Rocky Mount, VA

Sontag DGC - Old Layout

3.65(based on 15 reviews)
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1 0
jordanferg92
Experience: 12.6 years 43 played 29 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Heavily Wooded 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 3, 2012 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

This course provides a nice mixture of wooded and open holes. The wooded holes are very tight and sometimes lengthy requiring you to really plan out your throws ahead of time. The woods are pretty forgiving if you have a stray throw. Provides some unique shots. 1 pretty scary water hazard for a beginner. Baskets are easy to spot as well.
The open holes are really far which allows you to really test how far you can throw.
Bathrooms!

Cons:

Tee's are dirt, which I am not a fan of.
I like seeing trashcans spread throughout the course, the only ones I saw where near the playground and pavilion area.
This can be a long course for those just starting out.

Other Thoughts:

They are currently redesigning this course. I went in early June and they were just getting started so beware of this. Holes 2-4 were missing and that's as far as we went.
When this course is complete it should be even better than before. Definitely worth making a trip to play this course.
I will reevaluate this course as soon as the redesign is complete.
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2 0
ntguthrie
Experience: 15.6 years 103 played 10 reviews
4.00 star(s)

Toughest Course Around 2+ years

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:May 4, 2012 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

- Great variety of distances & types of holes, including long downhill drives, tight wooded shots, water hazards, etc.
- Makes excellent use of elevation on several holes
- Very picturesque, most of the course is untouched woods. Playing the course feels like a hike through the woods.
- Part of a large recreation park that contains restrooms, picnic shelter, & several other sports facilities. However, this portion of the park is dedicated to disc golf so there's no conflict with pedestrians or other activities.
- Compacted gravel tee pads (for white tees) and signage
- Course is well-maintained, you can tell the local players & rec department take the time to clear fairways, build bridges, etc.

Cons:

- A couple holes (#13 and #14 come to mind) have poorly defined fairways, which can become very frustrating. Taking out a couple more trees could greatly improve these holes.
- Only 3-4 holes are wide open drives, so big-armed players may be a little disappointed
- Red and blue tee locations are shown on maps but not always easy to find

Other Thoughts:

In my opinion, Sontag DGC is the most challenging course in the area. The course forces you to use a variety of shots & discs. The key on the majority of the holes is to keep on the fairway, accuracy is definitely more important than distance. I feel like this course, more so than any other, has helped me to become a better player over time. Favorite holes are 4, 7, 10 and 12.

UPDATE: As of 5/25/12, they are doing a serious course redesign (especially the front 9). Initial reaction to the new layout is fairly negative, several of the more creative holes have now been replaced. New fairways are in rough shape, I'll reserve final judgment until the new layout is complete & holes are cleared.
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1 4
widespreadpanic
Experience: 21.6 years 11 played 5 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Challenging 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Dec 26, 2011 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

Beautiful Views
Great downhill bombs
Uncrowded
Bathrooms/water fountains

Cons:

Some holes seem to have overly wooded/extremely narrow fairways.

Other Thoughts:

While a few holes have open grip and rip shots, most of the course is heavily wooded.

Most of the fairways are tight and unforgiving. It will kick your ass the first time you play it.
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1 0
stsiler
Experience: 18.6 years 31 played 10 reviews
3.50 star(s)

2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 21, 2010 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

- Very challenging course that rewards accuracy and punishes the lack thereof.
- Heavily wooded with several narrow, yet creative fairways.
- Course flows well from basket to next tee. Not much searching required.
- Hole 10 is a great tee shot that requires that you drive about 450' downhill and land near the mouth of the woods to have a chance at par.

Cons:

- Level of difficulty can make for a long day if accuracy is struggling.
- Holes 13 and 14 have an unenjoyable combination of length and dense woods. Luck is more benficial than skill on these two.

Other Thoughts:

- If you want to learn accuracy, Sontag will force you to learn it.
- For a full day of disc golf, play Sontag and then drive over to Ferrum College's 18 hole course and enjoy the full Franklin County 36!

Score Breakdown:
Variety:3 Balance:3 Strategy:5 Character:4 Fun:3 Avg: 3.6
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3 0
jkdisc
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 15.5 years 117 played 108 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Variety pack 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 26, 2010 Played the course:once

Pros:

The first thing you need to know is there is plenty of variety so bring a good mix of discs.
Variety includeds:
-distances
-wooded/open
-tight fairways
-turns
There are plenty of challenging holes with #11 being my favorite (throw out of the woods and hope your disc turns right before the pond straight ahead gets you disc!)
You get the sense that the locals are constantly working hard to clear fairways, upkeep gravel tee boxes, and making benches.
Other pros:
-red marks on baskets point to the next hole
-clean bathrooms
-kiosk filled with DG info near tee #1
-great tee signs showing some alternate tees
-quiet and peaceful

Cons:

- they need more garbage cans, too much litter
- navigation issues due to long walks between some holes (first timers need a map)

Other Thoughts:

