Course was well mowed making finding disc easy
well designed holes leave you switching disc often to make some tricky shots.
Sonnys deli right down the road is a huge plus!

That hill is huge and is where the first half of the course is played. after two rounds its understandable to be pretty winded. The course was a bit marshy is places, but i did go on a bit of a wet day. Hole 16 is crap you feel like there are few to no shots off the tee that feel good. Fairways cross eachother often makes you a wonder if you should be wearing a helmet on a day when there are multiple groups playing.

Would happily play this course again.

-Conveniently located minutes from the ROC
-Lack of water holes and less trees make this a great course for first timers.
-Excellent use of elevation (although the hill can get tiring quick!)
-Nice change from front to back 9. It seems like 2 different courses.

-The hill! I am in decent shape and find the hill gets old quick. Up,down,up,down...Softer players might have an issue with this.
-Due to sledding, they pull the baskets in late fall to early spring.
-#16...You guys ruined it! This used to be the second best hole on the course. Now its bunk! I understand the park got greedy and forced the redesign, but there needs to be something done for safety from the bombers coming down #7.
-Lack of benches. There's only a couple of holes with a place to sit. With all the climbing you have to do, it would be nice to sit and relax a bit more. Perhaps with the park's revenue from the newly installed photo op on the old #16, they can purchase a few more.

1-Mostly straight ahead. Some trees in the way. I seem to always hit that one branch.
2-Uphill all the way. The basket is behind the clump of trees in the middle
3-A short par 3. One of my favorites as a leftie. Mostly open on the left. Curves to the right perfectly. Trees all over the right side.
4-Another good leftie hole. Clear on the left, trees on the right. The basket is straight ahead
5-Be careful of people teeing off at 6. Straight ahead. Wide open until you get to the basket area. Roots around the basket can cause some errant landings. On a left to right slope
6-Short par 3. Right to left slope. Watch the landings. If it rolls....
7-One of the signature holes. Looong par 3 on top of a huge hill. Blast away. Lefties, watch the trees on the left. There's a bench in the woods to the right and behind the basket.
8-As a leftie, I HATE THIS HOLE!! Dogleg to the left. Clear on the right, lots of trees and a drop off to the left.
9-Completly uphill.A few trees guard the approach to the basket.
10-Short par 3 on the side of the hill.
11-Uphill again! Short par 3. watch the scrub on the right, its gets pretty thick quick
12-Downhill short par 3. Easy to overdo it
13-More and more trees come into play after this. One of my favorites! Long hole that finishes in the woods. Clear on the left (yay!) trees on the right
14-Mostly wooded. A few very large trees are in the way. Bench
15-More trees! Pretty much straight ahead.
16-The new basket is on the ridge in front of you. The redesign totally ruined this hole!
17-Good luck here! Trees guard the launch chute. Thick trees and scrub on the left with a nasty drop off. You cant see it from the tee, but the basket is pretty much straight ahead.
18-Basket is slightly left of the tee on the side of a small hill. Great rightie hole.

Easy to navigate. Hills offer some nice downhill throws, There are some beautiful and fun holes.

Some of the holes, i think 8-11 are so close to each other that it can be tricky.

Its beautiful, its free, its great exercise and its a great place to get people started on the game. S

This course has a little bit of it all, tree's, hills, distance and rubber tee pads. Good for skilled players yet forgiving for the noobs. some of the hills are a great workout bcuz they r long and gradual. nicely cleared up and trimmed back

can quickly fill up with players on a nice day. some hills are a little steep, so for some that arnt in the greatest of shape this may come as a challenge. only a seasonal course

designate nine holes for winter players to stay open

Wide variety of holes, short, long, uphill, downhill, wooded. Long downhill hole really lets you let it all hang out! Nice mature park, course is beautiful!

Lots of walking up and down hills, you will get a workout.

Park is beautiful!

Beautiful scenery.
Good variety of hills/left right.
A couple of very nice "capstone" holes (7, 13, 17).
The new rubber tees are nice (but also see cons).

There are four holes that are closer to par 2 than they are to par 3 (5, 6, 11, and 12). Getting a 3 on these holes seems like a bogey.
The new rubber tee mats are too short for my typical run-up.
There's a lot of swampy ground around holes 1, 17, and 18.
There's a lot of doggy doo on the course.

This is a "must play" course in Rochester.
I really enjoyed the upgrades related to World's events in both 1999 and 2011.
Hole # 16 is my favorite. Slightly blind with interesting stepped elevation changes.

Open and easy on most holes. Very playable at all levels of skill. Friendly to newbies (but can be long in certain cases for newbs)

Wet. Standing water on first when last there, and a lot of it. Tees when I played were not the greatest, but I hear are better now. Some blind shots, but manageable with time and experience.

