Burlington, Ma (Simonds Park)

[Nat Fairbanks]

All the alternate/B/white (what's the official name for them?) tees are in, including hole one. No wood chips yet, but that's not a big deal to me. My only concern is on hole 6 the alternate tee makes it real easy to over drive it onto the street and the brush cutting done on the fairway for regular 6 cut down what would have been some of the potential backstop. Still a great 9 hole course and with 18 tees it's hard to imagine it much better in the same space.

-Nat

[Justin Anderson]

Still a great 9 hole course and with 18 tees it's hard to imagine it much better in the same space.

-Nat

Thanks Nat. I'll take another look at new 6 and the potential for throwing past. Alan will agree that a way to make it better in the same space is a connector hole between 9 and 1 across the outfield/hillside. I hope to talk them into that as a baseball-off-season-only hole. Luckily I found hole 4 when they shot down the 9 to 1 hole.

As for the names of the tees I'd like to do the traditional red and white layouts but a red tee isn't going to stick out very well until we get the stone dust in there (if ever) so I might not repaint the tees until then. I saw they spray painted A's and B's pointing to some of the tees. That wasn't my idea but whatever.

[Matt Stroika]

As for the names of the tees I'd like to do the traditional red and white layouts but a red tee isn't going to stick out very well until we get the stone dust in there (if ever) so I might not repaint the tees until then. I saw they spray painted A's and B's pointing to some of the tees. That wasn't my idea but whatever.

I hate the spray painting, its really too bad they did this. I also dont like the tee at 4 behind the wire. I just have to ask why I have to look at a wire whilst I throw.

I like the fairway ground clearing that they were doing and many of the new tees.

Its good to see some love going into this course over the past couple of months.

[Justin Anderson]

Thank you so much to everyone playing at Simonds. My hopes for the "completion" by the end of the summer are coming in nicely.

I'll spare you the blow-by-blow but I did a lot of work Thursday afternoon/evening and another 5hrs on Saturday. I keep meeting so many new people at Simonds and I'm starting to meet a few who say they got the disc golf bug after playing Simonds first. I really love hearing that.

The Recreation Dept is getting stone dust on all the tees (currently just the first four tees on holes 1 & 2) as well as 4x4 sign posts.

I took measurements from all 18 tees with 300' tape (pulled tight) which I have a lot more confidence in than measuring wheels or GPS devices.

This course has gained a lot of distance after stretching out 4, 8, 6, and now 7. I really like 7's basket now being in the woods a bit. I promise the footing in these new areas will improve with use. For a relatively short course we now have 4 holes on the white layout over 300' and none under 200'. The short/Red layout has two under 200' and still 3 over 300'.

CHANGES:
Old 6 tee moved back about 50'
Old 7 tee moved back about 30' - No more roots!
All tees painted white (long) or red (short)

To-DO:
Finish digging each tee a bit deeper and place stone dust
Send signs to print this week and then mount

DISTANCES:
If you're familiar with the course here's how the left/right tees match up with the Red/White layouts:
1 W-Left R-Right
2 R-Left W-Right
3 W-Left R-Right
4 R-Left W-Right
5 W-Left R-Right
6 R-Left W-Right
7 R-Left W-Right
8 W-Left R-Right
9 R-Left W-Right

Red Course
1 218'
2 339'
3 256'
4 260'
5 199'
6 163'
7 312'
8 311'
9 201'
Total 2259'

White Course
1 274'
2 379'
3 289'
4 280'
5 311'
6 232'
7 339'
8 335'
9 205'
Total 2644'

[Andy Allen]

Justin I really appreciate all the work that's been done to this course. Since I moved to Boston for Grad school in January this has been where I play most often.
I'd love to offer a hand if you need any help putting in tee signs or with any further work that's being done. I'd also be interested in potentially running a weekly evening league at Simonds once I solidify my class schedule this semester. Do people have interest in this?

[Justin Anderson]

Thanks Andy. I've been talking about a league with another guy but let's toss around some ideas (PM me) once you get your class schedule set.

Thanks for playing and taking the time to comment. I'm still finishing up the signs. I need to make another trip up there which I didn't get to do this past weekend. Once printed the town is mounting them so there really isn't any work there for us. We should meetup sometime, talk, and play. There will always be some tweaking I'd love to work on.

[Tim Seiger]

Took advantage of the break in the rain to play a round this afternoon, and saw the basket for 8 lying on it's side. I re-dug out the hole as best I could without a shovel, and put it back. But someone who knows what they're doing and has a shovel might want to take a look.

