- generally well maintained park
- navigation is generally straightforward
- full color tee signs with maps
- generally serviceable baskets
- tons of parking
- a few holes incorporate wooded areas to add a bit of challenge

- entirely flat
- no real amenities; no garbage cans, benches, practice basket, etc.
- woodchip tees are lumpy and leave a bit to be desired
- no incorporation of pond water hazard
- fair number of safety hazards playing too close to road
- narrow fairways can punish even decent play and don't lead to the most fun experience
- multiple holes throw over walking paths
- course sign between holes 3 and 4 is confusing
- hole 3 design is very poor and plays entirely along road
- hole 3 basket mounting is all messed up

This is an... interesting course. Mostly not in a good way. On the one hand, it's a mostly well-maintained park and it's not by any means the most objectionable place I've played. However, for an area as affluent as Highland Park, this course is surprisingly mediocre.

For some reason, in the North suburbs there seems to be a lot of very narrow, very long parts. I'm not sure why but I wonder if there is a story behind it. This leads to tons of windy parking lots but very narrow courses. The fairways here are narrow and create some challenging shots; the issue with this is anything that goes off fairway on many holes goes into a parking lot. This is frequently true for holes 3-7 at a minimum. In the case of hole 6, the basket is right up against an OB fence on the other side - recovery of discs beyond this fence would be difficult. To top it off, holes 5 and 6 just turn around and head back without forcing a cool shot over the pond or anything.

Holes 1, 2, 8, and 9 play through a more wooded area a bit more away from the road and these are a bit better. However, there is still no wow factor here. The course is generally pretty open and flat. Multiple holes throw over walking paths and while I found this park deserted, the design doesn't seem well thought out.

For reasons I didn't understand, the course sign is between holes 3 and 4, making it seem like the start of the course is there. Minor confusion, not the hugest deal, but an odd choice. Otherwise, navigation is pretty straightforward.

Hole 3 is the worst hole here - one direction you throw parallel over the road, the other direction you throw over tall prairie plants that kind of eat discs. To top it off, the basket is mounted too high on the pole for the chains so the opening is the smallest I've ever seen for a basket on a course.

My review probably sounds fairly harsh - overall, I still had a generally fun enough time here. This course isn't particularly difficult but also isn't incredibly well designed. If you're in the area, there are 4-6 different nine hole courses to bag, but nobody would go out of their way for this. It's a quick 30+ minute round if you want something casual.

- nice park with disc golf set in its own part
- parking lot was right by 1 but no risk of errant throw hitting your car
- had tee boxes, all the baskets were fine
- mowed when I was there (local I saw at Fink said he doesn't play here in summer due to overgrowth, so got lucky?)
- was not very crowded

- tee boxes are filled with old rotted wood chips. I used the grass for half my shots.
- all the holes play similar distances
- signage was missing at a few holes
- if busy could see some issues with throwing into other holes
- played close to the road into the park, risk of hitting cars with a bad throw

This course is fine for what it is. I've seen worse over the last month of courses I have played. This was the 5th course of a long course collecting day with my son (13). I played super conservative and shot a 27 (im decent, not good).There is nothing here to bring me back. Other than course collecting it is not worth a trip to play.

Hole 1- 234 foot, straight or slight hyzer throw. No real trouble here, some rough but nothing too bad.

Hole 2- 246 feet, another straight throw with some tree and weed cover. Basket for 8 is next to the tee so heads up

Hole 3- 273 foot anhyzer shot, could play a hyzer out over the OB road. There is a patch of nasty weeds and throny stuff on the anhyzer/straight route. Saw a local looking for 10 minutes. Basket is well placed behind the course sign. The "signature" hole here.

Hole 4- 282 feet, straight shot no obstacles. Right is the road so be careful if cars are coming. Hole 6 plays next to this one so also heads up there.

Hole 5- 284 feet, straight shot with a few trees. Plays next to the road so like 4 heads up. A long drive could reach the pond but its set pretty far back.

Hole 6- 312 feet, with a small dogleg at the end around 280 feet. The basket is set in the trees and has a creek 20' behind it. Trees border the fairway the right, left is hole 4 fairway so heads up. There is also a walking trail running through this hole. Would have liked to take a shot at it but was sunset so I played it very safe.

Hole 7- 248 foot hyzer throw. Trees and weeds protect the straight route. Fun hole, the tree up fairway at the hyzer is perfectly placed.

