hole 11. spiking that pyramid is so damn fun.

the maintenance of this public course is amazing.

all the disc golfers i've encountered here have been friendly.

crazy crowded if you don't get there early. even on weekdays. night time glow rounds weren't crowded but there are lurkers/homeless in some areas so don't be too startled if you hear some weirdness in the trees. this is golden gate park...

it's a great course, just tough to find a time where there aren't dozens of people already there. park near fulton/25th for glow rounds.

Beautiful iconic park. Easy parking. Relatively easy to navigate. Not overly challenging. Nice baskets and tee boxes. No wonky pinball / luck shots, though several holes will require methodical tree navigation. Lots of resting areas, so you can chill and play a relaxing round (see cons for how crowded it gets.). Location is fantastic and you could easily make an entire day out of GGP (much more than just the disc golf course.). Moderate elevation changes. Several holes with birdie attempts (great for someone with less than a 300' drive.). Great course maintenance. 3-4 pin placements per hole. Difficult to lose a disc on this course. Proper signage. Safety nets protecting tee boxes in danger zones.

Very crowded. Be patient. A few holes share fairways with each other. The spinning pin placement selectors on the tee box signs were not all accurate. They may not update these. A couple holes have very elevated baskets, these are ok as a novelty item, but more than one really are not necessary in my book.

Overall a great course for the area and certainly one worth going out of your way to check out. Could be on the easy side if you are really good, but not a basic course. Beautiful walk through the park. Friendly locals.

- Playing in GG park is amazing. Great park with beautiful trees and abundant nature for being in the middle of SF.
- Course layout was unique and interesting. Not a lot of bomber holes but just enough to keep the High Speed Drivers at hand.
-Fun shots uphill/downhill.

- Groups of 6-8 playing together
-Waiting at every hole as there are none long enough to get 2 groups playing at once on a hole.
- Assholes who think they know better than you when it comes to your own shot.
-Never attempt this course on a Sunday. Lots of college students trying to impress chicks and DBags who have nothing better to do than sit behind you and talk nonsense.

While the course itself is excellent overall, the amount of people playing on a Sunday afternoon was absolutely ridiculous. Couple that with a tight course with little room to spread out made for a frustrating day with a lot of waiting. Took 3.5 hours to play./ Several groups of 6-8 playing together. F that. The locals didn't make it any better with their nonsense. Consistently telling my group when to throw and correcting us on if we yelled FORE or not. Dude Im staring at my shot and its nowhere near that group. Don't yell FORE for me and then chastise me on how "we do it here". Would only play here on a weekday in the early morning. SF needs more DG courses.

- Beautiful, mostly wooded course inside of Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. Considering how tight real estate is in San Francisco, this is one heck of a course.

- Unless you air mail a drive into outer space, it's an open forest floor so there aren't a lot (though there are some) places to lose discs. Not nearly as bad for losing discs as other forested courses.

- Baskets were in decent shape, concrete tee pads in decent shape as well. Not brand new, but no complaints.

- Good signage, though it could be confusing to tell which pin position was in play. I got the impression that the club marked it properly then on a few holes people goofed around with the pin markers.

- Easy to navigate between holes with a course map, without a course map might be a little bit tricky.

- Nice mix of elevation and a few open shots in spite of the course mostly being situated inside the forested areas.

- Most holes had some sort of seating, which is great considering it seems like it would be impossible to play this course without waiting a bit.

- Intermediate players would play this at close to par (the average intermediate player would be a few strokes over par would be my guess), advanced players below par, though there aren't many gimme ace runs or short holes on this. Conversely, there aren't any major bomber holes, you're not going to be able to open up a bunch of wide open drives, but there are a few spots to rip 400'+ drives downhill. Overall a nice mix of distance, however, nothing felt overly repetitive.

- Okay course for a cart, but awkward in a few spots. If it were raining I don't think I'd play with a cart. There are some stairs.

- Flight paths are close to other tees and public areas. You really need to pay attention to where you're throwing and what's going on around you. They have netting set up in a few spots, but it's limited coverage and there are lots of opportunities to get hit or hit others if you're not careful.

- Possibly the busiest course we've ever played, though in fairness we did play it on a Saturday in the summer. I'm told the course is pretty much busy all the time, not a big deal though, it's worth a bit of waiting.

