Burge
June 26th, 2011, 11:13 AM
Has anyone ever heard of this course? It's been around for a few years now, but seems to be outside the radar. Located on the north end of San Juan island, just outside of Roche Harbor on Rouleau Road, it's worth the drive if you happen to be visiting the San Juans, but might be a little out of the way for the average mainlander. Plus, the $60 ferry ticket (+$12 for each additional passenger) from Anacortes is a bit much, but the islands are gorgeous and the return trip is free. It's been almost a year since I was there last, but I'm going there again in about three weeks. When I first played the course, about four years ago, it was only 9 holes. However, when I was there last year, the local club was in the process of expanding to 18 holes, so it should be done by now.
The best word to use to describe the course is...enchanting. A equal combination of open field and heavily wooded forest offer a diverse collection of technically challenging holes, although there are only a few holes that are over 350' and none over 400' -- not surprising, since the course looks to be about 40 acres. Some of the tees have pads and some are 'natural', but all of the baskets are Innovas. Even the open fairways are tough since they may include haystack-sized bramble thickets, 3-foot deep grass, or massive spruce trees -- all of which will swallow your disc and never give it back. The parts of the course that wind through the forest are equally, if not more, challenging with well protected baskets and tight fairways. Many of these have amazing 'benches' carved from fallen logs and large branches that are truly works of art. Some of the forest holes are so 'low-impact', that there is hardly a trail from the teepad to the basket. A newcomer to the course might find it a bit confusing to follow the winding trails, as there is no map and not enough signage, but that may be remedied by now.
At any rate, I plan to take pictures of the course while I'm there and maybe even sketch up a map to post back here after I return.
Check back in about a month.:D
The best word to use to describe the course is...enchanting. A equal combination of open field and heavily wooded forest offer a diverse collection of technically challenging holes, although there are only a few holes that are over 350' and none over 400' -- not surprising, since the course looks to be about 40 acres. Some of the tees have pads and some are 'natural', but all of the baskets are Innovas. Even the open fairways are tough since they may include haystack-sized bramble thickets, 3-foot deep grass, or massive spruce trees -- all of which will swallow your disc and never give it back. The parts of the course that wind through the forest are equally, if not more, challenging with well protected baskets and tight fairways. Many of these have amazing 'benches' carved from fallen logs and large branches that are truly works of art. Some of the forest holes are so 'low-impact', that there is hardly a trail from the teepad to the basket. A newcomer to the course might find it a bit confusing to follow the winding trails, as there is no map and not enough signage, but that may be remedied by now.
At any rate, I plan to take pictures of the course while I'm there and maybe even sketch up a map to post back here after I return.
Check back in about a month.:D