Very Challenging, you need every shot in your bag.
Varying pin layouts get changed pretty often and the overall feel of the course is altered significantly.

Crowded during the weekends and afternoons, but it's Dela so it's somewhat expectd: get there early.

What else can be said about Dela. It is my personal favorite course because of all the shots that are necessary to get through it. The tournament layout is especially difficult, but that only adds to the challenge and fun of the course. If you are in the Monterey/Santa Cruz area, then you owe it to yourself to go play this course.

I consider this the best course i have ever played. Everyone knows about Dela, huge distances, unique layouts, Top of the world. Like i need to say more

Its Dela, so huge crowds, its something you have to deal with, so you might as well just sit back and enjoy the experience.

Better pay the parking, they will ticket you

Featuring a massive 27 hole layout (which was 29 for me due to the Masters Cup), I was amazed that most of the holes were very unique with no repetition. This course has a variety of extreme elevation, open shots, tight shots, canyons to punish mistakes, and did I mention all the gorgeous trees everywhere? Yah, they will punish you too!

There's absolutely no chance to sit back and relax here. This course will get into your mind because it forces different shot-making decisions on every hole. I would say it's mostly a finesse course, because there is so much danger from errant throws (canyons on the edge of fairways that are very steep and wooded), and from sloped greens that go (you guessed it) into those canyons. You will have to play smart at times, because the course will easily serve up bogeys when you make an errant drive/approach/putt. This is discin' at its best!

The folks here are pretty friendly and two separate groups allowed me to join them (I did not want to play through, due to a million people playing).

Crowds are prevalent here. It is a part of life at Delaveaga from what the locals tell me. (I turned this into a pro, by asking to join a group I'd just met. Way better than cutting through groups all day long. Adding holes probably wouldn't improve this situation. As a matter of opinion - I think they could cut down the amount of holes to make the course a little safer.

I would not take a newbie here, (we had one in my group). They will be hiking those canyons all day long and may get a little discouraged. If they had alternate tee pads, that may help a little....

Many of what I would normally list as Cons, I will list in Other Thoughts this time. The reason? The things that normally would be considered bad course design didn't seem to be a big problem here.

The numerous intersecting holes (5 & 6, 13 & 16) would normally be really bad, but all the people here were patient and knew where to look for danger.

Your drive from The Top of the World shot on #27 can easily end up on holes #1, 2, 5, 6, 25 or the parking lot. Once again, the locals yell out the affected Hole # and "Fore", and everybody in that area knows that somebody is sending love from the Top. Everybody seemed to take this into stride and if they can run a World's tournament with this "hazard", then I see some symbiosis here.

Bring your own water, as there's none here, and I hear it gets quite hot in this area.

Minor nitpick, but I would still print a map - the signage is really good, but there are some long walks to some tees, and an arrow can be vague sometimes.

De Laveaga Disc Golf Course is one of the most highly rated disc golf courses in the world. It is famous for its inspiring natural setting, as well as for its uncompromising challenge

You will get a few overpar strokes if you don't pay attention to every shot.

Scenic , Beautiful course.

+ You need every throw that exists
+ Perfectly maintained all year long
+ Perfect baskets and tee pads
+ Perfect signage, especially with the addition of untamperable pin placement markers
+ Every shot all day is risk/reward: drives, approaches, and especially putts.
+ Pro shop on site
+ Constantly shifting pin placements mean a fresh look
+ Portable bathroom on site

- Crowds
- Crowds of families throwing lids 20ft at a time who would have had a better time at Aptos
- Crowds of tourists that don't know course rules, some of which are there for safety
- If you are a beginner, expect to waste a good deal of time pulling discs out of ravines, or bring cash to buy extra discs in the parking lot
- Central coast poison oak (PO)
- Brutal, occasionally sneaky, difficulty
- Only a couple spots for the wide open big bombs...you'll never get to relax and just throw
-$2 to park, which makes it the only pay-to-play for many miles (though I wish it were more expensive to cut down on #1, #2, and #3)
- Um...no water fountain on site, I guess. I'm really reaching.

Notes:
I have put off writing this review for a while now. DeLa is DeLa, ya' know? It's not like it needs me shilling for it. Considering all factors, it's clearly the best course in this part of the country.