- If you're looking for local info, the club has a webpage at www.sfdiscgolf.org and also a facebook page that can be searched.

- We played five courses in California, this was a close second favourite behind Whale Rock.

Has practice basket

Has concrete tee pads

Has nice tee signs with alternate basket placements and indicators

Has a bench at every tee pad if I'm not mistaken

Has multiple basket placements for all holes

Has some elevated baskets

Has next tee signs

Has some mandos

More wooded than open fairways with slight elevations - which will be challenging to the casual player

Has two loops of the front and back nines

Nice scenery

Well-maintained

Free parking

Restrooms

Baskets are hard to locate on some holes

Walking path cuts through on some holes - one can expect some delays on a nice day

Course can get crowded at times as it's popular with parkgoers and players

Course design and flow could use improvement as there are awkward transitions between holes 6-8 and holes 16-18

This a nice, challenging 18 hole course in San Francisco that I enjoyed playing while vacationing out here. I probably would have had more fun if it wasn't raining on the day I played. The course is really beautiful and a joy to play even when it rained. I took note from the earlier revIews and played on a rainy Thursday morning and almost had the whole course to myself. First thing that I noticed was that there are a lot of trees here that are mature and massive which will challenge many drives, approaches, and even your footwork for putting. As with most DGA baskets, some are hard to spot from the tee pads especially for a first-timer. There were some awkward transitions between holes 6-8 and 16-18 where you had to do some walking and backtracking afterwards. I can see where these transitions could slow down play if the course had a lot of traffic at the time. Add the nearby walking paths on a nice day and the playing time will increase for good reason. All in all, this is a nice course not to be missed and definitely worth bagging if you're in the area.

First Impressions: What an impressive park system this disc golf course is located in. It was early Monday morning and I had the course to myself so read other reviews to learn about conditions when the course is crowded.

Amenities: There was a portable toilet near hole #1 provided by the Golden Gate DG Club.

Course design/difficulty/obstacles/out-of-bounds: This is a wonderful technical course that takes advantage of the massive trees and some elevation changes. There are some natural hazards to avoid on some holes. There was a good mixture of distances to makes things interesting.

Local DG involvement/navigability/ signage/maps: It's easy to tell that this course has received much TLC in many areas - paths, benches, protective nets, mailbox for maps & scorecards, etc. The course was easy enough to follow with a DGCR map. The signage was good. The San Francisco Disc Golf Club has a website, http://www.sfdiscgolf.org / and a Facebook page.

Tee pads/benches/shelters/picnic tables: Cement tee-pads, benches and trash bins on every hole. There are multiple basket locations.

I highly recommend this course.

I hear the course gets extremely crowded on weekends and can be a bit dangerous with errant shots.

Remember the Disc Golfer's Code:

1) Play Smart - Never throw into a blind area or when players, spectators, pedestrians, or other facility users are within range. Use a spotter.

2) Respect the Course - Observe all posted rules. No littering, graffiti, or abuse of equipment or flora.

3) Represent the Sport - Be positive and responsible. Teach others.

- easy access right in SF
- great tee signs that give you all the info that you could need
- great concrete tee pads
- gods variety of distances with shorter 200 foot shots to around 500 feet
- tons of large mature trees to offer quite the challenge
- a truly beautiful place to play disc golf

- navigation of the course can be a little difficult
- the course can get very crowded
- the layout is very "tight" and with lots of pedestrians wondering the course I could see some injuries happening
- baskets are getting a little beat and can be difficult to see from some of the tee pads

Great course, but I was lucky to play with a local, otherwise I feel I would have been wondering the course quite a bit.

This is the 100th review for this amazing course! I feel lucky to have played the course much less land on the 100th review. The first thing to say about this course is that this course is in an amazing park. There is so much to do around this course that you will definitely want to take a look around before or after your round.

The course itself plays from the main road (JFK) out toward the city of San Francisco along Fulton St. Unless you have a super errant shot, neither street should come into play. We did see one errant shot that left a guy walking on Fulton looking up in the sky to see where the discs were coming from. The look on his face was priceless.