Once you get into the park keep your eye open for the signs towards the DG course. The course is set back from the rest of the park which is always nice. After reading the older reviews it seems like the course is always improving which will give this course a great future.
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3 0
Vicarious
Experience: 14.8 years 8 played 8 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Great course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 14, 2009 Played the course:once

Pros:

*Varying lengths
*Good use of trees
*Wooded and clear holes
*Decent Tees
*Great picnic shelter that could be used for tourneys
*Good usage of different elevations

Cons:

*Stobs and stumps cluttering the fairways
*Some of the holes seem to have no fairways
*Could use a clean-up of piles of brush and sticks

Other Thoughts:

I played this course last year and had a great time with it. I strongly recommend playing this course before it starts to get dusk because once it starts to get dark you can hardly see anything. Also unless it is too hot wear long pants because I got chiggers from trying to find my disc in some of the more wooded holes. Excellent use of the pond on one of the holes, it will challenge your judgement of whether to lay up and take a clear shot or to rick it and go for the more distant drive. If this course could get cleaned up a little bit it would be immaculate.
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8 0
sloppydisc
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 15.3 years 201 played 147 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Wooded and Long 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jan 15, 2010 Played the course:once

Pros:

Three sets of tees for each hole. Only 1 basket position. Makes navigation pretty simple. The blue tees are long, and I mean long. Benches at all holes. In some cases they are as much as 280' longer than the whites. Blues play 8745'. I played them all and they are challenging unless you have a big arm. Wooded holes have a good balance between right and left dog legs. There is also good use of the available elevation. Several long wooded holes play uphill making them seem even longer than they are. #4 is 680' through the woods and uphill. Make a mistake like I did and you get a 6! Only play the blues if you want a challenge, a long round, or are real good. There are also several holes with very tight fairways so you also need to have control and be able to shape some lines. Fairways are tight, but fair. Not really any places where you can't see the shot you need to make. Several holes also play at least partially out of the woods so you can let some long shots rip also. #10 is a long walk from basket #9 (over near the restrooms) but it is worth the wait. You throw off the hill and down a 800' fairway into the woods. It is probably about 600' of open fairway ending in a roughly 200' tunnel to the basket. #11 follows with a short 420' shot with a small lake on your right and some woods to the left. Not super tight, but you do need some control. #12 is another killer hole. The blue tee is located on the lake's dam and the throw goes down into the woods along an OB creek for 600' Fun , but brutal. #13 just adds to the pain with a 670' hole through the woods that just gets tighter all the way to the basket. A great challenge. The course is in a park, but for the most part you are alone in the woods and feel totally secluded.

Cons:

No concrete tee pads. Pads in the fields are grass marked by a piece of wood in the ground. Sometimes they are hard to find. Tees in the woods are crushed gravel. They were mostly in good shape. Some of the Blue tees were so far away from the white tees and signs that it made navigation confusing at times. This course could use more signs even though they have them at all white tees. Finding a blue pad a few hundred feet away in the woods can take some time. The blue pad on the dam by the lake was especially tough to locate for a first timer.

Other Thoughts:

A really good, tough wooded course. A few open holes, but they are made tougher using elevation or basket positions near the woods or hills. Overall a really good course that could be great with some good tee pads and some more signage. Definitely a great course to travel to if you're looking for a wooded course that also allows you to use your drivers. I can't wait to play again, but next time I am sticking to the white tees.
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1 5
jerrycdundan
Experience: 19.7 years 13 played 6 reviews
4.00 star(s)

most challenging 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Feb 26, 2011 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

really well laid out course with challenging holes for left and right handed players.the woods were not too dense. Nice long drives.

Cons:

The 18th seems a little lack luster, and the blue tee seems to be non existent on the 1st hole.

Other Thoughts:

This is a great course
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10 3
Yank it Right
Experience: 25 years 68 played 12 reviews
4.00 star(s)

Point to Point Golf 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Feb 13, 2009 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Demanding, Technical, Long in the woods. This course is designed to make you play golf. The par 4 and 5's are true. Drives must land in the landing zone to have the approach look for your next shot. If playing for the first time make sure to scout out the hole and have a plan. You will know something about the state of your game after you play this course. Favorite hole is #3 par 4 in the woods. Big hyzer or turn over flick to a landing zone on top of the hill. Then plays down the hill to a basket in the flat. Two good shots gets a three, but alot of trouble can be found. Great scoring spread hole.

Cons:

Par 64 for some people is tough to accept. If you get off the fairways or can't hit lines it can feel as if there are not any fairways.

Other Thoughts:

Continued work has been done on the course. Teepads and signs. Additional fairway clearing and moving piles away from the fairway has really helped the course. Hole #10 Big Blast downhill to about a 45 foot opening in the woods which narrows to the basket. Have to leave the drive in the right spot for your approach which sums up this course.
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7 0
Tyson
Experience: 22.8 years 61 played 15 reviews
4.00 star(s)

Great Course! 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Nov 6, 2008 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Course is on a great piece of property and has a great layout. I love the elevation change and there has been a bunch of work put in to carve this gem out of the woods.
Innova Disccatchers
Huge Shelter
Great Pads
Open to wooded holes
Par 64
Nicer Front 9, harder back
Duecable hole #1

Cons:

Some very tough holes, not always a bad thing
Some Blue tee pads are hard to find, first time out
Not too much to say here

Other Thoughts:

I like this course a lot and drive back to it often. I would say that this is one of the most beautiful places at 8am in the morning. Very Quiet park with not too much traffic. It is pretty easy to navigate with baskets painted to show the direction of the course (love this, everyone needs to move in this direction).

