Stoney Hill Disc Golf Course

Chris and David Sauls invite disc golfers to their private disc golf course on 46 acres of beautiful South Carolina piedmont, near Newberry, South Carolina.

We now have 18 completed holes available to play, and expect to expand to 24 during 2009. The property features tremendous hills, 2 creeks, a natural spring, a 2 acre pond, long open areas and large trees, all in a lovely country setting. We welcome our disc golf friends from in and near South Carolina to visit to take a look, play the course, contribute ideas towards future course design, or even lend a hand if you feel like it!

PLEASE CALL BEFORE VISITING! You can reach us at:

David at home (803) 364-3999 or cell (803) 917-8316

Chris at home (803) 364-5282 or cell (803) 917-8318

Either at work at (803) 256-8983

Note that cell service is sketchy at the course. On weekends, best to call one of us at home.

or by e-mail (see bottom of this page) (weekdays only)

IMPORTANT NOTE !

Free to play but RESERVATIONS REQUIRED! Tee signs are up but, other than regulars, we will need to show you around the course a couple of times before you play on your own. Available weekends, and weekdays after 6 PM; weekdays only by special prior arrangement.

Best suggestion is to contact one of us during the week, when we're easiest found, to schedule for the weekend.

Summer 2009---Generally during the summer, the course is not as well-groomed as other times of the year. The vegetation grows faster than we can keep up, so at any given time parts of the course will be newly-mown; parts a little shaggy; and parts perhaps a bit overgrown, though not to lose-your-disc proportions.

The course is targeted to be challenging for the average pro and top amateur player (930-990 rating). It may not be as tough as Renaissance or Winthrop Gold, or geared to top pros. On the other hand, it is not being designed to accommodate beginners, who may find it overwhelming. In short, the kind of course that Saulses are likely to enjoy. Currently "par-58", and the best score in the current configuration is 49. SSA (1000-rated round) in our recent tournament was 55.

(We do not recommend this course to beginners, or those who can't throw a minimum of 200 feet with some degree of accuracy, as you may lose discs or otherwise find it frustrating. Though you're still welcome to try.)

18 holes are completed. The pond is nearly full; we have a couple of interim holes and expect to finalize them, and start expanding to perhaps 24 holes, by Fall 2009. At any given time a few holes may have tall grass as we make the maintenance rounds, and some of the rough is still very rough if you miss the fairway, so spotters are recommended on several holes.

Descriptions are from righthanded player, throwing backhanded. Distances are deceiving, as most holes have large elevation changes.

We received a card from a visitor, which pleased us so much we felt like posting it to the website (but not such much that we're paying royalties). CLICK LEFT to see what an unbiased disc golfer thinks of the course (or just read above to see what we think of it).

Note that these e-mail addresses are at work---if e-mail us at night or on the weekend, we won't get them until our office next opens.



Air it out! Drive off a huge hill through power line fairway, landing (hopefully) 400-500' away (bottom of hill is 400'; deep creek starts at about 550'). Then, dogleg through gap into woods to basket, with creek running behind it, 580' total


285' shot, through an arch and then anhyzer up to a significant hill to an open green, lined with small trees. (Note that some photos are reverse views)..



325' downhill, with anhyzer to right at end, with creek behind green to grab any shots that don't hold their turns. There is also a risky but fun hyzer option, with thick rough if you miss.



About 250' tight wooded shot. Tee off down tunnel, 3 bends in creek. At about 200', fairway bends right for last 50', with basket sitting inside bend in creek. Lots of trees, lots of O.B. to kick off them into, but at least it's level (rare on this course). NOTE: Photos show old basket location, when basket was 200' straight shot. But you get the general idea of the tee shot.


500', uphill, tough par-4. Drive straight up 160', dogleg left, another 300' down well-defined fairway (3rd & 4th photos), and through gap in trees, into open area (last photo is looking back), with basket on an open hilltop exposed to the ever-present winds.



Tightly defined, winding, 629' par-4. Slight uphill drive through archway and narrow fairway to wider landing area 250-300' away; dogleg right, and level, another 250', then dogleg left, slightly uphill, another 150' or so. Note: Fairways have been widened, and doglegs made less severe, since these pictures were taken....and they only show the first 2 segments of the hole, before the last dogleg was created and basket moved back.

281', tight downhill shot among tall trees. Straight through a gap, fades left at end.