This course plays across some rolling hills and makes excellent use of the elevation playing up, down and across the elevation. Minimal traffic by other park users is a definite plus. May want to wear something that will allow you to do some hiking. Mando use was also done sparingly and only at times when another tee was close to a fairway (which happens in a couple of places). The park was kind enough to provide some netting around a few of the tees to protect you from throws from nearby tees. That was a huge plus and would be a danger without it.

The park gives you plenty of birdie looks, although even on the shorter holes you need accuracy and a bit of luck with the trees. The course flow was excellent as was the trail from hole to hole made navigation incredibly simple. The tee signs were helpful as were the other DG'ers in the park.

The course is in a high traffic area and felt very, very safe with lots of pedestrians all over the place. Unlike many parks with pedestrians, though, they didn't really come into play at all on the course. The only people you have to wait on are other disc golfers (and there are lots of them on this course).

Last, it was nice that the course doubled back by the street/parking at hole 10 and 18. Always nice when that happens.

The only real issue I had with the park was that it was crowded...very, very crowded. I can understand that given where this park is but it could get crazy. Expect for your round to potentially take a long time with lots of waiting and backup on various holes. At one point we had three other groups waiting behind us on one pad as we waited for the people in front of us to clear the hole and the people playing the neighboring hole to clear our fairway. The locals said to play earlier in the day if you want less traffic and on weekdays...that weekends are the busiest.

At some point they may want to upgrade the baskets to Mach X but that is just my preference after play DeLaveaga earlier in the day with the Mach X's that didn't spit out a thing. I had quite a few spit outs on these but that was probably mostly my own fault.

Other than that, amazing course!

This is a must play course in the area. Super fun, easy to navigate, friendly people and scenic. I can't wait to play it again whenever I have a chance.

Loads of work went into the layout, building and continued maintenance. This was my home course until 2009 and I helped build it so maybe I'm biased but I really think a great job was done with the space to work with. I'd give it a 5 if it wasn't for...

The pedestrians! Ouch it can be a challenge to deal with the occasional drifting ped. The course can be unplayable if theres an event, concert or whatnot. On any given day it can be too crowded with players too.

I once witnessed 2 discers almost go to blows because a frat boy thought we'd cut in front of him when all we were doing is waiting for the group in front. The newbies can sometimes add a "non discer" mentality to the course experience HOWEVER I've also made tons of friends and had incredibly awesome rounds because the vast majority just love their course and are proud to share it with everyone.

This course is easily one of my favorite courses to play. It offers all of the challenge of a wooded course, yet in the middle of a large metro area. You'll lose yourself when you're out here and forget your in one of the biggest cities in the U.S.

As for the course, it has large concrete tee pads for each hole, as well as 3 pin positions. You'll find the signage to be adequate and the course is so tightly packed that you shouldn't have any trouble navigating.(but that does present another problem, in my cons)

The hole variety is adequate for a 4.0 rated wooded course, but far above that when you consider where it is. I certainly didn't expect to have so many tight technical shots in a large metropolitan park. Being my first time to SF, I half expected open fields like Central Park in NYC, but was pleasantly surprised.

You'll have a good variety of distance, but you won't have the opportunity to really air one out. The course doesn't favor RHBH or RHFH, which is nice as well. Additionally, despite being close to the coast you'll have an ample amount of elevation changes as well (you are in SF after all!)

There are also some neat pin positions and elevated baskets that will add to the challenge. I always enjoy one or two holes that aren't simply buried in the ground.

Seating was never an issue as there seemed to be and ample amount of places to rest along the way. Despite the course not being overly long, with the amount of traffic it gets, you'll definitely need to sit and wait at times. I suggest bringing a stool to assure you'll have a place.

The fairways and paths are well marked, usually with mulch inside of tree limbs. The overall manicured look of the place adds to the experience.

The course gets extremely crowded at times, which should be expected. Combine that with the nature of the layout and you'll find yourself being cautious in order to avoid hitting people with discs, or being hit yourself. There are screens up at several tee pads and trouble spots in order to catch those rogue screamers, but you'll still find yourself looking over your shoulder.

There isn't a place to really open up a big arm. The park has some spots that perhaps could have been used for such a shot, but I'm sure the logistics of using the greens for a dg course would have been complicated and probably impossible.