The important points are listed above, so I'm just going to talk about the course a little bit. I don't need to talk you into trying out DeLa. If you're a disc golfer and you're visiting the area, it's a no-brainer. If you're a disc golfer and you're living in the area, you've played DeLa. If you're not a disc golfer, you're not reading this.

Delaveaga has always been my home course. I started out playing there in the late 90's with nothing but a Shark. A few hours at DeLa meant at least three beers and three hours, often without seeing another set of golfers. It was just a part of living in SC, like jogging along West Cliff, or not remembering how you got home from the Red Room.
I didn't begin playing DG with a purpose until summer 2011. As my distance crept up, so did the amount of time I spent searching for discs in ravines. In my opinion, this course is toughest on low intermediate players with the arm to put the disc far into trouble. Thinking back, during that phase of my development, I actually avoided the course for quite a while without really realizing it. I was spending more than a half-hour per round clambering, and a few times repelling, through PO.
Every hole at DeLa is a par 3. This doesn't mean that 3 is the average number of strokes it takes people to put the disc in the basket...just that the par is always 3. A pattern I've noticed with many courses is that designers try to make sure that one of those three shots is tough; at DeLa, unless you truly park one of your first two, every shot is likely to be difficult, making it one of the great risk/reward courses. On most of the holes, the only way to park the shot is to mix a little bravery in with your skill. Most of the fairways are full of obstacles. Most of the greens are guarded and are fast/sloped/littered with roots, making even simple upshots nerve-racking. I promised myself that I wouldn't write this review until I started to put together regular par or better rounds--it only took 14 years.
Celebrate your pars, take your birdies where you can get them, and when you do get a bogey, smile and remember that you're in Santa Cruz, playing disc golf at one of the greatest courses in the world.

Each shot on it's own is pretty unique and amazing. There are shots that you'll dream about for a long time. Shot's you wish you had to play on a daily basis. I love having a donation box. Great view, Top of the World is awesome.

Scary, good place to get hurt. The crossing fairways are no bueno! Some of the greens need loosening to provide a putt to reward a good drive. Terracing is badly needed for erosion control. Roll a ways are to prevalent.

I would have loved to have seen/played this with pretty grass fairways in the 80's. Seems like it needs to be reduced to a 21 or an 18 hole course.

This is a fantastic course with all kinds of shots. Depending on what pin position the baskets are in there can be quite a bit of diffrence in how you have to shoot the hole. The greens are fast and dangerous, but that makes you think about your shot that much more. There are 27 holes here and none of them seem the same. You will need to bring your A-game to shoot well out here.

Paying to park kinda sucks, but it helps keep down the jerks out there. The top of the world shot while fun is dangerous as it plays over a few other holes, and if it's overthrown bad enough you can end up in the parking lot. The course also gets prety crowded on the weekends, especialy in the summer.

There's a guy in the parking lot who sells discs sometimes, I've gotten some great deals from him. The shop as you are coming in by the ball golf course sells discs as well, but their prices are much higher.

Upon arrival at Dela I was very excited to play this course I had heard so much about. My wife and I were met on hole 1 by a gentleman named Jacob. Jacob offered to give us a tour through the course. This was valuable in navigating the course. He was also a very good disc golfer. He could throw further than me, even though he had left his prosthesis at home and played on crutches. He didn't slow us down. If anything it was the opposite. I did enjoy the terrain and most of the holes were well conceived. The terrain was not as brutal as all the hype and the greens were not as cruel as all the hype. Make no mistake, if you missed bad you were going to pay, but somehow my mind and all the years of talk had created much more of a monster in my minds eye. The disc golf experience there was worth more than a 3, but there were cons for me.

