McCabe wrote:you should go with NastyNate! You guys would ROLL!!Ruder wrote:I'd like to play wimberly next year but it is such a far drive, and I have no partner.
SECOND DAT
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Courses in Texas
........never thought I would say that......-
Schoen-hopper
- Posts: 6301
- Joined: Thu Aug 05, 2004 12:58 pm
Here is my review of the latest courses I played in TX. I've only spent 2.5 days in each of the last 3 years playing TX courses. Out of 9-10 hours of daylight, a lot of time is spent driving, doing other stuff, figuring out course layouts, or dragging the family along. That's just to say that there are a ton of great courses that a traveling golfer could experience with a few days time.
http://www.pdga.com/msgboard/showflat.p ... =&fpart=12
Another trip to Texas in the books. 7 new courses played for a total of 28 TX courses played in my 3 short visits to the state.
Bear Creek, Grapevine, TX... I can't say enough for this course. I played two very different rounds from 2 seperate pads on every hole. Every shot on this course is a blast. I espescially like the radical terrain near the creek. My best shot on the course was laying down a bomb roller into the headwind through the gap from 6 long's pad. Too bad I 3 putted from 40 feet!
Lester Lorch Park, Cedar Hill, TX... The directions to the course "seemed" pretty simple. When I pulled in to the parking lot with the Lorch Park sign, I thought I was there. Directions said to follow trail down to the pond where both courses began. I followed an unmarked trail through the woods before luckily finding the pond. After sliding down the hill, trudging through the muddy area around the lake, and jogging all over the place, I realize that it was the unmarked drive with the closed gate that was well after the Lorch Park sign that I was supposed to take. Getting back to my car involved climbing over fences that were buried in cedar trees. I was worn out before I started golfing.
The courses were great though. The beaver course had many shots were I played a full mid-range. Accuracy was emphasized by the thick cedar trees lining the distinguished fairways. Great balance of righty and lefty holes for both courses. The coyote course was like the beaver course, only shorter and a little tighter. The holes involved mostly long putter shots. They were at a range that played tough for me in that my accuracy suffered both from easing off my mids and over powering the putter. The shortness of this course made my over par round feel pretty humiliating. I think playing this course more would be good for my game. This was a very beautiful remote place where disc golf can really be enjoyed. One thing I couldn't help but notice was how much work it was to clear out the fairways and walkways, not to mention how hard it must have been to pour those pads! The courses flowed extreemly well. Oh yeah, the chainstar baskets were grade A also.
Rivery Park, Georgetown, TX... Again the directions to the course were worse than horrible. I found a site where someone listed some corrections to these directions. Those were a bit different, but just as bad. Something has got to be done to fix the situation with the course directory. I couldn't find Tees for Holes #1, 3, 12, 17, or 18. Some of the signs had been pulled out of the ground. 17's tee was right next to 17's basket. I played what looked like 6 long's tee (from a map I printed from the cntxdglove site) to the new pin location. It looked like 18 had recently been redone also. Anyways, some of the shots were really cool, but others were just no good. This was a pretty highly reputed course, so I figured it was worth enduring the challenge of navigating.
San Gabriel Park, Georgetown, TX.... The course had only a couple of its tee sings left. The tees were worn areas of dirt amidst the grass. There were supposed to be 2 tees on every hole. I couldn't find the short tee for hole 5 or 6 or 7 or 8. That was pretty frustrating. It seems to me that courses shouldn't be installed and advertised with the course directory if they can't be marked or kept up.
Pease Park, Austin, TX... This was my second time playing at Pease. The first time was with a 21 hole config. It's not often that a course loses 3 holes and becomes better in the process. This is the case with Pease though. The creek that runs through Pease is one of the funnest to play around and over in all of disc golf. Every hole out there is a beauty and tons of fun. If Pease had concrete tee pads, it would be one of the best courses anywhere. Those eroded holes in the ground can't be more environmentally friendly than concrete tees. They are a safety hazard. It's cool you all are trying your best to get the situation fixed. I also liked the old 18 pin placement a bit better. The park is top-notch though; I could spend all day there.
Twin Parks Country Club, Dripping Springs, TX... This place was amazing. I'm sure I can't explain half of what was done to make this place a resort with courses of high calibur. The "clubhouse" has it all from a bigscreen with gaming systems, other games including a chess table, poker table, ping pong table, and a brand new pool table, to nice rooms (inexpensive) with a fully accomodating facility. Two full 18 hole courses with red, white, and blue tees. 3 practice putting baskets. Plenty of discs for sale.