You'll need to pause and let pedestrians and non-golfers pass on the numerous trails and such while you're there. Please double check before throwing.

There isn't any water in play, which takes away from the challenge a bit.

You'll have a decent chance of losing a disc. While the park gets trampled down pretty well, there are still a fair amount of trouble spots with underbrush you could lose one in.

When I was there, despite the cities efforts to keep it clean, there was still a fair amount of trash and debris on the course. I know this is extremely hard to keep control of with so many users of the park, but was a touch upsetting.

This course is one of the more enjoyable I've ever played, but not necessarily for the reasons you'd expect. It doesn't challenge you as much as others, doesn't have the variety of others, but the overall atmosphere of the place just cultivates good disc golf and overall vibes.

I can't imagine not having a good time while playing Golden Gate Park, thus it easily makes it into my favorites list. If you're in the bay area, you should definitely make a trip to play a round!

Golden Gate Park DGC is one of the better 'urban' courses you will ever play. I love the large trees in play with slight elevation changes that make you throw a moderately tight line while also choosing your landing area (and the way in which your disc lands) carefully in order to get birdies.

The course has nice long concrete tee pads and the tee signs are screwed or bolted in to tree stumps next to each tee pad. The tee signs show all three basket locations (A, B and C) with large trees as landmarks. I played mostly the 'C' positions which were a little more challenging due to being longer or more treed but also presented a few more blind basket locations. There is a good mixture of 'lefty vs. righty' holes on the course as well. I feel the challenge here is right for most amateurs and probably a little too easy for gold players.

The holes are designed right on top of each other but not really any crossing fairways. The course gets really busy however and this exacerbates the problem and makes you look over your shoulder constantly for incoming discs, luckily they have put disc catching nets surrounding the tee pads and benches to protect you from incoming speed 13 drivers gashing up your face.

The majority of the holes are moderately tight lines with shorter holes, so no open 450+ foot hole for those players who can really throw. It challenges a specific type of skill set and driving isn't one of them.

There was a hot dog/snack/drink vendor near hole one who looked like he was making bank because the course was full the day I played. Also near hole one was a lady selling basic Innova/Discraft discs and looked like there were 5 or 6 large boxes of discs to go through.

Golden Gate Park (Not the DGC) is a truly wonderful and very large park with many things in there to see. If you decide to walk around in between rounds look for the nice lady selling organic ice cream and frozen yogurt with homemade cones in the taco truck, best ice cream I've ever had! Strawberry ice lollie was amazing as well and cheaper than Baskin Robbins.

Cam to SF for a conference and HAD to get in some disc at Golden Gate Park. It did not disappoint!
- Park is accessible from many parts of the city via public transportation.
- Many holes have a technical element such as a tight fairway, blind shot, elevated pin. I didn't bring nearly as many discs as I should have for the number of shots required.
- Course is fairly clean for a free public course in the middle of a city.
- Makes excellent use of the land and elevation.

- Although there are some tough shots, there aren't very many over 350' and many in the 200 range. Understandable given the limitations on space.
- Erosion is not out of control, but it looks like it has been a problem.

This course has that tough to quantify good vibe to it; I left feeling like I wanted to spend the rest of my time there. Highly recommend if you are anywhere in the Bay Area.

- broadly accessible but challenging for most. It's truly remarkable that a wide range of skillsets will genuinely enjoy playing here.
- Nice variety of hole layouts and alternate basket positions
- In pristine shape. Each hole seems manicured. Signage is wonderful. Flows well
- Fun, moderately wooded location. In the middle of the city but it sometimes doesn't feel that way.
- Stands up well to inclement weather. The large trees protect you from excessive wind and moisture. The sandy soil drains water quickly. Playable in almost all weather conditions. Frequently foggy so just bring a small towel to wipe down your discs between throws

- Commonly over-crowded. Wait times can get terrible due to back ups, especially in the back 9 where fairways criss-cross.
- Whether it is newbie hipsters or jackass regulars, I've come across more unpleasant folks here than any other course I've played at

If you're visiting the area, this is a must-play. During non-peak hours, you're almost guaranteed to play an enjoyable round. It's beautiful and accessible to a wide skillset. Unsurprisingly, this course attracts hoards of players year-round

