I am pleased to announce the grand opening of River Chase Golf Club in union SC. This will be a big boy, Par 71 coming in at 12,900 ft. # 21 for fly 18....The opening will be this weekend sunday nov 28th at high noon tee times till 1:00.The course will have 3 sets of tees on each hole.The course has lots to offer ,like golf carts, pro shop, bar and food with his and hers showers and bathrooms.The course has its own hotel on site,ideal for destination golf. The staff is awsome, and is excited about disc golf. I want to thank Adam Wright, for his work to make this happen .This is the towns first disc golf, and they are very supportive of the course.The address is 459 fairwood blvd union SC 29379 pro shop 864-427-3055 Matt is the contact there.The opening will be only $10 with cart min 2 players per cart, first come, first serve.Walking will be $6 this is a special price for opening day.

For info on this event, you can contact, either Adam, or myself reese 714-235-0100 adam 864-557-2523

Come and enjoy 1 awsome experience Fly style...

Game on!!!!!

Opens at noon, tee-times until 1:00? A rather tight window, isn't that?

if it weren't for the facts that i'm in the home stretch of a brutal semester, broke and about 10-12 hours away, i'd definitely be there!

after about 10 years of working on getting courses on ball golf courses, i think this will prove to be the one that really puts fly-18 on the map! congratulations, reese, on landing this phenomenal property for a disc golf course. i cannot wait to play there in competition in 2011!

Perhaps, but this course has the drawback of being at least an hour from any significant population center---and those population centers have very good, free courses. It could succeed, but does start with that handicap.

i've heard that same argument made about the idgc

reese, please POST PICTURES!!!
thank you


p.s. dr. fred's?

i've heard that same argument made about the idgc



No comparison. IDGC is near Augusta, not a huge metropolis but a big-enough city with a thriving disc golf community. Union is much more remote, population- and discgolfer-wise.

Yes to Dr. Fred's.

It's an impressive piece of land. I played yesterday, and am also awaiting posting of photos.

Besides the white Dr. Fred baskets, were you required to only throw white discs or are they the only color in the shop? Unless that's changed, it's part of Reese's theory on how the sport gains more respect - white equipment.

the white disc requirement (also the 14 disc limit) were abandoned about five minutes after he suggested them.

i'd bet the dr. fred's were a logistical decision and i'm very disappointed to hear that. those baskets have their good points, but overall i think they've had their fifteen minutes of fame and need to be divvied up and relegated to back yard practice baskets.

This was my first introduction to Dr. Fred's. I putted so poorly I generally missed the whole thing but, when I hit it, I wasn't impressed. They'll suffice, I guess.

This was a "rush job"---as I understand it, the plan to put a course on this property is about a month old. Reese saw the property, designed the course, and put in the baskets in 2 days. It no doubt has some tweaks ahead of it.

There were no unique rules and it wasn't an organized event; just 25 or 30 players from around the state meeting up to play casual and check it out. Which we did. I'd like to eavesdrop on the local (ball) golfers afterwards to find out what they made of all those guys throwing frisbees on their golf course.

reese, please POST PICTURES!!!
thank you




Someone's done so at

http://www.dgcoursereview.com/media.php?id=4291&mode=media&view=&hole=&page=1

thanks for the link. certainly looks like it'll be a fun venue to spectate for the big dogs. it looks a lot less technically challenging than i'd heard, though :(

The course will be tweaked.

The two guys the own the golf course have been friends of mine for 15 years and I put Fly-18 and them together the week after the USDGC this year.

Plans were to have Mach V baskets and a little over a week to put the course together. Things happened and plans had to be changed.

If the course decides to go with Fly Pads, as I believe it will, it will allow for some nice changes to what we see now.

I believe this is one of those courses that will grow slowly and with the tinkering that will be done, the course will become a destination in a couple of years from now...it just take some time to get there.

thanks for the link. certainly looks like it'll be a fun venue to spectate for the big dogs. it looks a lot less technically challenging than i'd heard, though :(

Much less. On a calm day I could play with 3 or 4 discs, provided I kept them out of the ponds.

