This was a fun course to play.
The condition of the course is pretty much great. The grounds crew keeps it manicured.
I enjoyed the well defined fairway and rough for the wide open holes. A nice touch.
The wooded holes are "beat in"
Lines are well defined from the volume of play this course gets. Not a fresh course by any means.
The park itself is a big chunk of land.
The design is "Good" for the realistate it's installed on.
The course has a mix of everything;
Uphill, downhill, valleys
Hyzer, anhyzer, flick
Tunnel shots, open fairways,
Extremely long, long, mid-length, and short holes.
Holes that have multiple routes.
Blind tee shots to hidden baskets, baskets out in plain view.
Some of the holes feel like an entire adventure in themselves. This was my favorite part.
Two extra holes as well.
Baskets are solid.

Tee pads are undefined on some holes.
Had to look for odd shaped concrete blocks in the ground. (Some weren't visible or missing)
The signage is not great. Basically absent. Tough for the blind tee shots and hidden baskets. Not a big con, but a con (none-the-less)

It was not packed when I played it. It was a Sunday afternoon. Although, I was going to squeeze a second round in. By the time I finished there was a pack of 8-12 people all in one group teeing off on hole 1. With another group of 6 infront of them. I turned to the parking lot and left immediately.
Heard it was going to be changed.
Had to play the original at least once.
It was worth it.

I'd like to start by saying that I learned to play disc golf here at Fairfield. While I did not live in the area back then, nearly 10 years later, I am now a local.

The recent addition of a bike path has turned this into a muti-use park. Some players may list this as a con, but I believe it is good exposure. It will only help grow the sport. Also, the path is typically used as an OB line on #12, #13 and #18.

With the current 19 hole layout, this is only 1 of 3 disc golf courses in Lake County that features more than 9 holes.

The kiosk in the parking lot includes a course map. Even though navigation is fairly easy, I still recommend that first time players take a look at the map and/or print one from the Links/Files tab here. Most of the locals and regulars are very friendly and will point you in the right direction.

There is good variety. While the first 5 holes are similar open shots with no obstacles, things start to change on #6 with the basket at the top of the hill and a good set of guardian trees only 50' away from the teepad. Throughout the rest of the course, you will find yourself playing a combination of shorter wooded holes and longer, grip-it and rip-it holes.

While this area is notoriously flat, the available elevation is utilized nicely on at least 12 holes.

The swamp in the middle of the course comes into play on #10 and #12. Possibly #18 as well if you throw OB.

The ever-present wind provides a good challenge on some of the flat, typically easy holes.

Hole #11A takes you back to the parking lot (port-a-potty included at no extra charge!) for a nice mid-round break if needed.

Round Lake Area Park District does a great job of mowing the fairways on a regular basis.

Several garbage cans have helped keep the course looking nice. A few years ago, litter on most fairways used to be a major con.

At 845', #18 is the signature hole here. With the woods on the right the entire length of the fairway and the OB bike path on the left, this hole encourages a wide variety of scores. I have seen everything from a 3 to a 10 here. Stay out of the woods if you can!

Limestone tee pads. Some of them are better than others. In wet, muddy, snow/icy conditions, these teepads go from bad to worse.

There are no tee signs.

The open holes (1--5, 9--11A) can easily get repetitive and boring.

In the summer, the tall grass can get frustrating while searching for discs. It is much easier to find discs here in the winter months. You don't have to get too far off of the fairway to call for the search party. This causes frequent back-ups while the course is busy.

UPDATE--As of 10/15/2012, Hole #14A has been removed and will not be re-installed. Please proceed directly to #15.

While Pro/Advanced players may not find much of a challenge here unless the wind is really blowing, beginners and rec level players will be tested early and often.

This course gets very busy in the summer on nice weather days. It is not uncommon to see 4 or 5 groups waiting to tee off at Hole #1 on a nice Sunday afternoon.

I considered posting this review back when I first found DGCR, but I really wanted to learn more about how Fairfield stacks up against the competition. Now that I am close to 100 courses played and Fairfield is in the midst of a re-design, I felt this was a good time to post a review on the soon to be extinct layout.

If you need a guide, send me a PM. I would be happy to give you the tour.

There's a pretty good variety of holes here. The first couple holes are wide open with mild elevation changes. The wind whips around these holes, making them play much harder then they look. After the first couple open holes, the course becomes more wooded, and some of the wooded holes have significant elevation changes. A creek also comes into play on some of the forest holes. There are a few holes in the middle of the course that circle around a swamp, which adds an interesting hazard but also eats discs like a boss. One of these holes is a crazy dogleg right, probably the funnest hole of the course. The last couple of holes; 15, 16, and 17 are tightly wooded with elevation change. After playing these holes you walk out of the forest onto the 18th tee. The diversity of the course is highlighted here, the last hole is wide open but over 800ft long.

The course is a swamp until mid-summer, or whenever it rains, wear crappy shoes and bring bug spray. Some of the holes are not well marked, and it can be easy to get lost. There are no signs and the tee pads need their own interpretation, it is very difficult to figure out where to tee off from and which direction to throw your disc. It is also easy to lose discs on almost every hole, especially holes involving the swamp. It would be much more fun to have pars on all the holes, a course sign just says all holes are par 3 which is pretty lame.

One of the better courses in Chicagoland when dry, could easily be improved by adding signs and better tees.

Every hole is a good "par 3". Rolling hills were REAL rolling hills that make for some decent elevation changes, nothing too dramatic. Definitely a must play course! Kinda far from me but I still liked it!

SWAMP!!! The wind was blowing just enough to pick it up and toss it right in the pond. The group in front of me went in and the group behind me went in.... Lost my trusty surge. And hole 18 is a ridiculous par 3. but paring the course is a definite possibility. Just not that day for me.... And LOTS of people and BIG groups by mid afternoon. Kind of a given for the weekends anywhere.

