FDR - New Holes and Pads

Dave Meltzer · Post by **Dave Meltzer** » Mon Nov 05, 2007 9:35 am

For those of you who have not played FDR for some time, there have been changes afoot. The front nine has been reconfigured and new tee pads have sprung up all over the course. Here is a synopsis of the changes.

The first change comes at Hole 3. Remember pin-ball alley. GONE [Sorry Yondo]. Although I liked old Hole 3, it was fairly redundant of hole 16. Old Hole 4 is now New Hole 3 - with a twist. The dreaded tee pad with the huge rock is no more. The new tee pad has been moved up about 20 feet. It's a much fairer three, with much better footing on the tee. Save a stroke and a sprained ankle on the same hole.

After Hole 4 [old five], the course continues out the back end of the hole to New 5. This is a great hole, with the most elevation change on the course. The hole plays downhill through a tight fairway to a hole near the lake. Lefties and righty flicks beware of the gully on the right hand side of the course. It's a do-able approach from there, but it's not pretty. If you through straight and true, you can secure the bird.

New 6 is a little Birdie Hole that plays through a Buzzy's type woods. Unfortunately, the Parks Department did not like the tee placement on the path, and it was moved. To my thinking, the new tee is less than optimal, and a better solution should be made. Then again, what do I know. You may not birdie this hole, but you shouldn't bogie.

New 7 is a Bitch. You throw across a swamp to a hole that bends down and to the right. If your a lefty with a chicken arm -like me, this hole can be diabolical. After the stone wall, there is a significant gully on the right that will eat up shorter discs. Swamp, ditch and plenty of trees, what more could a golfer want. Thanks for the swamp bridge Bill and Daver.

New 9. New nine plays to Old 9's basket, but comes at it from a different vector. Where old nine played out of a swamp, with some tree hitting opportunities, New 9 is more of a straight out bomb. The tee is a little to the right of where Old 8's tee was. Crush it down the field, bend it around the tree, and claim your prize.

PADS: While not all pads are up and running, there are many scattered around the course. Among my personal favorites are new pads at Ten [always swampy and muddy] and 18 [roots, roots and roots.] The pads appear to have a well constructed base, with a bolted down fly pad. I also noted that the areas around the pads have been re-seeded. Nice.

CONGRATS: After playing Cranberry this past fall, I realized what a good redesign could be. The New FDR plays a little tougher, but is a rewarding experience. The tee pads will take mud out of the equation and should help on those drives. Good Work Bill.

MEL

matt jackson · Post by **matt jackson** » Mon Nov 05, 2007 11:37 am

I've played it and it's quite nice. Great job Bill, Daver & crew.

By the way Mel, do you need an automatic weapon to play prospect park?
Do you get a meter off dead bodies? (just joshin, used to live near there, i'm sure it's all good)

Dave Meltzer · Post by **Dave Meltzer** » Mon Nov 05, 2007 1:22 pm

Matt: No automatic weapon is required to play in Prospect Park. You must be under a rock someplace as Brooklyn has become Hotter than Hot. Rather than a gun, you may just need a stick to scare off all the Yuppie MILFS.

MEL

Josh Polur · Post by **Josh Polur** » Mon Nov 05, 2007 2:04 pm

"New 6 is a little Birdie Hole that plays through a Buzzy's type woods. Unfortunately, the Parks Department did not like the tee placement on the path, and it was moved. To my thinking, the new tee is less than optimal, and a better solution should be made. Then again, what do I know. You may not birdie this hole, but you shouldn't bogie."

Mel, I agree. Rather BLAH, sorry I mean really BLAH, and yes, another option should be looked at. A short dog leg left.....cute but in no way original.

Move the basket back or a new tee spot. Unless the R in FDR stands for righty but I doubt that.

NO...it is not a lefty thing, well maybe it is but...

Bill Newman · Post by **Bill Newman** » Mon Nov 05, 2007 4:44 pm

mtm23 · Post by **mtm23** » Mon Nov 05, 2007 5:16 pm

Great job on the redesign; I checked it out this past weekend. Mel's right, it does provide a welcome bump to the difficulty of the front nine. Think about what the new holes are replacing:

Old hole 3: sometimes annoying but short and relatively easy if you didn't play lumberjack by throwing as hard as possible.

Old hole 6: a fun downhill shot killed by the dead tree, but not very difficult.

Old hole 8: easy open shot across the field.

In their place, we've got:

The new 5: Great hole, very interesting. Doesn't seem super tough, but I wouldn't call it easy. As mentioned above, straight shot from the tee for about 50-75 ft. to a narrow, wooded fairway that drops pretty sharply then levels off to the basket, and behind the basket a bunch of brush, saplings, and the lake. It's pick your poison if you miss the fairway: lots of trees of all sizes as you descend to the left of the fairway, and on the right what appear to be partially excavated mines. The rusted OPEN TRENCH sign sitting in one of the big holes isn't kidding. Should be a fun hole to figure out.