295', slightly uphill. Tee off raised teepad, through a fairway defined by a few large trees, then out over a open hillside with basket located on a cut lawn. Takes long straight drive with left fade at end; hill falls to right so, if you flip it, no telling how far down you'll sail.



316' steep downhill shot to basket, with an ever steeper dropoff behind basket. (Bottom row of photos are reverse view; tee is at top left)


A very tough 236', driving up steep hill across 170' of open space, to hit a tight window in a line of woods. If you hit it well, you'll continue about 50' up a tunnel, then fall left to a basket sitting on a steep slope, with a long drop behind it and trees guarding both sides.



167', tight wooded fairway, teeing from next to creek and angling up a steep slope through large hardwoods, including passing (hopefully) a 13-'circumference beech tree. Basket sits about 30' above creek with a steep drop---almost a cliff---on left. Very cool. (Bottom row of photos are looking back down to tee).



Straight down shot, 281'---a dive-bomb ace-run!---with the basket in a little patch of woods, with an O.B. creek in front of the green and O.B. road looping around to form a virtual island green.



Level, slight anhyzer drive down fairway with towering pines on right and dangerous hillside on left. (After all the hills, you'll appreciate the level fairway). At end, fairway doglegs right to hanging basket located just across perilously-close O.B. creek, guarded by creek if you're short, O.B. fence if you're long left, and, if you're long right, two huge trees to putt around with creek now behind the basket. About 325' total, with danger all about. NOTE: Some of these photos show basket before it was hung from tree limb---but location is the same.

Shot out of woods and across pasture, with a big hyzer to basket about 330' away. Drive must clear a fence on a rise which, being higher than the tee, seems about 10' tall---or it's a stroke or retee. An O.B. pasture is right of the basket, for drives that don't hyzer enough. Basket stands on flat spot on edge of a hill, so long drives can sail on down. All over a wind-swept pasture. Curious horses are an occasional bonus hazard.


295' throw off the dam, across the pond, onto an "island" hole on one shore, with a huge oak tree guarding the lefty hyzer. Rather intimidating. You must carry 250' of O.B. on a straight line to the basket; somewhat less if you bail out to the right. This is an interim layout, pending final design. Photos to come.



Tee at top of gentle hill, pat a couple of large trees onto a tight landing area, about 300' away, with O.B. just beyond. From landing area, fairway doglegs left trough a tight gap and down a long, narrow, wooded peninsula, another 180' or so, with O.B. on 3 sides. The fearless can hyzer a long drive into this gap---but will find big trouble if they miss. (NOTE: Basket has been tucked a little further back, into the fork of the creeks, to bring them more into play on putts). Formerly Hole 15; in the current state of re-design, it is #16. For those who haven't been here since April 2009, the debris piles you once threw over, are gone.


(Interim hole) 432', drive uphill out of a tight chute into wide-open area, with the pond lining the right side and the basket perched near the top of a steep slope on the left. Formula for dangerous putts, scary winds, and despite the rough ground, big rollaways if you land wrong. (This hole will probably be re-designed into something much tougher once the pond fills and we see what we've got).




A great finishing hole, calling for a level drive down a well-defined fairway for first 200', through a gap, into an open landing area 180' long (but hill falls to left; too much hyzer and you could sail down hill). From the landing area, you must choose from 3 windows (straight, hyzer, or anhyzer), then cross a deep quarry (O.B.) to basket location on other side, perched atop a large, steep mound on the edge of O.B. Total length 492' through the tight straight gap, longer if you go around.


"18 HIGH" An alternative tee placement for hole 18, or a warm-up hole before #1. A great place to rip it. Drive down a level road into a flat clearing on top of a hill, giving a good landing zone 250-450' away. Then another 150-350' to #18 basket, on top of mound. About 600' total.
Temporary or Former Holes


Some holes were part of the course but are no longer with us....some of which were just temporary, filling in as we built. Here's a few memories.

The Pond
We will be constructing a long, narrow pond of 2-3 acres, and perhaps a smaller pond in a deep bowl upstream, bordered by a large hill on one side. We anticipate 4 holes to go around, over, or otherwise make use of this pond.
The Rest
Lots of cool holes have been designed, but we're not sure of the routing and which ones will be in the final configuration. As always, disc golfers are welcome to visit and contribute ideas.