- Intense elevation in play throughout
- Variety of shots/lines and basket locations
- Brand new red, white, and blue baskets easy to see and catch well
- Shop/bathrooms on site

- Intense elevation in play throughout
- Feels very raw, still a lot of work to be done
- Cost is high for current course condition

I was told by someone who had just made the trip that I should check out Whiskey Hills on my next visit to the Mason County area. While I am glad I made a point to add this course to my itinerary, I left exhausted and unsure of my desire to make a return journey with the course in it's present state.

There are certainly flashes of greatness here, there are some really fantastic holes, including many with more extreme elevation change than I have seen at any other course. A number of holes, including the first 4, are more landscaped and look a bit like they are trying for a Flip City feel with similar stacked rock formations. However, much of this course feels unfinished and raw, and hopefully this is addressed in the near future.

There is a decent amount of diversity here, and I definitely used a number of different discs and shots, but despite playing through a wooded area, there aren't many tight windows to hit, and there is an overabundance of uphill shots that will likely leave you worn out by the end of the round. The course definitely plays much longer than the listed distances given on the course map with all the uphill shots.

I'm glad the shop now provides a very basic hand-drawn map of the course as well as a scorecard with distances, because it was necessary to find the basket or navigate to the next teepad on a number of holes. Hopefully descriptive tee-signs are put up in the future as well, because they would be a great help.

The red, white, and blue baskets are great, they catch well and are very visible, much better than a bare metal Mach V in that regard. The tee pads on the other hand, are no good at all. Where concrete had not yet been poured, the tee pads were made of a rough aggregate that looked a bit like ground up asphalt. This resulted in some fairly large rocks mixed in with the smaller stone, making footing less than ideal. Where concrete had been poured, it was roughly placed in an approximate rectangle within the aforementioned aggregate. These few pads were so short (maybe 3 to 4 feet?) that they almost didn't matter. Good equipment at the tee area, including benches, would go a long way to improving this course.

I had a lot of fun throwing many of the holes at Whiskey Hills, but the lack of good equipment at the tees, untamed rough requiring extensive searching for discs, and excessive number of uphill shots made playing this course more of a chore than I would like. The land here is great, and some finishing touches, and perhaps a few design changes, could make this a fantastic destination course in time.

A final note, I expect mosquitoes when playing courses in this area this time of year, and come ready with bug spray, but the spray does little to fend off gnats, and they were out in abundance during my round, adding another level of annoyance.

Aesthetic-- plays through the back woods and hills of an expansive campground/residential area in rural mason county. odds of running into a non-dg'er are slim but always possible (especially 1-3)

Baskets-- Powdercoated ChainStars. Very visible in thick woods as they are coated red/white/blue. Very new and "catchy"

Challenge/Variety-- Use of elevation here is the real winner. Every bit of elevation is used well (and in some places, overused) in all areas. I would have liked to see more holes that played down flat paths that would have made you carve accurate lines (more technicality) but the designers went for elevation supremo here.

Signature holes-- #1, #16 and #24 are the signature holes. #1 is a simple mid-range/putter shot with the basket mounted into a six foot boulder near the entrance to the compound. #16 plays down rows of trees towards the lake with the basket mounted (again) in a boulder and #24 plays down the biggest hill here and finishes near #2's basket near the start. All of these holes are definitely the superstars here.

Routing and nav-- for the better part of the course, the routing isn't bad. even without teesigns or next tee signs the tee seemed to be somewhat near the preceding basket. When you get to #20 the routing falls into complete disrepair however. See below for more details.

Country Club Feel-- for the first few holes large boulder define fairways. I'm doubtful this will be how the rest of the course will shake out but it's pretty sweet to have defined fairways with boulders to lead your way.

Rocks-- Creative use of available rocks through out, especially the big Cove seat at #4 are very much appreciated.

Teepads-- I'm sure a work in progress. teepads are generally dirt piles pushed flat (some are on outcroppings on the sides of hills) rutty, uphill/downhill and uneven in many places. I'm sure cement or rubber mats are on the way but for now these are a bit of a detractor.

Teesigns-- little orange flags with numbers is all you get for now. I'm sure in typical MCDGO fashion, the teesigns will resemble the rest of the MCDGO courses. I will strongly suggest, however, that adding hole diagrams to the teesigns might be a mandatory endeavor here. Many baskets are very close together and you aren't really sure which basket you are throwing at. Also, a map is sorely needed.

Routing and nav-- as said above, a map may be mandatory at some point. the routing isn't bad but at #20 everything falls to hell. #20 is NOT (AFAIK) marked with orange flags. rather it's a flat top up the hill from #19 with two sticks marking the teepad. From there #21 is tricky to figure out which way to throw (up or down hill) then #22 has no discernible fairway up to the top of the hill (I think). I never did find #23. #24 is at the top of the big hill and is easy to find. These last few holes need some work in clearing (like the rest of the course) they almost seem like an afterthought.

Rough-- this course, while playable is SUPER rough. they were burning stumps in multiple piles, heavy equipment was moving earth and was a bit distracting. one stump pile was right off a fairway and walking past was SUPER hot...

Fairways-- mostly dirt at this point. I'm not sure what the plan is, if it's to plant grass or not but this course will erode badly if some sort of ground cover is not planted. There is a ton of deadfall in places (or just weeds) that cover the fairway as well.

Overall, I think this course has the potential to be a top tier course, but, I think they may have opened it to the public a little early. By keeping disc golfers off of the course until spring, this course could have really been an eye opener but for now, it's a little rough around the edges. nice work MCDGO