New 6: I have to second what was written above: this hole's just not that interesting. It's pretty short, and there don't appear to be too many different ways to play it. That part of the park has promise, though--maybe if the hole were a bit longer. I'd say it's about on the difficulty level of old holes 3 or 6, though.

New 7: This one's a bit tougher. Takes you back the other way across the big gulch you cross in new hole 4 (old hole 5), throwing over that foul, stinkweed-filled swamp left of the rockwall as seen approaching new hole 4's basket. You have to throw over the gulch--if you sink it in the swamp, you take a nostalgic drop from old hole 6's tee. The basket is across the gulch and down to the right, maybe 10-15 ft. uphill from the dead tree, with a few trees in front. Have to play this one a few more times to figure out what to do with it, but it'll be good.

New 9: Longer than the old 8 it replaces, and a bit trickier because you're throwing further across the field and then have to contend with that nasty patch of all poison ivy and a couple trees. Not too tough as a three, but harder than 8.

I think it's still tougher, even considering that we avoid hopping from stone to stone on the old hole 9 to avoid the mud before firing directly into the goddamn trees, and that old hole 4's tee is moved up, making it a much fairer 3. The tee pads are a great improvement, too.

Josh Polur · Post by **Josh Polur** » Wed Nov 07, 2007 2:33 pm

Bill,

Your last response to hole 6 appears to be someone sawing a fiddle. How about applying that idea to 6 and making your little ace run hole more interesting.

After all, it is just a matter of moving some flags.

A proud lefty.

Bill Newman · Post by **Bill Newman** » Wed Nov 07, 2007 5:34 pm

Dave Meltzer · Post by **Dave Meltzer** » Wed Nov 07, 2007 7:19 pm

Bill, Quit all the fiddlin about, there's work to be done.

Here is a suggestion for hole #6. Remeber the thicket/tree to right side of the pole hole that I wanted to cut down. How about putting the target through there. That will enable you to [hopefully] place the tee a few feet back from where it is, at a perpendicular to the path. Does this work? Be willing to help move the hole, if needed, to whereever.

TEE PADS ROCK! DOUBLES!! ICE BOWL!!! FDR!!!!

MEL

Matt DeAngelis · Post by **Matt DeAngelis** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 6:53 am

Are there any pictures of the new holes?

Bill Newman · Post by **Bill Newman** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 11:12 am

I'm workin on digital photos of the entire course, as well as a map, scorecards, reinstalling the practice basket, a bridge of sorts for hole 7, tee signs etc..I'll keep ya posted on my progress and be sure to come out on 12-1 to see the progress

Dave Meltzer · Post by **Dave Meltzer** » Sun Nov 11, 2007 9:41 am

Bill: I'll be happy to take photos of the course some time after T'giving, next time I can make it up. Of course, I'll be available for other work as well

MEL

Fred Doot · Post by **Fred Doot** » Wed Nov 28, 2007 4:58 pm

Bill, I had the opportunity to play the course yesterday..love the changes.

I think I kinda miss the old hole 3..no, I don't really miss it. Good for nostalgic sake that we get to walk the fairway en route to the new hole 3 (old 4).

Good placement of the teepad for hole 3 (old 4) although this does make the hole a par 3 and not a tweener as it had been previously (at least at my level).

Hole 4 (old 5) is still an amazing hole..I'm glad that was unchanged.

Love the new 5 (and I plan on acing it one day..)..Great location with a little character to the right of the fairway (which could come into play on certain shots..)

Hole 6 is bland and an obvious filler hole. There's nothing particularly wrong with the hole though..

Looooove the now hole 7 too. I loved the easy but aesthetic old hole 6, but with the behemoth tree down, it's obvious you needed to make the change. You've also kept the gully into play, which is very cool. The swamp just off the tee is deeper than a Pittsburgh field on a Monday night and is problematic for anyone who hits early wood and winds up in it. I'd be happy to volunteer to move a dozen or so of the large rocks from the wall to the left into the swamp to act as stepping stones when retrieving ones' disc. I would have done it yesterday but wanted approval first. I plan on heading up there again on Friday late morning/afternoon if anyone wants to join me. I could also take photos of each of the holes if you'd like..let me know.

New 8 (old 7) remains unchanged and that's good. A well executed shot will earn you the deuce, but you still need to execute to get it.

New 9 is interesting..From a divisional level, I'd define it as:

Pro - a Par 3 with an occasional deuce for the big arms.
Adv. - a relatively easy 3. Few (if any) deuces, and few 4s.
Int. - Probably 60% 4's, with a few 3's in there.

