The Push to Eighteen

The NEDGC is now "soft open". What that means is we still have some steps to complete the facility, but at least we are playable for anyone, Sundays only. You may see piles of tailings being moved around to improve the driveway, and the sign will be up on John Mason Road any day now. The porto-potty can’t be too far behind.

On Sundays, members can enjoy a round, and guests can pay a $5 fee to play all day. For a separate fee of $5, everyone can join in the fun of the "blind draw" doubles match at 10 AM on Sunday mornings throughout the fall. One fun part of doubles is you never know who your partner may be... maybe one of the area's top pros!

We've been working hard on the course layout too, and now have 15 playable holes, with a 16th roughed out with a basket in place. Wit a few more days of work we should have a full 18 playable in time for the November 4th Bag Tag tournament.

The new layout is pretty easy to follow, but if you haven't played the course in a while you'll notice some of the holes have new numbers. We've done away with the "A" designations. Here is a quick tour of the layout as it stands at the moment:

Hole One is the same as it's been, a nice uphill par four across the sand mounds.

Hole Two was once known as "2A", it's tee is off to the left of #1 fairway. The tee is a short walk down a well-marked path. Two is a tight technical uphill with a slight dogleg left. It plays longer than it's posted distance and the basket is well protected, with a big drop-off left & long. From the red tee you'll now get about a 40' break.

Hole Three is a bit of a walk down a trail from #2. The path takes you to the red tee. This hole was formally known as Hole Two, a bit of a dogleg right.

Hole Four is off to the left of the third fairway ... look for some neat moss covered cinder blocks pointing the way. Four is one of the shorter par three's on the course, flat, with three possible lines to the basket. The right to left line might be the most open route. Straight at the basket will take a careful shot to avoid the guardian trees. After completing four, you'll find a path for a short walk over to the fifth tee.

The fifth hole is the "old three", a slight dogleg left par 4. The new sixth hole is a short walk past the fifth basket.

Six is another “new” hole, a deceptive little par 3, up-hill with a sharp turn to the right at the top. Before you card that birdie you'll have some trees to contend with, and you'll need to get your disc turning right at just the right point in its flight. This nicely bridges what have been a long walk between “old” 3 & 4.

Seven is now the old 4th hole, a flat and straight par three through the mountain laurels, with birches and poplars protecting the green. Just past the basket is a path to the new eight hole tee box.

Eight is a short, flat, tight hole with the basket tucked in to a clearing on the right. RHBH can make an anhyzer run at it, but don’t “cut if off” or you can end up in some dense scruff. Just past the basket is number nine’s tee boxes.

Nine is the “old” five, the gritty par four with the landing area delineated by an ancient stone wall. Turn left after putting out and you’ll wind your way through the ferns to the Tenth tees.

Hole ten is “old” six, the slightly downhill dogleg left with the big wood pile as the target for the landing area. From ten, turn right, follow the path to a nice bench (good cell reception too… my choice spot to check up on emails) at the eleventh tee.

The eleventh hole is a tight par four (old “seven”) along a muddy old logging road. Not much elevation change, but some early trees can mess up a wayward drive. From the 11th basket, turn right for a short walk through the woods to the 12th hole, a tight short downhill ace run. Nearby to the left of the basket is the tee to the 13th hole, our old eight.

It’s the sweeping right-to-left par three to the hanging basket, with a challenging fairway that takes everything left to right toward the road. From thirteen’s basket, it’s a bit of a walk over to the fourteenth tees.

Fourteen (old nine) is a tight par four to a basket set precariously on a slope. Go long and left and your approach is heading toward the streambed, which is dry at the moment but was roaring back in the spring. When you finish fourteen, there’s a new path to the left of the basket that leads across the steam to an old dirt road that is the 15th fairway.

Fifteen was just finished last weekend. Both the white tee and the red tee are build up on old moto-cross berms. Uphill 230’ from the red and 275’ from the white is the basket. The elevation makes this hole play much longer. Some spindly birch trees must be negotiated to score your birdie. Just beyond the basket is a rusting hulk of what might be a ’47 Ford sedan. If you circle around a new path is emerging that will take you up to what soon will be hole 16.

At the time of this posting the basket is in place, the fairway is rough cut but needs some serious log removal, and there is no tee boxes, just a hint from some blue tags in a nearby tree.

Coming soon will be a big downhill swoop of a hole for seventeen, then a technical twisting par four for a finishing hole that will lead back toward the clubhouse and first tee.