I am looking for a course in California within 2-4 hours of Fresno that is very near an RV park. I have family that wants to go RVing and I want to introduce them to disc golf. Ideally, it would be a good beginner course and in a beautiful area with other amenities. Any ideas?

Have you looked into the KOA in Willits, CA? I'm pretty sure it's within 4 hours of Fresno. They have a great golf course on site along with lots of other activities and amenities.

Thanks. Willits was my first thought, but it is about 5 hours from Fresno (according to MapQuest). It still may work as the family could stay a night with us in Sacramento and then go up to Willits.

Is there camping at Penn Valley? When we went through there last year I think I remember seeing info about camping.

My brother and I play a disc golf "challenge" every July at Woodward in Fresno.
(He is from Atlanta and I live in St. Louis. We fly out to Bass
Lake every year for family reunion, and we take a day to play DG.)

Good course for intro to disc golf in my opinion.
http://www.pdga.com/course/courses_by_city.php?id=1565
It says challenging, but I still think beginners can have fun and see what it is all about.
DD

Thanks Riz and Gotta.

I'm gonna call my brother-in-law and see what he thinks about Willits. Penn Valley looks a bit challenging for a beginner. I have also made note of Woodward, since that is close to where he lives.

Again, thanks for the ideas. Now I need to introduce my brother-in-law to REAL golf!

Coryan,
I think I may have a few pics from Woodward.
Send me a PM with ur email and I will send them along when I get home.
That will help decide if Woodward is worth it. (Now that I
think about it, the course is sandy/dusty, and doesn't really
seem to feel like it is in a "park.") Still fun, relatively short,
with a few longer holes. Good use of trees.
Later.
Dan

Willits is an awfully long way from Fresno.
I know because I was there weekend before last. It takes (at the very least) three hours to get there from San Jose, and San Jose is at least a couple of hours from Fresno.

Cypress course in Monterey would likely be a better choice. If you want a better challenge, there's the Oaks course right down the street, or De La Veaga up Highway 1 in Santa Cruz (though neither of those are really beginner-friendly)
The big advantage to this coastal area is, of course, the beauty and the many places to stay.

Another, very beginner-friendly course is my home course, Hellyer. It's only 9 holes, but has both short and long tees. We also just opened La Raza (another 9) across the creek from it. It can be a bit long for a beginner, depending on which positions the baskets are in, but it's a nice park setting with bathrooms, drinking fountain, picnic tables, BBQ, etc.

Directions to Hellyer and La Raza can be found at http://www.svdgc.org/.

Have fun, no matter what you decide!
If you get a chance, post back with your experience.

-JPB

Wait.

Define: "very near"

The course hardly gets any play, is hilly, and has excellent camping facilities. And you can go swimming after you are finished. It's 30 miles east of Stockton.

I think _JPB has a good point with the Monterey area, if you can find reasonable RV facilities there (I know NOTHING about RV facilities...).

On other course in the Monterey area that would be great for beginners is the course at Carmel Valley Middle School. It is 18 holes, good length for beginners, easy to find and the view of the hillsides and out to the ocean is fantastic.

http://www.teamrizbee.com/AJ%20at%20CVMS%20in%20the%20shule-2.jpg My son AJ at Carmel Valley, Tour de Rizbee 2005

I think I may have a few pics from Woodward. ...(Now that I think about it, the course is sandy/dusty...)


Here's one of mine:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/63/214162769_cf520d2879_b.jpg
I would agree that Woodward is rather sandy/dusty. I would also add HOT, although we were there at the end of July.

Yep, we are usually there the 2nd week in July. 105 is typical, but we
go EARLY in the morning (8ish). Nice picture...that is typical hole for
that course, so there ya go....
DD

Hole 14 correct? I think he's throwing at the wrong basket! The basket for that tee is on the right.

There is a KOA on 8 mile road too. Just down the road from Oak Grove in Stockton.
It took 4.5 hours for me to drive to Willits from Modesto and Fresno is 1.5 hours south of Modesto.

Wow, lots of great ideas. I've now got my wife working on helping me find camping locations near the courses you've all mentioned.

Thanks again...especially for the photos!

My pleasure. You can find photos of more courses on my Flickr (http://flickr.com/photos/rizbee/sets/) page. My son and I travel to a lot of disc golf courses, and we usually take a few pictures while we play.

Enjoy!!

Jim,
I emailed you my pics this evening....let me know if you got em.
(I think they were around 3meg.)
DD