Cold Brook is a county park located near the I-94 corridor between Kalamazoo and Battle Creek, MI. The large park is centered around a lake and has a campground, boat launch, and more on site - but there is still enough room in one corner for a 24 hole disc golf course.

This course has clearly been around a while, but is aging gracefully and is still a lot of fun to play. The well-established fairways range from very tightly wooded and short (holes 9-16 are each between 150'-250' and require all different kinds of accurate throws) to moderately wooded and longer, to #22's wide open field. My favorite hole was #4, which is kind of a gentle "S" shaped 390' fairway that plays down then back up a wooded valley with a single large downed tree at the bottom.

Elevation changes are used well throughout most of the course, including on several precarious basket placements. There is no brook (cold, or any other temperature) in sight, but the central lake does come into play behind the baskets of holes 19 and 20. It's also arguably in play on #3 if you get a bad tree kick and the water level is up.

The tee pads are mostly concrete, or a couple of holes had arrays of patio pavers. They were all nice and long and in good shape. Landscaping has been done around several of them to make sure they stay flat. Many tee areas had trash cans and benches.

The baskets are DGAs that were definitely on the older side, but still seemed fine. There was a porta potty at the parking lot. The course circles back to the lot after #5 and #18, and you could easily skip holes in other places too if short on time.

I noted quite a few safety concerns here. A few different holes play near parking lots, and the park drive helps define the fairway on holes 19 and 22. A couple of other holes played through likely multi-use areas. Elsewhere, holes play quite close to each other and on one occasion even directly at one another. The finishing hole #24 has what looks like a long, gently curling fairway cut through the woods - but a couple hundred feet away from the tee is actually the approach for #8. The real fairway for #24 veers off into a tight wooded downhill section that isn't at all apparent from the tee. I didn't realize this until someone's fantastic tee shot on #8 whizzed by my head. In lieu of an actual redesign, the park should at least install a tall fence here (similar to what has been added between #12 and #13) to keep these two fairways separate.

The tee signs are so faded that many of them were basically illegible. The ones that were still legible had a very basic style with hole number, distance, and a very rough line that I actually found misleading on more than one hole. There was no kiosk/map, and no directional signage. New signage across the board would definitely be a nice upgrade.

There are three baskets in view from the parking lot, but none of them are practice baskets. They are the live baskets of holes 5, 18, and 24.

Big arms and those who struggle with accuracy will definitely not enjoy the short, very tight fairways in play through the middle 1/3 or so of this course. A few inches here could mean the difference between clearing the gap, and a bad tree kick that will lead to a bogey or even worse. I personally enjoyed that sort of play to the extent it was present here, but it's definitely not for everyone.

Constant road noise distracts from the natural feel a little bit.

When playing hole 19, I thought I saw movement through the trees near the basket and stopped to peer ahead. That was when I saw a family of huge waterfowl grazing near the waters edge. Their heads were almost at my head height. I'm no ornithologist but I think these were herons, cranes, or something similar. Before I could get a clearer look, they startled and flew off across the lake.

Google Maps has the location of the first tee correct, but the park entrance right near it is not actually open. You'll need to take the other (west) entrance, and then pay a $5 park fee to enter. There was an attendant booth, but no attendant when I visited so I used the self pay option.

Cold Brook DGC is still a fun round, but it kind of feels like it is past its prime. If the park staff decided to put more time and some of the $5 entrance fee revenue into upgrading this course, this could become one I rate a half or maybe even full disc higher. But that doesn't really appear to be happening, and a "strong 3.0" rating is the best I can give for this course in its current state. It's not a bad option if you are in the area, but nothing to go out of your way for.

