- dual concrete tees
- Innova DISCatcher baskets in decent shape
- updated tee signs with full color maps
- three or more pin positions per hole (some have as many as 5)
- amenities: garbage cans, benches, practice baskets
- variety of hole types including open, wooded, flat, and rolling hills
- some wooded holes with tight lines are excellent technical challenge
- good incorporation of available elevation change
- additional nine holes are some of the best on the course
- rough is pretty limited and generally forgiving
- great fall color and general natural beauty due to mature trees
- impeccably maintained park with disc golf mostly isolated from other activities
- wood chips added around a few tees
- course loops back to parking lot nicely

- some of the older concrete tees are very narrow
- would be nice if current pin position was marked on tee sign
- next tee indicators are needed in some areas
- near major highways; can hear plenty of street noise at points
- hole N1 plays pretty close to the road
- more woodchips are needed in other areas to combat mud
- no hole numbers on baskets
- hole 16 may be difficult to play if football field is being used

I came to Milwaukee ready to play some of its best courses. In my head, I expected Brown Deer to be my favorite since it was the most wooded of the 3 well-known courses I was playing. Well, I was wrong. Dretzka took the crown for me. What a great course - the park is clearly very well maintained and given it has new tee signs and some newer concrete tees, it seems like continual improvement is happening. In fact, based on the pictures, it looks like the baskets have been replaced with newer ones too (the practice baskets are the older style baskets). It is $5 for a day pass, but this is valid at all the paid Milwaukee disc golf courses, and given the upkeep of this park, it is well worth it.

Dretzka plays through a large portion of the park but rarely interferes with other activities. I noted a couple of safety issues in my Cons, but these really are minimal. For the most part, the course flows and plays out on its own. The fall color here in mid October was fantastic and added to the experience. The course seemed like it generally drains well; it had rained overnight and while it was obviously wet, there was no standing water and very little mud. The amenities are also pretty good here - garbage cans, benches, ample parking, practice baskets, and it appeared there may be restrooms too.

Navigation was mostly clear but in a few areas some next tee signs would have been very helpful. Another thing that drives me crazy is when courses have multiple pin positions but the populated position is not noted on the tee sign. Some of the other Milwaukee courses have this feature so hopefully it will eventually come to Dretzka. Most of the cons here are nits, though.

The course is a mix of flat and moderately hilly, but definitely makes use of the available elevation change. There are a few wide open holes that aren't particularly exciting, but they are in the minority. Most holes have at least light tree obstacles, and some are more heavily wooded. Many have at least some elevation change. With 27 total holes and average hole lengths, this is a fairly long course -certainly longer if you play the long tees. I don't recall these creating notably different lines, but they do add some distance.

The nine hole loop was presumably added after the original course, but it may be the best part. These holes play over rolling hills with some of the most wooded shots on the course, and are a great addition to the original 18. In general, you'll be able to throw some longer drives on this course, but there is technical work to be done too - this course demands some respect, and that starts with a full bag.

Ultimately, Dretzka may be in 3.75 - 4.0 territory. It is not a life changing experience, but it's the best course I played in Milwaukee and it's a fantastic morning of disc golf. I don't think the pictures do the course justice - I thought it would be decent, but it was better than that. I started at sunrise on a Thursday, so not exactly peak visiting hours, but I don't think I saw a single person on the course besides me. Get out here and play this one! Stop by Brown Deer afterwards, another excellent Milwaukee course.

(3.773 Rating) The classic Milwaukee course that's stood the test of time.
- CHARACTER - Dretzka is one of those courses you instantly realize is a well loved course when getting out of car. This course has all the professional subtleties that you'd come to expect from a world class course. Great practice area with two baskets. Community board with course map and scorecards. Sheik tee signage, concrete tees and benches. Multi-tees at most holes and probably a 100 different basket placements that apparently regularly change as told to me by my card mates. The vibe here is amazing too. My group started with four and grew to six by conclusion. Passerby groups were friendly. This is a course you'll want to throw as a group.
- SKILL LEVEL FRIENDLY - My group had Intermediates, Recs, Novices and Beginners and it seems like we all had a good time. Considering that there are back tees, an Advanced player might be tickled by the amped up challenge from those tees. This may not be everyone's favorite course in town, but I would assume few hate it.
- CHALLENGING - From the short tees, the difficulty is perfect for Intermediate level players. Lots of shots need to be well placed and shaped into guarded pockets. Distances are all over the board, but being able to chuck it over 300 is going to be necessary to average under par.
- UNIQUENESS - The overall variety is above average, but this is actually one of the weaker aspects of the course. One nice thing about Dretzka is the mix tree of coverages, hole to hole. There are some openish plays, tunnel fairways, hooking pocket shots and pinch points. I used every disc in my bag and even threw a card mates disc. What's missing is the exotic land elements. There are no water features on this courses. As for elevation, not much. Maybe 10 to 15 feet change max on any one hole. There are a couple multi-play holes depending on basket placements even though they are listed as par 3s
- NAVIGATION - Easy to navigate in my opinion. The only issue I see is the transition to the nine hole loop on the east side of the park access road. Our group transitioned to tee (N5) after 11, but there appears to be good crossing points at both (13) and (14) as well.
- NATURAL BEAUTY - I scored the course a 3.25 out of 5, so good but not phenomenal. The best aspect of this park is the maintenance. The lines were tidied up and everything was mowed. The heavily wooded lines did not have oppressive overgrowth in the likely collection areas. The few heavily wooded and deep pocketing holes added to some aesthetic appeal, but the lack of water, elevation and backdrop views prevent me from scoring the beauty aspect any higher.
- CHAINS - 27 DISCatchers

