(Skip down to 'Other Thoughts.')

(Skip down to 'Other Thoughts.')

How does one evaluate a course that has, say, only 12 holes? Only 9 holes? Or indeed just 4 holes? Should any such course be held to the same standards as any given 18-hole course? Or must the courses with fewer than eighteen holes be graded within a realm of their own? Are they all placed on the same relative scale, or should certain affordances be made to accommodate the courses with less play space?

For instance, if I one day in the future play at a 9-hole course that has striking elevation challenges, perfect tee boxes, splendid signage, a lost disc box, brand new baskets, a bench at every hole, pre-made scorecards for the taking, plenty of water hazards, expertly carved fairways, top-notch tunnel throws and sublime scenery from start to finish, then could I be right to award that course a 5 out of 5 for being the best 9-hole course? Even though courses with 18 holes have literally double the disc golf to offer, can a smaller course possibly overpower a "proper" course simply because it has a tighter and more cohesive appearance out of all the other 9-hole courses?

Or, if all courses are graded on the same scale, should the best-ever 9-hole course always earn a lower rating than an "almost perfect" 18-hole course? 18 is nine doubled. Surely, that means it takes double the effort to keep the course in order, so how fair would it be to award 9-holes a higher rating than 18-holes?

I found myself faced with questions like those as I played the 4 holes at Freedom Park today.

Why? Because this place is atrocious.

All flat. All wide-open. All boring. The challenge is just distance and nothing more. The one mando at hole 2 does precious little to breathe life into this place. But you wouldn't know it's a mando because there is no signage of any kind to speak of expect at hole 3, but it stands way too close to the pad, and the little shrub there gets in the way. The area around you is dull and repetitive to look at. The tee pads are concrete, but they're too small to sensibly use, and they are hard to find in the first place.
The baskets are probably the best thing about the course. They exist, and they aren't damaged. They give the disc golfer a reason to be there, I suppose, but only if the player is completely brand new to the sport or lives supremely closeby.

As I threw, I started asking myself all of those questions I mentioned earlier when it dawned on me:

Sure, this course is awful, but what if there is an even worse course out there? Statistically speaking, there simply must be some 9-hole or maybe even a few 18-hole courses that are in worse shape than this collection of failure. But would a cruddy 18-hole course be automatically better than an equally cruddy 9-hole course? Or would I rate them on the same scale? Freedom Park is where I began to seriously question and consider my methods of evaluating courses because the disc golf here was too boring.

Bottom line: An effort has been made at one point in the past, but this course has been long forgotten. Come here only if you want wide-open driving practice. I cannot recommend this course to anyone looking for a proper disc golf experience. Steer clear of this place.

Four baskets, four concrete tees, bathrooms & pavilions. Not much else here.
Good place for area Golfers as there were no basket courses anywhere in the are until Stafford Woods went in last year.

Tee signs are directly in front of the concrete tee pads = serious injury risk to player during throw if use the tee.
Not much here for a serious disc golfer. Just a driving range and putting practice. FLAT, no trees on any holes, no obstacles, no challenge at all.

I did not plY here for years as I knew there was not much here for me. I went to walk to the park for expansion & found the entire park is either playground, baseball field or dog OFF leash everywhere.
There is no place for disc golf expansion at this park unless there is a bridge or access across the river one day.
A nice park for picnic, good pavilions & bathrooms, nice river/creek, good place to take your dog.

4 baskets- no variety and nothing interesting here

Umm. Where to start.
Geese poop everywhere- my sneakers were smelly and covered in geese poop after hs crappy ordeal
gets flooded- do not come here after any amount of rain for it will be a nasty round
Too many pedestrians on path next to holes 3 and 4- this pretty sums the course up, lck of thought put ino a failed design, which posed a safety hazard.
Open!!!!- lack of variety. The baskets are only good use for putting and safari holes
Be careful not to bloody your hand- signs were put right in front of th teepads, a huge mistake

Not worth it.

It's very hard to list any pro's besides it has 4 tees and 4 baskets, that's better than none at all.

Only 4 baskets set in an open field with the 2 tee signs in directly in front of the short cement tee area. Single chain baskets. Un-mowed grass in the field. All baskets can be seen from anywhere on the course. Hole 2 has a stupid mando left to right around a group of trees.

