A young new course with a GREAT future ahead of it.
Finally, after many travels between Austin and Houston I got to play the Texas Army Trails (TAT) Disc Golf Course that the Houston Area Disc Golfers worked so hard to get installed.
*Disclaimer* I am an avid player, promoter, and sponsor of Disc Golf. I have played MANY course and have spent a good portion of my Disc Golf Life between Houston and Austin. So my judgement and opinion will be fairly based on those aspects. I will in no way compare the two areas of Houston and Austin since they vary widely in course designs, environment, and players appeal.
! Now onto the show !
CONDITIONS FOR THE DAY
First and foremost, congrats on a NEW course for the Houston area. It was much needed on this Northwest Side of the region to expand the diversity of the courses and provide a simple access course from the US-290 Highway.
Next, I played the course as an experienced & seasoned player. Joining with me was a young (20ish) Novice player and an older (50ish) basic beginner player... so the depth of the players field covered a wide experience level.
The TAT course is a great challenging long course experience for disc golfers. Using my "Runkeeper Pro" exercise App from my phone it measure about 2.27 miles long; walking from Tee to Basket (and those small deviations in between).
OVERVIEW
The TAT course is set in a mix of tall pine trees, some short sprouting oaks, and numerous other types of large foliage that will challenge you to maneuver your disc around.
The TAT was built in a very "wild" growth area of the flood plane. Essentially, they have carved this course out of the woods while using it's natural features to give the course its contours.
SPECIAL NOTES
This opportunity I had to play on the course was slightly marred by the fact that less than 10 days ago the ENTIRE AREA was flooded due a torrential storm, easily submerging the baskets.
On the positive note, the area and course seems to have held up splendidly from those floods and drained well.
Kudos to the groups who placed the Tee boxes and baskets. I only saw very little erosion around the placements and NO movement from the pads. Impressive build.
PLAYING
Playing the course I was able to notice that the fairway trees and growth are still "learning" and need to be consistently pruned to keep them from growing in the possible flight lines of the discs. Over time, the wildness of the area will be tamed and the fairways will be manageable.
There are some simple holes and long technical ones to accommodate a broad field of disc golfers. As with any round of DG, there is always the Risk vs. Reward scenario.
This course is a heavily wooded course and to say that some of the fairways edges are "rough" is an understatement, but if you have played Houston area wooded courses before, then you are used to it. (remember this is a flood plane "wild" growth area)
There are also the opportunities here to make amazing shots through the beauty of the trees or perform impenetrable attempts to throw from tangled vines and walls of trees. (man I LOVE this game!)
With either scenario you find yourself in, I still would recommend to simply get out here and play it as it is and develop your DG skills (mental & physical).
As noted earlier, I played with a diverse group. Knowing this I watched some of the players who average 80ft - 220ft throws easily find themselves in decent positions even when they did hit trees or got an errant skip/deflection.
As to myself, I was able to get some really beautiful bombing drives on some of the holes over 300ft (long Anhyzers and some S flex shots).
The newer players found the course lengthy and challenging to their game, but it offered enough reward that it did not beat them into quitting and kept them playing for that one "sweet shot" to redeem all the drama they had before.
OVERALL
The course has a great future and you should spend the time to come see what it is all about while sharing it with your friends.
PROS
- new course that is long and challenging
- signature holes with elevated baskets (5ft+) in the tree stumps to prevent them from washing away
- ease of access to the course from the freeway
- great use for Disc Golf in an un-populated "wild" area
- Hole #13 is fun throwing over the embankment of the bayou/water levee (I missed the Ace just barely)
- brooms at almost every box to clean the sand off = NICE touch for players
CONS
- you can't beat them: Snakes AND Mosquitoes so be careful and BRING SPRAY for you and your pets
- no area map for the course. we found #1, but the others were a learning curve
- signage for hole direction could be improved/larger
- Hole #11 will take time to develop and trim to make it more playable
- fairway brush/tree growth over 3ft tall. This will also take time to cut/trim/remove as the course "learns" from the pruning, etc.
Once again, Thank you for the great new course! read more