If I was homeless I would live here. There are plenty of spots to set up camp. My first time playing this sweet jungle of a disc golf course was this year's (2013) Safari tournament. The course is great, there are a wide variety of holes that let every style player make a run at those slick metal baskets. There are even a couple holes that make excellent use of the "DEATH PUTT", while you're there you can get a hat or t-shirt with to show that you made the "DEATH PUTT". Tee pads are kept clean and made of this new age technology called concrete. You never have to worry about slipping off the front of one and giving your friends an excuse to laugh at you. While I can read, the tee signs at Golden Gate Park were designed by a genius, even the illiterate could understand where the next basket is and how far they will have to throw to hit that ace. The course design is excellent as long as you are patient and don't mind letting the occasional jogger/biker/dog walker/hippie/transient/Asian recycling lady/man pass by you while you decide which line you are going to take. I was able to play a few extended holes across the street and they were also well designed.

Crowding is a biggie here, with so many people working on their hipster appearance I could see how disc golf attracts them. On any given day you can see a pack of skinny jeans sipping on Colt 45's moseying around making their way from hole to hole. Luckily hipsters are cool people and will let you play through, the more fortunate might even get a contact high while teeing off. The only other downside as mentioned above are the bystanders. Most will get out of your way pretty quickly, the only exception is the recycling people. They are like raccoons searching though the garbage cans for that tasty morsel we call recyclables. Have no fear though! The locals have trained these thrifty collectors to keep quiet and move away from the tee pad while golfers are teeing off.

This is a great course and I really enjoyed playing it a couple times. Any and every time I'm in the Bay area I'll make sure I get a round in. The local club and players take good care of the course and make in enjoyable for all. Golden Gate park is a very happening place and I'm glad they included disc golf in their lineup. Hopefully the city will allow the course to expand one day making this a top tiered disc golf destination.

There are a lot of trees and elevation changes but the course is not too technical. The holes are very well thought out with some longer holes that must nevertheless negotiate trees keeping shots from being wide open. Out of 18 holes there are only 2 truly wide open shots (10 and 11) and the latter uses elevation very well.

This course is not repetitive. The holes are unique and you will not be able to get by with just a backhand hyzer here. Practice your forehand and turnover shots.

It is a big plus in my book that this course is on a truly beautiful piece of land with very large trees, but is is also a very well thought out course.

Just a few nits:

The tee boxes are smallish, especially when the baskets are in the long positions.

Lots of people, but to be expected in a large city where this is the only course around.

Hole 10 fairway runs parallel with a paved walking path that transects the course. There are lots of pedestrians there.

There are some cross play issues but most are taken care of with elevation or protective fencing.

I mostly play in Louisiana where we have few courses with significant elevation changes and really nothing like the terrain in GGP. This course has a spectacle aspect for someone like me.

Also, being used to 15' wide, 300' long fairways bordered by impassable underbrush being called "technical" it seems a bit odd to have a course labeled as technical when it feels as open as this course does despite the trees. If a disc bounces off a tree here, you will likely have a perfectly good look at the basket because the course lacks any underbrush to speak of.

Bring a couple distance drivers, at least one that you are comfortable throwing into the wind. If the baskets are in the long position, you will wish that you did.

This review is based on a round in which almost all the baskets were in the long position. I doubt it would change much if the course had been set up to be shorter. This is just a fun course to play and the friendly locals were also a plus.

The layout of the course is very well thought out.
There are walking paths between most holes making it very easy to find the next tee box.
The disc golf club that maintains the course does an excellent job of keeping everything in great shape, from paths, to trees to debris.
A great mix of technical shots as well as long open shots are needed with trees, mando's and out of bounds lining some holes.

It can get pretty stacked up on the tee boxes with some large groups going through, but that's only because it's a really popular course.

It's really just an excellent, fun course

Excellent and somewhat deceptive balance of technical yet accessible baskets
Great tree coverage for both shade and technicality but not overly treed
Nice distancces between holes and elevation changes for some decent excercise.
Second back nine basket is on a stump that can is deceptively challenging, cost me some strokes.

