SC Disc Golf Doubles Championship

Now that Chattooga Belle Farm’s Disc Golf course has been installed and several players have played the course, we’re 100% on moving day one of the SC Doubles Championship to the farm.

The first round day one will be Best Disc. That’s where you and your partner will play as singles and take which ever player’s score is best on each hole. Round two on day one will be Tough Shot. That’s where both players on a team will throw off of each tee. The team you’re paired with will then decide which of the two shots you will throw your second throw from. Intermediate teams and mixed teams will have shorter tees on seven of the holes.

Day two of the tournament will be at Shaver Recreation Center in Seneca. The morning round will be Alternate Shot. If you make the putt, your partner will throwing the next hole from the tee. The afternoon and final round of the tournament will be Best Shot. That’s where both teams will throw from the tee and then will take the best of the two throws and throw from there.

Chattooga Bell Farm is in Long Creek, SC and about a half an hour or so from Shaver Recreation Center in Seneca. Chattooga Belle Farm is a pay-to-play operation with a round costing $3.00 to play. All day passes will be $5.00 and a season pass will be $25 or $30. The farm is open Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 8am to 5pm. It will also be open to for Disc Golf on an honor system soon.

Of the known full rounds played the best score so far has been a 57. I shot a 62 with two deuces. Another group played Saturday and reported rounds of 49 and 52. We learned after they played that holes 10 - 13 were not properly marked and I’m not sure if those holes were played the way they were meant to be played.

Some of the tee pads will move to left, right or back from where they currently are now. Most of those changes will occur over the next couple of weeks. The changes won’t make the hole play significantly more difficult they’ll just either add a small element of danger or frame the hole differently.

The short tees on holes 3, 5, 6, 9, 11, 12 and 15 will also be marked within a couple of weeks.

The course is installed.  The fairways are somewhat mowed and will get wider over the course of the next couple of weeks.  Holes 10-13 were not in the proper locations and the baskets have been moved.

After playing the course, it was apparent some of the tee markers had been moved from where they were suppose to be. Those tee markers have been moved. It changes the look of some of the holes and makes some holes more lefty basis and other holes more righty bias.

The course plays shorter than you would think based on the overall distance.  The hazards are the elevation changes on the front 8 holes (unless you get behind an apple tree) and trees and water on holes 9-13.  Hole 14 and 15 play along the edge of a small ravine that is pretty nasty (at least on hole 15).  Holes 16-18 is mostly elevation changes again.

The owner and I talked last night and again today.  We’re going to let the course be played as is right now and consider changing up some holes after the state doubles.  The only changes between now and the tournament will be some tees moving 20-50 one way or the other and short tees being put in for the intermediate and mixed doubles teams.  Which holes and how many holes that will get short tees still hasn’t been determined.

The course is playable.  It’s a pay to play course.  One round will cost $3.00.  The farm is open Thursday - Saturday from 9-5.  You’re able to play other times…it will be an honor system when the farm is not open.

If you’re playing when the store is open I suggest the Blackberry Cider or the one of the slushies available in the store.

Sunday Aaron Evans and I went and played Chattooga Belle Farm from the marked tees to the marked pin placements.  A tee area or two were moved and one pin placement was moved.  The length was not changed but the ‘feel’ of two holes (4, 10) were changed. Both remain par three holes but the deuce just became slightly more challenging.

By using the criteria used for ball golf courses the established par for Chattooga Belle Farm is 62.  Par 32 on the front and par 30 on the back.  The criteria for ball golf is how many shots it takes to reach the green plus two putts.  For Chattooga Bell Farm the thought process is how many shots will it take the average player to get within putting range. Putting range being where does the average player go from laying up to ‘going for it’ with a putt.

As we look at the course and play once the baskets are installed, the par on some holes (3, 12) might change from being par 4’s to par 5’s.

The basket arrived at Chattooga Belle Farm yesterday and installation will begin soon.

The course measures somewhere between 6,200 - 6,500 from the long tee positions with 7 holes less that 300′ and one hole at 844′ and another at 500′+. Short tees will be marked for the first day of the State Doubles Tournament.

The lake can come into play on three holes. Hole 9 plays 280′ to the lake. Hole 12 play 475′ over or along the lake. Hole 13 plays 270′ with the lake along the whole left side of the fairway.

