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Fox River Park in Silver Lake has an 18 hole and 9 hole course (only played the 18) in a nice park setting, with enough wooded holes to provide a great variety of open and tighter lines. There is distance variety as well, enough to challenge at least up to INT players, with a few wooded holes even challenging perhaps advanced players too. Nice amenities and a mostly disc golf only setting make this a must play if in the area. The disc golf is a 4, knowing where and how far to throw some of the holes keeps it down just a bit, and
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+ Very nice shot and distance variety
+ Scenic park setting, great mature trees and some small fields
+ Good teepads and baskets
+ Two easy loops, decent amenities

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- Poor tee signs, cannot tell which pin position is in use.
- Distances on signs could not be relied upon, and several baskets could not be seen from teepad, so first time through some shots were a little blind. Even Udisc seemed off, as did some distances from DGCR.
- Navigation on back nine a little tough without a map.
- Maintenance of course seemed fair to average. Getting a little dated feeling.
-Just a mention--the island hole is surrounded by pavement, so layup or throw something that can get dinged, because it is a downhill throw.

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BASICS:
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>Teepads--Good concrete pads, nice and long.
>Baskets--Decent, catch well (forgot to note specific type-oops)
># holes--18
>Setting, type of course, fee?--Free public park, partial park setting, partial wooded. Most holes seem fairly well separated from other park users.
>Ease of getting to--Several miles outside Silver Lake, easy access
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AMENITIES:
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>Parking--Abundant
>Bathrooms--Porta john by hole 1 (and 10).
>Practice basket/driving net--No.
>Water/food nearby--A few fast food places 10 minutes away.
>Clubhouse/disc shop--No.
>Benches--Few picnic tables sprinkled throughout.
>Trash cans--Enough.
>Bag holders--No.
>Tee signs--Pretty poor, shows two positions, but many did not seem to align with actual baskets at all. Best to use an online map, although udisc distances seemed off several times as well.
>Next tee direction/signs--No, but front nine is fairly intuitive or you can see from baskets. Back nine trickier, map is quite suggested.
>Wheelchair/cart friendly--No, yes.
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COURSE PLAY:
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>Shot variety--Pretty good, very few just straight shots. Even the more park setting holes have trees to shape your shots. Some wooded tight lines, some more open shots. No real bomber holes though.
>Open/wooded--About 6 open, 6 semi-open and 6 more tightly wooded, but all have fair, if not some tight, lines.
>Elevation--Not much, but what little exists is used well. Hole 16 area has a big hill which was not used at all, a bit disappointing, but there was a baseball diamond nearby, so maybe that is why.
>Distance of holes--A few in the 200' range, and a good combination up to almost 500'. Good variety here as well. About 5500'--6000' overall, exact distances on most holes not known.
>Layout, long walks (inc back to car), loops--2 nine hole loops, both ending at parking lot.
>Total distance walked--2.5 miles.
>Ease of finding next tee--Front nine good, back nine can be tricky, definitely want to have a map.
>General difficulty--Medium, most of front nine has birdie potential for someone with 325' range, but accuracy is key. Some of the wooded holes on back nine seemed tough to get a birdie. Some were pretty long for tighter lined wooded holes.
>Mud/water issues--None this day, but it was dry.
>Water or O/B to contend with--Other than a few roads, and the one island hole, none seen.
>Difficult rough/lost disc risk--Medium--especially on back nine. The rough is not horrible, but easy to find as fairways can be tight.
>Scrape/scratch risk--Medium.
>How busy was course/park--On a beautiful weekday late morning (60s), only two other groups were seen playing.
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OVERALL:
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>Fun/enjoyment factor, would I play again? Yes, great mix, good but fair challenge.
>Who will this course challenge? Rec to intermediate, perhaps advanced players (some of the woods holes especially)
>Is it worth a drive? Yes, 1-2 hours.
>Anything unique? Nothing in particular, but there is a good variety. No two holes seemed the same.
>Would be a half star higher with--Better signage/navigation (especially on back 9).

