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Southern Pinellas County was bereft of disc golf courses until some local folks pressed for an 18-hole shangra-la in this beautiful park. Carved out of a generally unused section of Maximo Park, designers made good use within the plethora of flora and fauna. This course is rough! Plus, it's right on the water and there's almost always a solid breeze, especially on hole 18 out along the water. It's the only course that I'm aware of that is right along the beach, except one I played in Oakland. That one was right on San Francisco Bay and with the wind was ridiculous to try and play. I looked it up and I don't think that course is open any more. I know I didn't like the neighborhood, but I digress...
It turns out the first time we ventured down to Tocabaga (it's a good 40 minutes, we carpooled from Clearwater) we were lost on the course, but managed to encounter a fella who was one of those local guys that had help create the course. I regret I forget his name, but he gratiously took us around the course, which turned out to be a genuine blessing because although the park had been rumored to be open for a little while at this point, they had not gotten around to installing all the signage that is very helpful identifying which tee pad, which basket, which direction to the next hole, that kind of thing. Many times finding the next tee is not intuitive, and an arrow or sign is a genuine time-saver. Anyway, they have that all together now. The course is still primitive, but not as bad as it was a few years ago. Cleanup and park usage have lessened the harshness of nature, but there are still some formidable palmetto plants that'll stick you if you let 'em. Throw carefully!
UPDATE After a drought of at least two years (Brian says three) we make it back to Maximo. Much has changed, much has stayed the same.
The area in the very southeast part of the park has been designated a native American burial site and the basket for 18 has been removed. There is no hole 18 now, therefore there are two eights (criss cross tee pads you need to be aware of). Also there's one in the middle somewhere that has been usurped, I'll try to remember where that was as I go through the course photos (see below). Ultimately there was some confusion, and someone walked off with our score card (which bummed me out -- I won for a change). Still this course beats a LOT in courses in other places I've been, such as Albuquerque's Vista Hill Park.
Disc Golf Sign and Marker for Hole 1 (right)
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| Front Nine |
Hole 1 | 
Throwing Hole 1 |
Hole 2 | 
Brian at Hole 2 |
Hole 3 |
Brian at Hole 2 |
| C-D Pads |
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Mark Scott, All Rights Reserved.