- Fun holes that challenge the beginner/intermediate player.
- Tee pads are fantastic, and some multiple tees offer easier looks at the baskets.
- Water hole is not too scary.
- Course takes advantage of the natural beauty of the park's wooded areas.

- Park is huge, but the course is tucked into the back corner which limits the course and the length of the holes; seems like a missed opportunity for a truly great 18-basket course.
- Course could use a bit more "pruning" at points; a few holes had small trees and brush that should be removed.
- Hole #6 is another missed opportunity; it could be one of the best holes of the course but it needs some work. The fairway is used by the park workers to store materials and dead wood, and the berm along the left-hand side is a mess of weeds and piled up dirt.

Fun and enjoyable, if short, course that offers some variety and challenge. Modest elevation changes and several wooded holes, which is welcome in this area. Holes #1, #5, and #9 were my favorites. This course has plenty of replay value.

Central Park DGC in Oak Brook is a textbook example of design that maximizes the land it's given. In this case, the course plays through small wooded patches that ring a large and well-used upscale city park. Many of these wooded patches are scarcely bigger than the hole that plays through them, no more than a couple of hundred feet long. But it's just enough to create a highly technical wooded course in a park that is largely unwooded. It's impressively done.

Central Park DGC features a nice mix of hole lengths with a few true par 4s mixed in with longer par 3s and an ace run or two. Quarters are generally tight, with some low ceilings and narrow lanes to contend with, but there's still variety in line shaping, helped by the ability on some holes to attack them in different ways. The course opens up at some points - holes 8 and 9 for instance - which helps mix things up and provides a reprieve from the more technical stretches of play. Obstacles such as rolling hills and a water hazard help keep such holes from being throwaways. You'll use a lot of shots here, while still being able to play to your strengths rather than being forced to approach every hole a particular way.

Signage is well done, as are the brick and turf tees. The shorter tees are new player friendly while the longs provide a well-conceived challenge for higher level players. Grooming was immaculate when I was there and that standard seems to be the norm. Parking was plentiful. There are a lot of other things to do at the park, making it great for a family outing.

Most of Central Park's cons are primarily due to the nature of the land it sits on. At 9 holes it ends a bit earlier than you'd want it to given the quality of play. There are some higher than average walks between holes owing to the fact that holes are distributed between patches of trees: it's not excessive, and preferable given the quality of design that results, but still is unideal. There's also a weird juxtaposition between the privacy these wooded patches have with the public nature of much of the park. Also, because many holes are confined to wooded patches, their design is quite constrained to the land in terms of length and line, more so than most terrain requires. A few holes feel shoehorned in in one way or another. Even though the design works hard to make these feel as natural as possible, the sense is there.

The technical holes will likely frustrate newer players even if the short tees help in this regard. There are some tight windows and tree-dotted fairways with dense borders that can really punish you.

The park seems well-trafficked and the course got a bit backed up when I was there. It's great to see people taking advantage of the course! But it can make for a less than efficient round.

Central Park DGC was a pleasant surprise given its humble nature and that there are so many courses in the Chicago area that are average or below. I'd highly recommend a visit here, especially if you like wooded play. This is by far my favorite 9 hole I've played in the area, and I would only recommend Illinois heavy hitters The Canyons, Fairfield, and Highland Park before it.

An absolutely immaculate 9 hole course in the heart of a city park in a richie rich suburb.

2, and sometimes 3 tee pads on each hole. The long set is unbelievably nice paver stones surrounded by gravel, and boxed in by 4x4 wood. The other tees are boxed in the same, with field turf as the tee pad surface. They're seriously some of the best tee pads I've ever seen. The different tees almost always offered a different line.

Great baskets in near perfect condition. They caught great, and there was multiple pin placements on every hole. Most placements offered very different looks at the holes.

The upkeep here is beyond compare. Wooded fairways are completely covered in wood chips, and the rough is very well defined. I can't even imagine how much work must have gone into this.

The golf itself is very good, with well thought out holes. Lines are tight, but fair...if you hit them, you'll feel pretty good about it. Not easy to score low, even on the shorter holes.

