Pleasant hills
6 Helpful / 0 Not
Pros:
+There are elevation changes on every hole. Most are moderate, with the greatest a drop of 24 ft. Perfectly balanced with 9 Up/ 9 Down. This includes 9 valley holes that are either down then back up or Up-Down. Add to that nice terrain with a good mix of grass and woods (6 Wooded/ 12 Mixed) and you have a pleasant place.
+Good balance of fairway shapes. 8 Straight/ 5 Left/ 5 Right
+ Mach V baskets
Cons:
-Tees are dirt and not marked well. The below average tee quality stands out to me as the biggest area that needs to be improved.
-Not many amenities. There's a good bathroom, but no map, no score cards, no warm up basket, no benches, no trash cans.
-It may just be my impression, but the park seemed to be in a kind of shady area of town and several cars in the parking lot felt kind of sketch.
Other Thoughts:
Course Level = White (most suited for Intermediate players rated 875-925)
The course is rather short (4505 ft) with most holes under 300 ft. (4 of 135-199/ 11 of 200-299/ 3>300 are 310, 345, 425), so it's more suitable for shorter throwers. Big arms won't be very challenged.
The course didn't "Wow" me, but there were a few really fun holes, and my enjoyment was above average. It's a pleasant course with nice terrain and lots of elevation variety. I wouldn't go out of my way and plan a trip just to play here, but if you're driving by it's a nice place.
NOTE: Look in the "Links/Files" section for my files with Hole-by-hole evaluations, and a more detailed Overall review. You can also read more of my reviews and rating notes at the Yahoo Group,
DG Course Reviews
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.
Dantastic!
6 Helpful / 0 Not
Pros: Well elevated, moderately wooded and open. Most holes had no trees in fairway or very few. Fairways well defined. Pretty fun, lots of birdie and ace opportunities. Average hole length probably around 250-275. Decent signage listing distance and hole location.
Cons: No variety. All holes virtually straight ahead with very few blind tees. Dirt tees but were not ruddy. Dubious pars listed, (hole 15 definitely a par 3, not a 5). Confusing to follow from hole to tee. Not clear where it starts. Hole 18 puts you nowhere near hole 1 (head toward the big brick building with smoke stacks in the distance and veer to the right). More than a few briers and poison ivy. Some disc eating monsters on the left of hole 12. No benches which stunk b/c it is hilly.
Other Thoughts: Signature/Favorite Hole: #15, a pleasant hole with the tee more or less level with the hole but a gully and creek in between.
A fairly fun course that has decent length but it is really repetitive. The park is nice but seemed fairly old. I played left-handed (I'm a righty) for the 2nd time ever and finished this course a nice 4+ including 3 birdies. Wouldn't plan a huge road trip to play it but it is worth playing for sure. I'd rate it a 2.75 if I could.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.
nice layout
3 Helpful / 0 Not
Pros: excellent layout with lots of wooded holes (i like wooded courses). the course also uses the topography of the park well and has lots of elevation change. you will get a work out if you're into that (i am).
each tee pad has a sign describing the hole and the direction to the next hole so it is easy to follow.
see below for a discription of each hole. this course is very challenging and will test your skills. i especially liked holes 5 and 14 even though i lost a teebird on 14.
ballou park is a nice park and it is very well maintained. it also evident there is a strong disc golf club in the area and each hole has a sponsor.
Cons: in general natrual tee pads suck and these aren't any different. depressions are starting to form and since it had just rained the tee pads were very slick. i often had to tee off from behind the tee or to the side.
also poison ivy is everywhere in the park and in one place it was waist high. if you come in the spring/summer where long pants.
lastly i had trouble finding this course inside the park. the 9 hole is easy to find but i could find no signs pointing me to the first tee. i ended up asking a maintenance worker and he pointed me in the right direction.
Other Thoughts: again this is a challenging course with a lot of variety, if you like trees. if they add some concrete tee pads and a few benches this course would be a 4 or 5.
i live in norther virginia and come down every year for the bbq contest in may, and i will be bringing my discs again fer sure.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.
Could use some work
2 Helpful / 1 Not
Pros: Hole #4 across the ravine to a basket perched on the hill sloped green. Nice park atmosphere. Real nice hole on the back shooting to basket perched on flat top of hill through nice gap.
Cons: No benches. Missing tee signs. Hole #10 or Hole #11 really left a bad taste in my mouth. Absolutely no fairway. Truly someone put a tee log in the ground and a basket 175 feet away and did nothing else. (I understand a plinko hole, but there isn't a path that is 3 feet wide on this hole) Would not play this course in the summertime the rough, briers, and poison ivy would be stupid. No scorecards maps or next tee signs.