Hole 8- 258 foot slight hyzer shot. Some trees and weeds (man this feels repetitive) guard the line, left trees could be a problem if thrown into it. Basket is right next to tee pad 2 so be careful.

Hole 9- 159 foot shot. It plays slightly anhyzer, i threw a buzzz ss flick and got close. Not hard but there are trees guarding so a bad tee could make a tricky upshot.

Not to many positive things to mention:

Free to play and free to park.

Signage does help with layout of hole.

Woodchip tee pads, tee pads tend to have weeds and grass within tee box.

3 holes play along drive in, could hit car if throw is inaccurate.

Area tends to hold water for awhile after a lot of rain.

Narrow fairways in the wooded area.

I recommend the disc golf course at Larry Fink Park over Cuniff. If you have +/- 20 minutes to kill and do mind a subpar course, Cuniff is your course.

The course is located in far back corner of the park. As you drive up to the course, you'll see a large professional sign that says, "Danny Cunniff Disc Golf Course."

The course has older tee signs under a fiberglass cover. The tee pads are large planter box types which are raised about 6" and are filled with a coarse type of wood chips. I really didn't care for them and chose instead to tee off of the grass next to them. However, they might prove better on a wet day.

The course plays short, like all Chicago 9'ers, with no hole longer than 285'. Cunniff does have an element of risk/reward because quite a few holes are bordered on one or both sides with tall prairie grass/other bushy plants. A bad throw will result in time searching.

Course had no wow factor for me.

Not a beginner course with all the tall grass and bushes along fairways.

Holes 4 & 5 were essentially the same hole. They were both 268', wide open and straight, with the park road providing the right border.

One thing that bothered me here was, as all 9 of these holes were crammed together on this side of the park road, on the other side along the 4 & 5 fairway, was an inviting sledding hill that could have provided the interesting basket placement and downhill throw that this course so sorely lacks.

Danny Cunniff is one of my least favorite Chicago 9'ers. I don't know who'll be interested in playing here. Too much tall grass OB's for beginners and too flat and uninteresting for all others.

-9-holer located in a well maintained suburban park, trees, brush, road, and a small pond provide sufficient obstacles
-Good beginner course, all the holes are under 300ft, trees force accurate lines but nothing too tight, no real chance of losing a disc except in the pond on 5.
-Some fun holes, but nothing really memorable, I enjoy 1, 3, and 5.
-Hole 1 is a dead straight 230ft shot slightly uphill, you need to hit a 20ft gap to take a two.
-Hole 3 is fun, spike hyzer out around trees to the left and over the road to the right.
-5 plays 270ft and requires some real control as there are large trees to the left and right, the road is to the right the whole way and is only 20 feet away at the basket, also there is a pond that is 35-40ft left at the basket. You can either play a big hyzer over the road or a flick or anhyzer up the middle that finishes left, with either route if you finish too far left or right you can go OB.
-6 can be interesting, its 280ft with a wide open field left and thick brush the whole way to the right, with the basket tucked away to the right. Its a challenge to go at the basket because the brush is so thick it can turn drives that finish too far right into a difficult par save, also there is a path that runs in front of the basket which if played OB adds more challenge.
-2, 7, and 8 are not particularly technical but require controlled hyzers around trees.
-9 is a super short but requires a dead straight shot with the basket tucked into brush on the right, good hole for practicing straight putter/midrange shots you might need on a technical course.
-This is a good course for an intermediate player to practice hitting lines in the 230-280ft range
-Baskets are in good shape, especially 4 and 5 which were recently replaced with new chainstars
-Never crowded

-No elevation change, or technical wooded holes (except for maybe 9 but that's too short to count)
-Will not challenge an advanced player, every hole should be a deuce
-All holes under 300ft, you need to come up with alternates if you want any distance shots
-4 is a throw-away hole, wide open 270ft
-Road comes into play on 3, 4 and 5, be sure to wait until cars pass before throwing. Be especially careful on 4 as a turned-over drive could hit cars parked by the soccer field to the right.
-Fair amount of pedestrians on paths that run through the course to watch out for
-In the fall prairie grass in the "rough" can grow high, which can make stray discs tough to find. Keep a good eye on where they go in and you shouldn't have too much trouble
-No course map and the sign is missing from hole 1, but other holes have signs and all the baskets have numbers on them. The course does not have a great flow but the park is so small you shouldn't have a problem navigating it.
-Don't play after a rain, half the course will be under water
-Almost forgot... the tee pads are HORRIBLE. They are woodchips, which are uneven and easy to slip on. I usually just play from the grass next to them. On holes 6, 7, and 8 you can play off the concrete path that runs right next to the pads, and 3 you can play from the road.