The land just isn't epic enough to rate higher IMO, but I have to get unreasonably picky to find flaws with the course. Several cons below are just listed for reasons as to why this is not a higher rated course.
- NO WOW HOLES - Dretzka is a steady diet of good to great disc golf. Unfortunately, there aren't any epic landscapes, heart thumping water clears or adrenaline pumping big down shots. It's just good golf and that's it.
- ALL PAR 3s - I don't subtract score for this, but there are basket placements that have no business being listed as par 3s. Technically everything here is a par 3s. From 150 foot chip shots to 500 foot plus holes with 150 foot deep bending pockets. I find this mentality ridicules, but what-evs. The far placements on holes like (14) and (16), where tee shots can't get within 100 to 150 feet of basket are no-brainer par 4s.
- SAFETY HAZARDS - Roads come into play on several holes. I had no issues, but the novice player next to me hit a parked car.
- SPACING - There's a lot of course jammed into the allowable space. A few fairways have adjacent fairways bordering them without much of a buffer. Errant shots have the potential to find other fairways.
- SLOWER PLAY - This course has a reputation to get mad busy at times. On this road trip I played at a prime time right after 5pm and got a course littered with groups. There were six players in my group and thus we had to let several faster groups go through. On a rare empty course, a bagger should be able to do all 27 in 80 minutes. Figure 100 minutes plus for a solo under busy conditions.
- HOLE N9 - What a stupid hole, especially when in the far 290 foot position. Maybe a 3 foot line a 150 from the tee. My sixsome's scoring average was 4.33.
- SIGNAGE - The tee signs appear to have been updated in the last couple of years. They look amazing, but the fairway lines are too diagrammatic to aid in planning a line. I'll take useful content over aesthetic appeal every day.

Dretzka was the second course I ever played back in 2000, back when I had only a couple discs and when I played just twice a year max. A lot has changed here since my last appearance in 2003, and it's all been good things from my point of view. I've played about half of the Milwaukee metro area courses as of this review and this is favorite of that group, although I haven't played Brown Deer yet. Dretzka reminds me of courses like Oregon Park in Atlanta, George Ward in Birmingham, Taylor Park in Tampa Bay and Bill Frederick in Orlando. All courses I very much admire. Had I not left town, this may have been my weekly goto course.
- PAY TO PLAY - It's a 5 dollar daily rate, or 40 dollars for a season pass to play. If I lived in town I'd have the season pass.

When I had made my itinerary for a long weekend of disc golf here in Wisconsin , my journey into Milwaukee had to include Dretzka Park . I found the park okay , but since it is a park envelope style pay to play system , I had to turn around , drive to the gas station and break a $10 bill . Hey , Dretzka employees . $5 is a reasonable fee for a well maintained course , but you're putting out players that just want to pay- then start . One of the park employees in charge of overseeing it this certain day saw me pay , so he didn't have to hunt me down and demand proof of receipt . Nice guy , though .The parking lot near 1 , next to the pay kiosk is so bigtthat it will never be full , even for a tournament . I played the morning after a huge storm swept through the middle of Wisconsin . He was busy my whole round , picking up debris everywhere . This is a course with 2 sets of cement tee pads per hole , multiple pin positions to give you several different looks on each hole . I was told by the park worker that they change positions frequently . The tee signs are in great shape , look nice and will tell you which position the baskets are in . The baskets are top notch grade . benches at every hole along with trash cans . Pretty much anything you need to have an enjoyable round of disc golf . Did I forget to mention that this course is 27 holes ? There is a pattern of 18 holes , then another 9 that is right across the street parallel from maybe 12 , 13 and 14 of the 18 holer . You could actually start and finish the 9 hole portion of the course right after 14 then hook back up to 15 and hardly miss a step . So now you have options . Just have time for an easier quick 9 ? Play the 9 holer ( They are marked 1-9 ) , Play the harder 18 ? Play it straight , or incorporate !! That was bad , sorry . Moving on , Hole 1 is a long open throw that finishes barely into the woods . 2 is a short tunnel shot in the woods under 300' . # is a tight tunnel shot with danger on either side that pops out uphill into the open after about 250' . The next few throws will be in the open for you . The park gave the designer free reign to use a good chunk of the park , and he did . One of my signature holes on this course was the downhill #6 , a 350' throw that slowly descends through an opening to a glen to the basket which has random trees guarding your lifting drive and your putt, both . 7 is a tighter shot without the canopy that 6 had , but danger on both right and left . 8 gets you out of the woods with a slightly uphill drive with trees guarding your drive turning left to the hidden pin another 70' or more further . A couple of the holes go into and out of the woods , I threw a blind shot , and even though I was one of only 2 people on the course , I almost took out my park employee friend on a blind shot #11 that you throw your drive on the level , then drops off to the pin . Sorry .,,,, #13 will feature an elevated tee ( which is a cool touch ) and to #14 which was one of my signature holes , a mid 300+ footer that disappears at the end into a tree guarded basket in the woods . From her , you either play the easier 9 , or trudge on to 15 & come back to play it at the end , 15 is a wraparound ( or straight as heck tight throw ) right to left 300' toss that eventually drops off slightly . 16 was the longest throw of the round , in the long position weighing in at slightly over 500' across the open part of the park , finishing with the basket 100'+ behind a line of medium sized trees to alter your approach . 17 is a tight line in the woods slightly downhill , a tunnel shot maybe 300' . then 18 finishes up where your drive starts about 40' in the woods then takes a right another 325' . The other 9 I won't go into detail about , but still follow an out and back flow 4 baskets slightly downhill ( I liked #3 on this , a 300 footer that follows some small overhanging trees on your right which will snag your drive unless you play it clean ( like I should have ) and go hard down the middle , then throw your approach/long putt to the right , towards the basket ) a short somewhat level 5th hole , then the last 4 ascending upwards with your danger on the right . 8 & 9 are short and in the woods . I guess the parks department is serious about upkeep , as my new buddy ( park employee ) was busy for the whole 2 hours I was out there . Even putting down wood chips in the fairways where needed .