BUT.....in the installation rush, the only option for tees were flags marking spots on the cart path. Which, coupled with the principle of 1-disc-golf hole for each ball-golf-hole, is rather limiting. Installation of flypads will allow much more creativity and challenge (which I hope is how it plays out).

The hills are probably much bigger than you imagine looking at the pictures, and a few baskets are on pretty fast greens. Some require approaches over O.B. greens or bunkers, not terribly close to the basket but enough to penalize a flubbed shot.

I talked with Reese this morning and will talk with him later today. A few changes have been made. Some basket location were moved and some of the tees have been moved.

I'll be out there Christmas Day and/or the 26th. I'll take a bunch of pictures from each tee and at the basket looking back toward tees and post at DGcoursereview.com. After that walk through where the goal will be to best determine locations, I'll get with Reese and the course owners about making some changes.

I believe this will become a great place to play.

Already my review's out of date!

Sigh.

Dear Owners, Designers, Sales, and Grounds keepers:

Good job with the course... Too bad you didn't ask the course owners 10 years ago. ah, better late than never.. Glad I came and glad I got to see some familiar faces.

My 2 cents worth on my experience.

I'm not sure of the concept of playing 18 holes along the 18 hole ball course. It seems to me that there were some missed opportunities with the design because of this. Since you can play a disc golf hole in half the time it takes to play a ball golf hole, I'd like to see possibly the entire 18 hole disc golf course on either the front 9 or back 9 of the ball course. This way you could have 2 disc holes for every 1 ball course hole.. There's a reason it takes 4 hours to play ball golf and 2 hours to play disc golf. I realize the course was put together in 2 days which is amazing in itself and I had no problem with any of the holes or design. However, since I only throw 325 max, I found that it was mostly driver,driver,driver,putter,putter. I don't remember throwing very many mid ranges..or (hitting a 7 iron) It would be nice to have at leat 2 holes that you feel that you MUST BIRDIE...Example: hole 1 at the USDGC. I believe the shortest hole was 288? followed by 305? I also realize this course wasn't built for me and my level, that it's intended for much bigger arms. With that said, I shot an 80.

When we built our course, we started by finding the best holes the property offered, then built holes in between to connect the dots. Fortunately, we've been able to change things for improvement over time. It looks like you will have the same luxury which should make this course one of South Carolina's best. Thanks for the invite on Sunday.

Chris Sauls
Visit us online at www.saulsinsuance.com/stoneyhill

Hey Chris.

Fly-18 has a very specific style they work with. This is my first experience with Fly-18. After talking with the owners of River Chase, I felt it worth bringing the two parties together.

Having known the owners of River Chase for 15 years and having played Disc Golf on the course as well over the years, there is a lot of merit in your suggestions. With that being said, some alterations have been made since Sunday. I haven't been back out but I will be out there Christmas weekend and I look forward to seeing the changes.

As far as birdie holes, I felt one of the par 5s and several of the par fours were birdie holes...just not par 3 birdie holes.

Maybe I should have said " no ace runs" for arms like myself. I don't have any problem with the par 72 and 13000' layout as long as the designer's commitment is to find the best 18 holes the property has to offer. (And trust me, this property has at least *36 signature holes or diamonds in the rough). Honestly, I could care less where a course is located , it's surroundings if the layout is a top 10. I've played some great courses in some very shady areas and enjoyed every minute of it. But that's just me, and others may feel different.

I'm still amazed at the job Reese did getting the course installed in 2 days...and that includes putting the baskets in the ground. Unbelievable!


FYI. The baskets were fine by me. I didn't have any putts bounce out of the chains.

Out of curiousity, how busy is River Chase with (ball) golfers? What days/times is it relatively uncrowded?