Other Thoughts: 3 or 4 really nice holes, but too many just bad holes to give any higher of a rating. I would play again if I was in the area. If someone would clean up the briers at least ten feet within the fairway and redesign about 4 holes/make a fairway could be a solid course. Field holes were nice and thought out but stretch of putter holes in the woods and poor flow really detract from the course.
Truly with redesign on about 3 or 4 holes I think I would really like this course, but the bad holes are really bad.
2 of 3 people found this review helpful.
up and down
3 Helpful / 0 Not
Pros: tons of elevation change. good tee signs.
Cons: Could use at basket next hole direction(lots of courses are painting one of the arms on the basket). Tee pads could be gravel or better defined. woods fair ways could be more defined.
Other Thoughts: Park is a really nice older park, all the amenities are on this side with play ground bathrooms ball field. The elevation is the big killer on this course, walking up and down. The tees signs take a sec to get yourself oriented. Woods are tight. Ends up being a long walk
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.
8 Helpful / 0 Not
Pros: well placed baskets to make the course interesting. it's an awesome course compared to the little work they put into making it and upkeep. Some holes seem like they are too much in the woods with no good shot at the hole, but upon closer inspection i found a good line that I hit. It's somewhat hilly, although not as bad as i've seen. only one hoe over 400 feet. for the more advanced player, it's easy to shoot well under par on your first round (i shot 8 under my first time through) because some of the holes are set for people who can only drive 200 feet max. good mix of shots though. I love the course.
Cons: could be much clearer on the map, and where to start once you get into the park. There's a 9-hole course in the same park, and some numbered picnic sights, so i didn't know if those were the tee numbers at first or what. The tees are grass, but they are in good spots (not a spot where it gets really wet, although one tee is tight in-between two trees); if they were concrete it would work just a little better, but grass works fine.
Other Thoughts: 1-slight turn to the right through a lot of trees on a hill that slopes down left with a stream at the bottom. 2-over a hill and around an apple tree. You need a good putt to birdie this hole. 3-longer downhill shot into the side of another hill. be careful not to throw it high, as i've almost hit a house across the street once. 4-longer than it looks. over the stream in a valley up into trees. Throw it further than you think you'll need as long as you can miss the trees. 5-sweet hole. getting past the first few trees are tough, but if you can get it up onto the hill where the hole is, then you can eagle this nicely. If you don't get onto the hill, a hammer/tomahawk is a good choice for a second throw to get up onto the hill. (this is where i'm not sure which hole is which) 6-play this as straight as possible, because if you don't you'll be playing through trees the rest of the way to the hole. 7-the tee is right between two tees, but the hole is close. don't end up too far left of the hole-it's really rough getting out of there. 8-this is a good hole. straight for 280, then a good left to finish. don't get in the rough on either side of the road. 9-try to stay out in the open on this one, as usual. it's a good hole to birdie, or eagle, but if you get caught in the woods you won't do either. 10-the one with no good path to the hole (seemingly). if you walk a foot to the right of the tee, you can see that a forehand has a pretty clear path to the hole. Just put it through there and sink the put. 11-I honestly don't remember this hole, but the rest are right. 12-this hole isn't likely to be bogied, but it's a little tricker to birdie than it seems. you can approach it any way around that huge bush/tree right in front of the tee, but don't lose focus of placing the shot well-although placing the shot well does involve getting around that thing. 13-this hole is basically impossible to ace, unless you are just ridiculous. up the hill 70 feet, 135 to the left about 45 degrees, and then up the hill straight again for about 10 feet. good luck have fun. 14-easier than it looks. get your "drive" near the hole and it seems to just gravitate toward the pole. placement is the key. 15-i got an albatross on this hole my third time through. it's a par 5, but it's 285 feet. it's over a pretty big gorge, but it still shouldn't be a 5. just forehand it through the path a little left of the hole, and let it float back right. it's fairly easy to eagle this hole-once i played with 5 friends of various skill levels and we all got an eagle. 16-another albatross-able hole. put your drive up near those trees going back across the valley and hope it misses the trees at the top-even though they're not too punishing if you miss them. this hole has a lot of grass, so if you're down in the valley a good hammer will place you near the hole, and the small hill right behind the hole will keep you within 10 feet. 17- over in the right behind the trees on the hill. throw it with a bit of right-curve and let it slide down the hill on the right, or put it way right and let it pull back left. either way works well, but neither way works all too well. 18-425', longest hole on the course, but it's not too long. if you can roll well, then this is a good hole to roll on, even if the hole is hilly. keep the drive low to miss the branches on the huge tree. if you miss them, you'll end up well. the main thing is keeping the drive low and fast, and setting your approach shot near the hole, because the grass doesn't let anything roll or even skip really on this hole. Have fun!
8 of 8 people found this review helpful.
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Hole #3 (Taken 9/2011) 
3 / 342ft. 
2-4 
9/15/2009 
2/12/2010
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