Avalanche Preserve Recreation Area

I should first mention that I haven't been here recently, and I've heard that Boyne Valley DGC has began working to improve many of the "cons" I've listed below. Once their hard work is finished, Avalanche can easily be an A-range course. The course itself: Pros: A great hike through the woods on a beautiful piece of property. I love playing this course in the spring, but the morel mushrooms can get distracting. There is a good mix of shots as far as wooded/open and short/long. Lots of ben ...
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I should first mention that I haven't been here recently, and I've heard that Boyne Valley DGC has began working to improve many of the "cons" I've listed below. Once their hard work is finished, Avalanche can easily be an A-range course.

The course itself:
Pros: A great hike through the woods on a beautiful piece of property. I love playing this course in the spring, but the morel mushrooms can get distracting. There is a good mix of shots as far as wooded/open and short/long. Lots of benches to sit on. Fairly easy to navigate. The view of Lake Charlevoix at the top is magical.
Cons: Non-matching baskets, rough teepads, some of the walks in between holes are ridiculously long.

Running Tournaments:
Pros: The warming hut is great for running tournaments, as well as being really close to downtown Boyne City.
Cons: The course ends at the very top of the hill, which makes for a long walk back to hole #1. The three added tournament holes help fix this. Also, we used to be able to drive a truck up to the top to get people up to their starting holes during tournament play. The city has since blocked that path to the top, so some players are forced to walk all the way up that hill. While this is an issue at many tournaments on "ski-hill" courses, I feel Avalanche is an extreme case of it.

That is all. Like I said,
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Update 7/7/2014 - The course continues to improve! The baskets on the front 9 have all been replaced by brand new chain stars, and more signage continues to crop up making the course easier to navigate. Once there's some solid & even footing on all the tee pads, this course will get the bump to A+ Update 7/15/13 - Played the course this weekend and it has received some much needed love and attention, my thanks to those involved!! The Tee boxes had been raked over and were respectably level ...
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Update 7/7/2014 - The course continues to improve! The baskets on the front 9 have all been replaced by brand new chain stars, and more signage continues to crop up making the course easier to navigate. Once there's some solid & even footing on all the tee pads, this course will get the bump to A+


Update 7/15/13 - Played the course this weekend and it has received some much needed love and attention, my thanks to those involved!! The Tee boxes had been raked over and were respectably level, the course had new 'next tee' markers, the baskets on the front have received a fresh coat of metallic / silver spray paint, and there were benches and trash cans at nearly all of the tee boxes. It was certainly a pleasure to play.

(Original review date 11/22/12) This is a fun course but needs some love. Teepads are dirt, which I don't have anything against, but they tend to be riddled with divots, especially where your plant foot would go. Front 10 is all the locals seem to play, and most of those baskets are trashed, rusted out single chain baskets, some have been vandalized. Back 8 more than make up for it though, winding, wooded fairways, and chainstar baskets that are still in great shape. Some long walks between holes in the back but the scenery is great and the view at 18 is like no other course I've played. Would love to see some trash cans, and tee maintenance, but other than that, it's a fun course.
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Nice course that plays up a small ski type hill. Pros: Nice variety of short and long shots. Good mix of tight technical wooded holes and open throws. You really get a nice idea of the variety of landscape found in this area. Plenty of trash cans and benches for us. The course is much improved since I last played it a couple years ago. Removing the fourth? hole, which could have an apartment complex and parking lot come into play was a good idea, though it created navigation issues for u ...
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Nice course that plays up a small ski type hill.
Pros: Nice variety of short and long shots. Good mix of tight technical wooded holes and open throws. You really get a nice idea of the variety of landscape found in this area. Plenty of trash cans and benches for us. The course is much improved since I last played it a couple years ago. Removing the fourth? hole, which could have an apartment complex and parking lot come into play was a good idea, though it created navigation issues for us. Good natural teepads and baskets were in fine shape. The course forces you to use several disc and shots throughout.
Cons: Tee pads could be upgraded to cement, though getting the stuff up this course would be a bear. The tee signs need more work, age and vandalism has taken it's toll. The course was very busy with walker and bikers coming at us for the entire round. A little patience and cooperation made this no issue, but it could be a problem for some. Still a little navigation issue with the long walks between a few holes.

