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Ellsworth College Park

Pros:
Character. The Custom baskets on this course may be a bit gimmicky and out of the ordinary, don’t expect your standard pdga baskets. Expect a unique experience with the added challenge of a directional basket. Each hole has a name, and I’m sure a story behind the name. The unique baskets add a certain variety – 5 holes have a traditional looking basket, while 2 have a “center chain fence” above a basket and 2 are directional cages. (see photos for a visual).

Amenities. A campground offers camp sites, bathrooms, cabins for rent, picnic shelter and a lake view compliment the disc golf experience, plenty of parking is available.

Map/Scorecard. Provided at hole one, navigation using the map is relatively straightforward.

Elevation. What elevation there is is utilized well.

Challenge. The many trees peppering the course offer a solid challenge, though often times it feels as if there is no real line to the basket, rather getting through the trees is only luck.

Not Crowded. I had the course to myself, I don’t foresee this course gathering huge crowds.

Well maintained. The park is routinely mowed and well kept, losing a disc shouldn’t be a problem (unless you toss one in the swamp on hole 9).

Cons:
Gimmicky. The unique character can be overshadowed by the gimmicks, the worst offender is hole 9, despite being 500 feet long, the directional cage faces away from the tee with 3 large guardian trees making it quite difficult to gain access to the basket.

Navigation. Baskets are a bit crowded in places, and the map can be hard to read – I ended up throwing at the wrong basket a few times. Hole 3 is straight ahead in the open (the basket on the right) the other nearby basket is hole 8. Hole 7 is a long drive over the top of the trees following the road.

Variety. Most holes are pretty similar (less the unique baskets) throw straight forward, avoid the trees (though some have more or less trees.

Water. The lake provides a nice view throughout the course, but could have been utilized somewhat, the water never comes into play. The low swampy area is somewhat of a threat on hole 9.

Other Thoughts:
A fun unique experience, almost worth a visit just to experience the character this course has to offer, but I personally wouldn’t go out of my way for this one.

Forest City DGC

Pros:
Amenities. A camp ground with rest rooms on site, could be a fun place to camp and play disc golf. Designated parking is limited, but it appears you can park nearly anywhere in the park.

Beautiful. Views of the Winnebago River and a journey through the woods offer some nice scenery. A walk across the swinging bridge provides a great view of the dam and the river.

Tees. Red/White/Blue tees offer a level of challenge for everyone, each hole has nice level concrete tees for each location, less hole 19 which has been temporarily moved.

Baskets. Nice Chainstar baskets on every hole. (less hole 19 again, and no practice basket available), some holes have multiple pin placements as well.

Water. Great use of water on this course, water comes into play on several holes and is a decent threat.

Variety of holes. From wide open grip and rip holes, to straightforward anny/hyzer lines, to technical wooded holes this course will test your accuracy and line shaping ability as well as your distance.

Ace and birdie opportunities. Ace runs are limited, but do exist, some good risk/reward opportunities for a birdie out there, and some of the holes will test your skills to achieve par.

Locating discs. If you keep the disc out of the water, despite being rather wooded – the underbrush is kept relatively clear, most of your time should be spent playing the game, not searching for discs.

Navigation. Each hole is easy to find after the previous hole – if it isn’t immediately obvious, there is a small note nearby to describe where to go (After hole 10 cross the swinging bridge to find hole 11, Hole 19 has been temporarily moved from storm damage and hole 20 can be found after a short walk down the trail).

Cons:
Signage. A solid attempt at providing a small map of each hole with distances and pars will not last very long. The laminated sheets of paper are still there on most holes, but are falling off or missing in many places – I’d hope to see something more permanent in the near future.

Tee Maintenance. A small gripe, only as to have something in the “con” section. Though relatively new, the tees are getting over grown in some areas, or are covered in gravel, or goose poop, though not a huge problem at the moment, it could be in the near future.

Parking. I mentioned earlier that you can park just about anywhere, this results in people parking very near some of the holes – Holes 3 and 4 I had to contend with vehicles parked near the basket, this could be a problem on many of the front 9 holes, depending on where fishermen are parking.

Other Thoughts:
An Excellent course, well worth the trip if you’re in the area. Better signage would bring this course up to a 4.5.

Thompson Lions Park

Pros:
It exists. A local of Thompson may get some use out of this course by having an opportunity to practice layups and putts, baskets exist and provide a target for aiming at.

Ace opportunities. Assuming the longest hole is about 200 feet and wide open, every hole is an ace waiting to happen, considering there’s no specific tee area, you could tee up anywhere and call it an ace.

Impossible to lose a disc.

Nice ace plaque. Each basket had an engraved metal plate on the bottom for honoring those who have aced the hole.