I dont review courses unless I believe they are great, and this one is awesome.
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3 2
gottafixit
Silver level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 21 years 861 played 68 reviews
3.00 star(s)

I agree with heelboy 2+ years

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

Pros:

It has potential. Easy to follow paths and flow, and nice tees.

Cons:

Did not feel the tees matched the distances. Fairways still needed on some holes. Killer par 4 and par 5 woods holes.

Other Thoughts:

I'm a big fan of technical woods courses but i'm a bigger fan of all par 3. I know it might get old to some but I don't like throwing my arm out before i finish the round, I think i threw 7 times on one hole because i just couldn't seem not to hit a tree every 50 feet. My other grip is the color scheme. I have designed a course and i took some time and pride in trying to follow the red, white, blue, yellow and having it match the expected distances for that color. I felt this should have been colored white, blue, yellow. so when i thought i was playing white and felt like i was playing blue i wasn't that happy.
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2 2
Rowdie
Experience: 15.9 years 49 played 4 reviews
4.00 star(s)

a bit of work needed 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Oct 10, 2008 Played the course:once

Pros:

Beautiful course, with enormus potential.

Cons:

Some holes lack fairways. There is a considerable amount of brush and derbry that could stand to be cleared.

Other Thoughts:

This is just a nice course to play on a warm day.
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10 1
DiscGolfCraig
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 19.8 years 584 played 536 reviews
3.00 star(s)

2+ years

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Oct 12, 2008 Played the course:once

Pros:

Course has so much potential to be outstanding, but it falls so far short.
- Good use of the terrain, provides many holes with good elevation and obstacles.
- 2 longer tees are challenging. If you can't throw straight, you're in trouble. And as I mention in the cons, even if you do through straight, you may still be in trouble.
- Good variety of holes. This course definitely requires you to use all the discs in your bag.
- Low chance of losing discs. Water only in play on 1 hole. It seems the biggest risk is hitting a tree and having it bounce deep into the woods. On some holes, the woods are really thick and unforgiving.
- Beautiful scenery. It's a great looking park in a great part of the state, the tractor-pull track not included.
- I liked the red marks on the baskets being used as arrows to the next hole.

Cons:

There's a lot of small things that need work. You can accept when there's only one major problem, but when it starts adding up, it gets real frustrating.
- As mentioned already, some holes were missing true fairways. It felt like going into the woods and throwing a disc, and luck would play the biggest factor in whether you hit a tree 50 feet away or 200 feet away. I played with a group of guys, and on several holes we hit trees on almost every single shot.
- One or two holes may need to be redesigned or have a bunch of trees cut down. There's a big difference between tough, but fair and over the top.
- The cut-down trees and branches were never fully cleared away. Piles of logs and debris were on just about every hole. For the holes that did have fairways, some of the piles were about 2 feet off the fairway. Again, not fun having to climb and dig through a pile of branches when a shot barely misses the fairway.
- Perhaps my biggest gripe was that the stumps were not cleared away. Every wooded hole had stumps in the fairway. It gets old really quick when you're tripping and stumbling over stumps almost constantly. All were maybe a quarter inch to 2 inches, so they're not always easy to spot. Our shins and ankles all took a beating from tripping over and hitting the stumps. Frustration might be an understatement by the time we finished.
- I couldn't always find the correct tee pads. They need to be better labeled.

Other Thoughts:

Despite the issues with the course, it has some serious potential.
- I think I am being overly hard on this course because it has the makeup of a 4 - 4.5 level course, but due to the problems, it gets serious markdowns. If it improves, this course reminds me of Richmond Hills in Asheville, NC with a little bit of Renny in Charlotte thrown in. Its potential is that good.
- The course is from '08, so I hope these problems are just because it's new. It will be a shame, and serious waste of potential, if the problems don't get fixed.
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2 3
davidmparslow
Experience: 26.2 years 82 played 7 reviews
3.50 star(s)

tough course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Oct 11, 2008 Played the course:once

Pros:

one of the hardest courses I have ever played. the blue tees are insane.

Cons:

some of the fairways seemed to lack um ... fairways.
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2 2
pdiddy71
Experience: 18 years 30 played 3 reviews
4.00 star(s)

sontag disc golf course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 19, 2008 Played the course:never

Pros:

one of the more challenging courses in virginia. it has long holes in the woods as well as in the open. it has been consistently been worked on to make it better since it was opened.

Cons:

wood piles just off the fairway, some debris still to be removed.

Other Thoughts:

very challenging course, playing it will help improve your game.
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