Tonawanda, NY

Ellicott Creek DGC

2.975(based on 19 reviews)
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2 0
jupiterboy
Experience: 42 years 11 played 7 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Reviewed: Played on:Sep 10, 2022 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Variety of shots are possible and alternate pin locations add interest.

Cons:

Can be water logged at times. Tees are not correctly oriented for some alternate pin locations. Muddy conditions lead to slick, turf tee pads.

Other Thoughts:

This popular course in a community park shares the land well with other park users, though you may find an odd car in the way of a shot here and there. You'll also often find geese resting on the fairways many days. Public restrooms available. Good parking and open areas for fieldwork. Practice basket by hole #1.
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1 0
The Don
Experience: 7.8 years 18 played 10 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Play with Friends 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Sep 3, 2016 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Course is a good all around course. Most holes are along the edges of the park and out of the way of everybody else. Nothing particularity scenic about this park but it's conveniently located so it makes for a nice round without driving too far out of town.

Cons:

Easy to lose a disc on this course. You can either throw it in the creek or in the woods. Especially on wholes 16 and 18. Have your friends spot your throw because the tees are blind.

Other Thoughts:

A good course for a quick round with your buddies.
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4 0
Lance81
Experience: 7 played 4 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Good course with a few minor issues 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Jun 26, 2015 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

- Course is fairly spacious and laid out well; holes don't interfere with each other, and are generally out of the way of other park activities.
- Pretty easy to find your way between holes, although the path from 12 to 13 could be more clearly marked for people unfamiliar with the course.
- Trees and bushes provide a good challenge without being unreasonable, and there are usually a few different paths to the target available.
- Adequate variety among the holes in terms of both length and obstacles.
- Approachable enough for most beginners and still presents some challenges for more experienced players.
- Usually not too crowded, but certainly there are better times to go than others.
- Free to play.

Cons:

- About half of the course tends to get very swampy or even flood after it rains.
- Natural dirt tee pads, which are prone to getting muddy, especially on hole 18. This course is worth another half star if they get some concrete tee pads installed.
- Some of the signs are missing (holes 4-6), but that's a pretty self-explanatory section of the course.
- Several holes can really punish you with a lost disc for an errant throw.
- Elevation is only a factor on one hole.

Other Thoughts:

This was the first course I played and remains the one I play most often. There are better courses in the region, but this one is a free convenient full course that is interesting enough to keep playing. Flooding and mud are the biggest problems, as are some occasional romps through the bushes in search of discs. Installing concrete tee pads and being a little more attentive to maintenance and landscaping would really go a long way in improving this course. Holes 5 and 15 play alongside water hazards, so you'll want low accurate shots there. Hole 16 is probably the most interesting: a blind uphill drive onto what barely qualifies as a fairway with a lot of weeds and bushes. It's a good hole for losing a disc, so it would be wise to have a spotter. Everything is a par 3, which can be frustrating on the longer and more demanding holes, but is generally reasonable for experienced players who can consistently make accurate throws. Probably not a much of a challenge for a pro, but a good course to work on several elements of your game.
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1 0
oneCarney
Experience: 10.9 years 36 played 4 reviews
3.00 star(s)

2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:May 20, 2015 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

-Easy to navigate.
-Nice Variety of hole length
-Beginner friendly
-If the park is not crowded (usually isn't in the morning) you can play all 18 in well under an hour.

Cons:

-Can flood real bad through out most of the course
-Park can get crowded on the Weekends.

Other Thoughts:

This is one of the first courses that I have ever played. Very good for beginners, flat course. When it is Dry it is a good course to get a quick round in.

The Creek that runs along hole 5 has never been friendly to me, especially when I first started playing
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3 0
nyrblue2
Bronze level trusted reviewer
Experience: 14.1 years 28 played 23 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Nice, Simple Course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:May 5, 2012 Played the course:once

Pros:

18 hole course in a flat, mildly wooded town park. Good course for beginners.
- Excellent kiosk with course map that shows terrific graphics detail about the course (this somehow should get added to this website to replace the satellite view "map" currently here)
- Rentable pavillions (a few near hole #1) good for tourney central or weather shelter - plenty of parking
- 2 tees for each hole provide some variety
- Tee signs match the course map and provide excellent information at each hole (accurate map, par, distance for each tee)
- Not a high chance for a lost disc - very little underbrush on the course itself and only a few fairways run along side heavier woods with downed leaves - water in play on 2 holes, but no throwovers
- Easy walk - relatively short and no elevation changes (except hole #16) if you're looking for a nice, relaxing round/walk
- Options off the tee - almost all of the holes play through a grove type setting, with large, mature trees scattered about - this creates for many options of the tees, as you're not forced to go left, right, straight, etc.

