While on vacation a few years ago, we discovered New World Disc Golf in Jacksonville, Florida. The facility offers a stick golf course and multiple disc golf courses. We played the Green course, the only one dedicated solely to disc golf. It was a challenging and fun course, and it was only natural that we would want to return and play again.

We arrived at the course, located on a former military base, later than we had planned, so we decided to use a golf cart in the interest of time. Unfortunately, all the carts were in use. We decided to wait a few minutes to see if we could snag one when someone returned one. We turned on the football game, and before the quarter was over, we had a golf cart. We were surprised to learn that the golf cart rate listed on the website was outdated.

We picked the Red course to play this time. Will Shusterick, a name we are familiar with, having watched him play in many tournaments, designed the course. The championship course plays through the stick golf course and offers a variety of challenging shots.

Outside the pro shop are signs showing the layout of the various courses. We took a picture to use as a guide as we played. Most of the holes have two tees. We chose to play the shorter tee positions in the interest of time.

There was a water hazard on the first hole. While I managed to throw the better drive, my second shot landed squarely in the water. Chris caught a glimpse of the disc, but it disappeared into the muck when he attempted to retrieve it. I was disappointed to lose my purple driver and did not have a backup in my bag. Thankfully, Chris had a driver in his bag that I could use.

The second hole played through a narrow spot onto the stick golf course. There is a double mando between two trees that can add strokes to your score if not played correctly. Unfortunately, Chris threw his disc far to the right. We spent a good bit of time looking in the bushes for it, only to finally find it out in the open further up than we thought to look.

The third, fourth, and fifth holes play back and forth across the golf course. We learned quickly to keep an eye out for stick golfers, as they were not watching for us. Unfortunately, several balls were hit in our direction, a little too close for our comfort.

When we reached the sixth tee, we were pleasantly surprised by two of the largest wild turkeys I have ever seen roaming around the nearby green. The sixth hole was a beast at 884 feet from the short tee. The long was over 1100 feet. There is great potential for error with out of bounds running the length of the hole and a creek to throw over. I went out of bounds twice, scoring an 11.

The seventh hole plays over the green for the stick golf course and into a slit in the woods. You must shoot directly into the slit, as not doing so is out of bounds.

The eighth hole plays down the left side of the golf course, with the stick golf course playing towards us on the right. Everything across the cart path is out of bounds, making it a narrow pass between the cart path and the woods. The basket is on an “island” surrounded by the out-of-bounds cart path.

The ninth hole, another monster at 888 feet, plays next to the highway, with a high fence in between. A line of juniper trees runs parallel to the fence. Ideally, it would be best if you stayed to the right of the trees. But, in reality, it didn’t work out that way. Unfortunately for Chris, he landed a disc high in the tree with no way to recover it.

The tenth hole plays across another creek. The basket is on the backside of the green for the stick golf course. The eleventh hole, one of the shorter holes, plays through a tunnel of trees. It grew too dark for me to continue taking photos with daylight waning. We did our best to speed the game up, hoping to finish before losing the light.

The next few holes followed the previous combinations of trees, woods, and out of bounds, with the thirteenth requiring a throw under a low hanging branch to a basket perched on a tree stump.

The fourteenth hole, while long at 855 feet, seemed straightforward. That out-of-bounds cart path took its toll on me, however. My disc landed on the wrong side of the path several times, which gave me a disappointing 12 on the hole.

Mandos come into play on 15, and there is a tight tunnel to play through on 16. The seventeenth hole is down the right side of the out of bounds cart path, over the creek, and then a sharp left turn and into the trees.  When we got to the eighteenth hole, we could barely see. Having already lost a disc each, we decided to call it a day instead of risking losing another.

While the course was challenging, it is well laid out and easy to navigate. We only had to check the map once to find our way to the next hole.  New World Red is a fantastic course that I would love to play again. With the size of the course, the golf cart is worth the extra money.