A nice water hole (9) to finish. Depending on the tee you're at, you may need two shots to get to the position past the water.

Navigation is very intuitive...the transition from 2 to 3 is a long walk, but there's signs leading you there.

Not much to list here. Would love to have seen what they could have done with more space.

No major elevation here, but what there is, is used very well.

As great as the wood chip fairways look, they do force you to factor in the skip on the wooded holes. Big skips galore.

This is about as good as a 9 hole course is going to get. Insanely manicured, and in a park with outstanding amenities.

The golf is great, it's in a superb neighborhood...nothing to not like here. Bring the family and make a day of it!

- Equipment: The teepads are large and offer plenty of space for a good run-up with great traction. Alternate astro-turf pads work well and look nice as well. New baskets catch well, and the just installed tee-signs are beautiful and helpful with all the information you could want on them. Practice basket with "HORSE" type markers in the ground is nice as well, and gives you a place to warm up when the course is crowded and you are waiting to tee off on 1.

- Landscaping: Course is already beautiful, and will only improve as more work and cleanup is done in the coming months. Wood chips on all fairways look great and provide a nice and somewhat unique playing surface. A decent amount of underbrush has been thinned out to aid in the already easy navigation and prevent inescapable tree-jail from the rough, though some locations still need a bit of work. Most fairways are well shaped.

- Good, technical golf: with the exception of one passable, and one possibly ill-designed hole, (2 and 7) I have enjoyed playing each hole on this course. Tight but generally "fair fairways" require well shaped lines, moderate elevation present throughout the course keeps things interesting, and the pond on the last hole is a nice feature to finish the course. Holes, 3 and especially 5 in particular stand out.

- Multiple tees and pins: Multiple tees on every hole but 2, with 4 (!) on hole 4, and 3 on hole 9. Many of these tees provide drastically different and not necessarily easier lines. Playing through this course twice from the various tees almost gives the feeling of playing a complete 18 hole course. Multiple pin position on several holes which should be changes somewhat regularly should keep things interesting for local players playing frequently as well.

- As others have said still a little rough around the edges in places, but nothing that really distracts from the golf.

- Doesn't bother me, but some may not appreciate the long walk from 2 to 3, and there isn't really a clear route from hole 9s basket back to the parking lot by hole 1 if there are games being played on the soccer fields.

- Hole 7 seems like a transition hole that the designers attempted to make more interesting with the tight set of trees not far off the pad. Unfortunately, the result is simply a frustrating hole, with 2 or 3 incredibly tight gaps (mere inches of clearance if properly navigated) that must be hit. The slender trees are already scared from being pelted by discs, and may not last all that long anyway. There isn't really anything that can be done to make this a "good" but removing one tree could make it better.

- It's too bad a soccer field backs the basket on hole 9, because a tee pad on the top of the hill would be great, I've had fun throwing from there anyway, but can see how it could present a danger if someone unloads and goes long with a high speed disc.

I've really enjoyed playing this course so far, and look forward to getting more familiar with it. I loved the old course, and am delighted the redeisgn has improved what was previously here. I'm sure it will help my accuracy and technical game, as the middle 4-5 holes provide the tight, wooded golf not present on most of the other major courses in the area I play frequently (Madison Meadow and Katherine Legge.)

I struggled on what to give this course. Giving a 4 or above on a 9 hole course, even one with a great number and quality of alternate tees and pins such as this Central Park, is hard to justify. For me it came down to a 3 or 3.5. Not having played a huge number of 9 hole courses (I concede I haven't played a staggering number of courses of any size at his point) I don't have the knowledge base to say this course is among the elite 9 hole courses. However, until I am proven otherwise, I can't see many 9 holes improving on what has been done here.

Perhaps I will re-evaluate later, but right now I feel giving this course 3.5 discs, basically the equivalent of 4.5 for an 18 hole course, is justified.

Old Oak Brook was the perfect course for my skill level. It was tough enough to punish a recreational player if they played badly but easy enough to cough up birdies when they played well. The "punishment" wasn't severe enough to make you take more than a 4 in most cases, so most days you could hold together the semblance of a decent round. The park was (and still is) well maintained and the course fit well with the other park uses. It was a very nice recreational course.