I waited 6 years before playing this course and knew it would be a waste of time, it definitely was.Unless you are already within 2 blocks nearby, go play DG at Stafford in Voorhees or Sedgley in Philly.

not very good to much gees poop also dog poop. kids running and dogs running around

only 4 holes, only hole 2 is ok because it has a dogleg but that doesnt mean i liked it i would not recomend to drive their if over 15 minutes not worth it

would not recomend because its easy wide open and not really worth it unless your just using the baskets and what not to practice putting

Good course to get a basic grasp of the game on. Easy to find with ample parking. Relatively hard for new players to lose a disc on this course. Lots of room in the park for potential redesign/expansion.

Short (4 holes) course with very little variety. Flat, open field is often very windy. Tee sign on hole #1 obstructs throwing. Fairways on holes 3 and 4 are often subject to heavy foot traffic from people walking to and from the dog park next door. If, by some chance, you happen to wing one off into the woods, be prepared to get very friendly with a variety of thorns and brambles.

Not worth making a trip for, but it's a decent spot to head to if you're local for some driving or putting practice. Had usually played 2-3 rounds at a time here in the past, but after playing at course like Sedgley Woods and Tyler State Park, was completely uninspired to play more than a single round the last time I was here beore leaving.

It has baskets... Nice Discatchers.
Good distance variety for only 4 holes
No other courses near so if you need to putt come here. A playground is near for the kids.

4 holes...
Signs are too close to the teepads. You feel like you're gonna bloody your hand up. Hole 2 is stupid. It is unbirdyable and an easy 3, that is bad. The hole coarse is open except for the mando clump of trees on 2. Other obstacles include oddly placed fences, people with their dogs, lots of dog poo, and the worst,,, tons of flooded fairways. When I was there there was water everywhere. Your socks will be soaked and it's not even worth it because the whole coarse is open! The surrounding woods aren't utilized at all. Again, It's just open...

This is a practice course. Avoid at all costs. Drive all the way to Philly to play Sedgley. Anything but freedom park. This is what you get with an underfunded eagle scout project.

Concrete Tees, Open field holes great for practice, Disc Golf course area is primarily DG course exclusive, Plenty of safari opportunities to make it interesting due to the course not being confined by other park activities. Nice Bathrooms with running water which were open in early spring. Just 4 holes but good distance for a shortie course. Empty your bag and chuck your drivers into the bigness of flat Jersey! (just watch your follow through....thwack!)

Just 4 holes. The tee sign placement makes the wonderful tee pads useless. Kind of like putting a speed limit sign in the center of a highway lane. Ouch! There is no elevation, no use of the woods, pond, or even the gently rolling terrain to the front of the park. Kind of foolish to slap down concrete tees when I think it's better to use natural until the optimal layout is established. Stuck with this layout now. Mando 723 foot hole sounds cool but is really pretty bland. Just throw around that big clump of trees in the middle of open field to basket that is 300 feet to your right.Silly! Dogs running around seemed interested in chasing my discs, made me nervous.

I agree this layout is a shame. I would love to see it radically redesigned bringing the rear woods and space in the front of the park into play. I think despite it being a flat piece of land that this park could sustain a creative and fun 9 holes if the woods, pond etc were brought into play. It seems it could be done safely and reasonably. This is the only course around for miles. I am beginning to understand why Tyler in Eastern PA gets so much acclaim, There simply is not much quality disc golf in central NJ to compare it too.

This course was put in as an Eagle Scout project and is not a great course as it stands now. The course does have concrete tee pads and tee signs. Holes 1,3, and 4 are all wide open straight holes. Hole 2 is wide open, but the tree clump is a mandatory that makes it a sharp dogleg right. The park is really nice and there is room to expand the course and improve it.

The course is flat and open. Aside from hole 2 there is no variety here. The lengthy distance of the holes isn't exactly beginner friendly, but there isn't anything here to attract anyone else.
The tee sign on hole 1 is right in front of the tee!! Also the distance on the signs is in yards, which was a little weird.
The last 2 holes are along a dog walking path which leads to two problems. First, there is dog poop everywhere which is just disgusting. People need to clean up after their dogs. Second people have a bad tendency to let their dogs run around on the field unleashed which is a real pain. Hole 3 really would be better if it were moved farther away from the dog park.

I spoke to some local residents and they said that the park really likes having the disc golf course, but they are considering some reworking of the holes, and possibly adding more holes to make it a full 9-holer. If this course gets some help and is improved/some holes added - it will be much better and worth playing. It is the only course in the area for miles around so a better course would be a real benefit for the area. As it stands now though, it isn't worth a trip to play.