I will only say that pay to play can keep riff raff and one-disc-wonders that have 0 course etiquette off the course and $5 is fair to charge players for the day ( I think that they have a yearly rate , too ) , but I am not a fan of paying by envelope at a kiosk and having to present the stub upon demand to possibly 2+ park personnel , which can temporarily throw you off your game . It's a shame that Dretzka can't include water or elevation into the design , but it is what it is . I came after a hard rain the night before , so even though a lot of the fairways have wood chips the grounds were pretty soggy . Some of the pin positions can fool you . I heard that there was a lot of player traffic , but never saw it on the day I was there . You might get confuse on the back section of the course , especially without a map . Print it !

I was happy to play this course , and it never disappointed . it looks as if a lot of effort goes into maintaining this course .As I was getting ready to finish up , my Park Buddy was already switching the pin positions for the following week . It was plenty long for my tastes and the multiple pin positions and 2 tee pads should challenge even the pros . The Fun Factor is present here and very high . The course designer should be commended for putting all of this together . If you are in the Milwaukee area play this course among all others .

-- 27 holes means there's a lot to play at Dretzka. It's a really large park, so the holes are nicely spread out for the most part and don't feel too crowded. I love that there is a normal 18 with an additional 9 loop. It's set up in such a way that you can play 9, 18 or 27 and either way the layout feels natural.
-- Very well maintained. You can tell the locals here really support and take care of the course.
-- Pretty good variety. There are long holes and short holes (though no real pro-level bombers of 500+). There are left, right and straight holes. A few are pretty tightly wooded tunnel shots. However, a lot of the holes are a bit on the open side for my taste. While a few more wooded holes would add challenge, the more open holes do make for some good ace runs and birdie attempts. It never felt boring or repetitive, and overall was a lot of fun.
-- Multiple tees. I really just saw shorts and longs for the most part; I didn't notice many holes with a 3rd tee, though there are 3 tee layouts listed on this site.
-- Multiple basket locations. I've only played once so just played the layout that was there that day but the signs all had multiple positions listed and I could see the areas in the ground where they move them to. For many holes, this could change up the shot pretty solidly. One hole can be a very easy 2 ace race or a very hard looking hole where I'd be really happy with a 3. I also loved that on the signs it was marked which position was in at the time, so there was no guessing on blind holes.
-- Good signs. Benches on just about every hole, some holes have a LOT of seating area which is great for hosting a lot of bags and butts.

-- As I mentioned above, a lot of the holes are fairly straightforward with just a few large trees in the way but no real woods or rough to get caught in. Not to say the whole course is open, but a bit more woods and obstacles on some holes would be nice. Also, the wooded holes are mostly bunched together, so the middle of the course feels pretty open.
-- Tees, while nice, could be a bit longer and wider. They are pretty narrow and while they aren't really short compared to a lot of other tees, they aren't long either. I found myself starting off the back of the tee quite a few times on longer holes.
-- In some places, it took a bit of looking around to find the long tees. Not saying it was bad, but signs at the long tees would be awesome.

This is a great course and I had a lot of fun playing it. I live in Chicago so won't be at Dretzka regularly, but if I lived closer I would be out there quite a bit. There weren't really any holes where I looked and thought "wow, this is a GREAT hole!" but the course as a whole is very solid, well laid out, well maintained and fun.

I was also told by a local player that they hold a championship layout tournament here where they turn the 27 into 18 and play some holes from one tee to another hole's basket to lengthen it out. This sounds awesome and would love to play that.

Dretzka Park is one of the "OG's" of the Milwaukee disc golf scene, and has shined brightly as one of the favorites for local players for decades.

1) 27 holes - Dretzka was originally a neat 18 hole course by itself, but within the past 10-15 years, has put in a new 9 hole loop on the east side of the park access road.

2) Baskets/Tees - Baskets are <5 year old DisCatchers that catch very well, with bright yellow visibility bands. Concrete tees on every hole - only single tees on the "New 9", but the majority of holes on the original 18 have dual tees to add to the challenge level. Some of the longs just "add distance", but enough of them force new lines to play as entirely different holes. Minimum of 3 possible basket locations per hole, some holes have 4, 5, and one hole even has six! Baskets get moved around periodically (once every few weeks/a month or so)

3) Comfort & Amenities - there is a pavilion with bathrooms by the parking lot & hole 1, though it is locked a good amount of the year. You've also got a community board by hole 1, benches by most, if not all tees, and relatively decent trash can coverage (though # of trash cans has been mentioned as a cutback possible in 2020 amongst COVID-related budget cuts, as will be "general maintenance")

4) New tee signs (within past year or so) are really comprehensive and sharp looking.