I am in my 50s, 105 or so courses played, 875ish.

The Grey Fox course at Fox River Park benefits from great terrain, playing around and through woods with lots of rolling hills to further spice things up. The course integrates trees in a variety of ways, resulting in a mix of open holes dotted with obstacles, technical wooded tunnel shots, holes moving into and out of the woods, and on and on. There's a great range of hole types here that force you to use a variety of discs and shot types. Repetition is expressly avoided.

In keeping with this variety, distances are welcomingly varied. Distance drivers are rarely needed, but pretty much everything else in your bag will come in handy at one point or another. Overall the course skews towards the technical, but not overly so.

The course is easy to navigate. Parking is plentiful. The Red Fox course on site offers the chance to bag another course as well as warm up a bit.

This is a solid course. The biggest con for me is its focus on a conventional drive-approach-putt formula: there aren't many true par 4s or holes you otherwise aren't pushing for the basket off the tee. It's a shame that the variety in terrain and distance mentioned above isn't mirrored by a greater variety in terms of hole structures: a few landing-zone focused true par 4s and maybe even an ambitious par 5 would really round things out. The land the course sits on certainly seems like it could accommodate such ambitions. As it stands, Grey Fox provides an enjoyable overall round without having overly memorable individual shots or holes. It's a nice balance between casual and technical.

Grey Fox is a great happy medium between the casual nature of Red Fox on site and the much more ambitious nearby Silver Fox course. The three together make for an excellent outing. If you're feeling adventurous, it's possible to include Fairfield Park DGC as well, for a perfectly satisfying and extremely varied (if tiring!) day of disc golf. I highly recommend putting this combination towards the top of the list if you're passing through the greater Chicago area.

Good variety of shot selections throughout the course.
Red Fox Family Course- great for warming up with mid ranges and putters
Elevation changes and fairways that require different types of throws for both left & right handed throwers
Separate scorecards for front and back 9 holes with accurate distances & course layout- great for reference!
Great usage of park for a course layout- utilizes trees/woods very well and most fairways/paths were natural and did not require the park dept to cut/clear out many trees which is great.
Very well maintained- wood chips, cement tee pads that have plenty of room which is awesome!
Multiple pin locations!

Speed of play- front 9 plays pretty quickly but back 9 can be a little more time consuming because of challenging fairways/gaps. Shouldn't be a deterrent for playing this course though!
Rumors from other players compared it to Brown Deer- did not think this related to Brown Deer at all.

Great course but it's a little far away for me since I'm from West Allis- about a 50min trip for me.
Very easy to get there for players from WI & IL- saw about the same number of cars from both states, which is great to see!
For Red Fox you really only need a light fairway driver/mid range and a putter. Definitely recommend using it to warm up before playing Grey Fox!
Very impressed by the hole signs and scorecards- high quality and professionally done. Gives a great image for the course designer (Terry Miller) and Park & Rec Dept.
16 is a little challenging to find- but both of the fences on sides of the parking lot point you in the right direction- walk through the parking lot, up the hill and the tee pad is next to a slide.

The course plays through a large park using mostly disc golf dedicated areas. There are rolling hills throughout the course, and they are used quite well to add some variety, and some challenge. A couple holes have more severe elevation change, adding a tough uphill tunnel shot, and a great finishing shot down a steep hill that flattens out into a tunnel shot out into the open.

Some holes are more open with grassy fairways, scattered mature trees, and some brush waiting to snare an errant drive. The rest of the course plays through fairly thick woods with narrow fairways, some low ceilings, and thick rough the length of the fairway. It felt well balanced between tunnel type shots, and holes that were a little more open. There is a nice mix of left and right turning holes here. I felt like I had to use several different shots to be successful here, and the lefty player in our group felt that the course was pretty fair to lefties and righties. A couple long dogleg holes added some tough challenge, especially with some elevation thrown in.