This course reminds me of Morley Field in San Diego and Pendleton King Park in Augusta. Two reasons. The courses layout, which gives you a really nice mixture of shots, and the courses history in the world of disc golf. Each are fixtures and should be sought out by avid disc golfers who want to say that they have played 'historic' disc golf courses.

description. mostly open, very hilly course that runs up, down, and across the giant hill multiple times before heading into a slightly wooded area. signature hole is #7, a beautiful 528 foot downhill throw to the basket, which if you fly past will put you in the woods (had a friend do that once).

tees. brand new fly pads that look great. distance is written on tee and most holes have signs.

basket positions. it's cool to putt with the hill in play, whether uphill or downhill, and definitely affects the line/disc you choose for your drive/approach as well. for example, I prefer to throw a gator sidearm on hole number 6 so that my path is left to right at the basket and can putt uphill to go for the birdie.

variety of shots. at ellison you won't just throw your driver all the time, despite it being mostly open. some holes can be reached with a fairway, several with a midrange, or even a putter. I also like to throw sidearm on a couple of holes as well, so I feel like I get to throw a lot of different shots.

difficulty. I'd say moderate. the course makes great use of available trees and provides a challenge while giving you a lot of options in choosing your line. although a long course for beginners, it's fun and very memorable.

can be very wet at the beginning of the year due to water pooling at the bottom of the hill.

tees can get slippery with dirt on them.

can be very crowded at times.

dogs. a ton of people take their dogs to a stream close to hole 14 and occassionally you'll have one run onto the course.

first course I ever played in rochester. ellison is a classic course and fun to bring beginners, as it leaves a great impression with its scenic views, especially in the fall.

Beautifully manicured park course.

Clean, no trash

Good flow of course with great elevation changes

Nice mix of short and long bombs. Some nice technical lines on a few holes. Challenging pin placements makes you think on a few holes

Just a real nice course to play a casual round or two with friends

Bad tees. Once they put in concrete I will give this course 4 stars.

Poision ivy vines under the tee on hole 1 is pretty scary

Some areas of potential danger with pin placements and tees due to the openess of the course. Errant shots from players could be a problem.

I will play this course whenever I am in the area. Thanks to Will C for showing me around.

very well designed course with great utilization of a number of elements around the park.

awesome course if you like lots of elevation change! plenty of shots going up and down.

good varitety of holes, some very open, some with trees, right break, left break, up, down.

signs on every hole give you a basic idea of what you're in for.

sub shop down the street sells discs! definitely check sonny's out!

crowded! lots of people really like to play here. sometimes makes for slow play, noise, and potentially getting hit. be prepared to hear and shout "FORE!"

couple spots in the park are almost always wet. stay out of the roughs unless you want wet feet.

tees are gravel, some are really dug out and its hard to get your footing. club is working on them and they're getting better.

this course its always a joy to play! watching your discs fly on the downhill shots is a thing of beauty! better tee areas and i would rate this course a little higher.

Very easy course to navigate. Each hole is labeled along with a schematic with catcher location. I first started playing on this course and it was a great one to learn the game on. Very minimal chance of losing disc.

Too open for me. I'm beginning to prefer a more wooded/challenging course. Always packed.

If your looking for an easy going time then this is a perfect course.

Wonderful course layout, fun elevation changes, and variety. Nice park overall.

It's in a park, and quite a busy one, at that. This means you'll have to play amongst picnickers, dog-walkers, hikers and cyclists. Watch your shots, and be accurate, lest you hit someone...

Although this course is in a busy park, it still should not be missed. It has a lot of fun holes, with unique challenges. You'll like playing here, just do it at off-peak times of day, when the park won't be as crowded.

Ellison park makes wonderful use of one simple terrain element, a giant sled hill.

The front 9 play across, up, and down a large hill making even seemingly open and simple shots much more interesting.

The wonderful use of the few trees on the front 9 works really well.

The back 9 is where things start to get different. Holes 9,10, and 11 are all shot fun elevation change holes, followed by 12 which is a never ending right to left S turn (great for sidearm and lefties!) that goes DEEP into "woods".

Hole 7 is very much a Signature hole on this course with an Epic tee pad throw out 528' downhill...it's Awesome. You'll eventually just empty your bag on this hole, it's just that fun.

The back 9 has it's signature holes in hole 16 I would say. Elevated tee pad shooting towards a blind basket guarded by some bushes. Good spot to lose a disc in a tree if you don't pay attention.

People have said it before, and they're not misleading you. Ellison Park needs cement tee pads worse than any other course in the area...maybe anywhere.

These tees are well used, because it's such a fun course that's been around practically forever. Most tees are gouged into the ground a foot or more, and many have secondary tee lines working on becoming just as deep.

Because of the high use of the park by DGers and other folk alike, this park gets a lot of litter strewn about.

This course could be too open for some...but I'm not a big fan of open courses, and I love Ellison Park.

GRDGC is working on getting cement tee pads at Ellison right now, in preparation for the 2011 Am Worlds in Rochester, hopefully the few blemishes on this wonderful course can be remedied soon.

