A Monster of Variety
9 Helpful / 0 Not
Pros: -An 18-hole course with a variety of heavy woods, open fairways, pipeline fairways, a water carry, hidden gapped fairways, transitional fairways woods to open and open to woods, elevation, gap tee play, and a creek comes into play.
-There are 2 tee pads, and 1 basket placement. A variety of par 5's, 4's, and 3's, requiring technical shots.
-This is the first review in almost six years. The course has been realigned and reshaped significantly since then and would seem to be much improved. It looks like there was a previous realignment 10-12 years ago. IMO the overall DGCR rating no longer represents the course.
-There are elevated tees high above fairway, tees to a straight up hill fairway, and a variety of in-betweens.
-Majority of the holes have outstanding basket placements whether guardian trees, roller greens, fast level greens, placed hidden in tree lines, protected by water whether a pond or creek, and elevated greens. #17 green ranks in my top 50.
-The closing holes 13 thru 18 ranks in my top 10 with variety, and difficulty from the long tees which I played.
-Most of the holes in the foliage months would be scenic, specifically in the woods, and the creek holes.
-Navigation is clockwise, there is some help with white and blue flags marking a dogleg to a basket which I didn't notice until hole 9. Between 9 basket to 10 tee flags marking the trail for the long transition. UDisc would be needed on the course.
-From the bag on the tee a wide range of fairways and drivers. On approaches a variety of discs putter, mid's, fairways, and drivers. I wore out my underworld on turnovers, and at the time I had a Champion Leopard for fades on approaches for hard-to-reach baskets.
-Beginners and Recreation from the short tees you'll find extreme difficulty. Intermediate and Advanced will find the course very challenging and a joy!
Cons: -The tee pads are bad!! There is carpet that is just a thin rag and wore out. Underneath uneven dirt or a hard clog. When I played it had rained the day before with an overnight below freezing, teeing off still below freezing and some tees were a solid block of ice. Some open tees are on a slope making it even worse to stay on. I found myself moving significantly away where I altered the intended line. I would think the dirt after a heavy rain would turn into a mud quarry on the tees.
-All tee signs are missing except for one which was heavily damaged and unreadable. Perhaps they were removed after the most recent realignment? Just a few bare posts remained. You'll need UDisc for all course information.
-The tee pads and tee signs as a combination brings down the overall disc course experience especially with no navigation help.
-There are several pipeline holes (gas lines) are going to look repetitive from the tee, but those basket placements are going to make up for it.
-The white and blue flags I mentioned to mark the turn of a dogleg pointing to a basket placement are very small and barely off the ground not seen until hole 9. Its possible I missed them on previous holes just not seen. Only noticed them on a few other holes afterwards.
-Its at least a 500-foot walk from basket 9 to long tee 10. Starting from the woods where a trail with a ribbon of those blue and white flags will guide you to an opening then they stop to an open trail. Do I go uphill or downhill? It was a comical moment, pull out UDisc hang a right downhill.
-Loss of Disc is going to be high whether involving water, heavy woods, and blind shots.
Other Thoughts: The Monster@ Fighting Creek, yes, it is, I found the long tees to be a fun monster! From the first elevated tee to the 18th sloping downward fairway a variety of very difficult holes, and a grinding challenge which I look for in a course. Even the repetitive pipeline holes without tee sign help, I made it a game to guess which side of the fairway into the woods the basket was tucked into scanning the fairway. IMO the course layout by itself is a solid 5.0, but it gets dragged down by the course experience. My biggest personnel con are those tee pads with any type of moisture you may find some of them unplayable. If I play the course again, and I hope too, it will be after at least a week of a dry period and some tees are likely to still be uneven, the carpet is only good for marking the tee location. The tee signs I'm good without as long as UDisc is accurate.
My overall course rating is an exceptional layout especially from the longs tees and the variety that is offered hole to hole, and well-placed baskets is anchored on a 5.0. The time to play was 95 minutes.
"As played from the long tees"
The Pipeline Holes:
These were open tee to open fairways with heavy woods on each side and some holes with a hidden creek, baskets were hidden in the woods and not viewed from the tees.
-No. 6 Par 3 at 429 feet the basket is hooked into heavy woods on the left. the gap is only about 30 feet wide a 90-degree angle with guardian trees. The green drops into the creek about 15 feet past basket and not seen from tee or a fairway approach.
-No. 9 Par 5 at 663 feet the basket is also hooked at a 90-degree angle on the right in a moderately wooded setting with a 30-foot gap. A roller green into a creek about 100-feet away.