5) The course's general difficulty level will appeal to a large swath of disc golfers. It's not so tough that it'll turn away lower level/beginner players, but it's going to usually challenge legitimately good players, especially from long tees. Difficulty can range from "ace run city" (if most or all pins are at the short positions) to "absolute bear" (assuming most or all longs). Most likely you'll have a pin configuration somewhere in the middle.

6) Hole/shot variety - between all the pin locations, the variety is very good - you have woodsy holes, you have open holes, you have pockets to shoot into, there isn't a ton of elevation, but what elevation is present is used very well. You'll need to have good command of both L-R and R-L shooting lines to score well here.

7) Course flow is very good. The signage does a good job directing you, but the way to the next tee is generally very obvious, and what roads you do need to cross are rarely busy. The transition to the "new 9" is easy enough too - you can cross over from the original 18 at several sensible points. Hole 18 finishes right at the parking lot where 1 starts.

8) This is going to sound really "homer-ish" and subjective, but there's a kind of unquantifiable "fun factor" here that a course like this provides. Maybe it's the mature tree landscape, maybe it's the course's reputation as a local icon, maybe it's the locals you run across (usually very friendly), but there's a certain "character" here that is enchanting. Hole 14's "E" pin is a very cool (and difficult AF) signature hole.

Dretzka is not without its cons, but there isn't anything that's really a killer.

1) Drainage - Holes 1 & 18 play across a field that is a swampy mess a huge portion of the summer. The idea was floated once of digging out a small retention pond there - this would have been really neat, added a water hazard, and fixed the drainage issue...I wonder why it was never done? A few other areas can get swampy easily too (new 5 comes to mind).

2) Trash - This is by no means Dretzka Park's fault, but a Sam's Club was built next door a few years ago, is a horrific trash producer, which constantly blows gobs of litter over to the holes right next to it. It's unfortunately something that due to the magnitude of it all, we have to live with. Even a concerted volunteer effort to clean it up will be negated within weeks.

3) "Comprehensively good, even great, rarely "the best" - Dretzka has few overall weaknesses, and is a very strong course overall, but other than one really awesome signature hole, struggles to shine as superlatively great in any real area.

4) Crowded - this is an extremely popular course, and you should be prepared for large numbers of groups. Is what it is though.

5) Hole "N9" - On a course that otherwise does a really good job of avoiding "spray and pray" holes, this one is a true plinko board that involves way too much dumb luck.

This was my first ever review on this site, and I feel this one needed an update to really show what Dretzka is all about. I learned how to play disc golf as a child at Dretzka in the '90s, and this course has evolved with the times, from an 18 hole "1 pin per hole" setup to a really fun 27 hole experience with 3 to 6 pin locations per hole. As my "home course", I have seven of my twelve lifetime aces on this course (+ another on the "Winter" course). There's something for everyone here, and probably the only skill levels that will find this course boringly easy are players at McBethian levels of disc golf aptitude.

This course is pay to play, but IMO, worth it even on a daily for a traveler coming through. A $5 daily will allow you to play all MKE County Parks courses (so, also Root River, Brown Deer, & Estabrook), and if you're an area player, a $40 annual pass is a total no-brainer.

Dretzka Park rises to a level where I'd call it worthy of significant travel to, and if you're from out of region or out of state, you can combine it with other great courses in the area (Brown Deer, Stoney Creek, maybe even Silver Fox if you're down for a bit of a hike) to have a lot of fun disc golfing in the Milwaukee area. If you come through, you need to play this course at least once, if not several times over.

If you happen to come through during a year where they install the "Winter Course" in late fall, and both the "summer" and "winter" courses are open at the same time, holy cow will you love the 54 hole adventure you'll get to play.

- Well maintained park is a pleasure to play through.

- Discatchers catch well with multiple pin positions and multiple concrete pads per fairway. Nice, new tee-signs clearly show all of this information.

- Decent length variety and challenge with mix of more open holes with large mature trees and tightly wooded fairways.

- Limited elevation, though what there is is used well. No water.

- Rough can be a quite thick in many spots, which is especially problematic on a number of the blind dog-leg shots.

- Was busy, even during the middle of a workday.

I had heard much about the popularity of Dretzka Park before my first visit. After playing I completely understand why. This is a lovely course that provides a considerable amount of variety for a metro area parks-style course in a very accessible location.

While much Dretzka plays like many other public park courses with fairways comprised of fewer mature trees, there are a considerable number of more tightly wooded, technical holes that add variety, and many of the more open holes still require line shaping, and low ceilings add more to think about. There is very little elevation out here, but what rolling hills do exist are used well with a smattering of roll-away greens and an elevated basket. The rough can certainly get thick in places, and my group spent a decent amount of time looking for lost discs. A handful of blind shots add to the risk of lost plastic.

Multiple pin positions on most holes add variety for locals, and the two sets of concrete tee pads (main 18) provide a couple different challenge levels. The tee-signs seem to be fairly new, are very nice, and do a great job of providing all the information you need. Playing around rec/intermediate level, I found the shorts a sufficient challenge.

The additional 9-hole loop across the street is a nice addition of mostly shorter, but still fun, holes. While the map in the kiosk near Hole 1 shows these additional holes, it is still unclear where you should jump across the street to play them. You can do so before Holes 9, 12, 13, 14 and it is easy enough to jump over and back picking up where you left off on the main 18. This can cause problems with a group re-entering the main course in front of you, but it also affords a smaller group the opportunity to bypass a larger group without having to play through them.