Please carry in and carry out your litter, we need to keep our sport on the up and up.

If we can keep the park clean, and get cement tee pads (and maybe the 2-4 signs we're missing) and perhaps different tee levels...

Then Ellison park could be a 4+ rated course.

I believe it can happen, let's make it so!

There are so many great things about this course. It's built to play on a large hill so there are constant elevation changes coming into play. Some holes play up (2, 9, 11) or down (3, 7, 10, 12) the hill while others play across (5, 6).

Great mix of longer and shorter holes. nice ace opportunities on 6, 10, 12. Number 7 is the signature hole here: 528' down a large hill to a basket about 20' in front of a line of trees. Empty your bag and let it rip!!! Number 16 is another signature hole, teeing off an elevated spot down to a multi-tiered area guarded by trees. Each tier is lower than the last and each is bordered with trees and brush. Great hole but lots of discs get lost here. Also, 9 is a huge uphill beast and 13 is a long one that hugs a tree line on the right and heads back into the woods.

The course is very effectively planned around the patches of trees that dot the hill. The back nine goes back into a more flat but more heavily wooded area (holes 13-17).

*Update* Fall 2011
New rubber fly pads installed for the Am Worlds this past summer. The tees here used to be horrendous but the have been filled, leveled and had fly pads laid. Makes this course much more playable and enjoyable!

Lack of trash cans on the course. There tends to be lots of trash, beer bottles, etc, especially at each tee. There is a little building up by the parking lot with bathrooms but they are frequently locked and no trash cans. They recently removed the water fountain there too. ???

The course gets closed in the winter. Baskets are removed since the hill the course is built on is also a sledding hill. (apparently the reason the city objects to concrete tees)

Tends to get crowded on the weekend too. Most people and slower groups are good about letting you play through though.

No alternate pins or tees.

Altogether a phenomenal course. So much variety and not a bad hole in the bunch. Most of the course is fairly open so it won't often force you to make certain kinds of shots but there is still plenty of variety. Aside from the tees, the course is usually in good condition with semi-regular maintenance and mowing.

There is also a shop (sonny's) up the street on landing rd. that sells discs. nice guys in there too.


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Nice park. Uses the elevation well. Hole 16 is a unique hole of a mini-cliff to a blind basket over some distinct landscaping and a wall. Hole 7 is monster downhiller, too.

Mostly open, some holes can interfere with other holes. Tee areas are very worn- we played out to the side of them.
This seemed to be the place where people come to walk their dogs. There were dogs being walked everywhere (along walking trails, not on the course, but still close). I prefer my DG courses without dozens of dogs, but that is just me.

This is a pretty solid course. Worth playing if you come to Rochester.

Perfect mix of open holes, wooded holes, uphill, downhill, near and far. Easy to navigate and you get a good workout in the process. Well groomed.

I wish they would either make the tees concrete or add dirt and level them out again because some of them are uneven.

A great all around course regardless of ability level. Fun no matter how many times you play it. Very solid course.

This was definitely a well thought out course. There were a varity of holes. I love the 2 long down hill tee shots on the front nine. There were a couple of holes unlike any I have seen anywhere else. One hole on the back nine has a tee pad on a small bluff that plays anhyzer down over a series of tiers with very short but wide trees on the tiers. That was probably one of the top 10 holes I can ever remember playing.

The tee pads are horrendous. Once that is taken care of this will be an elite level course as it used to be. Modifications and new amenities are not a bad thing. There are lots of dogs...and dogs love discs. There was one hole where I raced a small dog for my disc on the back nine.

This is a very hilly course. If you are in poor physical condition, it will show up on your scorecard. I consider this to be one of the top 3 Rochester-area courses.

Lots of elevation and good long and short holes. Easy to have a bad round and then play right afterwards and have a good round. This is my favorite Rochester area course to play.

As of Feb 2008 this course has the worst tee pads I have ever played on. Hopefully that will chnage soon.

The layout is very good and there is a good variety of challenging holes. I like the different uses of the elevation.

The tee boxes on many holes are completely wore out. some are dug down two feet or more. I was told that new concrete will be coming soon. Some of the tee signs are knocked over or missing.

Concrete tees will make this course be awsome, or even just some fill to level the natural tees. Loved hole 7, 528 feet all down hill. my first drive went 30 feet past the basket.

Big elevation changes; in the winter this is a sledding park. Nice grass too.

In 2002 most tees were gravel and dirt and many were quite uneven. Some tees could be improved. Some tee signs were missing. There were some drainage problems after rains.

Favorite Holes: #13. 600 ft., so it's a long hole, downhill with a dogleg to the right through trees at the end. #7. 528 ft down a steep open grassy hill. This was the hole that Sam Ferrans parked with a putter when he won the '84 Worlds.
The front 9 is mostly grass holes.
Fairways: 12 Straight/ 2 Lt/ 4 Right.
The site of the 1984 and 1999 PDGA World Championships.