I like the course! Definitely has it's own challenges. I'll be up there again!

1) Garbage Cans are everywhere keeping this course fairly clean. And they are numbered to help the newcomers figure out where they are!

2) This course has a wide variety of terrain, foliage type and density, water is in play on a few holes (depending on time of year you play). There are even some decent elevation changes on a few holes. They also have some long distance holes that add the the challenge of this course. It supposedly is the longest hole in IL, (or used to be). They even have a few holes shorter than 200' which is a nice change of pace from all of the 250-300' holes out there, they really give you a chance at birdie or a shot at an ace which improves peoples morale!

3) There are little pavers set into the soil to show you the tee area as the dirt areas have been expanded with more traffic so it would be hard to determine where the actual tee area is.

4) A few of the wooded holes have some really challenging layouts. I always like to see some wooded holes on every course and this is no different. They add a lot to the course that 50% of the holes are kind of wide open pasture.

5) Swamp on the right of #11 is a great feature and truly is risk reward. I threw way out to the left of the swamp and laid up for a par, but if you can anny it around the corner or throw a long sidearm you have a real chance to park it for 2, but that is the risk.reward.

6) #12 at different times could also be very truly risk.reward. Throw short of the wetland runoff area and try and get your second close to the basket or try and shoot right up to the basket in 1 risks the tall grass/marshy plants grabbing your disc. I did walk through the area but it hadnt rained in weeks.

7) I was glad to be able to play the alternate #14 hole. It is set right in the flood plain of whatever river goes by the course.

8) Nice river flowing behind the 14th green and to the right of #8 basket also. It isn;t really in play unless you throw a bad shot, get a bad break off a tree.

1) The tagline of having the longest hole in Illinois is actually a detractor for me after playing there. It may be over 800' but it is dead straight with only a few trees on your right and a wide open pasture on the left. Basically throw it hard 3 to 4 (for me it took 5) times to get close to the basket . . . that isn't that much fun.

2) Dirt tees leave a lot to be desired.

3) First 6 holes and a couple holes later in the course are simpl wide open pastures with mowed fairways. I have played quite a few courses with this setup and they are getting more and more repetetive and boring. The mowed fairways mean almost nothing to me . . . I will throw as direct of a line as possible. It is not punishing to land in the rough!

4) I would take the 20th hole out of play (its just another wide open pasture shot and is also the practice basket).

5) A couple of the dense wooded holes seem a little too dense. They all had lines you could hit but it was pretty tough to find the lines.

6) Not very beginner friendly. Long distances, water in play, tight wooded holes with dense severe shule on either side of you. Lots of buckthorn to poke your eye out.

Overall I was impressed with this course. It isnt really near any large suburbs or cities and it seems to be one of the better overall courses in the area. It has a large variety in hole type, challenege, shot requirement, elevation changes, foliage density and type. It offers some nice ace/birdie runs and also has the longest hole in Illinois at 845'. I would go back if I was in the area, but the only reason I was in the area was to try 8 new courses in 1 day. If they could improve a few of the pasture holes by adding a couple well placed trees this coulrse would be much better. As I said above the mowed fairways arent challenegin and the rough isnt punishing, a couple of trees would make you stay closer to the fairway rather than throw it far and hard!

If you're looking to launch some bombs, look no further! Hole #18 is the longest hole I've ever seen.

You can lose a disc in the prairie grass, but the worst is the marshy swamp smack dab in the middle.

Give it a try, bring a doobie and smoke in the open no one will give you a second glance (unless they want a hit)

Fine course that has the mix between open and hilly then moving to several wooded holes. Most of the time you can see the basket so if you're a biginner or come with a girl, they can get the hang of it really quickly. Nice porta-potty right by the parking lot and easy to find. Several people are on the course making it feel like you're in the right place. Several holes are VERY long. Makes it fun to bomb it for those that can. . . This is a con in the next section though.

Bring bug spray! Various swampland! Be ready for it. Slightly boring for those that have played top-tier courses (which I don't consider myself, so any course is great to me). If the grass isn't mowed and it's been damp, the place gets muddy and shoes get wet pretty fast. On a hot muggy day, climbing some of the rolling hills can take a lot out of you. Regarding the long holes, girls get frustrated when they're 10 strokes deep and still not even close. A more advanced course in that respect.

Definitely a course to check out if you're in the area. Nearby Wauconda has an incredible Mexican dump (inside a small Mexican grocery) that's a great place to have a taquito and guacamole after a satisfying round.

Hole 18 is huge! 800 some feet. Some decsent elevation change. The holes in the back of the course are through some tight fairways although much shorter. Nice change between wide open holes to wooded holes. Challenges your long range and your middle game. Without these holes it would not be worth playing whatsoever.

Big swamp in the middle of the park. Likes to eat discs up. Holes in front of the park are wide open. Not much imagination went into their design. Low scores are common here. Besides holes 12 and 18 you could call it a pitch-n-putt.

From spring through fall there is Thursday night leagues.
There are also Sunday leagues that run year round at 2pm.

Well mowed fairways makes the course easy to navigate on most of the holes. Two of the holes are extremely amusing due to the fact that they are both over 500 feet (hole 18 is 845 feet).

The course is a tad dull and has very few obstacles until you enter the woods which is where it gets hard to navigate. The shots in the woods are very hard, with the baskets being out of sight on most of them. Three of the holes play alongside a swamp in which you will most definitely get muddy if it has rained during the week. Lots of trash lying everywhere.

A good number of shots have very little creativity (just straight, open and short), and then a good number are extremely challenging in which there is no clear path from you to the basket. Yet the vast size of the course and THE MONSTER HOLE 18 is enough to keep one satisfied. Check it out.