen college courses range from pretty awful to pretty awesome. Washington and Lee is somewhere in-between. It has a lot of things going for it, but still lacks a lot of things I like to see in a great course.

Firstly, there are 2 tees per basket usually marked with colored stakes.

The front nine plays mostly in the woods on the back side of the campus. There are some ace runs and some longer tunnel shots. The course does a good job at utilizing the woods, more so than the open holes.

This course is approachable by all skill levels. Some shots are technical, but won't frustrate a beginner. Advanced/Pros won't get as much out of it, but it isn't a waste of time.

Each hole has a tee sign that provides enough information. Not the most professionally made signs, but signs none-the-less.

For me, it was mostly a lot of putters and mids. I did pull out a driver on (14?). This won't be the case for a more novice player, just something to note. Don't expect to be bombing drives.

Cons:

The baskets, especially on the front 9, are pretty cheap semi-portable type. You can probably expect things to chain out that would normally stick.

My biggest complaint is the navigation. There is a map available online but even with that I wondered around for far too long on several holes. This mostly starts on the back 9 as it has to navigate through campus.

Overall the course is probably a little easy. Perfect for Intermediate/Rec but won't give much challenge to others.

Natural tee pads are a big con for me. There were several spots on the course where footing was an issue, mainly due to muddy grounds.

It's a little like safari golf in a couple of spots. It's hard to locate the tee signs but once you do you won't really know where to throw from (on the back 9).

Other Thoughts:

It's one of the only courses in the area and probably worth a stop if you're a numbers fiend. I wouldn't drive of my way to play it.
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2 2
skidtank
Experience: 1 played 1 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Nice little course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Dec 28, 2013 Played the course:once

Pros:

Good mix of open vs wooded holes. There is a basket for each hole. Fair challenge from white tees for average golfer. Most holes could be birdied with the right drive.

Cons:

Lot of underbrush. Needs direction signs to next tee.

Other Thoughts:

Course needs to be played more.
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2 2
Chris Carpenter
Experience: 6 played 6 reviews
2.50 star(s)

Fun stuff 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Jul 23, 2013 Played the course:once

Pros:

-Nice variety of holes- open to tightly wooded
-Nice signs in good condition
-Course map available near first tee

Cons:

-Some holes get rather close to buildings, practice fields, and W&L facilities and occasionally cross roads.
-Some holes are sorta difficult to find
-Woods holes can get a little overgrown in spots
-No ladies tees

Other Thoughts:

Overall fun and interesting. All 18 holes now have their own individual permanent basket.
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1 1
Dudly
Experience: 16.5 years 30 played 4 reviews
2.50 star(s)

2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Oct 18, 2011 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

-surprisingly fun short course (12 holes)
-mostly easy to follow path through the course with good signage.
-two sets of tee pads, nice variety as a result
-nice mix between wooded and open
-the wooded holes will force you to work on accuracy, and most likely, recovery shots
-walking distance, from downtown Lexington and a couple minutes off of I-81

Cons:

-dirt tee pads, not really that bad overall, with the exception of hole 3 which is on a gravel road that has rocks about the size of child's fist. It's also one of the longer holes so it's a bummer to have to worry about footing.
-some of the wooded holes are under 200 ft, I'd almost say 4, 5, 7 should be par 2s, though I don't mind the birdies...
-if you're new to the course it isn't obvious where hole 9 is after you finish 8. You have to walk behind the baseball diamond, cross a parking lot, and look around in the pine grove for the sign and tee pad.
-the W&L baseball team warms up in the field the hole 2 & 8 use, if they're there it's hard to play either hole. At least one guy on the '11 team is a smart ass.
-only 12 holes, I've only played the course in this format but it seems like there's plenty of land for another 6. Don't want to be overly critical though because it sounds like the course was shaved down to 12 from 18 and it was an improvement.
-hole 6 grows some intense knee level ground cover during the warm months, spotter required

Other Thoughts:

I travel to Lexington on a weekly basis for work and this course is a nice active lunch break. It isn't perfect or incredibly groomed but it is fun to play and I'm glad it's there.
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1 1
w8nforhim
Experience: 16 years 75 played 21 reviews
3.50 star(s)

2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 18, 2011 Played the course:once

Pros:

I never played the course before they changed the design, but based on reading previous reviews, I would say that the designers took the suggestions to heart and greatly improved the course. As of June 2011, the course has 12 holes, each clearly marked with a sign showing the location of the blue and white tees and the basket. Also, each basket has a blue stripe of paint on it pointing the way to the next hole. Most holes are fairly easy and straight forward, while some offer a challenge. It is a great course for beginners on the white tees while offering a nice challenge for experienced players on the blue tees.

