Shaver Recreation Complex, Championship Course, in Seneca, SC

Basic Information

Course Location: Shaver Recreation Complex

Geographic Location: Seneca, SC (34.67878, -82.96827)

Date Visited: January 2024

Number of Holes: 18

Course Length: 7273/6073 feet, par 66/64

Cost to Play: free
Difficulty Level: intermediate, bordering on advanced

Carts: usable, but expect a few steep areas

Potential to Lose Discs: medium due to dense woods

Park Information: https://seneca.sc.us/recreation-department-home

DG Course Review Page: https://www.dgcoursereview.com/courses/shaver-rec-center-seneca-champ.11038

UDisc Page: https://udisc.com/courses/seneca-championship-course-sAAH

Course Walkabout Video, Front 9:

Course Walkabout Video, Back 9:

Driving Directions: From downtown Seneca, go south 4 blocks to 4th Street and turn right on 4th St.  Drive 4th St. west 7 blocks to the entrance for Shaver Recreation Complex on your right.  Turn right to enter the complex, then drive around the right side of the gymnasium building.  Park in the back right corner of the parking lot behind the gymnasium building.  The course map sign and #1 tee are just beyond a paved walking trail behind (north of) this parking lot.

Course Constructions:

Tees: 2 per hole, concrete, but some were still under construction on my visit

Baskets: Discatcher, 1 per hole, in good shape on my visit

Signage: hole sign on each tee, signs pointing to next tee, course map near parking area

Amenities: additional 18 hole course on site, several practice baskets, some benches, ballfields, trash cans, restrooms in the nearby gymnasium building

Summary Review: 5 Stars (out of 5)

Shaver Recreation Complex has 2 distinct 18 hole courses: the original course and the championship course.  Both courses use the same parking lot, and the two #1 tees sit 50 feet apart.  The original course is older and designed for recreational play, while the championship course is designed for competitive play.  This review considers only the championship course.  The original course was featured in a previous review.

Shaver's championship course is a sprawling layout that occupies a large area in and around a steep ravine.  Most of the course plays through a heavily wooded area, but a couple of holes are more open.  The course has a nice mixture of long and short holes, and the elevation provided by the ravine is used to good effect.  There is a walking trail that winds through the course, and pedestrians on the trail can create a safety hazard, as several did on my visit.  When I came here on a chilly Thursday afternoon, there was 1 other group on the course.  Course maintenance was nearly flawless.  The course route forms a true loop, and there is plenty of signage.  A couple of the teepads were still under construction when I came here, but there was very little to dislike here.  This course is a much better challenge than the Original course, and it ranks as one of my favorite courses in upstate South Carolina.

Hole-by-Hole Review 

Distances taken from hole signs.  Picture sequence for each hole is 1) back tee, 2) approach, 3) basket to tee.

Hole #1: 334/285 feet, par 3

Comments: a fairly flat, very open, and rather boring hole with the basket perched on a plastic pedestal.  This hole is a nice warm-up hole but not much more.  #2 tee is in the woods behind the basket.

Hole #2: 428/342 feet, par 4

Comments: now the course enters the woods where it will stay more or less for the duration.  This gradually downhill hole is a sweeping dogleg right with plenty of large trees to get in your way.  The tight fairway makes this hole a worthy short par 4.  #3 tee is behind the basket.

Hole #3: 475/385 feet, par 4

Comments: marginally wider than the previous hole, the fairway on this hole has a double dogleg, first left then right.  Dense woods guard the insides of both doglegs, forcing you to curve your disc around the dogleg rather than cut through it.  #4 tee is to the left.

Hole #4: 480/420 feet, par 4

Comments: a downhill dogleg right, the fairway is reasonably wide for a heavily wooded hole, but dense pine trees on either side of the fairway will gobble up stray throws.  The basket is located in a tight corner with drop-offs right and long.  #5 tee is to the right.

Hole #5: 420/295 feet, par 3

Comments: the first hole with significant elevation, this hole plays steeply downhill before crossing a small creek and heading slightly uphill to the basket.  Though long for a par 3, the fairway has sufficient width, and the downhill gives you some extra distance on the tee shot.  #6 tee is to the right.