With all the property this course sets on I don't see why there are crossing fairways. With all the property this course sets on I don't like how shots from the last hole, Top of the World, can fly wildly in so many directions that people on at least 4 other holes are in jeopardy. I heard this a lot, "Fore on 1", "Fore on 2", "Fore on 4" or Fore on 5". I am not exaggerating. I had a wonderful talk with Marty Hapner and friends after playing the course and I heard it while playing and I heard it after playing. It may sound odd coming from me, a designer who likes tight fairways, but there were holes that had large brush/bushes in the fairways line of flight and branches of trees above them. There were many places where I had really low branches obstructing a putt and the 10 meter green invaded by bushes. The course seemed to me to need a lot of love and attention and erosion control. The soil is soft and there is a lot of play there. I played on Wednesday around noon and probably half the holes had players on them. Tough to keep up with that kind of foot traffic without some terracing and erosion control plans.

In my opinion, and I realize that many others will not agree ( and I do not begrudge them their opinions), this course should be reduced to an 18 hole course in an effort to negate the conflict that exists between the current holes.

beautiful setting. very challenging. grand daddy type course.

too too many blind holes with a steep drop off behind basket. after the 5th or 6th time playing, have finally come to conclusion that i dont care for DeLa.

if i played with a bunch of locals, that would probably help. in the more difficult set ups, there are just too many tight fairways up hill that are 350 feet. which is fine, they are very parable. and i can throw 400+ feet in an open field. but realistically, 350 foot uphill tight holes are just a bunch of boring pars.

Challenging in so many ways. If you've never played it, and this was my first go at it, it's everything you've heard. Tee box views that will blow you away. Blind shots, uphill and down hill. Good friendly help and locals.

Glad I had a guide! I did grab a map of DeLa from the Bolf course, just down the road. Still, course knowledge is so important. Beware of Rollers and skips on certain holes. Them's some steeeep canyons! Garbage cans lacking but servicing them could be pretty taxing. Carry out what you brought in. Watch out for the police, they have mountain bikes too.

I was on vaca for a week. Had played down the coast at Waller Park once and Heilman 4 rounds in two days. (I'd like to thank this site very much for the guidance!) De LaVeaga was my last stop before heading back to Sac.
Blew my mind! Some out of this world shots. The Kitchen on 12 was intimidating as all get out. Hooking up with a player who knew the course was so invaluable. Thank you Kari Rose and Fumi!
The crew maintaining the place take a lot of pride in what they do and the Pro-Shop/Snack bar guy is as helpful as can be.
Time to plan a camping trip in the area with the friends that got me hooked on this game.
The 3 hour drive, one way, will require more then one round.
BTW- You have to pay to park. $2.00. Don't overpay (like me) thinking the extra goes to the course, there is a donation box on the 1st hole for that. DOH!

Many have wish-listed this place and for good reason. This is where the Pro's play and sharpen their game. Good use of tech and finesse shots. Multiple pin placements. Great elevation changes and use of land. Great scenery all around and particularly from 27.

Had I not gone to the Ball Golf pro shop (down the road) prior to my round, navigation would have been an issue on some of the holes. Generally, I'd say it's not suited for first-timers.

Overall, this was a very challenging course and what I needed. It brought my game a new perspective; it's a long way to the top...

Excellent use of terrain and natural features. Concrete pads with multiple pin positions on many of the holes. Great club with a good following of pros and ams alike.

Cigarettes are off limits as the park is a high fire area.

Pay your parking fee!!!

Superior design, isolated yet easy to get to from anywhere in the South Bay, absolutely incredible scenery all around, holes that you WILL NOT find anywhere else, extreme risk/reward, and a finisher that tells you you've been to an epic DG destination.

Several crossing fairways, minimal water & facilities on-site, not much in the way of trash cans. That's about it.

De La has long held its position as one of the crown jewels in the disc golf universe, and rightly so.

It begins with the trip up the hill, where you follow a stream up a narrow, tree-shaded canyon that eventually opens up into enough flat land to put a bolf course. On the other side of the bolf course you go on about a mile more to the DG course parking lot ($2).

The first hole is relatively short but plays up a 25-degree slope, which means that you get to warm up WELL before setting out. (Fortunately, there are a couple of practice baskets available to warm up on.)

From that point you're into the woods, out of the woods, up the hills, down the hills, around the trees, smacking into the trees, and generally having a ball until you get to #25.

Hole 25 plays up a very steep hill, after which you get to hole 26, which ALSO plays up a very steep hill. Then, thoroughly wiped out from a long (figure three hours for a round) day, you find yourself at the Top of the World, which makes it all worthwhile.

