Course in Saco Maine

[Tyler Cass]

I've heard there is one opening in Saco, Maine today at 9:00 A.M. Anyone else know anything about this.

[Tyler Cass]

Fun course. Very open, with two holes completely in the woods and a bunch holes that utilize various pockets of trees around the course. Pretty Rolling farmland. Wind could be a huge factor. Holes rand from very short to 750 ft. Most between 175-325 it seemed. As my control with my driver is suspect, it was nice to have the chance to let it rip ( consenquences for a miss-shot are not so badon most holes).

[Mike Connell]

Any other details, Tyler?

Private land? Public park? Easy to follow layout? Kind of tees? Directions how to get there?

Thanks...--Mike

[isaac]

ya directions would be key!

[Tyler Cass]

It's on Boom Road( #419 I think. ) in Saco, which is off of Rt. 1. I would give better directions, but would most likely confuse you more than help. Mapquest I guess.

Private land. 4$ per round/8 per day. Ths layout is for the most part easy to navigate. I got turned around once or twice, but no big deal. Signs with hole details and distance at every tee. No tee pads yet. Field has recently been hayed so I wouldn't wear Teva's.

Only been open 3 days, so I'm sure there will be changes. With current lay-out pro scores would most likely range from 46-53.

I'm happy to answer other questions

[Mike Connell]

Thanks, Tyler.

We'll have to get up there and check it out.

--Mike

[boomer]

Thanks again for all the feedback tyler. The course is open seven days a week and is approx 4 miles off the saco exit (36). Beautifully designed course. contact info for the course is boomfield05@aol.com or P.O.Box 471 Saco,ME 04072. Anyone can contact me directly, my name is Robert Brooks

P.S. 49 is the best round yet 8)

[boomer]

The course is still under construction. A new clubhouse will be built by 2006 season. tea signs and baskets are up. We are using grass teepads for the time being and are staying away from the conventional concrete pads. I hope to have rubber pads or fly pads or some variation in there for next season. A fall league and tourneys are soon to be scheduled.

[isaac]

Thanks Robert! I will be there soon. Hope to see you there.

[boomer]

No prob joshua! Hope to see you soon.

[poz]

I played the course for the first time yesterday - quite fun, and I'll definitely go back. However, there are a few flaws that I think could be worked on to make it far better. Here are a few observations:

1. First and foremost, hole 9 has to go. There is no reason to have a 125' hole right in front of you with no obstacles. I would rather play a 17 hole course than waste my time throwing my putter over by the pin and picking it up. There is nothing remotely interesting or challenging about it.

2. Hole 7 is a bit of a drag, as you have a pretty long walk to get there, then once you get there it's also not a very interesting hole. I forget the distance, but it's another one to just chuck your putter under the pin and keep moving. I felt like it was a weak hole to begin with, and to have to walk that far to play it made it worse.

3. Holes 4-6. The crusher hole 4 is a blast, and the other 2 are decent shots, but the signs need to be updated to make it more clear where they all go. After throwing my first drive on 4 I assumed the basket was the one not too far away, but in fact it's way back in the corner. It took me a while of walking around to figure it all out, and others I talked to had the same problem. Better signs can easily fix that.

4. In general, there's a little too much hiking between holes. There are a bunch of holes in addition to the ones mentioned which are pretty fun, but could use some more distance to make them challenging. It seems to me that with some re-design, the distance spent walking between holes could somehow be used to lengthen holes and reduce the amount of walking.

5. Too many tight righty hyzer shots. I'm not just bitching because I'm a lefty. In fact, I can't wait to play some more rounds, as it's going to finally force me to get a really good 150' flick. But I think I recall 3 holes that had a really hard turn to the left - all being just about the exact same drive. So if you play 3 rounds in a day, you've made that same drive 9 times, which isn't very interesting. It's a shot that should definitely be there, but not on 3 separate holes.

6. Some of the tees were in really bad spots, where the ground is tilted too much, or there's a big hump at the front of the tee box. I'm sure with time this will improve. Also, hole #4's tee needs to move forward, or have more room behind it cleared so you can get a decent run up for the 700' crush.


But all in all, it's a fantastic new addition to Maine's courses! It's great to have a more open course where we can work on the big pokes, as well as judging distances to a wide open pin, which is always tricky if you're used to playing in the woods.


I played poorly and shot a 51 - I'd think low to mid 40's will be typical pro scores. I kept track on each hole of what my score would be if I hit a solid drive, and my "perfect game" would be a 37. Every hole can be 2'd, with hole 4 being a very tough 3, so adding some distance to some of the holes could bring that total up higher and make it even more enjoyable.

