Variation of tee shots including some big and open downhill shots.

Multiple basket locations.

2 sets of tee pads for "front and back" 9, one set is shorter than the others. Good for beginners and females.

Some uphills and downhills

Almost always windy.

Limited parking.

Hellyer Park (or Hell Yeah Park as I refer to it) is a great course on its own but even better when combined with the nearby Parque De La Raza DGC. Hellyer has more open space and elevation and a little more freedom for different throws and lines where PDLR is a bit more tight and restricting but not in a bad way.

I love that the designer(s) of this course kept it a limited amount of holes instead of putting in 18 here and making a bunch of short, boring, annoying holes. Too often designers go for 18 holes when they do not have the land and/or resources to do so but they have avoided that here thankfully. The multiple basket locations and dual tee pads help to add even more variety to a very fun and challenging course and keeping things fresh with frequent players.

We parked on the road near hole five on the top of the hill near the practice basket. I'm not exactly sure why hole one starts in the middle of the course because it seems like everyone parks near hole five which explains the reasoning for a practice basket in that area.

Navigation didn't seem like a huge problem but I was playing with people who have played the course multiple times before. It looks like it would be beneficial to paint the numbers on the baskets in some brightly colored manner because sometime there are multiple baskets in view with confusion as to which one is the correct basket. Also there are some blind basket locations which need to be scouted first before you throw.

Overall I liked Hellyer a lot and consider it one of my favorite 9 hole courses ever played and trust me I have played a lot of 9 hole courses. The combo of Parque De La Raza and Hellyer is a perfect one as the two courses are different but right next each other and almost feel like the front and back nine of an 18 hole course. I highly recommend playing both as they are right off of the freeway whether you are a course bagger or a local looking for a good time.

- Very close to Si Valley
- No gate means early morning rounds
- Concrete Tee Pads
- Multiple Pin Locations

- Poison Oak
- Hole 1 is far from street (start on 5 or 8 instead)
- Only 9 holes
- Traffic to get to/from here at rush hour is just stupid

This course was the closest one to where I was staying in Santa Clara. It's a pretty cool course on the southern side of San Jose. I was planning on playing Parque De La Raza on the other side of the highway, but Raza is gated and doesn't open until 8am (I was there at 6:15). The course is only 9 holes, but they are a pretty cool 9 holes. At first glance it looks like a fairly wide open course, and it is. But they do have several pin placement options that I think are changed either weekly or monthly. Overall they make very good use of the terrain and vegetation to make it a more difficult than it looks at first glance. Most pins are well guarded, but there really aren't any tunnel shots here. It's weird that Hole 1 is so far away from the street. Hole 5 and Hole 8 are next to the street parking area so I just started there. The ground is very hard pack dirt. Watch out for huge unintended skips on approaches. There are lots of ground squirrel holes too so watch your footing. The bushes are pretty thick so a disc can get lost pretty deep in them, but I did not see much "jail" rough which is good in my opinion. All teepads were textured concrete.
If you ever happen to be visiting the San Jose / Silicon Valley area, definitly pack a few discs and go play!

- lots of variation in elevation
- typically not very crowded (which is good because parking is limited)
- most holes are pretty short and wide open - good for beginners
- most people start at 8 because it's by the cars - not sure why they don't just switch the holes to have 1 at the top
- tees easy to find
- love the bag hangers

- no water/bathrooms
- pretty exposed/ can get hot
- freeway noise
- couple brushy areas that could be disc snatchers
- since most holes are pretty open, not a lot of places to practice precision shots between trees (this could be a pro but I like shooting between trees)

I'm a newbie with golf discs, i always used ultimate discs before, so it's still challenging for me. That being said, I still get par and even birdied one at this course, so it might not be challenging enough for solid players.

-Multiple pin placements
-Easy to get to. Right off the freeway
-Quality baskets
-Some challenging holes
-Great for beginners to intermediates. Easy for advanced and pros...but still fun
-Plays pretty quick

-Can be very dusty with the wind
-Nestled against hwy 101 so constant freeway noise.
-Changed the numbering of the holes a long while back so where you park is hole 8. You have to walk half way across the course to start at hole 1...lame.
-Can get busy with longer wait times

-All in all a fun course.
-It's always good to get out and throw some discs no matter where you are.
-This course is amusing but with the quality of courses in Norcal this one ranks pretty low.
-Any experienced player should shoot well under on this course.

-Right off the freeway for a quick round while in the neighborhood.
-Some fun throws.
-Like the dual tees, but I seem to always throw the long ones.
-Also like the bag racks at most holes.

It's right off the freeway so you don't feel removed as much as I like to. Also the day I was there someone from our group got their car broken in to, one guy i met there said he had it happen one time before. These are cars parked literally less than 100 ft. from a freeway entrance so...