Free Camping. I’m not sure why you’d want to camp here, but if you’re in the area and need a place to stay, that’s about the best part of this park.

Other Amenities. Local Swimming pool offers refreshment on a hot day.

Cons:
Q: How do you fit a 9 hole course in a city park that consists of one city block?

A: Make a handful of baskets and spread them out randomly calling it a course.

Not anybody friendly. I was originally going to put “beginner friendly” in the pro section, then it dawned on me that I would not want to play this course as a beginner, it would probably turn me off of the sport. The only person I could see playing this course would be a local that just needs a target to practice putts.

Homemade baskets. Somebody put a solid effort into creating several baskets, they are all generally uniform and provide a target to aim at, besides that, some of them are falling apart and they didn’t catch real well.

No Tee locations. Baskets just seem to be randomly spread out with no specific tee box. Baskets are numbered, so I played from the previous basket to the next marked basket.

Busy City park. Baskets are located near playground equipment and cross a busy sidewalk with people constantly walking to and from the local swimming pool.

No distance or variety in holes. Holes are crammed into a very small park that offers no variety of shots and minimal distance, a putter is all you need here.

Other Thoughts:
If you happen to be in town and are driving by this course and need a place to practice putting, I’d still drive on by – this course isn’t even worth a pity stop, unless you’re looking for a free place to camp.

Clarks Grove DGC

Pros:
It exists. An ok place to practice approaches and putts, I could accomplish the same thing by placing my portable basket in an open field and throwing at it from 9 different angles.

Ace Opportunities. Every hole has an easy ace run.

Can’t lose a disc. Wide open, well maintained, clean course.

Quick round. I grabbed only my putter and was done in less than 20 minutes.

Navigation. Baskets are easy to find with large yellow numbers indicating which basket to throw at.

Beginner Friendly. For the reasons mentioned, this may be an ok place to come as a beginner to work on wide open approaches without having to worry about hitting trees or losing a disc.

Cons:
Variety. None, every hole is exactly the same +/- 50 feet, no line shaping required. The various young trees provide no challenge, even 20 years from now when they’re large trees, the baskets are placed so there won’t be any challenge, they could have created some kind of variety by placing some trees in the line.

Home made baskets. These are the same baskets found at Bancroft bay 18 hole course in Albert Lea. Solid construction, nice catching ability, nice and visible – but they chew up your discs, sharp edges with gouge the crap out of your disc if you hit it with any more force than a 10 foot putt.

No Tees. 9 baskets randomly spread out through the area have no specific tee off area, I suppose you could make up your own safari course, or I teed up from behind the previous hole’s basket.

Boring. 9 holes crammed into a small wide open area makes for a very boring course, the only benefit would be as a local to have some targets to aim at to practice putting and approaches.

Other Thoughts:
A simple straightforward pitch and putt course, if you’re looking for putting practice, a pull in off the freeway provides a very quick 9 holes, not worth going out of the way for.

Rolling Meadow Disc golf Course
Pros:
Amenities. Pro shop has an ok selection of discs, especially if you’re looking for some Millennium plastic, what better place to buy than the headquarters.

Navigation. Using the map and next tee arrows I never had trouble finding my way through the course.

Variety of holes. A beautiful course direct from John Houck, a great variety winds its way very well through the terrain, requiring many shots out of the bag to score well. Several lines required, several wide open holes to rip it, and several birdie opportunities and ace runs.

Beauty. Fields of wildflowers, flowing streams, waterfalls, and attractive ponds make for a very picturesque experience.

Tees. Hole 4 offered the single concrete tee pad, the rest of the natural tees were fairly level and fit the course well, I never found myself overly frustrated with the condition of the tees.

Events. A variety of minis and some of the largest tournaments in the state have found a beautiful home.

Just Fun. When paired with its counterpart these 36 holes were some of the most enjoyable I’ve played, especially in a single setting.

Cons:
Navigating hole 18. The pin is at the top of the hill just to the left of the pro shop. Not where I ended up – first at basket of 16 to the left, second at hole 4 on the right. Most likely just a user error.

Private. Only open on certain weekends, make sure to check the site. You have to schedule this course around it’s schedule, not your own.

Not much elevation, especially if compared to its counterpart.

Other Thoughts:
Well worth the $10 to play 36 holes of some of the best the state has to offer, if you can fit it’s schedule, make your way out here for a great day of disc golf.

Searight Park
Pros:
Amenities. Large parking area with a huge area for gathering large groups. Bathrooms and city park amenities at the start.

Events. Several days a week, all year long you may be able to find a Mini tournament here, the doubles were a ton of fun.

Tees. Concrete tee pads are always nice.

Variety. Most holes had several line options, with opportunities to try out many different shots, a variety of discs and shots came in handy.