The tees are nice large trapezoidal concrete pads, with good texture and are nice and level and flush with the ground. There are basic posts with the hole number at each tee, and good maps posted for the front and back nines. The baskets are brand new, and catch great, and the dual pin positions looked like they would change up the layout quite a bit. The park is very well maintained, with no trash, nice grass, mulched areas in the woods to prevent mud and erosion, and painted directions to the next tee when the navigation isn't obvious.

The course is a little lacking in signage. Individual hole signs, including a marker for which pin position is in use, would add a lot to this course, and require less walking ahead to check out the hole layout and pin position. There are a few long walks between holes that were marked with spray paint on the ground when I played. That was fine and made navigation relatively easy, but if that's not maintained when it washes off, the course will not be easy to follow in those spots.

A few holes play very close to park roads and the highway along the park, which causes some safety concerns and takes away from the secluded feel of the course. There were a few picnic and bar-b-q areas that could come into play if they were in use, hopefully they aren't popular spots in the summer.

This course is a lot of fun, and has a few really nice holes. If you're in the area, it's definitely worth a stop to play. Beginners may find the course a little tough and punitive, but there is a nice beginner friendly 9er in the same park. More experienced players will find some great challenges here, and will need to be accurate to stay out of the rough.

The mosquitoes were already pretty bad when I played, so later in the summer they could be an issue, make sure you're prepared with lots of bug spray.

-Tight fairways
-nice rolling hills
-good hidden baskets, when you look out to the fairway from the tee boxes. improvise my skills if I come more often.
-One spot, three 9 hole courses layout (Red Fox 9, Grey Fox 18)

To be honest, I thought it would be a pitch and putt course, but I came and was completely wrong. I am very pleased that my trip is a worthwhile!

-not in my neighbor (45 min drive) but will make several visit a year

-concern of hole 14, right side where the Hwy W runs through. Some newbies or dingbats may shank their drives and hit some cars.

-I am giving this course some time to develop, I see lots of possibilities for the course to grow.

I would like to see Pro tees to be added and it would increase this course rating up 1 point.

Fox River Park is awesome! This park has ample room and is very well kept. There are nice facilities with restrooms and water. The course has large trees and is open on the front with rolling hills and tight tunnels on the back.

The baskes are brand new with number plates on the top. You can see the hole # on both sides.

The tee pads are long cement tee pads. They are all very flat. There is run up room from behind.

The tee signs have been upgraded. They are descriptive of where the A & B positions are. There is a screw that shows where the position is. There were score cards for the front 9 and back 9 near #1 and #10 tees. There were very useful in aiding navigation.

There have been many signs added aiding in navigation. On #3 there is a yellow arrow indicating which side the pin is in. #4 has a post pointing to #5. #15 has a yellow arrow indicating the direction to the pin. There is a post on 15 and spray paint marking the long walk to #16. There is a yellow arrow indicating where the pin is on #17. There is a next tee sign pointing in the direction of the long walk to #18.

This is a very challenging course with 2 pin positions. The front 9 is more open while the back is longer and tougher playing thru the woods. There is a nice variety of holes. You will be punished on several holes when you get off the fairway.

Signature Holes
#13 downhill shot playing to an island green.
#15 is a nice par 4.
#18 is a sweet elevated tee playing thru the woods.

There is some nice elevation that comes into play on quite a few holes. The park is very quiet and a great place to play golf!

I think the 1st 2 holes are kind of boring. Hole #8 & #11 short are terrible! After that the rest of the course is very solid.

The every other hole (short/long) pin placement is very frustrating. When all the pins are in the long this course is easily a 4 disc course.