Combined with De La Raza makes for a great Disc Golf excursion to San Jose.

It had a decent amount of challenge to it, especially for "9". However, with multiple pads and pin placement, 18 is easy to achieve here. Shot selections were mostly longer drives in the 300+ range. One of the best aspects of this place is the location (it is right off of the 101) and the use of the space itself. Navigation was ok; fairly open shots and beginner friendly.

It was a busier on a Monday afternoon than I had expected. No water or restrooms-I couldn't imagine this place on a hot day. A possible dust bowl on dry, windy conditions.

This was a good course. If it was nearby, I'd certainly play here again. If you're looking for more golf, there is another course on the other side of the freeway, De la Raza, and the two combined will provide a great golf experience.

* Easy access to course from Highway 101 *
* Multiple concrete teebox positions, a long and a short on most holes. good for practicing midrange drives, or bringing a newbie *
* Each hole has a couple different pin positions, and makes for interesting variation when they are shuffled up *
* Good use of elevation changes *
**** Awesome bag hangers on most of the teepads, never seen these before, very cool ****

* No bathrooms or water spickets *
* Very little shade *
* Hole 8 is closest to parking, most people play holes 8 through 7 *
* Not very difficult *

Bring lots of water, its hot out there at any time of the day/year.

The short teepads are great practice for midrange driving, and a great place to bring people who are learning, or a good place to play a different 9 holes than La Raza.

This course is worth the play if your in the area, however, make sure to also play Parque De La Raza, just 5 min down the street, for a more challenging and interesting 9 holes.

This is a well designed, definitely challenging nine hole course wedged in a piece between the freeway and another road. As previous reviewser have stated, it's not the most pleasing looking piece of land, especially in late August when I played. It's really a pretty sorry looking bit of bare dirt, scrub brush, mixed tree and what not with some mixed elevation thrown in for variety. But the designers have done a wonderful job of creating a most challenging disc golf experience here. The winds help with the challenge. The teepads are varying sizes (depending on the run-up needed). There are multiple basket placements for variety. There are uphill and downhill throws. # 7 is a big hyser shot around a large tree.

Hot, ugly desert scrubby enviroment in late August. Freeway noise. No water, bring your own. I don't know where you would park if crowded. The signs were kinda confusing.

This course reminds me of that ugly girl in college, that you kind of ended up with late one night. You know the one that you didn't want your friends to find out about but then she turned out to be really "gifted" or something like that and you had a most memorable time. Give this course a chance. She doesn't look real fine at first glance but if you give her a chance, you'll have a good time! And then, you'll be bragging to your friends about her!

very easy to find. long and short shots. great course for sidearm. open course for the most part. nice mountainside steps installed by boyscouts... thanks guys! most baskets can be seen from tee pad. has long and short Tee pads. (18 total) pretty good course for beginners

starting on #1 instead of #8. very limited parking on sat/sun. no restrooms (on that side) open layout= very hot. highway 101 is kinda distracting. lots of tall brush throughout the year. the signs are horrible and deceiving. they must be clocked 90 degrees to be accurate. long/short tees may be confusing for all the newbies that go there. safari holes are not well-known either.

overall a decent course, you should start at #8 and go down, and around, and back up to #7. do not look at the signs. ask a local whats what. you can also play nextdoor at laraza, and if walking, take the trail going under 101, cross creek (only in summer...lol) and walk up small trail to road, and then walk south on road for a few minutes and you'll be there.

• Very easy to find and navigate
• Warm-up basket
• Nice variety of holes/throws
• Pretty good concrete tee pads
• Multiple tees
• Clear signage
• Disc golf exclusive

• Pretty heavy hole/disc cross traffic
• Road/freeway/cars/nasty areas outside the course are in play on a couple holes
• I did see a little poison oak

Tips
• As mentioned elsewhere, I guess the right place to park is on the opposite side of the freeway. This also is apparently where the restrooms and additional holes are located. Unfortunately I missed that tip so I'll have to check it out next time.
• Don't park behind 7's and maybe 4's basket. Discs can go long there and give your car a shiner.
• Play Parque De La Raza while you're here. It seems like you should be able to walk there through the tree line from here, but maybe there's a fence/barrier? Anyone tried?

Random Thoughts:
This course is just an ingenious use of space. I must admit, when I first saw the course from the road, I was concerned I had driven a long ways for nothing, but halfway through the round I had the biggest smile on my face. I just couldn't get over how cleverly designed the course was considering it's in a seemingly small pocket of land. And it's not like every hole is short here. They're surprisingly lengthy, with even a few bombers in the mix. And the additional tee pads aren't throw-ins. They actually are slightly different shots.

Bottom Line: While it's only 9 holes (you could argue 18 with the additional pads) and an errant throw could land over a fence or on the freeway, you owe it to yourself to check out this course. It is quite clever and quite fun. Bravo to the course designers!