Enough has been said about TOW by other reviewers - read them and believe what you read. Once you've hucked your plastic off into that sublime space, you'll never be the same again.

Wonderfull variety, with fantastic views.
well designed course, with a great environment.
Top of the world was so great, we walked back up and played it twice

Some short tee pads, and crowded, but you cant complain, its no wonder there are so many people wanting to come play there.

Long course with challenging shots and risk/reward opportunities!
Really fun, had a great time.
Thank you!

I'm not going to do this course justice with this review. Everyone has probably written about this course 10 times over, but I thought I'd just give you my take.
I woke up early in Santa Cruz this morning, with a good 3hrs of time to play this course. Got there at 8am, and I was the first one in the parking lot. I was not disappointed. I've read about this course for a while, and having the ability to take my time for my first (and definitely not last!) trip through was a treat, and highly recommended!!
The holes were long & challenging. Signage was great; every hole was thoroughly illustrated with flight paths, yardage, and the DIRECTION TO THE NEXT HOLE!! (i will utilize this feature when I open my course, for sure)

I don't live in Santa Cruz.
My arm cannot produce the type of distance this course requires.
My throwing cannot produce the type of accuracy this course requires.
Oh wait......these are my Cons, not the course's.
This course has no Cons!!

The Top of the World hole (last hole, #27) is fantastic. Bring your camera and make sure to yell FORE after you throw, no matter where you've sent it sailing. For me this hole is quite dangerous to everyone else on the course, but that could just be me. I DH mountain bike, so I'm not a puss, but this hole has too many ways to give you the ability to to decapitate someone....not something I've put on my bucket list.
Travel to this course, play it, say that you have, spread the word, and then go back. I know I will!!!

Theres nothing this course lacks. Its got it all. Hyzers, An-hyzers, big drives, tunnel shots, rollers if ya got em, elevation-both up and down, great locals, friendly people, I could go on and on, Lets just say that it is a must play course.

No water, bring ur own. $2 parking fee. Hard to navigate for the first timer, bring a map.

Remember the first time you went to Disneyland, that magical feeling that you were someplace special. Thats how you feel here, even after visiting it 100+ times. Its Nate Doss' home course, enough said.

Excellent variety of shots
Fantastic use of elevation and terrain
Easily located close enough to town.
Helpful and friendly locals.
Multiple places to purchase plastic on site.

Trash on course (most notably lots of broken glass on the fairway of 2.

Top of the world is a fantastic hole but the group I played with placed one in the parking lot and turned one over into a group on the tee of one. I was informed that the parking area seems to catch quite a few, mostly from those not accustomed to playing on extreme elevation.

Course can be a little difficult to navigate at times, highly suggest printing a map, following a group or playing with locals

This course lived up to it's reputation: physically demanding, requiring every shot in the bag, distance, technical, accuracy.

While on paper the course does not seem long it plays long due to holes that play uphill. number 1 starts it out with a hole that appears to be very reachable but always seems to demand an approach shot unless you have a big arm.

there were two new tee pads installed for pro worlds 14 & 15 I think ( maybe wrong) that make the holes more demanding, not through distance but by point of attack and shot selection.

The course demands the best of your game and physical endurance in order to score well so be prepared. I played 2 rounds in one day and knew I had been to DeLaveaga.

On a personal note if you happen to see a local with his dog on a leash (black bulldog terrier type mix), do not go near it it! It bit me on my thigh as I was invited to play through and walked past it. just a little blood.

One of the most unique aspects of the course at DeLaveaga is the use of superfast 'greens' which put a premium on distance control (and good putting for those having to make come-back putts). In combination with the midrange distance of many of the holes (~300-350), definitely exploited one of the major weaknesses in my game in that I do not have a reliable slow, straight midrange shot. I can throw KC Aviars all day to the upper 200's with precision but these shots were just barely out of that range. Needless to say, my next disc up (beatup Star TL's) did not make the cut on the faster greens with a lot of skip aways and shots that went far beyond the hole. Any time a course can exploit such a weakness in my game (and do it multiple times during a single round!), I have major respect for the designer/course. As other reviewers have gone over in detail, this course also maximizes challenges associated with elevation. You will rarely find a hole that doesn't incorporate a large uphill/downhill grade or a sidehill that, in combination with fast greens, forces you to think about where you want to land your disc (as opposed to finally end up).

