Set in a well manicured park in SW Topeka along the Shunganunga Creek which comes into play on two holes. Friendly for rec players as it is relatively short. Plays tougher in the summer when the foliage on the trees. Sort of set down in a low area with a tall strand of trees to the south so there is some wind protection here. Multiple pins can give you different challenges for your upshots (although they generally won't affect your tee strategy).

Mostly open and flat as a pancake and sometimes gets a bit spongy after a big rain as it doesn't drain well. Big arms may find it a bit underwhelming and will just go over what they can't get around. Some of the teepads are cracked, and hole markers are deteriorating or missing. Kind of a flow issue between 15 and 16 if you don't know where you're going (head up by the parking lot entrance to find 16's teebox). Ped/bike trail in park is often busy and people on bikes can dart into your line of fire easily. There is a kiosk for the local club, but there was no map of the course there, and while its not a hard course to find your way around, one would be helpful here.

Installed thirty years ago, Crestview is starting to show its age, but for the majority of players this will be a fine venue to enjoy a round or work on their skills. The trail going through the park can get very busy on a nice day. The shot from the primary tee to the wooded pin position is cool, but if you're waiting on too many pedestrians, I'd advise using the alt tee on Hole 10 which you need to walk back by the trees on the other side of the trail from the main tee to find. A recommended time to play a "souped up" version of Crestview would be during one of the tournaments ran by the local club here, when the course is expanded to its "gold" layout, which the Front 15 is reconfigured into 10 holes and 8 new holes are used further east in the park. A decent stop if you're in Topeka, but nothing spectacular.

UPDATE (4/27/2010): After playing Crestview last week, I am deciding to lower the rating from 3 to 2.5. Course seems to further deteriorating, and baskets being moved from the gold layout back to the regular layout aren't being put back in the same hole they came from, leading to confusion on holes 10 through 14. This is a problem that a new map of the course, both available online for printing and at the course kiosk and new tee sign markers or signs could alleviate.