-Big elevation changes
-Good distance on most holes
-Easy freeway access
-Nice tees and pins (multiple locations)

-Often gets very windy in the afternoons
-Poison oak off some fairways (and in the isolated pockets on the course)
-Freeway does not help course aesthetics

This was the only course I played when I got into disc golf. I would later be punished for learning to drive on such a wide-open course. There are a couple holes where you can really bomb it though, which is still fun. I don't think playing the short tees to make 18 adds much to the course. The club does a good job with upkeep and changing pin locations, and have made other improvements over time, like the cement tee box on #3. If only they would eradicate the poison oak...

i loved the variety of shots and density of obstacles. on most holes you have to heave it pretty good to get there, and miss an obstacle or two. i threw about 50/50 backhand and forehand drives. great mix of elevation shots up, down, and flat. somewhat challenging, but not difficult.

none. i was expecting to dislike course location being so close to hwy 101, but it never messed with my high. i had a great time there today.

okay one... as others have mentioned, its waaay easier to start on 8 and end on 7 because thats where you park...

we went to play de la raza, but they close the gates and pull the baskets jan 1- mar 31. It was a beautiful holiday today and hellyer still wasn't too crowded. play it you're going by, i mean its 15 seconds off the freeway...

good layout for the lack of acreage. the holes are satisfyingly long for this size course. i would have rated it a 2.5 because it is a multi-use park, but the elevation changes and nice variety of driving situations bring it up to a 3.0

Like most of you I find myself daydreaming of what a course might look like on various pieces of land while on a road trip. I always carry that daydream onto the exit ramp dismissing the exit ramp land as a waste, after all a disc course could go there. Hellyer Park is that course come true. You never quite get the silence you might at a course that isn't five feet from the interstate, but the experience is still unique. The teeboxes here are in great shape, lots of skill effort and money went into their creation. Refer to the photo titled "#3 teebox" to see what I mean.

Two teeboxes per hole, alternative pin positions, and well signed holes make the course rank pretty solid. The elevation changes are great. For me the big selling point of Hellyer Park is that the course has a pretty high fun factor. The course plays pretty fast, so I ran through it twice and played the alternate positions, I would have had no problem playing a third round but I was pressed for time.

Playing from the whites make everything pretty short (not really much of a "con" since there are more than one box and that reds are all solid, but it was short. The parking situation is tight. Number one is in the middle of the park, I just started playing at number eight since that is where my car was parked. I also didn't feel comfortable walking through other players just to get to number one as marked. I threw my disc over the fence on #8 and had to go around to retrieve it, which was dangerous since it was only about three feet from the 101. The drainage water was so nasty that I had to go buy another pair of shoes, there was no way I was boarding a plane wearing those shoes after sinking my feet in that mess. (I know, that's not really much of a con either since, the course doesn't have you go directly through drainage water).

I find it really cool that the two nine hole courses are so close to each other, I imagine a local would just play one then the other and still get in 18. The description says, "Facilities on west side of freeway with 2 practice baskets beside the lake." I never saw facilities or a lake. I guess that's what I get for playing a course without getting my information from DGCR. I really would have liked to see the lake too.

Long story short, Hellyer Park is surprisingly well established with all the necessary disc golf amenities that is on an exit from a highway that turns out to have a high fun factor of play.

i moved out of state a couple of years ago, so I havent played it in a while, but I remember great elevation shots, nice locals, quick play, not too crowded

next to major freeway so its really noisy, lots of wind, poison oak,

i would play it again if I was ever in the area. Its definitely a good course if you want to improve your wind game.

This is one of the best nine hole,dual tee pad courses that I have played yet. The elevation changes and coastal winds play a large role in one's score. The fact that it is right next to the freeway is unique as well. This course is open for the most part but plays tricky around each pin placement due to the strategic bushes and trees put there to make quite the obstacles. The cement tee pads are in excellent shape and the baskets are in great condition as well. There are not a lot of opportunities to lose a disc here either which is always a plus. However, I have had a buddy throw a teebird on to the freeway from the top tee pad (hole 10, I believe). So throwers beware, the wind will definately play tricks on you!

Besides the limited parking at the top of the course by hole 10, I would say that the layout in terms of numbering should be fixed. I know that they say to park by the lake in the park but that makes no sense considering the whole course is on the other side.

This course is in great shape and for the most part the locals are very friendly. I have been playing this course since it first opened and every time I come back to play, something new surprises me whether it be a new pin placement, landscape, or new holes. This course plays well and is well kept up. The people who have put all the time and effort into the course have done an amazing job. I appreciate all they have done for us discgolfers and hope that they continue to put the effort in that it deserves. Nor Cal represent!

Nice course, short but challanging.

Windy, the mountains are lined up pushing the coastal winds into the area, relly throws your disk around.