50 Acre park DGC is located in a really nice park in the Chicago burbs. The course is free to play and was shockingly clean and well maintained.

The tee pads here are nicely done. They were all nice and level and gripped nicely. They're also pretty decently sized. Not the biggest pads I've seen, but they seemed a bit largere than most. There's also 2 pads on almost every hole. I believe hole 4 was the only single tee.

The signs here are pretty basic but serviceable and definitely better than nothing. The show a very basic hole map, hole #, par and distance.

The baskets are Discatchers. These are showing their age a bit but caught just fine. All were mounted level or at least pretty close for the most part. No complaints with these.

The elevation here is used well. The first 2/3 of the course undulate through the east side of the park before opening up and flattening out for the last 1/3. There's more trees on the first half as well, though it's not completely wide open on the back half. Hole 18 is a pretty cool water carry to finish your round from the longs. Much less epic from the shorts but a water carry nonetheless.

Apparently there's a pro shop on site which is cool. I'm not sure of the hours and didn't try to stop in but that's always cool to see.

The wind can get pretty crazy here, which I read in prior reviews. I can attest that it certainly does. This is going to be your main challenge here on most days. The trees can be negated with good control and shot shaping. The wind here will get you. It's hard to read and seemed to swirl around quite a bit. I consider this a pro though as it keeps the round a bit more interesting. If I was local I'd probably be over it.

The back half of the course really drags down the excitement level compared to the front. The flatter more open holes just leave you wanting more of what you started with.

A few of the holes on the front 9 play pretty close to each other. Not the most dangerous holes I've ever seen, but just something to be aware of.

The park seems pretty popular, and for good reason, but that also means that there's walkers and such strolling through on a regular basis. Can definitely slow your round down.

The flow is a little bit goofy in a few spots. I'd recommend using Udisc if it's your first time here, It'll save you some wandering around. Definitely not the most intuitive layout I've ever seen.

I wasn't expecting too much when arriving to this course. I was pleasantly surprised with how it started out and was wondering what was up with it's rating. It's no 5 out of 5, top in the state kind of deal, but it's not THAT bad. Well that's why you play the whole course before drawing conclusions. It's rated about right where it should be IMO, maybe a bit high. But for average players, this is a very good course. Not a destination course or anything to go any length out of your way for. But if you're in the area or passing through? You can do much worse. Trust me. I played all the closest ones either before or after this one.

In the end it's really just a decent/typical course. I'd probably go with a 2.75 if I could but that's it.

- It's a great oasis in the city, just 30 min from downtown in a spacious park
- Pro shop was closed when I went but it's there and there is a port-a-potty
- Solid elevation and use thereof
- Cement tees and tee signs on every hole (although tee signs quite faded)
- Long and short tees on most holes, although the short tees on most holes seemed oddly close to the longs (i.e. not saving you much distance or giving much of an easier shot)
- Water feature on 18, that isn't too hard to cross and isn't too hard to retrieve a disc from if necessary
- The barn with horses near the parking lot is cool

- A lot of similar holes, and all in a row too. The front 9 has 4 holes that go up and down the same ridge and the back 9 has a bunch of these giant flat holes where you're throwing into a field with maybe a few trees obstructing the basket when you get close
- As a lot of people have mentioned, the wind really rips through the course, wreaking havoc on the long and downhill throws
- The cattails in play on holes 8 and 9 when I went were full of standing water and it's basically GG to your disc if it goes in there unless you having wading boots

50 Acre is definitely a solid course, and I do worry that I am giving it too harsh of a rating because I went on a pretty cold and windy spring day, so I opted to bump it up to a 2.5 from a 2.0, mainly because it's a beautiful urban park. If I lived in the immediate area, I'd be a happy guy. But coming from the city, Katherine Legge in Hinsdale is also just 30-35 minutes away and is a considerably better course. It has almost no holes that are just throwing into a 500' open field. It's pretty hard to lose a disc. It has a creak in play on many holes. There are more trees and they are better placed. The total elevation is probably less but it flows with the course better (i.e. most holes have some elevation rather than some having a lot and some having none at 50 Acre). And it's in a nicer part of town. Maybe if I were better than a beginner-intermediate player and I needed a course that gave my arm more challenge then I'd be content with 50 Acre, but for the time being, it just doesn't do it for me.