New Oak Brook pushed me down and took my lunch money. It is a punishing design aimed at serious players. Holes # 1 & # 2 are similar to the old-style Oak Brook, but once you hit the tunnel for # 3 you are in for some serious wooded golf for the next five holes. Hole # 3 is an elevated tee with the pin tucked up to the right with a hellish 300'+ gauntlet of trees masquerading as a fairway. Hole # 5 is an excellent 300'+ downhill shot (from the longs) with the pin set up on a mound to the left. Hole # 6 is a tough uphill turnover shot (from the longs.) Hole # 4 and # 7 are shorter shots with a lot of trees in the fairway. Hole # 8 is an open shot with the pin set on a hillside and # 9 is a mostly open route with a water carry that is 400'+ from the longs.

The course has nice paver tees and signage at the longs. The shorts are turfgrass; I'm not sure all the shorts are in yet but some of them (holes #3-4 come to mind) move the angle of the shot quite a bit. Hole #4 appears to have an alternate placement but I didn't notice any other alternate pins. The course is less than a month old and work is still continuing so alt pins might be in the plans for other holes as well.

Being very new, the shule is rough. You can get in serious trouble when you get out of the fairway. The fairways are chipped in the woods (except # 6, which seemed unfinished.) The flow is natural; the transition from #6 to #7 was the only place I got lost. All in all, it's a challenging Advanced-level 9-hole with very good tees in a very nice park.

Holes # 3, #4 and # 7 had a lot of trees in the fairway. On hole # 3 in particular you could throw a decent shot and have it kicked away. Even if it wasn't kicked away, you could end up in the fairway with a very tough second shot. On holes #4 and #7 they might be able to argue that the pinball wizard effect on an ace run hole is decent design, but hole # 3 needs to be cleaned out to be fair.

There is a very long but well marked walk from #2 to #3 that really doesn't stand out once you get to #3. It might be a con to some; to me it is what it is.

Hole # 9 has a great elevated shot that is not used. As a golfer it seems like a missed opportunity at a cool shot. As a former parks guy, the elevated shot looks like a really good way to have chuckers flinging Nukes at the soccer field past the pin. So while I agree with the decision not to put a tee there, I went up and threw one from there anyway. It's a fun missed shot.

Nit-picky safety concerns: Hole #1 runs between a parking lot and a turfgrass soccer field. There is a healthy stand of trees to knock down a shot, but it is possible to flip a drive out on the soccer field. Not probable, though. I also saw a bunch of people walk from the parking lot across the fairway totally oblivious to the disc golf course. There should probably be a sign alerting people to the course there.

When I got done playing the new design, I wanted to hate it because it wasn't the old course that I had liked so much. Initially to me it seemed like a 9-hole recreational course trying to be something it wasn't. What stops me from hating the new Oak Brook is KLM, the course that went in 10 minutes away while Oak Brook was closed. KLM is a laid-back, lightly wooded park-style course with a lot of the recreational vibe that the old Oak Brook had. With KLM so close by, Oak Brook really doesn't have to be that recreational course anymore. The land was there to add more challenge to it and they did. It compliments KLM now rather than duplicating it; you can hit KLM for a warm up and then get some serious shots in at Oak Brook.

If you run into Serious Steve, be prepared to be shamed into course work. He is not shy at all about grabbing you and putting you to work.

Overall a very enjoyable 9 holes. Nice mix of elevation and woods. Paver stone tee box on every hole was very well built . Turf tees as alternate or short works well, seem sturdy but time will see. The wooded holes have actual real danger for bad throws..something not heard of in Chicago. As other people have said, this would be an amazing 18. The land just isn't there. With what they were given they designed the best possible course.

Long walk from 2 to 3...but it is worth it..see below.
No signs or map..as of yet.
Few holes are fillers, but still play ok.
I picture hole 2 & 7 opening up and than becoming boring like most disc golf in Chicago.