Dretzka Park is a great disc golf course with some truly fun disc golf in an incredibly pleasant setting. Be prepared for crowds, even in the middle of a weekday. There were several groups out on the course during my round. Don't let that deter you however, this course is very much worth playing.

A final note: $5 is not much to pay for a course with upkeep as good as seen here. I would advise against skipping the pay box at Hole 1, not only because that is a scummy thing to do, but because the park service does check for pay-stubs. My group of 4 was approached mid round by two staff members on a golf cart and asked to show proof of payment, so pay your $5 at the box by Hole 1.

- Easy to get to right off of the freeway
- New Innova Discatcher Baskets
- Long and short concrete tees on most of the original 18
- 27 holes
- At least 3 pin placements for every single hole
- Pay-to-Play
- Flow from hole to hole is pretty easy. There are a few spots where there are arrows pointing you to the next hole but you are never more than 100' from your next hole.
- A very good mix of tight tunnel holes, wooded holes, long holes. Pretty much every shot on this course is covered.
- The little bit of elevation that the course has is used really really well. Making some easy shots a bit more tricky with the elevation
- Brand new tee signs
- Giant Parking Lot so parking is never an issue.

- Some of the original teepads are now starting to lose some of their grip from use. Some new pads here in the future would be really nice.
- The jump from the original 18 to the new 9 can be done in a multiple number of spots so sometimes you will have a nice flow going and a big group jumps in front of you because thats how they are playing the course.
- There are brand new teesigns on the course but they are not the most helpful. They give you the correct distances but that is about it. They show a little picture of the hole but it really doesnt give you any sort of information at all. The are also really flimsy and are just a sticker on a piece of sheet metal. Its only a matter of time til they get bent or torn off. If the Parks would have consulted with some fellow disc golfers they would have a much better product.

This is what I consider to be Milwaukee Wisconsins premier course. This is my go to course in the area and the one I feel most comfortable at. If you are in the Milwaukee area and you only get to play one course. Play Dretzka. You will love it.

18+9 hole course set in a nice county park on Milwaukee's north side. The park is well maintained and generally free of trash.

Nice DGA baskets here. All grey, which isn't an issue, as there aren't many tucked baskets or blind shots.

2 sets of concrete tee pads on the main 18 course, 1 on the extra 9 (across the road). They're generally in good repair, with a few that could use some TLC. Rectangular, and long enough for most people.

A decent amount of shot variation, even though a decent amount of the holes here are fairly open. A few wooded holes add some variety, and even though they require a fair amount of accuracy, the lanes are all very fair. The open holes still have many mature hardwood trees as obstacles, and several low canopies force extra precision, which is nice.

The tee signs here have a rustic feel to them, but are done nicely. Hand made, with topography, color, pin placements (usually the current is marked with a push pin) and distances from both tees are marked. Very well done, IMO.

Navigation is mostly intuitive, although a first timer might get caught up from hole 5 to 6 (you have to cross the road), and navigating the "back 9". You can basically cross that road and start anywhere on the back 9 you'd like, and jump back over after the loop.

Nice distance variation here. The different pin placements (2-4 per hole) really change up the lengths. The switch in tee pads does, as well. Lots of opportunity to really air it out from the pro pads.

Tons of parking here...never an issue.

This place gets BUSY. You're going to have that on a popular metro course. Early morning rounds are usually the way to go on the weekends.

Not a ton of elevation here. While there are some rolling hill type shots, you're never really throwing a big uphill or downhill shot.

No water to be found, if that's your thing.

The summer course shuts down for the winter months...and the winter course opens. Personally, I prefer the winter course, but that's certainly just a personal preference.

The back 9 is pretty short, and relatively easy.

This really is a nice course that should appeal to many different skill levels. Want a good casual round with your buddies? Play from the shorts. Want to challenge yourself and really bomb some drives? Play the longs. Want to take your kids out for a round? Play the back 9. This diversity is REALLY nice for a big city course...but also is the reason for the traffic.

This is one of those courses I never find myself longing to go play, but always have fun at...and am always wondering how I didn't score better.

While I prefer Brown Deer, I can understand why people love this course. There's also a golf course/driving range, football field, and other amenities in the park, which is nice. Definitely a must-hit if you're visiting Milwaukee!

2 sets of tee-pads and 3-4 pin settings on each hole make this course one of the greatest around. Short pads to short pins are mostly around 300ft, but the holes are still challenging enough. Long pads to long pins and it becomes a totally different course, and a struggle to stay around par with most holes 350+
With the variety of settings available, I've been playing it for 10 years and am still not sick of it.

Course is very well maintained, well marked, has trash cans on every hole, and is quite clean.

Course can be VERY crowded at times.

Many of the longer pin locations are blind, which makes knowing which of the 4 to throw at difficult without walking up to look.

No water. 1 not very accessible porta-john.

This is a great course though - highly recommend!

