The property and how it was used:

Freeman is a very large park with moderate hills and lush green grass that plays around and through a small creek right next to the snake river. You start in the middle of the park and make your way first along the outskirts throwing multiple shots in fairly wide open fields with a few trees marking your path or guarding the basket from approach shots. Many of the holes in the front nine have you throwing over and around a creek that runs through the park(easy to retrieve your disc at least in summer months), this is also where a decent cluster of trees are and the semi tight lines that challenge you. The back nine opens up considerably and this is where you find the majority of the par four holes at and the property accommodates this very nicely. So many times I've played courses and designers are trying to hit the 'magic number' (9, 18 holes on a course usually) that they sacrifice good design so that you can fit enough in. This wasn't done here and I appreciate that.

Types of challenges and shots needed to score well:

While the course is mostly open and tight wooded lines aren't really needed here the course offers other challenges in order to do well. Distance of course but also drive and approach placement are important with so many baskets being on one side of a tree or another. Elevation while not overly dramatic has been used well to create up and down holes as well as treacherous basket locations. Less wooded courses typically are no brainer throws but here you have to think about going backhand or forehand with drives and approaches and how and where you are going to land. Some holes the best shot is actually throwing off the fairway and hyzering or anhyzering back in. I found my self throwing rollers both BH and FH on many of the holes out here.

Aesthetics:

It's a beautiful park as what seems like all of the parks in this area are. You have the nice green grass as fairways, a beautiful little creek that provides challenge, and shade and of course many of the holes play close enough to the snake river to really appreciate it. I didn't see one piece of trash on the entire course despite not seeing any trash bins. Well done Idaho Falls.

Teepads/signs/multiple pins/navigation:

I found the tee pads fairly short especially in the back nine for the par four holes but other than that no issue with the concrete tees. Tee signs showed pin location but many of them were wrong, perhaps this course has been redesigned since then? Not really sure. I know most people are fans of multiple pins but when you're unfamiliar with a course and some baskets are visible from the tee pad it's a bit annoying to walk down and locate them and walk back in July in Idaho. I played with a group who had played the course only a few times and though most of the course isn't bad to navigate it's also not obvious where the next tee pad is. Little ribbons tied to the basket in the direction of where to go next is an easy but very effective way of fixing this. Although these were mostly cons for me these don't affect my rating much overall.

Less obstacles than desired:

I'm originally from the Seattle area and grew up on wooded courses and prefer wooded courses. I would much prefer a 250 foot heavily treed, tight window dogleg to a 500 foot open fairway with a basket behind a tree at the end. I really enjoyed the front nine but the back nine tailed off a bit for me as it opened up and got longer.

No signature hole:

While none of the holes were bad, none of them were amazing either, just solid overall. I know I'm nit picking a bit now and the piece of property probably doesn't support a signature hole, it would elevate this place quite a bit.

Grass too long for rollers:

More nitpicking I know but when I played the grass was just slightly too long for long distance rollers which is a shame because this could be one of the best roller courses out there. I don't know if maybe they cut the grass the day after or something but it was short enough to throw them just not short enough to throw them far.

Overall this is the best course in Idaho Falls and since I just moved here I would consider this to be my "home course" at this point. Not really a destination course or a championship level course but a really fun and challenging course for just about any amateur starting out or who have played for years.

Excellent park setting

Elevation a large factor on many holes

Multiple pin positions

Nice concrete tees

Good tee signs

Decent mix of L to R, R to L, and straight tee shots

Good use of available trees in the design

Both nines loop back to starting area

Flows fairly well

Very well maintained

Creek could have been used better in the design

Busy park setting

As is the case with many city park courses, could use more trees in play

Very enjoyable course that I would like to play a tournament on sometime.

This course reminds me a lot of the course I learned to play competitive disc golf on, the original layout of Edora Park in Ft. Collins Colorado.

This course plays long and isn't very beginner friendly because of this fact. A set of shorter tees would help.

-Concrete pads.
-Baskets are in good shape.
-mown fairways are always a treat when playing park couses.

-Signage could use some updating with new pin locations.
-On a busy day, this couse would be almost unplayable.

Wonderful park couse. Will be coming back to play again.

I've played this course a couple of times now, during different times of the year. Each time I've played it, the course was in good condition and appears to be well taken care of. I really enjoyed playing across the stream and of course being close to the Snake river.

