The Disc Golf Streak, Day 1145 (Hidden Ridge DGC)

Day 1145.

This was one of the best days yet . . . 

We decided to go visit Hidden Ridge DGC -- a private course created on the home property of Tim Blanchet over in northern Kentucky.  It's about 50 miles from us and was more than an hour's drive away . . . and it was well worth it.  This was one of our favorite courses we've played yet (this was course #49 for us).



Tim has 65 acres of beautiful woods (mostly rolling hills) in what feels like the middle of nowhere and the course runs through 20-30 acres of the property.  There are a couple open holes, including a really well laid out 695' hole, but mostly it's a technical wooded course with a fair amount of length (I'd guess 6000'+).  Frankly it's better designed than the vast majority of courses we've played.  There are quite a few holes that are "golf" holes where you have to hit a landing zone before you can play toward the basket (i.e. true Par 4's).  The elevation usage is great -- plenty of up and down and all of it is reasonable and fun.  Lots of super tight fairways, good challenging pin placements and overall a nice flow. 

Danny & I played doubles today as we usually do when playing a course for the first time.  I don't know what we shot since it was for fun but probably right around course par since we were hitting lines pretty cleanly.

Favorite holes?  I really liked Hole 10 where you throw down a hill, go across a creek and then back up a hill.  It was tricky trying to figure out what to throw . . . and we both had what looked like perfect drives from the teebox only to find out that he was too far right and I was too far left.  I also really liked Hole 12 -- just a cool wooded hole teeing off from the driveway.  Danny liked Hole 6 (I think) which was a short little downhill hole with a low ceiling -- he parked that one with a forehand.

Hole 1 -- open 293' hole --


Beautiful sky looking back the 695' Hole #4 --


Hole 7 -- this was a big dogleg left hole -- these pics show Tim's really cool homemade tee signs and the panoramic pic is neat because the teebox is on the left and the basket in on the right and the pic is from the landing zone --








 Nice little cedar log bridge . . .


Hole 12 -- loved this tight wooded hole . . . you have to make it all the way into the sunlit fairway and then up and to the right --


Hole 15 -- another genuine Par 4 where you have to make it to the top of the hill in the pic before going hard right into the woods to the basket.  And this one shows how great it is laid out -- look at that tree in the middle giving fair lines to the right and left, but you have to decide and commit to one of the lines.  These types of holes were so fun because they are pro-level holes --






It finishes with Hole 18 where you have to throw over a lake (downhill) about 300'.  We both brought water discs along just in case . . . I made it over . . . he ended up in the lake twice (we played a full round and a four hole round).  Luckily he chose a Blizzard Beast as his water disc so it floated.  The second time he went in the middle of the lake so I ended up having to use a barrel on the end of the lake to make waves to get it near enough to shore to snag the disc.





We talked with Tim for a long time before and after our round.  Maybe because we both have courses in our yards (although I'm not sure mine is worthy of being called a course after seeing his) we had a lot in common and I felt like I was chatting with an old friend.

How good is this course?  I would have enjoyed walking the land without the course . . . and the more I play the more I think that is a key element of a good course.  All of my glowing praise should be taken in light of the fact that this is a private course without a real budget -- it has natural teepads (a few carpeted), it has non-uniform but good baskets and it doesn't have permanent teesigns.  And I imagine in the summer it gets ragged and hard to find your disc.  So if it were a public course with a budget those would be negatives, but for a private course with no real budget it is fantastic.  In the condition we saw it in today it is one of the top courses in the whole greater Cincinnati area and we'll throw it again at some point.

(Note for self -- had to edit, this was course #49 for us . . . forgot about Quaker Knoll which isn't listed on DGCR.)

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