27 holes in an 18 and 9 hole loop. Nice concrete tee pads, dual tees on most of the 18 hole loop, but none on the 9 hole section. The 2 sets of tees offer nice changeups in shot shaping on most of them. Nice mach 3 baskets on all the holes that catch nicely. Nice wood tee signs that show the hole layout nicely and all of the possible alternate pin placements with distances for each pin. This is always a plus for me. Most of the holes have at at least 3 possible pin placements, many have four. The locations of the many pin placements would change the look of each hole quite a bit giving a very high replay value. The navigation is pretty easy to figure out, with minimal walking between holes. Good mix of wooded and open holes throughout the course. many tight, narrow tunnel shots in the wooded areas that require a long straight shot to the basket. Decent elevation changes throughout the course, though nothing too drastic. The wind can be very punishing here on the more open holes which adds challenge. Large wooden sign with tons of disc golf related info on it next to hole 1. There are benches by quite a few of the holes on the 18 hole loop, with multiple garbage cans throughout the course. For how busy this course is I was shocked by how clean it was, impressive. Good mix in disances too. This course is seasonal, however they pull the baskets and set up a 24 hole course on the ball golf course during the winter which is super cool. I haven't played the winter course but i'd imagine its pretty sweet and would make it more fun to play in the snow. This would be an easy place to lose a disc with snow on the ground. With no snow however it's almost impossible to lose a disc here. Good mix of left, right and straight shots required, which will test any type of throwing style. There were also a few raised pin locations on a couple holes, though none were in play when i went. These always offer a little extra risk/reward, and make you have to strategize a little more to score well, which adds value to the layout. There was a port o potty available near (east) of hole 16's tee pad too.

Can get busy, with lots of waiting around for other groups. The 2 loops don't connect, though you could jump over to the 9 hole loop after 14 on the 18 hole loop and not really have much extra walking to play them all at once. The ground here is so worn in from all the play that it causes discs to really jump and skip when they land. this really isn't a con, you just have to make sure to account for this. The park road borders a number of holes so you need to watch for cars, joggers, etc. It would be nice if they had connected the 2 different loops, but like i said earlier they can be played at the same time with a little improvisation, so again not really a con. Thats about all i got, not many cons here. And most are just nitpicking which says a lot about Dretzka.

This was a very awesome course from start to finish. Not a boring hole on it. Very easy to find as its right of the expressway in a very large park. I'd recommend this course, you won't be disappointed. I prefer this one over Estabrook and definately over Dineen. I haven't played Brown Deer yet but that sounds like a good one too. Definately check this one out if nearby, you'll enjoy it.

Wow, 27 fun and unique holes here. There are two sets of concrete tees with great homemade signs that show both tees, all the different pin positions. and all the possible distances from tee to pin. There are so many different layouts you can play here. The multitude of pin positions can make the course play completely different every time from very easy to extremely hard.

The course starts out with some tunnel shots through the woods. If you can stay bogey free through holes 1-3 you are in good shape. Holes 1-3 in the long pin positions all require long, straight accurate drives to have a putt at birdie with hole 3 playing the longest. Hole 8 is a very tough birdie to get from the long tee to long pin. It is a bomb hyzer that must glide a long ways left. The basket is elevated as well which really adds a lot of challenge to the putt. Blow bys are common here. Hole 13 also has a nice elevated basket adding some interest to an open hole. Hole 10 is a great, tough par 3. The medium sized fairway slopes up and then down out of view. The pin sits on the right side of the fairway on a slope sloping up and to the right. It is very hard to get a drive in the circle as almost all the drives fade out down the hill to the left. If your drive is cutting too far right near the green it will just roll down the hill anyway. Precise angle control is key to that hole. Hole 11 has a unique green and the best line to the hole is probably a roller. The pin sits on the bottom of a steep but short slope that goes up to the ob road. You can definitely get some unique looks at the basket if you end up on the slope.
You can open up a huk on 16. 17 is a tight long, slightly downhill tunnel shot.

Some of the holes are rather weak either due to their openness, length, or both. Hole 4 is a simple 250 foot pretty open shot. Hole 9 is wide open. Hole B is a short easy hyzer. Hole E is pretty wide open. The new 9 is a lot shorter than the original 18.

The walk from 17's pin to the long tee on 18 is a total walk back to near 17's tee, where long 18 is.

There are barely any par 4s here and no par 5s.

The land overall is relatively flat. There are definitely no large elevation changes.

Cut over to play the new 9 hole loop after hole 11 or 14 as hole 18 ends nowhere near the new 9.

This course is taken out during the winter and the winter 24 hole course is put in.

hole one was easy to find with plenty of parking. an almost optimal amount of tree enclosed fairways and long open bombing fairways.for the most part a very clear flow from hole to hole.
nicely mowed green grass.
good amount of "lefty" vs "righty" holes.

there was one point where there seemed to be two hole 9's to play. we were not clear that there was actually a 27 hole layout (we were only looking for 18). thankfully we found some kind locals and they made it a piece of cake to navigate.
i prefer more elevation change in my dg course. this place was not completely flat, but was in no way hilly.

first of 9 dg courses we played on a week long road trip across upper midwest. was an outstanding first course, sort of establishing a barometer for what to anticipate/hope for.

I played Dretzka park very early on a Sunday morning. This park is a little further from downtown Milwaukee than Brown Deer (10 min. max.). Dretzka features lot's of open space in this large park which also features an adjacent ball golf course and driving range. Pro and Am concrete tee pads for 13 of 18 holes on the layout I played.

Each hole also featured at least 4 possible basket locations. These are shown on the well done signs at each AM tee pad. Having read earlier reviews I looked for the push-pin markers for which location was in play. They were there and accurate on some holes and missing on many others. Being a first time visitor here and playing alone I walked quite a few holes to locate the baskets. Not a big deal in wanting to get to know the course anyway.