Hole 3 5 & 6 are the standout holes..hole 3 is favorite..and it has a line, it's just tight. I personally want a challenge and this gives it. I would have liked a bit more challenge but than casual or am players would not enjoy as much. Playing all as par 3 I'm happy with a few under par..nice course very pretty. Steve, skunk, and his crew did a great job. Thank them if you see them on the course. Keep it clean please use the trash cans. Hole 9 plays over water, and for a big arm it is a challenge but plays downhill so go for it.

I really wish that this site had a 3.75 rating... in my eyes, giving a 4-rating to a nine hole course is the same as giving a 5 to an 18 hole course, and I just couldn't bring myself to do it for this one.

That being said, this is one of the few nine hole courses that is a destination course. Suburban disc golfers often proclaim Adler Park in Libertyville as the best nine hole course in the Chicagoland area... well this one blows Adler out of the water.

*The lines here are incredibly tight, but fair. It makes for excellent shot variety, which is super fun!

*There are two to three tees for every hole, each of which offer fun/different shots. It was genius to decide to use different materials for the pro-tees to avoid the typical confusion that comes with alt-tees

*Practice basket was very nice

*Pin placements made use of weird elevation, which was very fun

*The last hole is a great signature hole, from the pro tee it's a huge bomb where you must decide to lay-up or go for it, because there's a small body of water about 50 feet in front of the pin. Great way to end a great course.

*I also liked hole 5 (I think) which was about a 300 ft super tight wooded shot with the pin to the left of the fairway up on some sort of mound. Excellent, excellent hole.

Several of these issues will probably be resolved as the course ages, so I didn't knock the rating to hard for these:

*Poor navigation prior to hole 1
*No tee-signs, which stinks in a wooded course
*Hole 6 was unplayable when I played

With those out of the way, these are the issues that forced me to bring this down from a 4.0 rated course because these issues are less likely to change over time.

*How did they fit such a nice course into this congested little park? While you're not in much danger of hitting people/getting hit by discs at this course, you are not isolated at all from the rest of the world. You're always either playing next to soccer fields/a highway/a swimming pool. A lot of disc golfers like being in their own little disc golf world when they play; this course does not offer that.

*The walk from hole two to hole three, even though it is well marked, is like 100 miles

*Although hole 9 was playable when I played yesterday, it sure seems like its pin position will be under-water quite a lot. I hope that I'm proven wrong on this

*The short tees use some kind of astroturf as a tee-off surface. This is not a bad idea, but it was a bit shaggy... kind of like teeing off in un-mowed grass!

I worked in Oak Brook the entire summer. This week was my last week. The course opened this week/last week. Cruel...

Anywho, this one is well worth going out of your way to play.

-Practice basket at the beginning of the course. Rest of baskets are in good condition.
-2 sets of tees. Long tees are of good length and composed of brick, while the shorter tees are AstroTurf.
-Good flow to course, easy to follow. There are no crossing fairways and although it doesn't loop back entirely to the beginning it's pretty close.
-Elevation utilized pretty well, with slight uphill and downhill shots.
-Hole 5 is my personal favorite.
-Overall a pretty good challenge, while still fun for beginners.
-Benches at holes 1, 3, and 7.
-Good mix of open/wooded. 1 and 2 start out fairly open, 3 to 6 is much more tight and technical. From 7 til' the end is more open again.

-Course is "rough" from all the tearing out this year in order to create the holes fairways. Next years spring growth should make the course more enjoyable.
-No trash cans at the moment. Sure they're coming in soon though!
-Maybe one more bench at hole 5. Not a real con but I do like someone to sit every few holes.
-7 and 3 rely a little to much on luck. I do have a way I take 7 on and it has worked out fairly good so far, but 3 just seems like no real good route to the basket IMO.

How does this course compare to the old OB layout? I think they have done a good job with the new layout. In a lot of ways it's even better than the old. Elevation is more utilized. 2 sets of tees now, and multiple basket locations. I think it's a step up in difficulty. In terms of fun to play this new version is about as fun as the old one. Still a solid course, always will be.