We had it to ourselves on the front 9 on Opening Day, which was great because it avoided one of the big drawbacks to playing on a ball golf course---ball golfers. I don't know when or if I'll get back but, if I do, when is the course most empty?

It's just my two cents (and probably overpriced at that!) but I agree that the layout will need major revisions over time. While there were plenty of good holes and no bad holes, it will need to be "great", not just "good", to draw players from far away and entice them to pay to play. Fortunately, the property has the potential for greatness.

Kudos for all the work to get this started, and in the ground, and best wishes going forward.

Well well well time to chime in...Just back from sc last night.Let me give you a little info on the project.The course was brought to my attention by Adam that did have a course
owned by his friends.It did have its share of concerns from its location and size.The owners were awsome to work with and that made my decision along with its potential.We looked at the events in north and south carolina and only this weekend was an option to do a grand opening on sunday not to compete aginst college football on saturday.I was to fly out saturday 1 week before the opening family stuff came into the picture and could not go till wendsday.This also lost all my workers that could have helped on design and install.I arrived in chicago at 11;30 got stuck in utah for 4 hrs was to be there at 7;30.rented a truck drove to hammond indiana to pick up the baskets got there at 2;00 am.It was raining and 35 degrees.I slept till 7am loaded all the baskets and left at 9am then drove 7 hrs on thanksgiving in the rain got there at 11 14 hr drive.......Woke up at 7 am to start design friday.I had 60 hrs to opening day sunday at 12. Putting in flypads was not an option at this time.Normaly I go over the design 3 times before I dig this was not possible here.I only had 1 day of design because baskets needed to be poured on saturday.I did hire an employee for 1 half day to dig the holes.some holes were dug that were not the location they were to be.I had flagged the course but after the 2nd go round some flage were not removed and he dug what he thought was the right location.I was following 5 holes behind pouring all 18 baskets before sunset at 5. When I relized the problem the augar was on tis way back to ace hardware and the employee was gone home.I had to work with what I had knowing I was not to leave untill the changes were made. After leaving yeaterday 80% of the changes were made and I feel better on the design.Some of the holes were not the right distance that was my fault for not removing old flags from the first walk through.This course will be awsome when finished to specs..As far as putting 2 holes on 1 golf hole wont work for golf...After 21 courses and 11 years under my belt I have a working business plan that works for both to be sucessfull.If you played from the blue tees and can only throw 325 you were in for a lot of boggies.The course now has 3 sets of tees blue 12,646 white 9,708 yellow 8,301..The course has a hotel on site 20 rooms for $40 a night you can drive you cart to your room and play in the morning cards and beer.It also has a locker room with his and hers showers.and his and hers bathroom.A huge deck to watch and big banquet room with deer head to top it off...I am happy this is aLMOST DONE...I did my best with the time I had it will only get better...The pro shop will be done next week rentals and new discs...This course will be $12 with cart $8 walking weekday and weekend.I do have some big plans for next year I will release the days and format in dec. I want to thank all the players for giving this course a chance and enjoy the experience...

I am open for ideas to make this course as great as possible...


vision purpose

fly 18

building a better place to play and showcase our athletes.
God Bless



sorry for the lack of puncitation........and spellin

River Chase's busiest day of the week is normally Sundays with most players arriving between 11-1:00. Saturday afternoons are a great day to play.

Thanks, Adam & Reese.

We realize that it was a "rush job" and incomplete,and certain to be tweaked and improved after Opening Day. And that we were playing long tees designed for bigger arms.

That's certainly a reasonable rate for golf with a cart.

Hate to sidetrack, but I'm curious why 2 disc golf holes on 1 ball golf hole won't work. If you've got 1200' of fairway, two 600' disc golf holes, with a basket & tee about halfway down the ball golf fairway but tucked off into the fringe, would play about the same amount of time and pace as one 1200' hole. (Or an 800' & 400', or 950' & 250', or whatever).