Ace/Birdies. Nearly every hole is reachable in one, providing opportunities for aces, and scores well below par are possible.

Well kept. For the traffic that this course place sees, it is in relatively good shape, not too much trash around, fairways are well maintained and though there are many sings of heavy use, the course looks nice – in my opinion the new landscaping adds eye appeal.

Trash. Trash cans on most holes can fill up if it’s busy, but it appears to be kept clean fairly well despite the high traffic.

Tough to lose a disc on this course.

Cons:
Short. Not much variety of length and I never really had an opportunity to grip and rip, big arms may seem out of place here.

Wood Chips. Who had the idea that wood chips everywhere are a good plan? Shredded wood everywhere makes skipping nearly impossible and finding footing tough in some places.

The area surrounding the tee pads. A huge runup shouldn’t be necessary on this course, still if you prefer level ground directly behind the tee, it’s tough to find around here.

Busy. Evenings and weekends you will be waiting on nearly every hole.

Other Thoughts:
A very enjoyable place to play a quick 18 to test your approaches and putts, well worth a stop if in the area. Especially a fun place to play a Mini. A short, fun round.

Circle C Disc golf Course

Opening Thoughts:
Beautiful Course, Imagine taking a hike through your favorite wilderness area but having an amazing disc golf course all along the way!

Pros:
Practice Baskets. Two baskets offer a variety of practice opportunities.

Tees. Concrete tee pads, dual options on most holes are all in great shape. Multiple locations not only offer length options, but several change the lines quite well.

Challenge/Variety of Holes. Each hole was a new adventure, I found myself walking the length of each hole to check out lines and landing areas to plan my shot, each hole required a variety of shots and line shaping skills.

Beautiful. The landscape is incredible, it’s not only a disc golf experience but a hike through the “wilderness.” Amazing enough to find an area like this so close to the city, but to have a great disc golf course in the middle of it – I thoroughly enjoyed my experience here.

Amenities. Located in a sports complex of a park, bathrooms are available at the beginning. Trash cans can be found on several holes.

Cons:
Vandalism. Yeah, I noticed the graffiti and various broken tee signs, didn’t detract from the overall experience, but it’s sad to see such a lack of respect for such a beautiful area.

Though the tees themselves are level, the area around doesn’t offer a runup for those that like 10 feet behind the tee.

Not for Beginners. For one, it is very challenging and would have frustrated me terribly as a beginner. If I survived that and still kept playing, I’d be let down by any other course that I played afterward in this area.

Crowded. This course is popular for a reason, and everybody knows it – there may be a wait on weekends or in the afternoons.

Other Thoughts:
Bring water, it will be hot out there, and it is a hike – take your time and enjoy this beauty of a course. Well worth the stop, if in Austin make this course a priority.

Side Lake Disc Golf Course

Fun little course in the far reaches of Northern Minnesota.

Pros:

Variety of Holes. On nearly every hole I found myself taking at least a few moments to walk the hole, check out landing areas, and plan my shot accordingly. A variety of shots are required from technical wooded holes to a wide open bomb off the top of a hill.

Tees. Tee pads were level covered witih rubber sheets, multiple tees locations are nice.

Baskets. This site says they are Innova Discatcher, I’m pretty sure that’s not the case – though they appear to be home made replicates of the discatcher basket with the yellow top band and everything with a sticker that says “Manufactured at {such and such location}” These baskets catch well and seem a little more beefy than regular discatchers.

Signage. Nice hand made signs on every hole give a detailed layout, hole number, distance, and par.

Navigation. Tough to get lost out here, everything is well laid out once you get to hole 1 at the bottom of the hill.

Clean and Well maintained. Garbage cans on several holes,. not heavily used, and well maintained result in a very well kept course, the fairways are mowed and cleared through the woods.

Not crowded. I saw nobody else playing this course while I was there.

Use of Elevation. Most holes have some elevation.

Cons:

Public park. I occasionally had to wait for screaming kids to continue playing their game and get out fo my way

Thick Rough. Occasional errant throws took some time to find in the thick underbrush.

Ended too soon. I could have gone for at least another nine holes at this quality.

Other Thoughts:

A great course to go out of the way for if you’re in the Hibbing area – especially if you’re going to hit up Northern Hibbing anyway, worth the 15 mile drive.

Northern Lights Community

If you are looking for a long strenuous challenge of a course, you’re in the wrong place. If you’re looking for a beginner friendly pitch and putt course with a decent variety, this is a good place to start.

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(I’m finally getting around to posting my dg course reviews from my road trip, look for them in the weeks to come, I have a lot to add)
Windwood Presbyterian
Played 5/3/10
Beautiful course, very enjoyable round with a nice challenge but not overly frustrating.

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