"I'm talking about form, I'm talking about content, I'm talking about interrelationships..."
10 Helpful / 1 Not
Pros: - Purdue Ft. Wayne's Mastodon DGC provides 18 holes of challenging golf for intermediate to advanced level players. Two sets of tees (on many but not all holes) and two pin positions (but only one basket per hole) add a mix-and-match variety for repeat play value. Gold Tees are the more challenging, while the blacks still over a pretty solid course layout. The A pins are considered the "easier" of the two, with B pins offering a chewier placement. Pin positions are marked by a sign at the kiosk near hole #1. I played Gold Tees to B Pins so my review will reflect that layout.
- Elevation, where it exists, comes into play subtly. Hole #2's basket and green is backdropped by a creek and some brush after a slight downhill. Hole #5 has a long sloping downhill. The A pin is on a large berm. B pin tucked to the right with creek behind both. Hole #17 is a slight downhill dogleg right to a basket backdropped by creek. Hole #'s 3 & 18 are slightly uphill affairs, the former along and then into a patch of thick woods, the latter an open, up-and-over affair. A lot of the rest of the course plays through a noticeably flat wooded area, but the designer utilized whatever scraps are there.
-The real winner here is the wooded portion of the course. This is a pretty heavily wooded course in total, despite a handful of holes at the beginning and end (#'s 1, 2, 17, 18) being on the more open end of things. Narrow, tree-strewn fairways up the difficulty factor. The rough isn't the worst I've seen but bad shots are fairly punished with a recovery shot due to the denser tree growth in places (e.g., #'s 3, 5, 6).
- Amenities: good concrete tees, descriptive accurate signage, good flow (with one exception: see cons section), kiosk with pin position info. Mandos marked where designated. Practice basket.
Cons: - Not a fan of the walk-on-the road transition from hole #2 to #3. From a safety standpoint, from an aesthetic choice, and from a good flow aspect it's sketchy at best. By no means a deal-breaker, and I see why they did it, but still not a fan.
- Unfortunately, and against the best efforts by the designers, who overall did a very good job, the general flat woodedness of many holes started to blend together without much to distinguish between several.
- The flat wooded area also looks to get variable amounts of standing water/mud.
- For a "gold" level course, this falls a bit on the easier side of things. No water carries, very little elevation and nothing epic, and a lot of non-descript heavily wooded but kinda flat holes of varying lengths. I'm by no means even close to a gold-level player but managed quite well on this course, so I imagine more aggressive, experienced players would eat this layout for lunch. As a black-level design, this would be a pretty challenging course for beginners, and maybe a bit boring for more advanced players.
Other Thoughts: - Definitely don't let my lengthy-ish "cons" section dissuade you from hitting Mastodon, this course is quality goodness, especially if you love hitting lines through trees.
- If I check my Jukester's Dictionary, I find the following entry:
Mastodon (n):a massive wooly tusked beast.
Seems about right.
10 of 11 people found this review helpful.
Hit your gaps!
8 Helpful / 0 Not
Pros: - This course features excellent tees and baskets.
- Very well marked.
- It demands a variety of shot types, especially when the pins are in the B position.
- This course is pretty and clean.
- Lots of parking, easy course to follow.
- Course changes pin positions often enough, but not too often.
Cons: - Sometimes they lock the front gate before you finish your round! I've been locked in once and had to call campus patrol to get me out!
Other Thoughts: This course demands precision more than pure power. It can be particularly punishing if you miss any of the gaps. This can either be fun and challenging or demoralizing. Again, some of the gaps off the tee are super tight.
8 of 8 people found this review helpful.
Good, with a lot of potential
10 Helpful / 0 Not
Pros: -Truly a unique course to the area. The course is made up of predominately tight wooded lines.
-Great course to improve your ability to throw straight/mostly straight shots. Holes 6 -16 really require you to hit a line. You are rewarded for staying on the fairway, but not terribly punished for hitting a tree. Most of the time, you'll be able to get back to the fairway from the rough.
-Multiple tee and pin positions with varying difficulty. Black and A pins = easiest. Gold and B pins = hardest. A pins were up on my play through. The B pins REALLY change out the flow, often forcing completely different throws.