Flow of play.. What would you think as a golfer, playing behind them?????? We do play quicker, but to tee of 2wice on 1 hole, we would play a par 6 min, to there par 4 or 5. I also want to play mono mono with a golfer, and the par, and score, are the same.We must fit in to be accepted.It may work on a par 5 where you teed early and then again 3/4 the way down so they cant hit you on thier first shot but that is only 3 holes..

Thanks. I hadn't considered a disc golfer and a ball golfer playing together. (Nor would I in the design....but it's not my ballgame)

Not convinced on the pace-of-play, though. I've played courses where 2 holes are combined into one long one, and the pace is hardly different. Having a disc golfer tee off 400' down the fairway seems little different than having him take his 2nd or 3rd fairway shot from there, in the eyes of a ball golfer behind him. But---it's not my ballgame.

Thanks for the explanation of the reasoning behind it.

Reese, if by design, are your intentions are for a ball golfer and disc golfer to tee at the same time and play along side each other? Why is that so great? That concept would seem to work on a busy golf course where they have tee times all day long and the disc golfer would need to work there way in with them, but I would assume that 9 out of 10 times you play disc golf at River Chase, you will be able to walk up and start playing without having to wait for ball golfers to show up so you can tee beside them. I'm not complaining, just trying to get a better understanding. I guess I'm just a fast impatient player and this concept doesn't work for me. I quit playing ball golf b/c of the expense and the fact it took all day to play. Once again, I'm sure I'm in the minority.

River Chase is a course that during the Spring and early Fall can become extremely busy on Saturdays and Sunday and some days during the week. Back when I lived in that community and worked at the course in exchange for free green fees and cart fees, there were days that all carts were on the course by 10am Sunday morning and with walkers the course was full.

The economy in Union has been hit harder than most. Their unemployment spiked at 20 percent about a year ago and is still higher than the state average and much higher than the national average.

Anyway...the course will be busy in the spring and fall and playing inline with golfers makes sense.

I do think doing 18 holes on the front and 18 on the back would be awesome and there is more than enough area to pull off an awesome design doing that, it just isn't in the plans for the course right now.

i'll vouch for the concept of ball golfers and disc golfers playing together. i 2001, i played a round with reese and two of my buddies on a temporary disc/ball course in michigan. the other two played ball golf. we played a team match using the total score from one ball golfer and one disc golfer on each hole. on almost every hole we finished putting our discs just in time to walk onto the green and watch the other guys putt. my buddies were unfamiliar with disc golf and enjoyed watching us throw, particularly on a couple 600 ft+ roller shots. that still stands as one of my most enjoyable rounds of golf ever. (of course it helps that it was on my favorite disc golf course i've ever played.)

also, i used to play disc while my dad played ball golf on the sarasota golf club.

generally, disc golfers play a bit quicker and need to be mindful of their etiquette when they catch up with groups of ball golfers. MOST ball golfers are curious and friendly to disc golfers, UNLESS they have experienced rude disc golfers. we will always be guests in their house and have to behave with respect if we wish to remain.

It just seems like it would be a rare thing. Disc golf on the ball golf course is a challenge to make work....but of the disc golfers I know who are likely to play it, I'd bet 98% of the time they wouldn't be playing in a group with ball golfers. In between ball golf foursomes, maybe, but rarely together. Why compromise design for that 2% occurence?

On second thought, I know at least one person who might try to play ball golf and disc golf simultaneously.

And even if they're riding together and enjoying the company together, it would seem that two disc golf holes on one ball golf hole would work, if cleverly designed.

BUT I've never tried this, so I could be wrong....and I leave it to the folks who are actually doing the work. I'm just always curious about course design, and the concepts behind it.

We are a golfer we fill a time slot every 7 to 10 min golf .has a tee time for 1 or 5 player.This is like a plane taking off with empty seats an emptyseat does not eat or drink and does not cost the plane anymore to fly with them on board.Playing with a golfer is an option you are not forced to play with them unless you cant get on and a 3 some of golfers has an open spot and you want to play with them.Most all my courses are blue collar and have plenty of open spots a crouded course would not work for us or them..Forget about what equiptment you came with you are a golf coustomer playing and paying for the privillage. i know i need spell check.There are many ways to divide the pie this is just my slice of heaven..