-When you drive into the park you want to drive all the way to the parking lots in the back, you will pass holes 3, 4, 5 and 6 on your right. Turn right into the parking lot tucked away in the trees, rather than going straight into the parking lot for the ice rink. The first tee is on the right at the end of the parking lot.
-There is a creek on the right of holes 6-9 but the thick brush prevents it from really coming into play.
-Don't go out of your way, but this is a good spot to introduce beginners to the game and hone your skills for "real" courses.
-This is a "nice that it's even here" course

1) Tees are defined and secure (see complaint about the mulch used). Railroad ties support the mulch . . . I just wished they used a finer mulch that wouldn't be so loose and large, Much better than dirt or grass . . but still aren't quite perfect.

2) Large mature trees are the main challenge factor in this course. They clealy define the lines you are expected to take. They are a little bit too scattered for my liking and I think they could have been used better in certain spots . . but the large trees certainly add to the quality of this course.

3) Underbrush is well contained in that is it basically wildflowers and woodland plants. There is a little bit of thistle and all sorts of wildflowers. it looks nice and there is abosulutely no buckthorn in the islands of trees and prairie.

4) Nicely mowed turfgrass especially the fairways giving you a clear route to the basket if you choose that direction.

5) Ground around baskets is in good shape . . . no mulch needed right now . . . because the turf is healthy. If the turf gets trampled and compacted then stone or mulch should be put in place.

6) A few right to left holes on the first 5 holes and 3 of the last 4 go right to left. Be ready to have a variety of shots to play well here.

7) Mostly beginner friendly . . . course is open enough on hald of the holes even an errant shot on every hole is manageable.

1) Tees leave a litle to be desired because of the course material they used. Basically they used single ground tree chippings which have all sorts of 6-12" twigs in it. If you step one one it might shoot up and cut your leg or make you slip.

2) Buckthorn along the right side of #6, #7, #8, #9 is very dense. DO NOT THROW IN THERE PLAY IT SAFE . . . PLAY IT TO THE LEFT. Native woodland would have been ok, but the Buckthorn has to go.

3) Hole #3 makes this course somewhat beginner unfriendly. The road is OB but there is little to no fairway available to the average player. You will have to throw left into the prairie areas with wildflowers and such.

4) Open areas are simply too open. The road is OB on #5 but you have so much room to the left. #6 has a ton of room also.

5 ) This course is very obviously set into a corner of the park. I saw one other disc golfer and 1 couple walking through the course. I wish I could make money by just walking around a course!!!!

6) Course is completely flat. Again I know this is not the fault of the designer, but it would be nice to see a basket up on a little mound or something to alter how flat this course is.

My last of a 9 course day. I hit 9 more new courses and I thoroughly enjoyed. This course was a perfect finish to my day because it wasn;t too long I had thrown a lot of disc in the day I didn't want to have to overdo my arm.

It has a couple holes through mowed fairways with large mature trees and some thin underbrush. It had a couple open holes with a OB on your right. It has a pond behind the #5 green that can come into play with a rollaway from the baskets or from an errant drive that didn;t get started far enough right. The creek along #6, #7, #8, #9 is almost untouchable and completely invisible from the course . . . so don;t even think about it and you will be fine. The course seems to be well groomed as does the reast of the park. The disc course is almost entirely on its own which is always a positive. There is one walk path that will hold you up on a few holes if people are in the area. As is normally the case they probably don;t even understand what we are doing.

What I personally like and how this course stacks up:
1) Holes with good risk/reward -- C-
2) Holes that have rewarding birdie opportunities -- C
3) More wooded than open - lots of variety of shots required caused by hole shape and topography -- C+
4) Natural beauty (Appalachian beauty preferred) and seclusion -- C+
5) Multi-shot holes with defined landing zones, good risk/reward and multiple options to play them -- NA

I ranked this course subjectively based on my own personal enjoyment factor...more accurately my "personal addiction factor". Since I have played a decent number of courses (115 18-hole, 50 9-hole as of early 2009), my hope is that players/explorers who have similar tastes will find my ratings list helpful as they chose courses to play and explore.

Over time, I expect to fill some of my reviews in with more descriptive verbiage...if what I say adds anything to what has already been written. For now, my list is more important to me than the verbiage of my reviews.

I fully expect others with different tastes/philosophies to disagree with me. See my profile for my rating philosophy.