While we were visiting, the course was in a bit of transition and one of the traditional holes which plays near the big gulley had been relocated because of erosion to the top of the hill right before the top of the world shot. While there was great signage in getting us to the additional hole, there wasn't any indication that the traditional hole had been pulled so we walked around for quite awhile trying to find the pulled basket. Other than this really minor problem though, we were able to find our way through the course with few major problems. The local players were always more than happy to guide us noob's around and show us where the following holes were. My main con with the design of the course had to do with several holes in which the major obstacle to achieving a good putt was placed directly near the hole - In my opinion this is a poor plan, not because it makes the shot too hard, but in fact that it takes away rewards for accuracy. To be more clear, the problem is when players can use obstacles as distance control instead of their own finesse. As an example, when I played hole #23 I believe, the most probable shot for birdie as I saw it was to land a big sky hyzer IN the large bush that covers the pin. If I were to recreate such a hole (with no pre-existing limitations), I would either place the bush IN FRONT of the hole so as to ensure punishment for shots that were in nacurate or place the bush far enough BEHIND (at least 40') the hole as to punish players who did not properly manage the fast green. In this way, players would be unable to 'game' the hole by using the designer's obstacle as a backstop. As other reviewers have mentioned, the criss-crossing fairways were a bit surprising to find on a course that is 1) so highly acclaimed and 2) so highly utilized. During our round though, it was little more than a surprise, not causing any major inconvenience.

Playing DeLaveaga definitely fufilled a DG dream for me (as I guess it does for quite a few golfers). Growing up in the Midwest, I'd heard rumors of "the course" since high school and was so excited to finally get out and play it. While I can understand why this was such an exceptional course for such a long time, I wouldn't go so far as to say that today it is 'best of the best'. At the same time, I'd highly recommend all types of golfers to take the trip out because DeLa has been the benchmark for many golfers of what a great course should be. This along with the storied history of the course and the aura of legend that surrounds it is reason enough to make the trek out!

Creative design, beautiful scenery, great community! DeLa is one of the most challenging courses. I have played it hundreds of times, spent hundreds of hours on it... still mastering every hole. New pin positions pretty frequently. Also, no uniformed cops.

On weekends the course is slow with college kids and families, nothing wrong with that; its just a more relaxed game. Also, no water facilities or city support. Watch out for undercover cops!

For beginners, take a local to learn. People shouldnt complain about the parking fee, it is how we stay open. If you dont want to pay the fee, ride a bike and save the environment! Also buy discs once you get to the parking lot, the ball golf pro shop is NOT for disc golfers.

- 27 holes
- Great length for intermediate to advanced players
- Variety of shots required over the length of the course
- Signs for each hole
- Barkmulch around many of the baskets act as a great green
- You can buy discs on site

- Other than the Top of the World hole, I thought the surroundings and view were rather harsh.

- Too many blind holes. I think having a few holes on a course where you can't see the basket is fine, but here there's just too many. I would guess at least 18 are blind. Couple that with the fact that each hole has multiple pin positions and the indicators for what pin position each is at isn't always correct, and you're never really sure where to throw.

- One group of locals was really rude to us. They were a group of 7 older guys that were taking forever and backing up the course. We skipped two holes to pass them and were almost finished teeing off on hole 8 when they arrived to the tee box and were rude about how we should have skipped one more because they now had to wait for a minute. We were playing very quickly and it was a little uncalled for on their part, seeing how we were playing 2 holes for every one they did.

- Fairways cross each other in several places

- The last hole is pretty cool, but it's also a crazy hazard. I saw about 4 shots that were near hits

- Not a lot of signs to point you to the next hole. We screwed up a few times.

Overall, I just didn't have as much fun at this course as I would have thought for a course that's been developed so well. It was tedious to have to run and look ahead for so many of the baskets. Only once did I think to myself that the tee off was a really cool shot. And the bad experience we had with the group of locals combined with the above makes me not like it as much as I should have.