We will end up where it started..

Reese,

I'll get off the subject for a minute and thank you for taking your holiday vacation time to come and install a new course within an hour from where I live. It's always great to have options and now I have one more. Have a great weekend and get you a spell checkkkerrr. jk

chris

Would an ice bowl in jan or feb be a good Idea if so what month or date will work.

An ice bowl might be a great idea because few are done around here.

You can check the PDGA schedule, of course, and the state organization, which lists sanctioned and non-sanctioned events, for open dates. (State site is www.scdgo.net). Probably a good idea to check the Charlotte website for icebowl information as well (www.charlotttedgc.com).

Traditionally there aren't a lot of events around here in January or February. One note is that the Earlewood Classic may split into two weekends, with one probably being the last weekend in February.

why would they be splitting the earlewood classic?

why would they be splitting the earlewood classic?

Because demand has been so great. It has filled ever-increasingly fast, to about 4 minutes last year. There is some sentiment that an event people can't get in unless they can be on the internet, ready to enter their information as the strike of noon, needs to make more room.

At a club meeting it was decided to go to two weekends. More importantly, some people offered to do the work to go to two weekends. I think the plan was a Pro/Advanced weekend on the traditional first of March, and an Intermediate/Below separate weekend, presumably the last one in February.

Which is not to say that WILL happen, or happen that way, only that it MAY. Something someone scheduling an ice bowl for January or February should be aware of.

*

Which brings us back from the thread drift to---

I just received notice of an Ice Bowl January 8 in Easley. Scratch that weekend from River Chase's potential Ice Bowl dates as well.

The Boiling Springs Ice Bowl is the first weekend in Feb, the 5th

I love disc golf courses on ball golf courses!
Keep up the good work.
I have played with ball golfers at Old English, IN.
It's great and amazingly very comparable in speed of
play.

The theory is as Reece has stated - every 7-10 minutes someone is
teeing off. If someone is not teeing off the course is losing
potential income. This should help our cause.

Keep up the good work.

How does this place compare to the course at Crestwood Golf Club in Denmark, SC?

I haven't played Crestwood. The only person I've spoken to who's played both says Crestwood's layout is better. But he only played it in a tournament; the reviews indicate Crestwood has not been maintained, and it has reviewed much lower (1.5) than River Chase (3.0).

They are similar in that they're both located near pretty small towns with no disc golf scene, and an hour or so away from population centers. However, within an hour or so drive River Chase has more cities with disc golfers, so a better chance to draw players; and River Chase's terrain has much more potential for disc golf.

I'll definitely have to try it out.
I'm in SC a couple of times a year visiting the wife's family; she visits, I throw.
Your course also looks very interesting to me.
The next time we're in-state I'll try to hit it, as well.

Cool. If you play River Chase & Stoney Hill on the same day, you'll definitely appreciate the golf carts at the former!

What part of SC are you avoiding inlaws---uh, visiting---regularly?

Aiken.
We make the trip from San Antonio every Spring Break and usually at least 1 other trip during the year.
I was pleasantly surprised to find the wealth of courses within reasonable driving distance the first time I went with my then-girlfriend to meet her family several years ago.
Now, by the time we drive from San Antonio, I play multiple rounds 5 or 6 days in a row, then drive back to San Antonio, I need a vacation to recover from the vacation.

Of course, the Augusta area has enough fine courses to occupy you during your stay. But you can make a nice loop to include Earlewood (Columbia), Crooked Creek (Chapin), and Stoney Hill (Newberry), then back---all fine courses. Perhaps slighly over an hour from Aiken, the courses 30 minutes apart, and slightly over an hour back.

River Chase is another hour beyond them.