Cons:

- This course sits next to a creek/canal and as a result, either the water table is very high, there is no drainage, etc. - much of the course was wet and sloppy (fairway #18 was entirely 6 inches of water) or muddy - from other reviews, this seems typical
- Tee boxes are dirt/grass and didn't provide much solid footing - I had to tee off from behind or next to a few of them
- Park is used by many people that could interfere - the pavillions can get rented by whoever wants to throw a party/BBQ and lead to people wandering through fairways - came across an older couple fishing along hole #5, but had their chairs out in the fairway to get sun - girl looking for a tan had her beach chair set up 15 feet away from basket #10
- Very little variety - almost all holes are flat with some scattered trees to avoid - not much variation in length - it got fairly repetitive
- Maybe it was just this one guy, but a maintenance guy mowing the grass was completely oblivious that I was waiting to throw - kept right on mowing the fairway I was on even when I waved and he saw me
- Only played the white tees, but from the map, the red tees appear to be just shorter versions of the same hole/line - it would be nice if they were moved around a bit to create a new look

Other Thoughts:

- No trash/benches for the course (along the holes or at the tees) specifically, but since it's in a big, multi-use park, you can find something nearby
- Little bit of a walk from hole #12 to 13 and then back from #18 to the start, but not too bad
- Spotter needed on hole #16, which is the only hole with elevation change - throw blind up over a little hill and then downhill again to the basket left-to-right - thicker brush could make for a tough disc find if you're playing solo
- #15 is real nice looking hole with a sort of dammed-off portion of the creek as a pin backdrop - windy day made it a little scary to run at the pin

Pretty solid course, though nothing spectacular. Real nice job with the layout, given the lack of varied terrain to work with. Definitely seems like a good option if you're looking for a quick round after work or something like that. Standing water did make it a bit tough, but what can you do?.
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4 0
cswilliams27
Experience: 3 played 3 reviews
3.00 star(s)

solid course for locals 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Apr 23, 2011 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

The Northtowns of WNY are definitely devoid of any acceptable courses unless you're willing to hop over to Grand Island to play Beaver Island, a course that may have become old hat for many players in the area. With this in mind, Ellicott Creek is a welcome addition to those in the area looking for a new course to play. Although the course is mostly flat ground (except for one up-and-down on hole 16), the layout established by local disc golf wizards Doug Opiela and Chad Adams still allows semi pro players some challenges from hole to hole.

The course makes great use of the few trees that are present, framing lanes for skilled players looking to make a play at baskets that still stand around 250-350 feet from the tee on average. Although the park is in a very busy area of Amherst/Tonawanda, the course itself is tucked into a back area that doesn't see too much foot traffic. I also enjoy the fact that a couple holes run along the creek, and although they don't present a serious threat of getting your disc wet, they still give some welcome variety and nice scenery to the course.

Many basket placements are tucked away in small groupings of trees, giving experienced players an opportunity to practice their approaches from both the left and right - a great course to work out some kinks before hitting the big courses. Make no mistake, despite the "par 3" branding, long arms will still have an opportunity to air it out and frame shots in between trees.

There is nothing wrong with a short course. If I play the course by myself, I can get through 18 in an hour, or sometimes less. Great course to squeeze in on a weekday between work and dinner. Rarely do you have to walk far to find the next tee, and the flow of the course is very natural. The new tee signs look GREAT, and once the map is up at the kiosk it will add a bit more flair as well.

Cons:

If you're not a local and reading this review looking for the best courses to play in the area, make the extra drive to the Ridge, Emery Park, or even Como Lake instead. As nice as it is to have a new course, let's be honest, this course is what it is - a short, fairly uneventful, par 3 course. For a local like me who recently relocated from the Southtowns to the Northtowns, I am happy to have a new course to play on a random day I have a craving to throw plastic, but in no way is it a replacement for the challenges or variety that the Ridge or Emery provide.

The flat nature of the course has made it virtually impossible to play this season so far. Two weeks ago when I was there, the course was completely underwater. I drove by two days ago and it was still in bad shape. I'm not sure what the future will have in store since the course is so new, but it seems like a course that will be very tough to play the day after any sort of significant rainfall without waterproof boots.

The tee on 18 has been underwater every time I've went to play, and looks like it may never be playable.

Other Thoughts:

Watch out for the Goose Army that likes to hang out around holes 12-13...those sky rodents can get nasty.

I realize the review above details both the highs and lows of this course, but I cannot express how thankful I am to the NRDG for putting this course in and providing me a place to play on a daily basis. I really look forward to this course drying out and having a place to stop on the way home from work to play every day.
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