Notable Holes:
-No. 1 Par 5 at 463 feet is an elevated tee of about 30 feet passing over a ravine with a creek, short tees, and tall thick pine trees to a landing are on the fairway just slightly less elevated than the tee at about 300 feet away, and at that mark a 90-degree dogleg left. There are several pine trees in the middle of the fairway with gaps that seemed less than 10 feet and smaller all the way past the creek which is about 220 feet away but a cleanly passed disc thru the trees will give a memorable flight. The fairway all the way to the basket is bordered by heavy trees and brush with high lost disc potential. The basket sits a little elevated from the dogleg with tree guardians. For an opening hole very intimidating, after a 2 ½ hour car ride and below freezing temps had to talk myself to stay on the long tee, I deflected off one of the fairway trees but over the creek.
-No. 13 Par 4 at 523 feet is a tee out of a wooded gap to an open roller fairway and green. The open portion of the fairway is behind a ballfield and the only hole with a park atmosphere to it. From the wooded setting of the tee your disc will cross a dirt road just 30 feet out and will need to hit a tree line gap at about 170 feet out and 30 feet wide, from that point into the open with a lazy dogleg right and a sloping fairway left to right. The biggest drop in the fairway is just 100 feet past the gap, and a disc can skip or roll at least 100 feet away from basket. The basket sits behind the outfield fence, and a green roller of 100 feet if the grass is kept short. The fairway and basket are not seen from the tee. I hit the gap, but my disc selection had me skipping in the wrong direction away from the basket.
-No. 14 Par 3 at 231 feet an open hole over a pond with heavy brush down the steep banks, the water carry is about 225 feet. The green is short in length from the tee at 12 feet with a steep drop behind the basket into heavy brush could roll 100 feet, from the tee the width of the green is plenty, attacking the basket is risky since the hole has heavy lost disc potential. However, there is a service road to the left of the pond to bailout and no tee sign to tell me if its O.B. I took the bailout basket high and very carefully laid up to the basket.
No. 17 Par 3 at 375 feet is a meandering dogleg right that could look like its straight to the basket. The hole starts level with heavy trees bordering the fairway and a scattering of trees in the fairway offering a narrow gap no bigger than 15 feet to the basket. You'll really have to work the disc to reach the basket. As you approach C2 the fairway starts dipping to the basket. The feature of the hole is the C1 green with the basket sitting on a crown with a triangle shape, a small brook has worked its way around the triangle, and the water is within C1. The water was just a few inches when I played, but the brook can hold a few feet. There're also a few skinnies protecting the basket. Very scenic green, after two tree hits, I decked to layup to the basket and take my bogey.
Signature Hole:
-No. 10 Par 4 at 570 feet is a double lazy dog leg left from tee to basket. The hole stays level until within C2 where the basket is perched on a hill about 15 feet up left side of fairway. From the tee you're shooting out of a gap with plenty of width, but don't want a wayward disc there's heavy brush. The first dogleg is past the shorts at about 200 feet and need to work the disc left to avoid the heavy brush and creek at about 260 feet out. The second dogleg left is another 200 feet and can work the disc left to get up on green or can stay to the right of the basket area for a safe approach. Between the two landing areas the hill to the left bulges into the fairway and the creek from the right giving the shape of an hourglass. Heavy trees and brush both sides. The basket sits on top of the hill middle left fairway on the edge of the hill right and a drop back to the fairway rolling towards the creek about 150 feet away. There're also guardian trees in front and left of basket. Best place to be is left of basket as close as you can because you're putting towards the hill drop. Just a beautiful hole setting, this hole I managed to do it right.
Trouble Hole:
No. 15 Par 3 at 324 feet a 90-degree dogleg left at the short tees 110 feet away with a steep drop-down fairway, a set of wooden steps will help get you down to the lower portion of the fairway. The tee sits on the dam for the pond that you crossed on 14, and very narrow. Water to the right no big deal, you're going left with heavy brush and trees, nothing can be seen it's a blind shot after passing dogleg left, miss the dogleg straight heavy trees and brush happy disc looking. The gap at the dogleg is about 30 feet wide with tall trees at the bottom of the hill and the canopy hangs out over the dogleg. To the basket the gap maintains its pace to a down slope fairway reaching the basket with guardian trees, the creek is within C1. Beautiful setting when peering down from the top of hill at the dogleg, but basket not seen because of canopy, looks like you're getting ready to enter the bat cave. When I checked UDisc for the hole layout I decided to walk down to the gap, I looked down the bat cave and back at the tee and thought WTH I maybe saying good by to a disc. Pulled out a beat up Pink Thunderbird and threw a high arching anhyzer (lefty) and heard tree crash as in canopy, and after a short look on the lower portion manage to put my disc back in the bag.
I hope you enjoyed this Monster Review.
