Pinto Lake

In Watsonville, there is a county park around Pinto Lake. The course designer of Delaveaga (Tom Schot) has been working with the city of Watsonville to put a course in a little used portion of the park. About a year ago, they finished the first 9 holes. Recently, they have gotten permission to put in an additional 9 holes. We had heard that all 18 holes are now available.



We played the first 9 holes about a year ago. The first nine holes are very difficult. Many of the holes are 450+ feet with very narrow fairways, maybe 15 feet wide. Outside of the fairways are lots of poison oak, stinging nettle plants and sometimes the lake. Usually when I talk about bad shots being punished, I mean that it is hard to get a par. In this case, a bad shot will get you poison oak, stinging nettles or you will lose your disc in the lake! Last year, we got very frustrated and did not have a good time.

Very good players really like the course. They like the challenge. Plus the course is very well maintained in a beautiful park. The holes are very picturesque. Also, we were interested in seeing the second 9 holes. I believe that they are more open, very long holes. One is supposed to be 1200 feet long!



We got to the park on Sunday morning. We had a much better experience this time. Two things were different. First, we are both better players. Secondly, we played more conservatively. I can throw a disc 300-325 feet, but it is not likely to land in a 15 foot wide fairway. However, if I throw 200-250 feet, I am pretty likely to hit the fairway. So, we just kept to the shorter throws. Ben did lose one disc to a tree, but we had a pretty good time.

At the beginning of the course a map was posted of the new 9 holes. We talked to some other disc golfers who were there and found out that the additional baskets had not yet been installed. In their place were poles that you could shoot for. After hole 4, you are supposed to take off into the woods. We found one pole, but could not find the tee. Furthermore, we were not sure where the other 8 holes were. So we just went back and finished off the original 9 holes. After the round was over, I went back and looked at the map. I am pretty sure that I know where we should have gone.

As I mentioned earlier, this was a much better round than a year ago. However, it is still a very difficult course. To score well, you need to be able to throw a very accurate 300 foot drive. We are not there yet. So in summary, we had a good time but I do not plan to play the course regularly until my game improves. Hmm, I will probably go back to play the new 9 holes though.

More pictures can be found here.