Grace Christian University is a private Christian university in Wyoming, MI right outside of Grand Rapids. I've lived in GR in my whole life and if this school didn't have a disc golf course at it, I probably would have never known it was a thing. It's actually inside a residential area also, which is kind of odd, and kind of confusing for the lay out of the course.

Tee Signs- The Tee signs here are amazing, some of the best tee signs I've seen actually. The show a good line and are large so when navigating gets tough you can find the tee sign fairly easy. They are mostly connected to infrastructure already in place at the course.

Pads- For the most part these are all cement. I think hole 6 had some plywood, and hole 12 had a secondary plywood teepad. Some of these are walkways or roads to help save costs, but for the most part there is a decent tee pad for all the holes.

Play - the disc golf play here is kind of odd. It's a bit different and while I'll get to why there is a good amount of problematic stuff here they used the land very well to get some fun golf and a lot of different shots that require you to use your bag.

Baskets - Newer chain star baskets. Probably won't be missing good putts here.

Signature Holes - Hole 2, 5, 6, 10, and 14 really stand out to me, as some fun hole, however most of these do have something problematic about them besides probably 2.

Map - The course has a huge map, so you can take a picture as you made need some help here. If you don't have a phone or a camera, it also has some score cards with a map on the back.

9 Hole Layouts - Home 9 Finishes in the Parking lot around where you start. You can easily start at 10 and play 9 one way or play the normal front nine if you don't have time for the full course.

Multi Use Park - This cuts in and out of a Campus. Some houses' are in play, some fence lines are in play for multiple holes, the road is in play for multiple holes. A volleyball court is in play, a rugby field is in play. Pretty much everything here is in play. You sometimes weave between houses, and while they did use the land to the best of the ability, it leaves some stuff that may not be playable when you are there.

Last three holes - this is really nit picky, but this course is fairly short and the last 3 holes are all bombers that just kind of play down the same field. There are some slight different lines because of trees but I always hate when you get bomber to bomber to bomber.

Unplayable if Busy- I would assume if school is happening this place is busy and hardly any of these holes are playable with a few exceptions. I went in the summer and it was mostly dead, I think I saw two other golfers and some others walking around but not even in the line of play.

Who is this for? - this isn't a super technical course. It has some cool golf lines and some funny trick shots, that are perfect to take a beginner, but it also has so many problematic holes that could cause for an unfun time with a bad shot.

Navigation - Even using UDisc and having a map, the navigation and lay out of this course is kind of wonky. You do a lot of walking between holes sometimes as it kind of plays in about 4ish different areas on campus.

I have to say this may be one of the hardest courses for me to rate on this site. This course was fun and I actually liked it. There is a lot stupid stuff that could make your round unfun, especially if you put it in an unfriendly back yard. While the disc golf I think is worth playing here the issues with the area around the course could cause for someone to hate this course. If you are in the area Garfield may be the better park to play, but I haven't been there in years and every time I drive by it seems pretty packed.

There is a Tacos El Cunada off Burton that a lot of people like so if you need a lunch stop it may be a good place to go, and would be in-between this and Garfield park.

This is a rather unique course on the campus of Grace Christian University. It offers a fair variety of layouts with a few of the holes having narrow fairways, a couple of them having doglegs, a couple of them having giant electrical towers as obstacles, one having a giant wooden wall as an obstacle, one having both a giant rock, flag poles, and the school's welcome sign as an obstacle, one having its basket located on top of a tree stump, and a lot of them having elevation changes (some more so than others). About half the holes have cement tee pads, while most of the others use either a sidewalk or a driveway or a parking lot for their tee pad. Each hole has a sign that's real helpful and also shows where to go to get to the next hole. There's a giant map of the course near the first hole, and next to it is scorecards for anyone to take. The scorecards also include a map, which is a MUST HAVE if you want to play all 18 holes.