[boomer]

Well thank you very much for the critique. All feedback is welcome. You'll be happy to know we have already stretched the course out another 200 feet, but you will not see it untill our teepads are in and level. Thank you for the email you sent out to all your players pozz.
But, as you can figure we just started out. We put together a fairly quick design that we thought would work to get us open as soon as we could.
Number 2's teebox is going to be moved back about 20 feet and number 3's 30 feet. Number 1 is being moved back around the corner towards the parking area about 10 feet. Also, as you can imagine better tee signs will come with time, but the ones we have now function well enough (hole #, par, distance, short description).
We added two O.B.'s on #16 as well. The best score so far is dr. Doug with a 47, and scott mallar with a 48. As for #9!!! We had lightning strike and drop a tree right into where the fairway was going two days before we opened. That is going to be a 175 uphill par 3 in another week or two.
The wind can also play a huge factor as we are basically right on the ocean. I cannot see anyone shooting lower than 45 or 44. Definitely not 37...lol. That would be all 2's and a 3. Impossible. Thanks again and please visit us again. I would love to throw a round or two together.
Robert Brooks

[Dave White]

boom field is one of the nicest properties around for disc golf.
Still a little rough but its just a couple of weeks old.
You can stand on the tee to hole 17 and almost see the whole course.
easy location close to portland this course has huge potential.
worth the trip to play.
dave

[poz]

Yes, this place is fantastic. I hope I didn't come across as too critical - there were tons of things I loved about it that I didn't take the time to mention. I was more concerned with just throwing out some of the flaws I saw in hopes that over time some of them get addressed. All courses seem to evolve, and I'm sure this one will.

Oh, and for the record - I shot a 48 the day after Dr. Doug was there - I'll be back for my 46 or better real soon...

[poz]

"I cannot see anyone shooting lower than 45 or 44. Definitely not 37"


No, I'm sure it'll never happen, but it's technically possible. All but one of those holes are very possible to deuce, and the other will be 3'd soon enough, if it hasn't already. So a "perfect game" for me would be a 37. As a point of reference, a perfect game at Enman would be 45, and 51 is as close as I've been able to come.

But if we're shooting 47/48 the first couple times on the course, you can be sure the scores will drop quite a few strokes from there. Although the added distance you speak of should also help with that.

[Matt Stroika]

44 or 45 will definitely happen. With teepads it would happen within a month.

I shot a 50 (49 if you dont play 2m rule) and I missed several putts. My 10 y/o son Matthew did end up shooting in the 70's with a nice round of 79.

Nice course Robert it was a lot of fun and fairly easy to follow along. I will definitely play Boom Field again.

[boomer]

Thank you again for stopping Matt. We just got a good deal of mowing done today, but the wind picked up and my two rounds today were 57 and 50. I have shot 3 50's now, but I just cant get those putts to fall. I am excited to hold the tourney on October 15, because I want to see one of these low scores happen. 47 is still the best. I thought I had a chance tonight with my 24 front nine, but the 26 back did me no justice. Your son is a great young player. I hope you both get a chance to come out and play in Boom Field's innaugural tournament. We may be lengthening two holes before the tourney. Not sure yet. Teepads are coming next season, along with a clubhouse and paved drive. We should have new tee signs of some sort before the tourney as well. Thanks again. Robert

[Jeff Prendergast]

I read on the mainediscgolfer site that there is a league at Boom on Tuesdays. Couldn't figure out what time. Does anyone know the format or what time they tee off? I'm close enough this week that I might shoot up there. (pun intended)

[jim tufts]

^ League is over for 2011. It just ended about a week and a half ago. It's an all-day league where you just have to play with another shooting league that day. A decent crew of us usually shoot for 4:30. It will start back up again around 4.19.12, end in July and second session starts immediately and ends late Sept.

Edit: wow. Aug 1st... thought you posted Oct 1st.

[Steve Solbo]

^ League is over for 2011. It just ended about a week and a half ago. It's an all-day league where you just have to play with another shooting league that day. A decent crew of us usually shoot for 4:30. It will start back up again around 4.19.12, end in July and second session starts immediately and ends late Sept.

Edit: wow. Aug 1st... thought you posted Oct 1st.

ME rules.

[Bobby Direnzo]

^ League is over for 2011. It just ended about a week and a half ago. It's an all-day league where you just have to play with another shooting league that day. A decent crew of us usually shoot for 4:30. It will start back up again around 4.19.12, end in July and second session starts immediately and ends late Sept.

Edit: wow. Aug 1st... thought you posted Oct 1st.

ME rules.

2Xs.

[BrendanJohnson]

I can vouch for most of em.

[Rick Berry]

Is the couse open in the winter? We are heading up to Wells in a few weeks and have heard great things about the course.