The course concludes atop of the hill with a couple small decks to rest, grab a snack and take in the spectacular view of Lake Charlevoix. Funny, we used to be able to rip a couple discs off of the decks on top, but those pesky trees have grown up and taken that away. Never the less, a more than wonderful reward for a moderately strenous round uphill. A great area for golf when combined with local courses like Boyne Mountain, Crowle Hole, Petoskey.... A resort right by in Boyne to stay and drop your, off soaked, suntan lotioned bones into a pool afterwords. Sounds like attempts to improve this gem are underway, no way to improve the view from the top though.
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+Awesome trails, trees, this place is simply beautifully carved out of a little slice of heaven! +Awesome elevation holes, with a good overall mix of wooded, longs and uphill / downhill shots +Gravel tees played great, they were firm and level, looked like they had just been raked out +A lot of love has been put into this place and it shows, garbage cans here and there, enough benches here and there. +You could play this as a 9 or 18 +Really good flow, easy to navigate +I actually don't ha ...
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+Awesome trails, trees, this place is simply beautifully carved out of a little slice of heaven!
+Awesome elevation holes, with a good overall mix of wooded, longs and uphill / downhill shots
+Gravel tees played great, they were firm and level, looked like they had just been raked out
+A lot of love has been put into this place and it shows, garbage cans here and there, enough benches here and there.
+You could play this as a 9 or 18
+Really good flow, easy to navigate
+I actually don't have one favorite hole, too many to chose!
+This is a MUST PLAY course! I don't think this course is given enough credit, if you haven't played here in the last couple months, come back and replay it
^Be ready to hike, ALOT of hiking, but enjoy it, some of it is like Sherwood forest!
^If you do plan to play 18, it's not short due to the hiking, but I really don't feel that should count against the course. There are a few spots I think some more tees, possibly 'ALT' tees could go in.
^I really don't have anything negative to say, I loved it, planning another trip down this week!
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Pros: The setting is a beautiful. The course includes a number of forest types, as well as some old field/meadow holes. It has great variety, ranging from very technical wooded to open meadow holes. The course includes some long walks and takes a while to play, but the walk is very enjoyable. The course was clean and well maintained (except for the tee pads as described below). Cons: The tee pads. Almost all of the tee pads are sandy/gravel, and many were hollowed out when I played. This is a b ...
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Pros: The setting is a beautiful. The course includes a number of forest types, as well as some old field/meadow holes. It has great variety, ranging from very technical wooded to open meadow holes. The course includes some long walks and takes a while to play, but the walk is very enjoyable. The course was clean and well maintained (except for the tee pads as described below).
Cons: The tee pads. Almost all of the tee pads are sandy/gravel, and many were hollowed out when I played. This is a bit dangerous, and it is tough to focus on making a good throw when you're worried about your footing.
Other Thoughts: This quickly became one of my favorite courses. I played it three times during a week-long vacation in the area. The addition of rubber tee pads (concrete would be tough to install because of the remote pad locations) would do A LOT to improve the play. Even with the sub par tee boxes this is a must play course if you find yourself in northern Michigan!
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This is a beautiful and challenging course. The view from hole 18 is unmatched; it's even better than the view from hole 19 at Hickory Hills. I've played quite a few courses around Michigan, and Boyne is definitely one of my favorites. Challenging for righties and lefties alike, this course is a mix of technical shorter to mid-range holes and longer holes that defiantly test your hyzer and anhyzer shots. Uses elevation well; hilly, but the paths are not too steep and are well maintained. I was ...
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This is a beautiful and challenging course. The view from hole 18 is unmatched; it's even better than the view from hole 19 at Hickory Hills. I've played quite a few courses around Michigan, and Boyne is definitely one of my favorites. Challenging for righties and lefties alike, this course is a mix of technical shorter to mid-range holes and longer holes that defiantly test your hyzer and anhyzer shots. Uses elevation well; hilly, but the paths are not too steep and are well maintained. I was able to play two rounds with a bum knee. I also played in the Haunted Hyzer tournament they just put on and had an amazing time. It's a cool theme that they put a lot of work into. Thanks so much Forrest and the whole crew at Avalanche, the disc club and the Parks Department for putting on such an awesome tournament. Definitely be back next year.