- The grass is in excellent condition, which is unusual for me to see coming from the Arizona desert.
- The tee pads are concrete and in good condition.
- Each tee pad has a sign, with some basic hole information.
- Hole lengths vary throughout the course; Some are short and some are long.
- The course has a decent variety of shots needed and is a lot of fun to play.
- Hole 1 and 10 are both near the parking lot, making it easy to play 9 holes if you don't have time for a full 18.

Generally speaking, I like this course a lot. I do have a couple of minor issues.

- The tee pad signs aren't very accurate and sometimes seem wrong on the basket location.
- Finding the next tee pad can be difficult without a map.

I really like this course and hope to play here every time I'm in the area. It's a full size course, which includes a couple of par 4's. I think it's laid out well and it's in a really nice park. I have a couple of minor complaints about the course but really, I'm just being picky.

The first 9 on the course mostly requires shorter, technical shots. You have to cross a creek or come dangerously close to it several times. Plenty of shots require you to go around or under trees.

The second half of the course opens up with some longer distance holes and some more open fairways.

Each half of the course begins and ends near the parking lot, so it's easy to play a quick half game. A group of guys from the office go play 9 holes during lunch.

Many of the pins have 2 locations and the park moves some of them every week or so, making the course different all the time.

signs are inaccurate with redesign and multiple pin locations.

Some of the tees are a bit of a walk from the previous pin. Bring a map if you've never been before. It can be tricky to find out where to go next.

I wish the variety was a bit more mixed in between the front and back half. It almost seems like 2 different courses the way things change completely in the middle. Mixing a few longer holes on the front and some more technical holes on the back would make the course better I think.

Depending on the season, the creek can be pretty deep, swift, and murky, so you may want to check the creek before playing the front nine. It's very easy to lose a disc when it is running fast, but the front 9 has some of my favorite holes.

The park can be very crowded on holidays and some weekends in the middle of summer. Don't plan on playing on the 4th of July as this park is a prime spot to watch the fireworks. Occasionally people are sitting under some of the trees on the course, but none have caused a problem for me before.

Varying hole positions, some short technical shots, other long fairway shots. Front 9 as mentioned above are mostly shorter, with a few fun long shots. Trees add a measure of difficulty with most holes requiring some sort of break. Very well maintained park, nice grass making discs easy to find.

Some of those pine trees are thick, and swallow discs easily, and getting sap all over your hands while climbing to get the disc out is no fun. Shorter pads on holes that I have played in the past, some holes are along roads that cars frequently park on, which isn't good for a beginner / novice player. Difficulty knowing where the next hole is after some of the holes. Had to walk around some to find where to go.

Best course in Idaho Falls in my opinion, and living in Rexburg, it's a great park right off the freeway to find and get to easily.

I absolutely love this course.

Don't roll your disc into the stream. It is a bit to wide to easily get it back out of the middle.

You can play either the front or the back nine on a short day, or go for a full round. The front nine is a more technical round, while the back nine are for more of the long shots.

FYI: NEW PIN PLACEMENTS SPRING 2010
-Awsome park along Snake River
-Elevation, trees, distance, good variety
-Course design is excellent
-Bathrooms and drinking fountains (summer)
-Spread out course with no overlap
-Good use of water and trees
-Nice cement tee pads
-Practice basket

-New pin locations are not updated on signs
-Unknown distances until signs are updated
-Park is crowded during popular times, but most days its wide open

I have been playing this course for a few years and its great to have different tee positions. It is like getting a new course to the area. I've heard different opinions on the new pin locations, but I think the change is fun and challenging. New technical holes to figure out too. It is still pretty easy to navigate except hole #3, #16, and #17. Here are some tips:

#3 - Look straight from the tee pad back behind center field of the baseball field and the basket is behind the pine trees.

#16 - Across the dirt road behind the trees

#17 - Left of the bathroom in the corner behind the tree

All baskets were moved except number 7, 12, 13, and 18. This is a great park with lots of open space and beautiful surroundings. The course allows for a good variety of shots. Plenty of distance with a good mix of technical shots. The elevation, water, and trees make it challenging. There is a walking path that you can take along the river all the way down town. Here is a link to the course website and scorecard, but this is for the original pin placements until they update it:
http://www.idahofallsdiscgolf.com/course.html

-Flat, grippy, concrete tees
-Hand made wood carved tee signs. Large and visible
-Fantastic mix of par 3 and par 4 holes
-Perfectly manicured grass on the entire course
-Innova DISCatchers
-Practice basket
-Information sign at beginning of course
-Variety in holes
-Fairly easy to navigate, with a few small hiccups
-Front and back nine navigate back to the starting point allowing quick play, 'refills,' etc.