Hole #6: 420/295 feet, par 4/3

Comments: a fairly flat but very tight hole that doglegs slightly right and then slightly left.  Accurate throws will be needed to get close to the basket, which sits in a "cage" of trees on a small mound.  This is another nice short par 4.  #7 tee is to the right behind the basket.

Hole #7: 225 feet, par 3 (I forgot to take a picture from behind the basket on this hole)

Comments: many courses consist mostly of short holes with a few long holes thrown in for variety, but on this course the first truly short hole doesn't come until now.  This hole plays moderately downhill.  A veritable picket fence of trees stands about 70 feet in front of the tee, and a small creek cuts across the fairway about 20 feet in front of the basket.  The water is out-of-bounds (OB) with a drop zone near the footbridge to the right.  #8 tee is back toward the tee and to the left.

Hole #8: 500/355 feet, par 4

Comments: a long sweeping dogleg left, this hole starts on flat terrain with a thick smattering of trees, but the approach shot plays steeply uphill to a basket perched atop the hill.  The small creek to the far right should be out of play for all but the most errant throws.  #9 tee is to the right.

Hole #9: 272 feet, par 3

Comments: one of the most exciting holes on this course, the tee is elevated 25 feet above the fairway on this short hole, which greatly reduces the distance factor.  Of greater concern is the large number of trees that constrict the fairway on either side.  This is my one of my favorite holes on this course.  #10 tee is to the right.

Hole #10: 770/605 feet, par 5

Comments: the longest hole on this course, this hole plays gradually downhill and mostly along a sewer line corridor.  Thus, the fairway is reasonably wide for a heavily wooded hole.  The creek on the right is OB, and the basket is in a surprisingly tight location just off the sewer corridor with several small trees and the creek nearby.  Rarely do you see par 5's as interesting as this one.  #11 tee is to the left.

Hole #11: 195 feet, par 3

Comments: one of the shortest holes on this course, this hole plays steeply uphill away from the creek.  Other than a couple of trees guarding the front of the basket, the hill and dense woods on either side of the fairway are the only things to note on this hole.  #12 tee is behind the basket.

Hole #12: 280/213 feet, par 3

        

Comments: a tight, straight, nearly flat "tunnel" hole that seems to play through a pine planting.  #13 tee is near the path to the left.

Hole #13: 490/400 feet, par 4

Comments: the nice variety continues with another long hole.  This hole snakes through the pines, going first gradually uphill and then moderately downhill.  A mandatory (mando) guards the inside of the gradual dogleg left, but the dense trees sufficiently deterred me from trying to cut the dogleg regardless.  I had to wait for someone on the walking trail to clear the area before I could throw from this tee.  #14 tee is to the left.

Hole #14: 245 feet, par 3

Comments: similar to hole #7, this hole is a brilliant hole that plays downhill through a picket fence of trees before crossing a small creek about 20 feet in front of the basket.  The creek is OB, but it is small enough you won't lose your disc there.  #15 tee is behind the basket.

Hole #15: 185 feet, par 3

Comments: a short, gradually uphill, dogleg right with dense woods on either side.  While not a bad hole, this is one of the most boring holes on this course.  #16 tee is to the right.

Hole #16: 600/520 feet, par 5

Comments: from the boring to the wild and wooly, this long hole plays down and up across a steep ravine with a cluster of trees guarding the front right of the basket, but the real wildness is at the tee.  From the short/white tee, this is a fairly straight hole, but from the long/blue tee the hole is a sharp dogleg right with the dogleg only 75 feet in front of the tee.  Be prepared to bend your disc hard if you play from the blue tees.  #17 tee is to the left.

Hole #17: 330/212 feet, par 3

Comments: an uphill hole similar in spirit to the previous hole but shorter and with a less severe dogleg from the blue tee.  The large number of trees near the basket make choosing the correct approach angle paramount.  #18 tee is up the trail behind the basket.

Hole #18: 624/624 feet, par 5/4

Comments: this long, sweeping, fairly flat dogleg left has a reasonably wide and well-defined fairway.  Most of this hole plays through the dense woods, but the basket is located in the edge of the same field you played across on hole #1.  This is a solid finishing hole to a course that is spectacular at least on occasion.  The parking lot is across the field behind the basket.