- Technically challenging course in many areas but certainly not overly punishing.
- Concrete tees
- Great layout. Inspite of the lack of next tee signs the course was easy to follow.
- Club care...There's obviously some TLC happening here by some active club members. Something every busy course desperately needs. It's obvious they've been putting up erosion control measures, maintaining the benches and so on.
- Plays in a nice multi use park but the course appears to have very little over-lap with other park activities.
- Water hazards! On 19, 20 and 21 theres a rather interesting risk/reward on these holes. I really like this layout.
- Variety. This course has it. Everything from tightly wooded and short to long and open. After being punished on holes 1 through 21 the wide open fairway of 22 and 23 is a nice reprieve to just air it out and let out a little frustration.
- Lots of gentle elevation changes makes this a fun course to play.

- Navigation leaves a little bit to be desired. Not a big deal and yes I am being picky but it sure would be nice to see some next tee signs.
- Holy ace runs Batman. Right in the midde of the course there are some seriously short holes. Almost absurdly so. 160'? Seriously? 9 through 13 are sub 200' and easily reachable with a putter or lightly thrown mid. A few of these would be greatly improved if they were lengthened which I think is possible on a few of them.
- Some of these shorter holes really are not about skill but just poke and hope through the trees.
- The concrete tee pads are great but some of them are in need of repair or replacement. Not sure what is happening with a few...if it's spalling off or what.
- I really did not like how #22 went so close to the roadway - bit of a safety issue.

This is the kind of course that's perfect for all skill levels. Newbs will find it tough and challenging but a great place to learn. Pros will love the tight lines and risk/reward situations all over the course.

With the cons listed above don't get the wrong idea. I had a great time playing this course and will definitely be back. Its getting a lot of TLC and could use a little more. It certainly isn't a championship caliber course but is a lot of fun to play. If you are in the area and have the time, get your butt to Cold Brook and play a round.

The course plays through a wooded park with little interference from other park uses. Most of the holes play through fairly tight lines in the woods with some underbrush and lots of smaller trees off the fairways to punish errant shots. Most of the holes offer a single line to the pin, and are tight but reasonably fair. A couple shots in the trees offer a little more length and more interesting risk/reward decisions, I liked the hole that had a downhill dogleg and offered the choice to lay up to the opening for a tough approach or try to bite off some of the turn and have an easier run at the pin.

One hole plays along the lake, and offers a fairly open hyzer over the water or a safe but very tough anhyzer line over land, I enjoy holes with that kind of choice. There are a few holes that play out in the open with more distance and limited rough defining the edges of some of the fairways. The baskets are older, but catch fine. The concrete tees are in decent shape, and the signage is basic but has hole distance and a rough direction indicated.

There is a long stretch in the middle of the course where the holes start to feel very similar, which is a bit disappointing with the kind of foliage and terrain available on the property. Half of the course is 220' or shorter, and several more are under 300' meaning that this course ends up only really testing the short game of better players. I was a little disappointed as well that the water only came into play on one shot, it's a great feature and a nice visual.

Hole 21 is a terrible hole, it's wide open with no obstacles, and it's easy to turn over a shot into the parking lot to the right of the fairway. The signs are not very informative, the few blind shots require extra walking to figure out where to throw. Some pins seem to have been moved, with inaccurate distances listed on the signs.

This is a fun course, but not one that really tests a wide range of skills. Beginners will enjoy the shorter holes and lack of really nasty underbrush, it's very beginner friendly for such a wooded layout. More experienced players will find the course pretty repetitive, it's mostly a putter course that doesn't reward a balanced set of disc golf skills.

challenging course, awesome terrain changes, nice tees and baskets. awesome water holes.

some of the new signs are already missing, hard to navigate, i believe i actually passed hole 4 with out knowing it. hole are a little too close together and i was almost hit twice while teeing off.

needs some maintenance but better then alot of others.

Good mixture of long and short holes, open and technical. Has some great holes...4, 5, 20, 22, 24. #4 is 391' and has a low ceiling on the drive w/ OB left. Hole goes slightly downhill, then uphill to the basket surrounded by pines.

Many of the tee pads in bad shape. A couple of the holes...17 and 19...are bad holes. On 17 unless you can bomb an overhand or huge hyzer from the tee, there's no shot. 19 was put in when the course was redesigned and is a short hole with the only line to the basket out over the lake. Many of the holes in the trees are pure luck holes.