Holes 1-8 feature elevation changes as the biggest obstacles with some apple trees coming into play. Holes 9-15 play through trees or along water or both. Holes 16-18 are back to elevation changes as the biggest obstacle.

The course is not groomed yet…meaning that other than 15′ wide paths that lead you around the course, the grass/hay is knee high or higher right now. The crew at the farm will be mowing wider fairways once the baskets are installed and we determined how wide each fairway needs.

Cost will be $3 a round or $5 all day. Season/annual passes will most likely be available.

The store sells snacks, jams, jellies, shirts and hats. It will carry a line of Innova Golf Discs in the future.

This is the view from the event barn. It marks the starting and ending point of the course. You’ll be able to see holes 1, 2, the tee for 3, the tee for 8, the basket for 11 (though more than a half mile or more away) 17 and 18.  If you click on the picture, you’ll be able to see the full beauty of the property.

The final layout was completed tonight.  Thanks to Aaron Evans, Mike Weird, Joseph Haney and Luke Reiser for helping with the design.  Over the past couple of months we’ve walked, measured, walked some more, thrown potential holes and walked some more.  Between the five of us there is probable 30 to 40 hours of time spent working on the design.  Now we wait for the walk through with the owner of the farm for his approval.  Once he approves a layout, the installation will begin.

Tomorrow we finalize the design for the course at Chattooga Belle Farm.  That’s the newest course in Oconee County and the first Pay to Play course in the area.

Members of Greater Oconee Disc Golf are meeting between 3:30 and 4:00 to mark the proposed design.  If you would like to join us and have an input to what the course will be like, feel free to join us on Friday afternoon.

Here are directions to the farm.

I just heard from Innova, the baskets for Chattooga Belle Farm will be shipped this week.  If everything works out right, the course should be in the ground by the end of the month.

A course design is close to being complete. About 12 holes, give or take, have been laid-out and the remaining holes will be marked this week. Once the design of all 18 holes is marked, the owner of Chattooga Belle Farm and I will walk/ride the course to make sure our visions are on the same page. Once any alterations with the design are made, the baskets will be put into the ground.

When the baskets are in, the tee areas will be finalized. This property has a lot of room to work with and some tees will be moved forward while others might be moved left, right or back.

As soon as the course is complete and ready for play, we’ll make an announcement here and on GODGc.com.

We’ll find out this week if baskets will be delivered this month or in September for the course at Chattooga Belle Farm.  If the baskets can be delivered in June, there’s a chance that the first day of the SCdoubles will be moved to the farm.

The Chattooga Belle Farm course will offer one of the longest courses in the area with major elevation changes, one major water hazard and the some of best views available in South Carolina.

We’ve gotten the first registration in for the tournament and I’ve received another email from a 2nd team.  We’re two months away and registrations are beginning to come in.

The registration form is linked in the sidebar.  I’ll update the registration on the PDGA site and on this site.

I plan to play in the Firecracker Fling on Saturday July 3rd and maybe even on the 4th in Boiling Springs.  I’ll be sure to have registration forms at those events.

Here are some pictures taken by Mike Wierda at the Chattooga Belle Farm property. Mike, Aaron Evans and I have been working on the design. Each one of us have walked the land several times and we’ve even thrown some of the potential holes. Nothing will be final until the owner of the property signs off on the design.

This first picture is of what we hope will be one of the signature holes of the course.  Click on the picture to get a better idea of what this hole is all about.  From the suggested tee to the edge of the lake is about 175′.  To the far shore in direct line with the tee is about 350′.  To where the basket will be placed makes the hole about 450′ plus in total length.  There will be a wide right route that will play 550-600′ and will depend on a well placed tee shot to keep you from flirting with the water.

This next picture was taken from the far side of the course.  It’s looking back toward the building where the course begins and ends.  You can see the building in the upper right hand part of the picture.  It’s more than an estimated half mile from the building to far side of the course.  From this location, you’ll be able to see 5-6 holes on the back side of the course, the lake and see people finishing on hole 18…which will end playing up to the building.

This next might be my favorite hole if it becomes part of the final course design. It had the potential of being anywhere from 350 - 800′ depending on the location of the tee with a slight drop off on three sides with thick woods behind the hole.  From the top of the hill looking down toward the green looks a lot shorter than it actually is…and the view, on a clear day, allows you to see mountains in Georgia and North Carolina.

As we get closer to the final design and the course opening, we’ll put more pictures up along with other information about the course.