9 of 9 people found this review helpful.
Good, but could be better
1 Helpful / 2 Not
Pros: It's a course that somebody built so it's nice to see in the area. There's a lot of land involved so there's plenty of opportunity to throw some bombs.
That's about it.
Cons: The tees are hard to find, the overgrowth is out of control, the woods are full of briars, prickers, thorns, ticks, and unhappiness. The answer to every puzzle at every hole is power. Don't end up in the woods, it's not worth it, don't even try.
Other Thoughts: Get out and give it a run, bring long pants, warm your arm up really well, otherwise it'll be a painful day after.
1 of 3 people found this review helpful.
Fun course
1 Helpful / 2 Not
Pros: Very long course. A nice variety of shots after the 1st nine.
Cons: Signage should be numbered with the hole numbers. In some places there are multiple unmarked arrows pointing to different tees. Some of the tee signs are broken.
Other Thoughts: No one wants to talk about hole 10? The tee is behind a baseball field and is hard to find. You have to avoid two huge hazards and the fairway is very small. Need some serious control teeing off here.
1 of 3 people found this review helpful.
Quick Comment
3 Helpful / 1 Not
Other Thoughts: Maybe I shouldn't even post a review since I didn't play the course but didn't know where else to provide feedback.
Stopped by twice to play the course but didn't find the starting point the first time (it's not by the library as was described. (I just updated the directions) Keep going to the next parking parking area and you'll see the sign posted in the pics.
Second time we found the starting point but when the wife saw she had to wade through knee deep weeds just to get to the first tee she was less than thrilled. When I waded through and looked at hole #1 it took 10 minues to figure out the basket location. We looked around just to check out holes 9,10 & 11. Never found #10 pad.
A map posted at the beginning of the course would be VERY useful since nothing is posed on here and the posted scorecard is apparently from the older layout and incorrect.
Looks like it could be interesting but I saw no-one playing the course. Needs a lot of work. I gave it only a 2.5 just because I saw no real reason to come back.
3 of 4 people found this review helpful.
The monster it is.
2 Helpful / 3 Not
Pros: Decent signs, left to rght mixture of holes. Decent elevation holes.
Cons: Natural tees are caked in mud and has a piece of carpet to keep your footing. Tee boxes are missing a lot of markers, some of the holes have been altered for the footage.No clear route to take on several holes.
Other Thoughts: It is always nice to play new courses. A little more TLC and few more lanes this course could really have something. I just felt like I was playing the same hole several times with a long drive and then another long drive for an upshot. It felt like an open driving range then the basket would be tucked away in the woods for a putt.
2 of 5 people found this review helpful.
What a Pleasant suprise!
3 Helpful / 11 Not
Pros: Long holes
Clear signs detailing where the baskets are for both the long and short tees
A great mixture of long open holes and tightly wooded holes
Carpet tee pads
Cons: Lots of walking
40 miles from where i reside
A little confusing finding the next holes
score card for this course is wrong ( holes are in different places than what it says)
Other Thoughts: I have avoided this course because of the bad reviews but i gave it a shot anyway and WOW AM I GLAD I DID! Its got two separate thousand foot par 5's and a lot of hills to climb but i love courses with diversity and this one has got it.I highly recommend this course to anyone who wants to get a workout and play a jewel of a course!
3 of 14 people found this review helpful.
Course updates are awesome!
4 Helpful / 0 Not
Pros: The new updated course plays so much better than before, the tee boxes seem a little nicer as well. Directional arrows in the trees help out for easy navigation as well as map boxes on each hole. This was my 4th time playing here and the first 3 were not so good, but the new updates to the course made it worth while. I will be going back =)
Cons: The only con I can think of is a few of the wooded holes have too many trees on them and I also had to jump across the creek a couple of times because there are no bridges.
Other Thoughts: This is a very long course but there are benches and picnic tables along the way if you need a break.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.
4 Helpful / 1 Not
Pros: One of the longest courses in Virginia if you play from the longs. The hole placements are decent and vary in difficulty. They have drawn maps at each hole (the long pads) to show you the length of hole and where the basket location is. White arrows on trees to point you in the direction of the next hole.
Cons: Poorly kept, the grass needs to be cut and the short tee pads are in desperate need of attention The pads are a bit small and are what seems to be carpet with crush rock underneath. Which is fine but most of the AM pads are, in my opinion, a little on the small side width wise.
Other Thoughts: The back 9 was the most memorable for me. There was 4 of us that played and we all seemed to enjoy ourselves. With a little better upkeep and maybe better maps or directions to get to the next hole this course would get a higher rating from me.
4 of 5 people found this review helpful.