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I have seen a lot of courses across Michigan. After playing Avalanche Preserve two things came to my mind. The first was that it was an absolutely gorgeous area, the second was that it has potential for more. It seemed like the course was laid out very well, wrapping around the natural hiking area of Avalanche Preserve. It is not very often you see a disc golf course put in without at least taking a couple trees out here and there. It seems they have done a fantastic job of protecting the a ...
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I have seen a lot of courses across Michigan. After playing Avalanche Preserve two things came to my mind. The first was that it was an absolutely gorgeous area, the second was that it has potential for more. It seemed like the course was laid out very well, wrapping around the natural hiking area of Avalanche Preserve. It is not very often you see a disc golf course put in without at least taking a couple trees out here and there. It seems they have done a fantastic job of protecting the area (plastic covers on trees) which is what should come first and foremost. The disc golf club there is very proactive which will only lead to success in whatever they do. The hikers around the preserve seem to know about the game and even stopped to watch us throw and continued on only when we were done throwing, which at most courses, is unheard of. Kudos to the Boyne Disc Golf club for creating a positive atmosphere and fun for all.
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Course was Beautiful! The view was awesome at the 18th hole! The course was a little tight at spots, but for most part is not to rough on an average disc'r. The bad part was after hole 5 or so, it was pretty much no tee signs at all because they were all broken off. Hole 11 is up the trail at 10's basket or next to the basket at 9 behind the old cellar. The post has a 12 written on it, but it is 11's tee pad. Not nearly as bad as a hike as everybody made it out to be. The worst part was the step ...
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Course was Beautiful! The view was awesome at the 18th hole! The course was a little tight at spots, but for most part is not to rough on an average disc'r. The bad part was after hole 5 or so, it was pretty much no tee signs at all because they were all broken off. Hole 11 is up the trail at 10's basket or next to the basket at 9 behind the old cellar. The post has a 12 written on it, but it is 11's tee pad. Not nearly as bad as a hike as everybody made it out to be. The worst part was the steps walking down off the mountain. Loved the course. Wish I could have got another round or 5 in while up here.
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+ Avalanche is the fastest growing course in the surrounding area, thanks to the cohesive community/city involvement and the extremely dedicated Boyne Valley DGC. New trails, well kept fairways, new baskets, no trash. The BVDGC is certainly raising the bar for all other courses and clubs, leading by example, and looking good while doing it. +Avalanche leaves very little to be desired in it's course design. Featuring unique holes, elevation change, tight woods and open fairways, no two holes f ...
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+ Avalanche is the fastest growing course in the surrounding area, thanks to the cohesive community/city involvement and the extremely dedicated Boyne Valley DGC. New trails, well kept fairways, new baskets, no trash. The BVDGC is certainly raising the bar for all other courses and clubs, leading by example, and looking good while doing it.

+Avalanche leaves very little to be desired in it's course design. Featuring unique holes, elevation change, tight woods and open fairways, no two holes feel exactly the same. It has a good flow and conveniently allows for two loops (you can bag out at hole 9 or continue on with the rest of the course). It provides a great variety of shots and challenges that test DG players from all walks of life and skill.

As for what is left to be desired..

-Avalanche could benefit from more holes. The long trek up the backside should be broken up with a few baskets, it's an unnecessary stall from the flow/game play.

-Needs concrete pads! Dirt tee pads are a drawback. Affected by rain/traffic dirt feels uneven and off when driving. They have been LOADS better the past few seasons due to the efforts of the BVDGC leveling/maintaining them as much as they can, but the next real improvement should be well made tees.

The pretty hair boyne boys (and the bald one) of the BVDGC should serve as the precedent of what disc golf clubs/players/courses should strive to be.

I highly recommend playing avalanche and seeking out the company of the BVDGC.

-Sammy "two toes" Kantola

"OOH!"
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