There are several holes that have very short routine short pin locations. The park rotates the odd and even holes every week or so. they are never all in the longs. The short pins on #1, #2, #8, & #11 are pretty much identical. Wide open 200ft holes that don't present much challenge. #13 should be on the island 100% of the time. It's stupid putting it down and left! If you play it you will know what I mean. You'll be like wtf. I drove here and there is an island hole but the pin is in this dumb @$$ position.

I really despise hole design like hole #9 in the long position. This is a adv/pro par 3.5. It's and L shaped hole where you throw to the opening 250 to 275ft and pitch up over to the basket.

There are some safety issues when all the pins are in the longs which isn't often. I nearly hit the group on the next tee on holes 7, 8, & 10.

Check out www.discontinuum.org
Many local club members live in northern, il and sothern wi.

What I personally like and how this course stacks up in my list of 18 hole courses (to the long basket positions):

1) Holes with good risk/reward. Fair, but harsh punishment for bad decisions or execution. == B-
(There is a mix of relatively open to wooded fairways. Overall the wooded fairways are pretty generous, but there is enough punishment off the fairway to prevent your recovery for par if you screw up your drive. Decision making is minimal as most holes are pretty straight forward.)

2) Holes that have rewarding birdie opportunities for me. I'm a Blue level player (950ish skill) who throws 300' accurately, 360' max. == B
(Lots of fun and rewarding holes. A few of the long baskets are unreachable by me, but should be fun for bigger arms.)

3) More wooded than open - lots of variety of shots required caused by hole shape and topography == A-
(Overall the course is just slightly more open than what I prefer, but that is made up for by a lot of very creative holes.
Maybe the most creative hole is hole 6 - 230' starting out steeply uphill with about a 20' gain in elevation then tailing off slightly downhill to the basket. The angle of the fairway forces a steep uphill S curve (RHBH) to be able to get to the basket.
Another neat/fun hole is 13; a sweeping L-to-R downhill shot to an island green (45-50' circle surrounded by an asphalt turn-around.
There are 1-2 dumb holes, but the course is so new that chances are those will be fixed.

4) Natural beauty (Appalachian beauty preferred) and seclusion. == A
(This is a superbly beautiful and well manicured course and very secluded on a lot of it. A few holes at the end traverse/transition through picnic and playground areas. A few more nice views and it would be an A+.)

5) Bonus points for multi-throw holes with defined landing zones, good risk/reward and multiple options to play them. == B-
(There are 3 legit par 4's that use doglegs well. I am thrilled to see this in course design in this part of the country. 15 & 17 are quite similar to each other in design with 300-ish drives to a turn in the fairway to the left, followed by 200' to the basket. I like 12 a lot since it demands a long a drive as possible down a punishing tunnel to get in position to hit a narrow gap curving to the right and downhill. The better/longer the drive (400' would be ideal), the better chance to get the touchy upshot to the dance floor. 18 is a spectacular tweener hole: at ~500' you throw off a 20' high hill into a flat wooded area with a few mature oaks. This opens up about half way to the basket into a lush grassy area amid more mature oaks. With a ~440' effective length the biggest arms will be able to get their deuce sometimes if they can thread their drive perfectly.....that would be an amazing finish to a round! )

Flow is an issue in a couple of places and causes some legitimate navigation issues. Make note of this when heading to the course:
After 9, head across the parking lot to 10.
After holing out on 15, head across the parking lot, pass the restrooms, go up a hill and find tee 16 on the right side of the kiddie playground/slide.
After 17 head back past the kiddie playground by Tee 16, cross the street and walk up a small path the Tee 18 (the view from the tee is worth the walk!).

The tee pads are very nice large trapezoids. Lots of mulch in many areas to make things nice. Signs are minimal - tees are marked with 4x4 posts stained and engraved with the
hole number - that's it. I think they will have scorecards with maps at the course after the official opening date.

A park worker I ran into (who was very excited about this new course) told me that they plan to keep things set up as Long-Short-Long-Short-etc or visa versa since there are 2 basket positions per hole. I imagine it will be set up in all longs for some tournaments.