If you don't find the first hole, or if you find it but ignore the maps the school provides (they even have a map on their website) then it's going to be almost impossible to find all 18 holes. Even with the map, though, a few of the holes are kind of tricky to find. Some of the holes are really spread out and hard to find. In fact, you have to leave the campus and walk by a neighborhood to reach the 13th hole. Holes 14-18 are also over there, so when you're done playing you have a long walk back to your car. Another big issue is that quite a few holes are located close to other things in the area, like houses, campus buildings, parking lots, roads, and fenced in properties. A few of them are so close you might not even feel comfortable playing them out of fear of hitting a house, or a building, or a car, or of losing your disc on a roof or in someone's property. In fact, for the 10th hole you have to throw your disc over the entryway to the school's parking lot. Better make sure there aren't any cars driving through there before you throw. One hole goes over a volleyball court, one goes next to that volleyball court, one goes over a basketball court, and one goes over a baseball field. Those holes are basically unplayable if people are playing on those fields/courts (hole 1 has a bonfire pit surrounded by benches, and if students are hanging out there then that hole could also be unplayable). There are even a few holes that are pretty close to other holes. Also, there are some smaller issues with this course that are worth mentioning: Hole 2 doesn't seem to have a tee pad (if it does then it's hard to find), hole 6's tee pad has been broken apart (assuming that that really is it's tee pad), and holes 2 and 4 have a little too many trees between the tee pad and the basket.

Overall, most of these holes are actually pretty good (though most of them aren't too difficult), and some of them can be a lot of fun to play. However, this course has two really big enemies that can turn off a lot of people: It's navigational issues and its close proximity to the community in and around it. The navigational issue can be overcome somewhat by utilizing the maps the school offers, but you'll still have to do a lot of walking (you can cut down on that somewhat by parking your car between holes 1 and 12, then when you're done playing hole 12 you can drive over to the building that's next to holes 13-18.) The close proximity issue can't be overcome at all unless you bypass the holes that are real close to other things in that community (although a more experienced player that has good accuracy might enjoy playing them, because they likely won't be worried about hitting anything or losing their disc).

Grace Christian University DGC is located on the campus of the university of the same name. A web page for the course states that it covers 22 acres. I'm not sure if that is the acreage of just the disc golf holes or of the entire university campus. Either way, it appears that the course designers used every square inch of open outdoor land the university owns...and maybe a few that it doesn't (more on this below).

The infrastructure here is pretty good. The 18 Chainstar baskets are in good shape. The tee pads are all concrete. Some holes have a dedicated concrete pad, while others make use of existing concrete infrastructure like sidewalks and parking lots.

Similarly, the 18 (beautiful, large, colored) tee signs are all mounted to existing infrastructure in the vicinity of the tee - like light poles, buildings, and trees. There is a large course map posted on the side of a building next to the first tee.

There are some longer holes here, surprising for a college campus course. Based on the tee signs there are eight holes longer than 300', with one just over 400'.

A couple holes have some nice elevation changes.

Some may not care about this last Pro, but the course has a fantastic web page (link in Links/Files section). The web page has the course address, course policies, and a course summary including a course map. The web page also has a link to a downloadable PDF file showing all of the information that is on the individual tee signs for each hole. I think all courses should have a website like this, as another great resource for DG'ers to check out before deciding to come play a round (After DGCR, of course).

Okay, so unfortunately the actual disc golf here mostly ranges between "meh" and "yikes".

Multiple holes play very near city streets, and one hole plays across the entrance drive of the university.

Multiple holes play very near private property (specifically, people's fenced-in backyards). Most of the time, these backyards are to the right of the tee so I feel it would be an even worse situation for left-handed throwers.

Multiple holes basically share fairways (throw one direction, then throw back the other direction 15-20' away for the next hole). #11/#12 is probably the worst pair for this, though #6/#7 and #17/#18 are also bad. It feels like the designers really wanted a full 18 hole course and crammed it into the available space, rather than having a more spread-out course with fewer than 18 holes.

Multiple holes pass through or near other outdoor university attractions, namely a sand volleyball court, soccer field, basketball court, and baseball diamond. Another couple holes play across a field that was being used for rugby practice when I was there.

Multiple holes where university buildings could come into play.

Several holes with few or no obstacles between tee and basket. No real need for shot shaping on many holes.

Long walks between some holes. Basically the course has three sections:
#1-#5 and #9-#12 play close to the parking lot/near the main university buildings.
#6-#8 play in a separate area on the east edge of campus.
#13-#18 play in another area of campus southeast of the main buildings.
The map is good but some "Next Tee" signs would be helpful where there is a long walk.