There are 27 total holes here. There is a separate 9 hole loop that lies on the other side of a park road in the vicinity of holes 11 - 14. I did not get to play these.

This course is relatively flat with a good mix of tree lined fairways, some tight and relatively long and more open holes. Where the course was allowed to open up a bit, baskets seemed always well placed in regards to trees, etc. There was some slight elevation that came in play on a few of the middle holes.

Also of note, there are 2 basket locations which are elevated on areas using landscape timbers as terrace steps.

Not many here. As noted before, not much elevation and a little work to find the basket location sometimes.

Part of a very clean, large multi-use park. Disc golf seems to wind around and away from all other areas. Definitely will play again when I'm near Milwaukee.

Course was great and fun to play on. Got off work early one day so I figured I would hit this course up and give it a shot. Very impressive course. Tee boxes were in great shape, Love how the 18 hole were spread out. Also thought it was cool how they changed the layout of the pins. Back to the subject of tee boxes, I also found it impressive that there were also blue tee boxes. First time seeing that so I thought it was pretty interesting.

This is a fairly busy area to play in. Park was pretty busy the days I went. Either people let me jump in front of them or waiting on them.

The land is mostly flat but has a few areas with rolling terrain to make things interesting. There is quite a bit of rough that makes some of the holes very challenging. The great thing about the rough is it's punishing and makes you pay the price in strokes but it's not hard to find discs in it. It's maintained awesome and looks great every time I visit. Thank the Shark if you see him!

--2 sets of concrete tee pads. Long/Short
--Desriptive tee signs with basket location marked.
--Multiple pin postions on the original 18 which are changed often.
--Mach 3 baskets are in good shape.
--Excellent variety.
--The longest tee to the longest basket will challenge the top pros in the world. The short tees to any setup is fun for any skill level player.
--Added 9 holes makes for options to play 18 or 27 hole round.
--Several new built up and framed in greens. Those include #8 & #13
--Quite a few benches and garbage cans on the course.
---Holes #1, 2, 3, & 17 are excellent tunnel holes.

The design of this course utilizes all of the land. I don't think the land offered any more than a 4 rating.

I understand why but the course is pulled during the spring to prevent damage. Check the course updates to make sure you don't visit when it's pulled.

Not so much of a con but a fair warning. This course is super popular and can be slow to play with a lot of groups on it.

With Brown Deer only a few minutes down the road these are 2 really good courses to visit.

I wish I lived closer to Dretzka Park. It would be a fantastic home course.

Dretzka is an excellent course with plenty of variety. Multiple tees and rotating pin placements provide for a ton of different looks and make this course accessible to a wide variety of players.

This course mixes wooded holes with open holes very well. At no point will you go through long stretches of tight wooded holes, or long open holes.. The course moves seamlessly back and forth between the two, which is something not many courses are able to do effectively.

The park itself is a beatiful place to play disc golf. Despite this being a multi-use park, there is a lot of land devoted to disc golf, and other activites never really come into play. There is a little elevation to work with and plenty of mature trees that are incorporated into the course nicely

The problem with a lot of large courses (18+ holes), are the inevitable throw away/filler type holes, but this course did not have this problem. Each hole is unique. This variety contributes to a high fun factor.

Course flow is great on the 18 holer, and on the 9-holer, just not between the two (more on this in a second).

The dual tees are huge and in fantastic conditon. The signs get the job done, and there are benches and garbage cans everywhere.

From an outsider's perspective, it seems like this should either be listed as two separate courses, or it should be modified to form a more unified single course. The bonus 9 are numbered 1-9 and do not have any obvious flow with the main 18-holer. We ended up playing the 9-holer as a warm up, then played the 18-hole course (I wouldn't recommend this... way too much walking). To me it would make more sense to implement a 1A, 2A, 3A..., type numbering system for the bonus 9 with some adjustments to the flow of the 18 hole to make it a more obvious where to hop on to the extra 9. As of now it's just kind of there to figure out for yourself, but it seemed like everybody else knew what was going on, so I guess if it ain't broke...

All holes are above average, but there is no signature hole. Not really a huge con, but this is what keeps this course at a 4, and not higher.

When we played most of the pins were at their shortest placements. This kind of sucked for us, but I understand the pins are rotated often, so that didn't affect my rating.

There were a lot of people on the course when I played, but we never got stuck behind any groups, so contrary to many other reviews, I found that the crowds here weren't too bad.

You can't really go wrong with Dretzka. It's accessible to a wide range of players, presents some great variety, and is located in a very nice park. Brown Deer DGC is a few miles down the street, so if this course is too easy for you, go there for a little more challenge.

-27 holes; you have to love the bonus nine.
-Multiple pin placements
-Multiple tee pads
-Some of the best signs I have ever seen.
-Garbage cans and benches are on about every other hole
-Very little litter
- The pins are changed up all the time so you play a whole different game here all the time
-Some holes have thumbtacks to show what pin placement it is currently on.
-Very easy course to navigate.
-The baskets are pretty old but they still catch your disc just fine.
-Great concrete tee pads

-This course is so nice that it is often crowded
-Some holes don't have a thumbtack on the sign so you don't know what pin placement you are shooting for.
-If you are playing the pro tees you have to walk up to the normal tee to read the sign and then walk back to the pro tee.