-There's an enormous amount of parking & harder pin/tee positions create what I consider to be a pro-level layout.
-Great signage. Outside of maybe the walk to hole 3 (which you pass on your way into the park. It's hard to get lost.
-Concrete tee pads
-Course forces you to put the drivers away and play with mid-ranges and putters. That's very different from most area courses.
Cons: -Playing the A pins and black tees, parts of the course get boring. The stretch between 6 and 16 feels like slight variations of the same hole. Hit the line in front of you, and fade a little bit.
-In that hole 6 - 16 stretch, there's a lack of room for creativity as a thrower. In most instances there's either: 1 line, 1 gap to hit, or 1 tree to miss. You will have to get creative if you end up off the fairway but not from the tee.
Other Thoughts: I think this course is a great addition to the Fort Wayne area, and a great course to improve your game on.
Outside of a few holes, throwing a driver will probably punish you more than help you.
This is a "hit the line" course, not a "shape a shot" course.
Holes 3 &14 from the Gold tee to the B pin position may be the hardest holes in Fort Wayne. I only walked those layouts, but they are intense.
UPDATE:
Posting this about 10 months after my original review. Played the black tees to the B positions, and I left the course feeling completely different. The B pins are a much better layout for an advanced player. Must get birdies become challenging par 3's or legitimate 2 shot par 4's.
The B positions also force different shots.Hole 8 goes from a RHFH with a slight fade to a RHBH with flex. Hole 10 goes from a short straight shot to a 150-200 foot layup off the tee to set yourself up for a 200+ tunnel shot to the basket.
Great variation here increases my ranking!
10 of 10 people found this review helpful.
Come for the challenge, stay for the fun!
6 Helpful / 3 Not
Pros: This is my absolute favorite course in the Fort Wayne area. Many challenging wooded holes, but the rough isn't too rough. Very tight, technical short holes to longer, established fairways. One can still get creative with their shots. Great signage, great flow, multiple tee and pin positions to challenge and keep the interest of every level of disc golfer.
-Chuck McBride
Cons: My only complaint (And I think it has been said before.) is that there are no restrooms at the course.
Other Thoughts: Do not miss this course if you're in the area visiting!
6 of 9 people found this review helpful.
One of the Best I've Played!
5 Helpful / 2 Not
Pros: Multiple tee pads and set up for A & B baskets (A when I played). This course has the best signage I've seen on a disc golf course. Not only do the signs for each hole look great and are informative, there are signs clearly marking where to go next. It may be the only course I've played where you don't actually NEED the Udisc app to know where to go next. LOVE the Purdue logo'd baskets, they just look sharp. The course was very challenging, but there is always an obvious clear route to take and it doesn't require sheer luck to make it to the basket like some courses in the woods.
Cons: The only con I can think of is that you just don't get much opportunity to use your driver, because the course is primarily wooded and technical. Hole 3 and 18 require a driver. Other than that, you can pretty much keep it in the bag.
5 of 7 people found this review helpful.
Gold (and Black) Standard
4 Helpful / 7 Not
Pros: Nice quality signage, tee-pads and baskets. 5 open holes / 13 technical holes. A nice mix of subtle and dramatic elevation changes. The shorter technical holes are also tighter. Hole 14 is very picturesque. There are multiple tee-pads and pin placements that are clearly marked. The gold course to the B pins is supremely challenging, but the black tees to the A pins make for a easier (not easy) stroll. There is a par 5 on the Gold Course when the pins are in the B locations. There are several par 4s on the gold course whether the pins are in A or B. I appreciate that, so far, the course caretakers keep the pins in all A or all B at the same time. I wouldn't say the course would never flood, but it has been studied for a year including times when other courses are mostly submerged and this one did not flood according to what the course designers told me.
Cons: It's not enough for me to lower the rating, but I think there could be a novice layout that would add value to the course. Also, there are no restrooms at all, so go prepared.
4 of 11 people found this review helpful.
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1 
7/12/2020 
7/21/2020
Review By: ForearmGalore 
This review was updated on 5/21/2021
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