Cons:

The tee boxes are still just wood markers and sometimes gravel. A couple holes in the woods are overgrown during the summer, making for a difficult search for your disc, even with a good throw. The fairways in the woods could use some maintenance.

Other Thoughts:

Overall an enjoyable course. There is a course map at the beginning of the course which is also a plus!
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8 1
outingclub
Experience: 1 played 1 reviews
3.00 star(s)

NEW COURSE DESIGN 2012 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Dec 12, 2012 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Some great new holes back in the woods and the long ones by the historical Liberty Hall Ruins are back. Have replaced most of the temporary baskets with permanant ones.

Cons:

During the summer months it is still pretty high with grass in the woods- we are working on it.

Natural tee pads

Other Thoughts:

Some difficult holese designed by Terry West...come try them. Phase 4 of a 5 phase project here on campus....
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2 2
devious_imp
Experience: 17.6 years 47 played 3 reviews
1.00 star(s)

oasis 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:May 1, 2010 Played the course:once

Pros:

lots of potential aces, its disc golf

Cons:

not easy to navigate. course overlaps overflow parking for sporting events

Other Thoughts:

along with the other reviews, we played this when there was a party at the house by the entrance as well as during a lacrosse game. several of the fairways (12,14,15,16) were all being used as parking lots which made for some very dangerous shots.
Many of the baskets are portable and seem to be arbitrarily place. hole 6 is less than 3 feet from a gravel road in the brush. Nothing cleared around it. several other holes were set up the same way, weeds grown up around them. hole 15 especially there is a nice mowed lawn, and the basket is 4 feet into a thick weedy field. definitely take a map, and hopefully run into the guy who designed it to get you through the back nine. also watch out for cars and buildings.
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5 1
swatso
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 16.4 years 776 played 417 reviews
1.00 star(s)

Where 13 equals 18 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Apr 11, 2009 Played the course:once

Pros:

Wide variety of distances, ranging from #17 at 145' to #7 coming in at 516', average being about 260'.

Nice views of mountains from basket 13/16 and nearby.

Cons:

Thirteen unmarked mobile baskets serve eighteen tees. Holes 2+9, 3+7, 10+18, 11+17, 13+16 share a basket. Holes 1+2, 4+5, 6+7, 14/15+16 share crossing/same fairways.

Grass tees marked by two small concrete squares, listing hole number and distance.

Several holes play near buildings and/or parking lots. Front nine feels very jammed in at places.

Long walk from #16 to #17. Mostly flat course.

Other Thoughts:

Map/scorecard at http://www.dgcoursereview.com.../2f41ad80.pdf proved very useful in navigating the course. Note that the building pictured in the lower left of the front nine is the same building barely seen in the upper right corner of the back nine.

If you enter the campus from the entrance all the way at the top of the hill (about 1/2 mile past the main entrance), the course is easier to find, and will be on your left.

Seasonal/random obstacles, such as trailer hitches and mounds of mulch! :)
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3 1
gottafixit
Gold level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 21.7 years 938 played 71 reviews
1.50 star(s)

needs a lots of organization 2+ years

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Oct 19, 2008 Played the course:once

Pros:

Has some baskets

Cons:

baskets not numbered, Fairways cross, use the same basket for multiple holes, tees really close to baskets.

Other Thoughts:

I fumbled my way through the first couple holes because there are no maps or numbers on the baskets so it's kinda a guess. I couldn't find threes basket because i think the distance was deceiving. then got to a field that had a bunch of crossing fairways and shared baskets. Luckily i ran into someone that had played the course and informed me of the shared baskets, and kinda drew me a map. I found the tees to be to close to the baskets of the last hole and often times in the way of the basket because of the sharing factor.I think this course has a ton of potential but they need to get on the same page and revisit the layout.
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