A couple baskets are uphill from a major road causing the occasional roller to roll into or across a dangerously busy street(s).
Some annoying overlap on the last baskets of the front 9. This can also cause some backing up.
Seemed to be a very busy course and I'm sure it's often that way but that's not always a con.
Back 9 can get a little confusing. The last baskets have quite a bit of overlap but throwing across some big gaps gets interesting, especially when navigating around the trees.
Throughout the course, many of the baskets are out of view and require scouting if unfamiliar - high flags/markers could help with this.

An impressive and variable course. It works as both casual and technical abilites in an enjoyable way. Some minor annoyances that make mistakes a little unforgiving but are easily overlooked on such a fun course. Front and back nine are organized in a way that lets you choose which one or what order you may want to play, more so than most other courses. All in all a great course near downtown SF that I highly recommend hitting up if you can. Great public transit access to and from the course as well.

If for some reason you don't feel this review was helpful, please PM me to let me know what you are looking for in these reviews so I can consider ways to improve my reviews going forward. Thanks!

Really incredible trees, well maintained baskets, easy to determine where you are throwing too; neat mix of distances, obstacles and topographic relief.

Crowded course and lots of clueless civilians wandering thru the middle of fairways with no idea they are interrupting your game.

This is a great course in the middle of Golden Gate Park with incredible sights and location. Players tend to get stacked up, and you have to be very careful to wait until everyone is out of the way before you drive. there are a couple of holes where the next tee requires you to walk back along the previous fairway, creating potential for hazardous drives, so both drivers and walkers should beware.

After my round i went and had a fantastic burger at Balboa with some Lagunitas IPAs. Altogether a perfect day.

Nice transition from front to back nine. In and out each had their own individual feel.
Friendly groups all around.
Well-manicured landscape with wonderful patches of bright green grass.
Mid-fairway paths define approaches pretty well and lead directly from tee to green in many cases.
Plenty of trash and recycling cans, plus individual collectors.
Gorgeous trees. These are old trees, with more character than most people. I am used to New England courses, where you get past the trunk only to hit some spindly little pinky of a branchlet. If you hit these guys, they don't care; it just makes them stronger.
Above average signage with active pin positions posted on very clever rotating dials. The one exception to this was hole 17. Ask the group ahead of you to let you know how to get to it when you're waiting to tee off at 16.
Decent mix of terrain change (elevation, wooded vs. open, straight vs. hyzer).
Location is good; we travelled in from the Fillmore area and a cab ride was about $11 before tip. Bus options seem pretty good, too.
Decent balance of risk and reward here. There are few holes with 'peaked' greens where roll-offs can happen on risky approaches. For the most part, you're not going to be penalized for an errant putt.

On 5/6/7 and a good chunk of the back 9, there is a decent bit of fairway overlap.
Slightly righty-friendly (a pro for me).
Hole 4 can get a bit muddy.
Hole length is a little homogenous. A 450 foot dogleg or something would have been nice.
I am firmly convinced that the current 'green' for hole 8 was planned by a sadist.
The erosion zone was a little precarious, but I really needed to get my comet.

Played a round with two friends on 9/1, then returned 9/3 for another round and a half. Very much enjoyed this course as my first west coast DG experience. The groups in front of us and behind us were almost universally friendly, and the biggest complaint I have was the group of 5 that threw a couple extra drives, let us (2) play through, and then cut ahead 3 holes.

Overall, I really liked the feel and the climate of the course. Cool enough to the point where the humidity wasn't an issue. Wind only came into play very briefly. As an east coast player familiar with courses with high tree and branch densities, this course mellowed me out a bit. Playing it multiple times really helped out and I suppose I'm a bit frustrated that I didn't score a few strokes better.

Long story short: if you're in the bay area, this course is a must for its accessibility, friendly environs and regulars, although anyone used to courses with either a huge distance element or absurdly overwooded new england-style courses might find themselves abound with quite a few birdie ops. Is there anything wrong with that? My friends on the west coast would certainly say no.

-It's in Golden Gate Park
-There are a variety of tree species
-It's really well maintained.
-There is always a scene there: (tacos, disc merchants, recyclers, underground beer dudes, Edibles, interesting golf groups).
-The course has lots of fun holes.

Parking can be a problem on the weekends. It's usually pretty crowded. And it's not the most family friendly course.

It's totally San Francisco.