Park Hill Course: This was the rougher of the two courses. Many shots involve navigating over the tree line while adjusting for wind and elevation. Beautiful scenery. While running around planning my shots, I about ran straight into the herd of elk that is kept on the property. I made two 450'+ 2's from the long tees on holes 4 (difficult hole!) and 9. I lost a blue Ch. Wraith on 4 short if anyone finds it. I was -2 and bogey free on the long course through hole 12. My best 3 was probably 10 long. Then I bogeyed 5 straight. Though the shire course was recommended over the hill by many, I'd say the hill is every bit as good. Rocks were painted red, white, and blue to show the direction to the next respective tees. This was extreemly helpful and very cool to look at. Distances marked in white on black painted rock was also a simple, but great idea.
Park Shire: While the hill course combined tees red/white, white/blue, or red/white/blue, the shire had several holes with 3 sets of tees. The difference between the blues and the reds was pretty significant. The wind and the trees made par pretty difficult to break, even on the red tees. The holes had good design, keeping the short ones on the tricky side. Most of the holes play under or around trees rather than over them. I didn't card too many birds. Park Shire had excellent tee signs located at the long tees, where they should be. The course even had solar lighted baskets at night and lighted tees on the shorts!
Anyone planning on playing out here should plan to spend the day if possible and stay the night. If you live in Texas, a membership would be well worth it. I hope the vision for the perfection of this place continues into the future.
http://www.pdga.com/msgboard/showflat.p ... =&fpart=12
Another trip to Texas in the books. 7 new courses played for a total of 28 TX courses played in my 3 short visits to the state.
Bear Creek, Grapevine, TX... I can't say enough for this course. I played two very different rounds from 2 seperate pads on every hole. Every shot on this course is a blast. I espescially like the radical terrain near the creek. My best shot on the course was laying down a bomb roller into the headwind through the gap from 6 long's pad. Too bad I 3 putted from 40 feet!
Lester Lorch Park, Cedar Hill, TX... The directions to the course "seemed" pretty simple. When I pulled in to the parking lot with the Lorch Park sign, I thought I was there. Directions said to follow trail down to the pond where both courses began. I followed an unmarked trail through the woods before luckily finding the pond. After sliding down the hill, trudging through the muddy area around the lake, and jogging all over the place, I realize that it was the unmarked drive with the closed gate that was well after the Lorch Park sign that I was supposed to take. Getting back to my car involved climbing over fences that were buried in cedar trees. I was worn out before I started golfing.
The courses were great though. The beaver course had many shots were I played a full mid-range. Accuracy was emphasized by the thick cedar trees lining the distinguished fairways. Great balance of righty and lefty holes for both courses. The coyote course was like the beaver course, only shorter and a little tighter. The holes involved mostly long putter shots. They were at a range that played tough for me in that my accuracy suffered both from easing off my mids and over powering the putter. The shortness of this course made my over par round feel pretty humiliating. I think playing this course more would be good for my game. This was a very beautiful remote place where disc golf can really be enjoyed. One thing I couldn't help but notice was how much work it was to clear out the fairways and walkways, not to mention how hard it must have been to pour those pads! The courses flowed extreemly well. Oh yeah, the chainstar baskets were grade A also.
Rivery Park, Georgetown, TX... Again the directions to the course were worse than horrible. I found a site where someone listed some corrections to these directions. Those were a bit different, but just as bad. Something has got to be done to fix the situation with the course directory. I couldn't find Tees for Holes #1, 3, 12, 17, or 18. Some of the signs had been pulled out of the ground. 17's tee was right next to 17's basket. I played what looked like 6 long's tee (from a map I printed from the cntxdglove site) to the new pin location. It looked like 18 had recently been redone also. Anyways, some of the shots were really cool, but others were just no good. This was a pretty highly reputed course, so I figured it was worth enduring the challenge of navigating.
San Gabriel Park, Georgetown, TX.... The course had only a couple of its tee sings left. The tees were worn areas of dirt amidst the grass. There were supposed to be 2 tees on every hole. I couldn't find the short tee for hole 5 or 6 or 7 or 8. That was pretty frustrating. It seems to me that courses shouldn't be installed and advertised with the course directory if they can't be marked or kept up.