With that in mind, it's a good hole for Pro's and Intermediates, which will show a range of scores, but basically a *must par* for the advanced players..Regardless, I still enjoy the hole.

Also, the new teepads are phenomenal! Thank you thank you thank you for making that happen.

Expect new course records with these teepads over the next year or two. I shot a 65 yesterday, and that was with 4 very-makable but missed putts (my normal inconsistency off drives aside).

Thanks again Bill, and let me know about those stepping stones and photos..

Bill Newman · Post by **Bill Newman** » Wed Nov 28, 2007 5:07 pm

Dooter, thanks for the feedback, and offers to help.......

DO NOT move any rocks.........thnx

Do feel free to take photos of every hole and help me get them onto NYNJ DG dot com, or some other web site....see ya sat. BN

Bill Newman · Post by **Bill Newman** » Mon Dec 03, 2007 11:02 am

so now that 81 new people have played the new FDR front 9.....howabout some more feedback? What did you think?

Matt DeAngelis · Post by **Matt DeAngelis** » Mon Dec 03, 2007 11:22 am

The pads are sick. I finally was able to get off a good drive on 18 and it paid off with a duece run. The pads are top notch and I can't wait until the rest of them are complete.

I doubted the decision to go with fly pads over concrete, but the way the fly pads were installed made up for it. If fly pads are to be installed, that's the way to go. Start out with a solid base of crushed stone and put the pads on that.

Keep it up Newman, see you at Fools Fest.

Stephen Ditter · Post by **Stephen Ditter** » Mon Dec 03, 2007 10:13 pm

Birdy on 18? Do you mean a 3 on a par 4 or hitting a long azz fairway approach for the 2?

-ditterman

Matt DeAngelis · Post by **Matt DeAngelis** » Mon Dec 03, 2007 10:56 pm

Billy and I had a decent look for an approach-run as our second shot.

Bill Dunne · Post by **Bill Dunne** » Mon Dec 15, 2008 12:03 pm

Three big Pine trees, halfway down on the right side of hole 12, were cut down.

It's now an easy hyzer hole.

Bill Newman · Post by **Bill Newman** » Mon Dec 15, 2008 1:40 pm

a mando is going to fix the situation

Karl Molitoris · Post by **Karl Molitoris** » Mon Dec 15, 2008 3:07 pm

Thank god sanity reigns supreme! I've just learned to throw a rhbh anhy and so if you told me you don't have to do that now it would suck.
Keep us honest Bill....

Karl

Bill Newman · Post by **Bill Newman** » Mon Dec 15, 2008 6:33 pm

I'm all about sanity

Bill Newman · Post by **Bill Newman** » Wed Dec 17, 2008 10:24 pm

no ice storm damage at FDR (no ice storm)

Scott Selders · Post by **Scott Selders** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 7:00 am

What are the plans for completing the remaining tee pads at FDR?

Bill Newman · Post by **Bill Newman** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 1:14 pm

the park has all the pads and materials needed. They plan to do it "as soon as they get some time and manpower" Hopefully work will start again in the next few months

Chris Martin · Post by **Chris Martin** » Thu Dec 25, 2008 10:41 am

How much snow is up at FDR right now? I'm thinking about making the drive up tomorrow.

Bill Newman · Post by **Bill Newman** » Thu Dec 25, 2008 12:07 pm

prolly 4-6 inches on the ground, less and less as the temp stays over 40 and the sun is shinin'

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WBHuber · Post by **WBHuber** » Wed Apr 29, 2009 11:32 am

Bill -

Let me know when you guys are planning a workday to set up the new teepads and materials.

By the way, in early April, I took photos of every hole from a tee standpoint, except for the 15th hole, and they are now posted in the discgolfcoursereview website (aw shucks! The NEFA website wouldn't let me post the URL since I'm a day-old subscriber) -

Go to world wide web dot discgolfcoursereview dot com and enter FDR State Park in the search textbox.

There was a pork roast picnic going on at Hole#15 and they were using the tee sign/post as the coat hanger. I was a bit miffed, but threw a disc from the teepad anyway - what a mediocre shot I ever had in months :evil:

. No worries because the tee post looks good last Sunday when I went in for a round.

Looking forward to hearing more from you guys.

Regards,
Bill

Bill Newman · Post by **Bill Newman** » Wed Apr 29, 2009 1:09 pm

here is the link:

http://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.ph ... 55&mode=ci

thanks Bill they look good! could you take more? like say 1/2 the way down each fairway, then of the basket areas? lemme know

we hope to start finishing the tees with the parks help in a a month or so..I'll get the word out

thanks again BN

Sjur Soleng · Post by **Sjur Soleng** » Mon Jun 13, 2011 12:49 pm

Hit Chains off the tee on Hole 7 yesterday! Strong side...didnt stick...got the 2. Old school leopard!

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