-Tim

[Justin Anderson]

Took advantage of the break in the rain to play a round this afternoon, and saw the basket for 8 lying on it's side. I re-dug out the hole as best I could without a shovel, and put it back. But someone who knows what they're doing and has a shovel might want to take a look.

-Tim

Thanks for the note. I'll make a call. I was wondering if anything's been toppled. I haven't been up there in 2 months. Don't hesitate to call The Rec Dept to report stuff. Their number will be on the signs to report vandalism to (if I ever get those signs completed).
781-270-1695

[Justin Anderson]

Took advantage of the break in the rain to play a round this afternoon, and saw the basket for 8 lying on it's side. I re-dug out the hole as best I could without a shovel, and put it back. But someone who knows what they're doing and has a shovel might want to take a look.

-Tim

Thanks for the note. I've been wondering if anything's got toppled since I haven't been there in at least 2 months. Please don't hesitate to call the Burlington Rec Dept to report stuff like this. 781-270-1695.

[Justin Anderson]

In case you subscribe to this thread and didn't see the Simonds Ice Bowl for this Sat 2/19, here's the link to that thread.

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=7643&start=0

[Kevin Fanning]

Justin did you ever get a league started here? I know it's mid-winter but I'm more interested in whether or not there will be any organized gatherings come spring. I was going to PM you but I thought this might help kick the tires on getting something going. Andy seemed like he might have a few ideas...

[Rick Mahoney]

I went to Simonds Park for the first time at lunch today and got 7 holes in while finding my way around. I had trouble finding my way around but that didn't matter, I was throwing. Now that I know where the baskets are, I'll be able to throw 9 holes and still have time to eat and not be late getting back to work.

Thanks for the course.

[Kevin Fanning]

Does anyone play here very early in the morning on weekdays?. I will be changing my work schedule next week so that I will start at 11am instead of 7am. Just looking for people who want to play at 7 or 8 in the morning any day during the work week.

[Justin Anderson]

I went to Simonds Park for the first time at lunch today and got 7 holes in while finding my way around. I had trouble finding my way around but that didn't matter, I was throwing. Now that I know where the baskets are, I'll be able to throw 9 holes and still have time to eat and not be late getting back to work.

Thanks for the course.

Rick, I'm glad you had a good time. I get "thanks" from a lot of people I run into there and it always seems like they're never NEFA people. I've me a lot who relocated to Boston and said they hadn't played in a few years because there are no courses close to them.

I need to get up there and do some trimming especially on 5 & 6 Red along with the shared 7 fairway. Aparently, a tree was taken out on the right side of 5 red. It really opened that one up. I finally got signs to the printers a few weeks ago but the guy I'm working with always seems to wait for me to call him to tell me there's an issue. I think the signs will be nice. They'll be full color on aluminum. Similar to Pyramids' signs with basket-to-tee photos on them. I've got approximate elevation changes on there just for fun and distances were taken with measuring tape so that should be about as accurate as possible.

I'm waiting for the signs to go in and kiosk to get put back up on hole one. Then I'm hoping to schedule a tournament for Oct 1st or just after which is the end of baseball season so we'll be able to use the open fields for temp holes which folks seemed to enjoy at the Ice Bowl.

I've been spending less time with Simonds and more time on other DG projects (Beauty Hill) and making contacts in towns to get more 95 loop courses and hopefully get inside of 95 as well. I hope to get a bigger course with 18 holes going but a little course like Simonds certainly goes a long way when there's nothing else in the area.

[Nat Fairbanks]

Played Simonds today and just wanted to let people know it looks like at least hole 2 will be closed this weekend and parking will be very difficult since there's a baseball tournament going on. The fairway for 2 is lined and taped off for a parking lot.

[Justin Anderson]

That sucks. Thanks for letting people know Nat. I hate when this stuff happens. Too bad they didn't put up tape to keep parkers OUT instead

[Rick Mahoney]

Nice new hole maps/posts are being put up showing both tees and basket locations. I got out to play another 9 at lunch and greatly appreciate the work the crew is doing on the course. I saw 6 other dgers out there with nothing better to do. I mean it, there is nothing better!

[Justin Anderson]

Thanks for mentioned the signs Rick. I designed them and it took far too many weeks and fights with the printer to get them from file to physical sign. I haven't seen the completed product yet but it sounds like they might be in the realm of what I was hoping for. I am hoping all those signs are on the red tees. If not, I might move them. Let's hope the local punks don't destroy them too quickly

I'm very happy to hear when people are playing during or after work. That was always my hope. Long, long ago I worked down the street from Simonds. Too bad we couldn't get the course installed before I switched for a job in Boston.