Pease Park, Austin, TX... This was my second time playing at Pease. The first time was with a 21 hole config. It's not often that a course loses 3 holes and becomes better in the process. This is the case with Pease though. The creek that runs through Pease is one of the funnest to play around and over in all of disc golf. Every hole out there is a beauty and tons of fun. If Pease had concrete tee pads, it would be one of the best courses anywhere. Those eroded holes in the ground can't be more environmentally friendly than concrete tees. They are a safety hazard. It's cool you all are trying your best to get the situation fixed. I also liked the old 18 pin placement a bit better. The park is top-notch though; I could spend all day there.
Twin Parks Country Club, Dripping Springs, TX... This place was amazing. I'm sure I can't explain half of what was done to make this place a resort with courses of high calibur. The "clubhouse" has it all from a bigscreen with gaming systems, other games including a chess table, poker table, ping pong table, and a brand new pool table, to nice rooms (inexpensive) with a fully accomodating facility. Two full 18 hole courses with red, white, and blue tees. 3 practice putting baskets. Plenty of discs for sale.
Park Hill Course: This was the rougher of the two courses. Many shots involve navigating over the tree line while adjusting for wind and elevation. Beautiful scenery. While running around planning my shots, I about ran straight into the herd of elk that is kept on the property. I made two 450'+ 2's from the long tees on holes 4 (difficult hole!) and 9. I lost a blue Ch. Wraith on 4 short if anyone finds it. I was -2 and bogey free on the long course through hole 12. My best 3 was probably 10 long. Then I bogeyed 5 straight. Though the shire course was recommended over the hill by many, I'd say the hill is every bit as good. Rocks were painted red, white, and blue to show the direction to the next respective tees. This was extreemly helpful and very cool to look at. Distances marked in white on black painted rock was also a simple, but great idea.
Park Shire: While the hill course combined tees red/white, white/blue, or red/white/blue, the shire had several holes with 3 sets of tees. The difference between the blues and the reds was pretty significant. The wind and the trees made par pretty difficult to break, even on the red tees. The holes had good design, keeping the short ones on the tricky side. Most of the holes play under or around trees rather than over them. I didn't card too many birds. Park Shire had excellent tee signs located at the long tees, where they should be. The course even had solar lighted baskets at night and lighted tees on the shorts!
Anyone planning on playing out here should plan to spend the day if possible and stay the night. If you live in Texas, a membership would be well worth it. I hope the vision for the perfection of this place continues into the future.
Last edited by Schoen-hopper on Mon Jan 02, 2006 12:51 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Schoen-hopper
- Posts: 6301
- Joined: Thu Aug 05, 2004 12:58 pm
Here's another PDGA post on the general ranking I gave these courses.
The order of the list may is more of how much fun I had playing these (taking in several different factors) rather than any aspect in particular.
Out of the 28 TX courses I've seen, almost all of them I would call "great" courses. There are a lot of things that go into rating a course. Design, convenience, tees and pins, etc. I'm basically just giving an overall impression of the "fun factor" of this travelling disc golfer. Here, in a pretty flexible order, are probably my 10 favorites...
Wimberly (2)
Dripping Springs (2)
Red Rock
Arlington
Grapevine
Austin (Pease)
Crowley
Round Rock
Lago Vista
Cedar Hill (2)
Next 10 would include...
Lewisville (Lake)
Garland
Waco (East)
Waco (West)
San Marcos
Dallas (B.B. Owen)
Austin (Circle C)
Live Oak
Temple
Ft. Worth
Some courses I still want to check out...McKinney, Carollton (Greenbelt), Austin (Bartholomew), Round Top, Gonzales, & Lackland
I'm sure there are others that make the A list, but are farther from I-35. Too bad I'll never see San Saba...
The order of the list may is more of how much fun I had playing these (taking in several different factors) rather than any aspect in particular.
Out of the 28 TX courses I've seen, almost all of them I would call "great" courses. There are a lot of things that go into rating a course. Design, convenience, tees and pins, etc. I'm basically just giving an overall impression of the "fun factor" of this travelling disc golfer. Here, in a pretty flexible order, are probably my 10 favorites...
Wimberly (2)
Dripping Springs (2)
Red Rock
Arlington
Grapevine
Austin (Pease)
Crowley
Round Rock
Lago Vista
Cedar Hill (2)
Next 10 would include...
Lewisville (Lake)
Garland
Waco (East)
Waco (West)
San Marcos
Dallas (B.B. Owen)
Austin (Circle C)
Live Oak
Temple
Ft. Worth
Some courses I still want to check out...McKinney, Carollton (Greenbelt), Austin (Bartholomew), Round Top, Gonzales, & Lackland
I'm sure there are others that make the A list, but are farther from I-35. Too bad I'll never see San Saba...