This course is VERY crowded unless if you go early in the morning. Everyone always says that there is not a good way to play the bonus nine but there is. After you complete hole 11 you can head over to the bonus nine and play those holes. After that just go back to hole 12 and continue with the original 18. Bring lots of bug spray. This is a very fun course to play in the Milwaukee area.

--Great mixture of holes
--27 holes is always a plus
--Garbage cans throughout the course
--Not a substantial amount of elevation, but the designer definately used what they had
--Really good location - surrounded by a number of above-average courses and its in a good area
--The new 9 includes some very difficult/short holes that you will love or hate based on tree-love
--Many different pin placements and they are changed frequently
--Has a very well-attended league-night
--Multiple blind holes are challenging and fun
--Pro teepads provide a challenging alternative
--Benches strewn through courses
--Possibly the best signs I've come across
------They're not just pretty photoshopped laminated printouts
--Pin locations are marked on the signs with a tack

--Can get very crowded during primetime
--Some benches are vandalized/broken
--No water hazards
--Not really any holes that would make your jaw drop
--Its littered pretty bad due to the types of people that come here and the amount of traffic the course sees
--Lots of people just come here to drink while they play

I really love playing this course during the day when there aren't as many people out playing. I would give this course a 3.75 if I had the option, but the great location and the fun-factor will bump it up to a 4. Milwaukee is a great destination for disc golf with Brown Deer and Dretzka so close to eachother. There are also other great courses in the area.

The course plays in a disc golf dedicated and scenic park. There is a great mix of more open grassy fairways, park style holes with scattered trees, and wooded holes with thick woods and brush to punish an errant drive. These are mixed up throughout the round, so the course never gets repetitive. The elevation changes available aren't huge, but they're used well in the design to add some more variety and challenge.

There is a good balance here of right and left turning holes (or there was in the pin settings I played), so it worked a lot of different shots and seemed fair to righties and lefties. There was also a good mix of lengths, with a nice range from ace runs to good long holes where you can throw a real drive.

There are multiple pin positions on every hole (3-5 on most of the oriiginal 18), and they looked like they would really change up how the holes played. If the pins are always set in a well-balanced mix and they are moved often (I hear they are), it's awesome to have that kind of variety at a single course. There are good concrete tees that have enough room and a nice texture, with dual pads on most of the original 18 and single tees on the newer 9. There are pretty good tee signs with all tee and pin locations and distances. The baskets were showing some signs of aging, but still caught ok.

I love the variety of the different pin locations, but I would have liked better markers for where they were at the time. A few were marked with thumbtacks in the sign, but many were not marked at all so there was a lot of scouting required to know where to throw with many blind holes. The signs are only at one set of tees, so you have to do some extra walking if you like to see the sign before you throw from the other pad.

The new 9 doesn't feel quite as finished and worn in as the original 18, with less pin placements and only single tees. It's also not necessarily clear how to play the full 27 hole round when you're paying the course, we missed the extra 9 and had to drive over and play it after finishing 18.

The course was a little crowded with large groups more interested in beer and goofing off than actually playing but not willing to let other groups play through, so it ended up being a pretty slow round.

This is a great course with a lot of variety and some good challenges. I definitely recommend Dretzka if you're in the Milwaukee area, especially in combination with nearby Brown Deer. It's accessible for newer players with a shorter set of tees and plenty of more open holes, though it does have some length and some tightly wooded holes. More experienced players won't be really tested on most of the course, but it's a fun round with some really nice holes and lots of variety.

*Great mix of shots needed to do well
*Variety- not just hole or shot variety but also week to week. Every hole (except #7 with only 2 placements ) has 3+ pin positions, the majority have 4, hole #18 has 5 placements.
*Great lakes disc golf club - Dretzka wouldn't have a course without the GLDGC as well as several other courses around. They do an excellent job of moving baskets weekly and keeping the course fresh to play over and over. Club members also clean up trash often, helping to keep this very busy course clean.
*In its most common setups this course is technical and challenging with 2-4 holes even big arms can let loose on.. from the short tees. Long tees add extra length and challenge to most holes.
*option to play 27 or 18
*quality concrete tees throughout.
*nice handmade signs with a thumbtack used to mark basket placement on certain holes.
*This is Wisconsin, weather conditions almost always adds challenge especially wind because its difficult to judge on most holes.
*Many great players call this course home. Locals have a great wealth if disc golf knowledge.

*New nine pretty far from parking lot and there really isn't a good way to play just nine on the original course.
*Extremely busy.
*Often played by large groups more interested in partying than discing.
*No free beer.
*Hole #4 short position is nothing more than a long putt. Kind of dumb imo.
*Ghosts have been seen here, course may be haunted.

*My review focuses on the original 18 since many locals don't play the new nine as much anyway. Although its a nice addition. Overall the new nine is slightly less challenging with less basket placements and no pro tees but newer/nicer baskets. Now I digress..
*Dretzka is the course of a thousand faces, literally. You could come here once per month for years and never play exactly the same layout twice- except the original, almost all long setup used for many tourneys.
*One of the best things about this course is the gldgc, I can't emphasize this enough. There has been a very strong disc golf community centered at this course for a long time. Come to Tues. night leagues and you'll be welcomed regardless of skill level and meet some great players, even Barry Schultz makes an appearance every now and then. *Milwaukee plays host to one of the original.. if not the original ice bowl tournament, "The Big Freeze" 22 years and counting. *This course is a true classic and a great example of old school design.