I was hoping to run some sort of fun/low-key event in the fall but I don't think I'm going to be able to fit it in. Hopefully another Ice Bowl this winter and maybe something low-pressure in the spring.

[Justin Anderson]

I just got a call from Burlington that there's a tree they've needed to take down on #6 and while donig that this morning they found 2 or 3 trees already down from the weekend. Those are getting taken care of today/tomorrow along with any overhanging branches on other holes that look threatening. Burlington recreation does a great job with this little course and it shows. If you haven't got a chance to play Simonds you should try to fit it in. I think it may surprise you.

I'm hoping to get pictures of the holes this weekend now that the signs are in place and replace my old pics on DGCR.
http://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.php?id=3241

[Andy Gallerani]

Any update on how this place is looking after the storm?
Im thinking I may try and play 9-18 (depending on daylight) after work tomorrow but dont want to head down if the course had significant tree damage from the storm and/or still has snow-covered teepads

[Andy Gallerani]

Any update on how this place is looking after the storm?
Im thinking I may try and play 9-18 (depending on daylight) after work tomorrow but dont want to head down if the course had significant tree damage from the storm and/or still has snow-covered teepads

The course was looking pretty good this afternoon. There were a few trees down on hole 8 that made it pretty much unplayable but the rest of the holes were in great shape.
This place is perfect for a quick round after work. I will definitely be heading here more often especially with daylight continuing to wane

[Rick Mahoney]

I got my first 3 on 8 yesterday. This IS a par 4 isn't it? The alley up to the basket is blocked by a hanging limb making the hole much harder to play.

I went with 2 newbies from work and we played 18 at lunch. I am all over #1 and will chain one soon! There is a better chance now that the hanging branches above the basket are almost leafless. Love that hole!

[Andy Gallerani]

I got my first 3 on 8 yesterday. This IS a par 4 isn't it? The alley up to the basket is blocked by a hanging limb making the hole much harder to play.

I went with 2 newbies from work and we played 18 at lunch. I am all over #1 and will chain one soon! There is a better chance now that the hanging branches above the basket are almost leafless. Love that hole!

Im with you on Hole 1. I stepped up to that one and first throw of the day last week missed an ace by inches.

[Justin Anderson]

Are those trees/branches still down around hole 6? I keep meaning to call my contact in the Recreation Dept about those. He was the one who first mentioned them back in Sept.

I love that you're enjoying the course. When I got the signs made I really felt 8 had to be a par four. There are different ways to determine par but I subscribe to the ball golf-like scratch (1000 rated) golfer's number of strokes to reach the green plus 2. I can't see anyone reaching the green in one shot.

I love hole 1 and was so happy they were happy to let us use it. I think it's similar to #1 at Burgess since you have to drop over the bushes. I know of two aces on that hole and it would be greatt to Get one. I hit metal with a Sentinnel once but I think it was nuder the basket based on where I found my disc.

[Rick Mahoney]

Your tee shot on 8 has to be about 145' to look up that alley to the basket. With the tree branch hanging, most of the alley is blocked but I got it to the basket for the drop in 3. This hole usully beats me up. Glad to have confirmation. Some clearing of debris is still needed and there are some big trees on the ground along 6 and 7. I will be heading there again for an early lunch round, 11-ish.

[Tim Seiger]

It looks like the crew that has been clearing out down trees this week ran into basket #5. The basket was pretty badly bent up on one side when I was out on Tuesday. The pole looked fine, so hopefully the basket can be bent back down without too much damage.

[Rick Mahoney]

Checking the clock, checking the weather, checking out of work for an hour to go throw 9 holes.

Got there a couple of days ago. They have had some heavy equipment rolling through the woods. A lot has been cleared out. But, that hanger is still blocking the lane on 8.

[Justin Anderson]

Checking the clock, checking the weather, checking out of work for an hour to go throw 9 holes.

Got there a couple of days ago. They have had some heavy equipment rolling through the woods. A lot has been cleared out. But, that hanger is still blocking the lane on 8.

I'm ashamed how long it's been since I've been to Simonds. Did you see what #5's basket looked like? I need to get in touch with the parks guys. Even if I can't play a round I will make a point of swinging by this weekend.

[Tim Seiger]

Just went out this afternoon, and someone has bent #5 basket back into place. Looks fine, and played fine.

[Justin Anderson]

Just went out this afternoon, and someone has bent #5 basket back into place. Looks fine, and played fine.

Thanks Tim for this noate and your earlier one. Was it the pole that was bent or was the basket askew from within the grounf? (if that makes sense).