I noticed lots of dog poop when I played. Not sure if that was because of the proximity to private property, or what.

Since this is the first review of this course, here is a brief hole-by-hole breakdown.
#1 plays across a small valley between two buildings and towards a third. The basket is on a pretty steep slope. I thought I had a birdie but I clinked my putt off the front of the basket and my disc rolled a ways back down the hill. I ended up with a bogey.
#2 tees off right next to a building, across another small, steep valley in the back of campus. This is the only hole on the course that I would call "tightly wooded". The tee side of the valley is very steep - some stairs would be a good safety improvement.
#3 is a blind shot uphill at a sidewalk. Not a fan of this hole.
#4 plays diagonally across what is shown as university property on the map, but sure looked like someone's backyard to me. There were some hammocks strung across trees in the backyard, easily in play from the tee. Fortunately, they weren't occupied. Update: The third time I played this course, I noticed a small sign indicating that the house is actually a university residence building. It definitely started as someone's house but the university must have purchased it.
#5 plays through an open field, to a basket behind a painted wall. There was a rugby practice on the field when I played so I skipped this hole. Long walk between #5 and 6.
#6 is a straight throw towards a basket tucked behind a power line support. There are some fenced-in backyards next to the fairway on the RH side. There were "No Trespassing" signs posted on the backyard fence. I had to wonder if the signs predated the course or were a response to it.
#7 plays right back along basically the same fairway.
#8 plays about 220' slightly downhill, with a line of trees at the edge of the hill. It's a fun throw and a shot at a birdie if you clear the trees (or an ace, for you better players out there). After that it's a long walk to #9.
#9 plays back across the rugby practice field.
#10 is a fun throw, but across the entrance drive of the university. There is a double mando forcing you to shape your shot a little bit.
#11 and #12 play back and forth across a sand volleyball court, with more backyards potentially in play on the far side of #12. Long walk to #13.
#13 is a sharp dogleg left, with a building shaping that dogleg. Unfortunately, if you overthrow the turn your disc is out in a public street.
#14 is a fun downhill throw to a basket raised on a stump. The street is in play again again here (behind and to the right of the hole).
#15 plays right along the street and parallel to it. The "tee pad" for this hole is literally the sidewalk on the side of the street.
#16 is the longest hole here, and one of my favorites. It plays 402' across a field and then into a shallow valley with some scattered old growth trees. The basket is on the far side of the valley. Nice hole.
#17 plays next to #16 headed back the opposite direction. A basketball court and baseball diamond are on the left side of the fairway. #16's fairway is on the right side of the fairway.
#18 plays back across the baseball diamond and basketball court, plus more backyards in play on the other side.

I would probably feel better from a safety/avoiding private property and other activities perspective if this were a 9 hole course. Holes that could stay close to as-is would be the current #1, #2, #8, #16, and maybe #10 (yes it's over the road, but not blind and not likely that anyone would be utilizing that space). The remaining holes could re-utilize the space currently occupied by #13/#14 and maybe the wooded space at the back of the university a little more. It would still be a ton of walking though.

With a couple hole redesigns and maybe the elimination of a few dangerous holes, this course could possibly become a 2.0. On the other hand, if the course falls into disrepair over time it could easily become a 1.0 or lower. Actually, I wouldn't argue with it being given a 1.0 now. I was in college fairly recently myself and played a course somewhat similar to this quite a few times, so I might have enjoyed this campus course more than the average DG'er would.

Unless you live very close by, you shouldn't bother with this course. Johnson Park and Garfield Park are two clearly superior options less than a 10 minute drive away.

UPDATE December 2020: I have now played this course two more times. On both occasions I was trying to go to nearby Garfield Park, but after seeing multiple groups waiting at the first tee there I decided to head here instead. I really can't stress enough how close this course plays to 1) fenced-in private property and 2) city streets. The private property literally helps define the fairway on about 5-6 holes. I throw pretty cautiously but in 3 rounds here I have still managed to throw a disc into someone's fenced-in backyard, and another one into the street.

UPDATE November 2021: Nothing has changed in the past year, including my feelings about the course. If you can visit when classes aren't in session, you really just have to avoid the backyards and parked cars and it's sort of a fun round...