has a nice mix of hilly and flat terrain which make this very interesting to play, no water so good for beginers, forgiving if you have a bad shot,

Holes and tees to close together make for alot of people yelling fore mainly on the front nine. it gets a bit repetitive, lots of new players

this plays like 2 different couses when u hit the back nine it a whole diferent ball game .the back nine has light wooded areas on a few hole which changes up play a bit overal a great course thats very scenic for players,

-Course design is both friendly and challenging
-Classic course has been featured in several Worlds and remains a local favorite
-Addition of rubber tees fixed one of the major gripes from before - terribly eroded dirt tees
-Mix of hills, tightly wooded holes, open wooded holes, open fields, out-of-bounds, hyzer, anhyzer, etc. lets everyone shine and be challenged
-Free parking is adjacent to holes 1 and 2
-Friendly laid back feel while playing
-Very social - someone is almost always playing any time of day, and people are generally very social, friendly and you can tag along with a group if you want, run into pros who are cool about offering advice or tips, etc.

-Overcrowded on warm days - you can wait a long time to tee off when it's warm and everyone is out playing
-Litter - generally several grocery bags worth to pick up every week and only one garbage can in the entire park that nobody seems to use
-The hilly portions can be very slippery after a rain, the flatter sections can be very squishy and muddy
-Attracts a lot of newbies, which can be annoying when they throw into you, or won't let you play through, etc.
-Baskets are removed in late fall and re-installed in the spring, mostly because people like to sled on holes 7-12 in the winter. It makes sense, but with so few courses on this side of the county, it's inconvenient - would be nice if they'd leave an alternate layout in place in the winter.

This is supposedly the 2nd oldest course in the country, and I consider it to be one of the best I've played. The course design is genius - there aren't a lot of barriers to play with, but every tee and every basket are placed to make the most out of every tree, every slant to the topography, etc. Every hole has multiple lines that force you to make smart decisions about how to play. And yet while the course remains challenging for even top pros, new players still have a fun time playing.

The biggest problems with this course derive from the fact that it is so popular - thus there tends to be a lot of litter, the occassional callous/clueless player, etc.

Ellison is set on a fairly steep hill, and the course designers really made the most of it. There are some long, let it fly holes (#7), and some accuracy based holes on the back 9. Very well rounded and a lot of fun. Fresh rubber fly-pads have been installed. There are restrooms at the park.

Being the only course on the east side of town, it can get busy at times, but not too unbearable. Holes 1, 17, and 18 are perpetually soggy.

A good course that has my two favorite holes in Rochester. 7 is a huge downhill throw with highly entertaining hangtimes. Bring a few drivers to throw down this one! 16 is my other favorite. It's a blind throw down two tiers of what looks like the foundations of an old building. You can easily lay it up on the second "platform", but you will be rewarded for throwing for the tee. This course is minutes from my house, and I play it regularly. That being said, it never gets old. Quite the opposite, really. I'm kind of addicted to Ellison.

Wonderful use of the hillside, this old course is a classic. Nice open woodland holes, and big field holes. Great group of golfers here.

Too many lefty holes. Looks like it was designed by a righty who wanted to make the holes harder, or a lefty who wanted it easy for himself. Closed in the winter.

Well designed, grounds are mowed, beautiful course during the playing seasons. Disc golf supplies up the street at a deli, friendly players.

Tee pads, as it has been mentioned in every review are terrible. A tee sign is missing, buggy in late summer, dog landmines.

I love Ellison, I play there as much as 5 times a week. I averaged a +16 when first starting out playing. But because it's challenging it quickly made me a decent golfer and now average a +3 or +4. It is a workout, you go up and down the main hill a total of 8 times, so bring water.

Avoid after rain! The pads become a mess and holes 16-18 become marshy. Windy days make an already challenging course very difficult. The wind rolls down the hill at high speeds at times and can make any disc act strangely.

It is crowded some days, but it's not very slow playing as in the 3 months that I've played playing through hasn't really been an issue. However, some days (very few) are quite bad and it can be as long as a 5-10 minute wait per tee. Recommend playing after 3pm as it's usually lighter in load.

so close to where i live and pretty wide open, besides a hole or its hard to lose one here

stays a little wet and WAY TO CROWDED!!! i like to play when everyone else is still sleeping

eastern rochester needs another 1 but ellison is a blast, and the dog park kicks ass

Lots of open shots and there is no water on any hole so the chances for loosing a disk are very low there are some long uphill and beautiful down hill shots and four is a very ace-able hole.

When i said hill i meant hills the hills are atleast six holes that you just keep walking up and down.

Very large variety of distances, shots required, elevation, and type of obstacle; not one hole that wasn't well thought out; elevation is used extremely well; the course demands you throw at a very high level to score well, yet doesn't unfairly punish beginners; beautiful area; some holes you will never forget (my favorites are 7, 14, 15, and 16) and several others you'll look forward to playing again

Lacks concrete tee pads; some minor trouble for newcomers to find the next hole; a few spots may cause beginners to have trouble finding their disc in high grass and weeds; can get busy; baskets are a bit old (this doesn't bother me at all, but seems to irk some)

I'm reviewing this course about 9 months after playing it and still remember it well. Most courses don't leave that type of impression on me - Rochester really has a solid course here. I moved out to Milwaukee from Rochester about 5 years ago, before I started playing disc golf. I played this course on a trip back there and I wanted to kick myself for not taking advantage of it when I could. We have some great courses of our own out in Milwaukee, but I had this one close by, it would be my go-to course for sure. I've given 2 courses out here a 4/5 but this one is just more fun. I'm glad my family is out there, because I'll be playing this course every time I visit from now on! This course is Excellent - 4.0.

Great design. Perfect blend of open and wooded areas. Nice elevation changes.
Hole 7 is famous for the 500+ ft down hill shot.

signs are falling down. Tee pads are often flooded. Course can be crowded with players, dog walkers, and college stdents.
DOG POOP & POISON IVY (LOTS OF IT)
Course is not open all year.
Sometimes the grass can be pretty high on the leftside of hole 2 and other areas, but this is not too much of a concern.

1/4 mile away is a Pizzeria (it's called sonny's now I think) during the summer they have a decent selection of discs.
This course is a nice workout, be prepared to walk up and down the hill several times.

Calls for many different shots. Lots of elevation, tonnes of fun.

Uneven dirt teepads, lack of signage (this year at least)

Haven't played it on weekends to tell if it gets overrun by picknickers.

Excellent elevation with the first 9 holes really testing your endurance. Excellent flypad tee pads installed in July, 2011 are a HUGE improvement. Easy to navigate without a map as well.

A great mix of wooded and open holes. The park is also very well maintained with bathrooms and drinking fountains on site.

Tends to be fairly crowded most days so expect a wait on at least a few holes. Some signage is also in rough shape.

The front 12 play along the large hill that dominates the landscape. The back 7 play through a partially wooded area with hole #16 being particularly interesting. You throw off a plateau area across a tiered landscape with the basket positioned on the second tier. Definitely a fun hole!

Hole #7 could definitely be considered a signature hole for the course. A massive downhill tee shot that is definitely one of those holes you empty your bag on no matter how many times you've played it.

Ellison is one of the oldest courses in the country and it has aged gracefully. All the holes offer a challenging element be it distance, trees, elevation or all three!

Is it worth a stop you ask? I'd say it's most definitely worth it. It is one of the better courses in town and it makes for a very enjoyable round.