-If there are multiple pin locations, they are not described on tee signs
-If there are not multiple pin locations, some of the tee signs were inaccurate as far as locating the basket
-Some par 4 holes could use slightly longer tee pads.
-A few holes throw over or near roads with cars parked on them creating unnecessary hazards.

This is a fantastic course set along the banks of the Snake river in a very large memorial park. Rolling hills and spread out trees dominate the majority of the course, with a section in the first 9 with a larger number of trees and holes running along a small, but swift creek.

The front nine contained what I felt were the majority of the shorter, technical shots, but the general theme of this course is long and open. Trees generally dictate particular drives (usually right turning) which was an added challenge off the tee instead of just ripping it. The back was more open and less technical, but small treats like hole 12 added some fun par 3 birdie opportunities in the mix.

As I am finding a lot in this area, the more fun holes all seem to be side-arm friendly. While a few holes had some nice left turns for the backhand thrower, the longer, more 'wow' holes were all side-arm. Particularly 18.

Some memorable holes:
Hole one dangerously started out the course on a downhill shot across a dirt road lined with cars. The risk was windshields and the reward was a birdie. I comfortably parred the hole. I would imagine this area being a ton less busy on any day besides an event filled Saturday.

Hole 4 was a narrow tunnel with a creek right in front of the hole. Smarter golfers would lay up for a shot over the creek for an easy par, but dumber golfers who think they will ace the hole like me will throw their disc into the creek.

The next few holes snake around the creek and are in my opinion a great asset to the course. Careful placement and thinking ahead on your shot is essential.

Hole 8 is very long and as you close in on the basket, you become dangerously close to a road lined with parked vehicles. Once again I do not believe this is the norm, but I switched to a rubber putter for this hole just to play it safe.

While many others have mentioned an 'amphitheater' on hole 10, we noticed a heavily used area to the left of the fairway but was for the most part very out of the way of public use when compared to the front half.

If the course has a signature hole, in my opinion it would be hole 12. This is a slight downhill shot onto a (unique to the park) heavily wooded hill. The basket sits right in the middle of the hill that is easily obtainable should you make the 5 foot tunnel from 200 feet away. If you don't birdie it, a bogey is almost inevitable.

Following hole 12, the course opens up quite a bit for some fun, long par 3's and 4's. Hole 16 is a short throw across a seldom used road and the course finishes up with a couple of extremely fun holes.

As far as large park courses go, 'risk / reward' is the name of the game here at Freeman Park. We had a great time playing at this course and hope to play it again soon. Nice, helpful locals, a laid back vibe, and the scenery really can't be beat for a course in town. Should be on the list for any DG road trip that places you in the area; and you locals, well, you are lucky to have this course nearby.

great course, agree with other posters on the average. still excellent amintenance. Getting altenate pin sleeve in 2010.

! none I can think of.

People conflicts aren't as bad as I would expect for a very popular course in a big Idaho city. I rarely have to skip a hole.

Nice fairways, easy to navigate. I played it alone at sunrise on a Saturday, so I didn't experience the people factor.

No real valid cons in my opinion, but like I said, I played early in the morn. on a saturday. I was on a road trip.

Definitely worth stopping and playing if you are passing through.

A beautiful park - really nice. Baskets and tee pads in great condition. A must-play if one is in the area.

Not really challenging environment since it's relatively wide open. Some of the tee pads seem a little short. An extra few feet would go a long while since I think many of us are used to teeing off "natural" or concrete but rarely both. It often seems VERY windy.

A great place to bring beginners, since it's gorgeous and there's not too many obstacles. I concur with someone else's opinion that the morning has less wind.

Neatly carved tee box signs, nice concrete tee pads and high quality baskets. Beautiful place to play.

As another reviewer noted, there is some unwanted (non-golfer) foot traffic here, but not too much. All in all a very nice I.F. landmark.

Built in a Vietnam War Memorial Park, this 18 hole delight offers some very contrasting views and challenging, fun holes. Played it many times during my Search and Rescue days up there in Bonneville County (2001, 2003). Always a good time....recommended.....