Better than advertised
10 Helpful / 0 Not
Pros: Challenging course. Nice innova baskets. Good mix of open and wooded holes. Great use of elevation changes! Rubber tees with nice signs on long tees. Nice library at the first hole and practice basket with restroom when open.
Cons: Long! Not that that in and of itself is a con, but players need to be warned. Long doesn't cover it, LOL. Shorts are poorly marked, no tees or signs for shorts, only pink wooden markers in the ground. very hard to see, let alone find at all. On most courses this isn't a problem because the shorts aren't too far off from the longs, but not at The Monster. The map will help, but it's still a nightmare if you play here for the first time. Try and meet up with someone who knows the place or a long day will turn into an all day event for one round!
Other Thoughts: After reading all the negative reviews I was expecting far worse. The Monster lived up to its name and was overall a good course. While not for the beginner, if you have played for a while it will be tough but not impossible to complete and maybe par. If both sets of tees were marked with pads and signage it would make for a much better time, as finding your way around would be much easier. Overall I enjoyed my day at The Monster and would return, but with a little tweaking and additions of pads and signs for both tees, this could be a premiere course.
Note: Hole #7 over 1000 feet with left and right hand turns the whole way to the basket was an amazing challenge!
Played at the very end of winter and couldn't imagine playing in the summer with all the growth in full bloom. Discs would vanish into the brush with little effort.
If you get lost at any time, look around you for trees or the ground marked in pink. That will get you headed in the right direction. You will either be headed toward the basket or the next tee. It is really helpful.
10 of 10 people found this review helpful.
Long, Wooded, Distinct Challenge
14 Helpful / 0 Not
Pros: Length, quiet, exercise
Cons: Length, hard to find tees
Other Thoughts: There's no course quite like The Monster at Fighting Creek. The long holes along wide pipeline easements, the long walk for the whole course, and the choice of pink to mark all tees are all distinctive features you won't find on any other Central Virginia course. To make the best of your time on this course, you'll need to bring your straightest long range driver, bring your best long game, and be long on patience to find the tees and follow the course all the way through to the end.
Nine of the first 10 holes at Fighting Creek follow the same pattern as #1; if you're playing the longs, find the pink markers set flush in the ground that show the hole (1L). If you're playing the shorts, continue along staring intently at the ground, until you find the pink markers that say (1S) or maybe just some unmarked pink boards, or maybe only some shards of pink wood. Stare down the 30-40 foot wide right-of-way with thick woods on either side, and throw your straight long range driver as far as you can, focusing on simply staying in the easement. Hole #1, and others, may play around a bend, or up a small hill, but otherwise that's the approach, except for the one hole that's mostly in the woods, is a good bit shorter, and has little to no discernable fairway. Most of these holes are bona fide par 4s and 5s, especially from the longer, much better marked tees.
#11 starts a short run of different holes; open shot to a basket set alongside a hill, downhill shorter shot to a basket placed precariously between a retention pond and sharp drop-off, and the a tee right on the same drop-off down to a basket placed back in the woods along a stream. Then from #14 on the holes are maybe not quite as long, but still longer than average, and are pretty much so in the woods, with fairways ranging from pretty well wooded to what some might consider unreasonable.
Even with a map, finding all the tees at this course is a challenge. Playing the longs is a good bit easier in this regard; while the markers are set flush in the ground, most (but not all) were there the times I've been out to this course. A few of these tees have carpet pads, but most are just natural. Even with the map, finding the short tees can be a challenge; some are marked as well as the longs, some have just a bit of pink marker or a flag to indicate their location, most can only be found with careful searching along the ground, and some might not be there at all. If by chance the grass ever got long here, finding the tees, long and short, would be nigh on impossible.
Fighting Creek is one of those courses that might provoke a wide range of opinions. If distance is the strength of your game, you come with a map and a lot of patience or play a round with some locals (though judging by the unworn state of the teepads, I'm not sure this course has many locals), enjoy long walks in non-distinct but quiet woods, and play on a nice day in fall or spring, then you might really enjoy the course. If you have more of a touch game, like well marked, well played courses in city or state parks, get tired of simply chucking it as far as you can for a bunch of holes in a row, or conversely have a low tolerance for wooded courses, or play on a hot buggy day, well Fighting Creek might not be for you. I've rated it Decent/Typical but really it's anything but Typical. Rather, it's a course of extremes; part frustrating and aggravating, but part interesting and challenging in a way most courses are not.
14 of 14 people found this review helpful.
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Hole #6 (Taken 2/2013) 
3 / 332ft. 
1 
1/7/2013 
1/15/2013
Review By: blackmamba5490 
This review was updated on 2/26/2013
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