1) Very small yet immaculately maintained property directly across the street from Emporia Country Club Hole #1. During DDO you will often encounter multiple pros utilizing this course to warm up ahead of their tee times.

2) Large textured concrete tee pads, Newer condition Dynamic Discs Patriot baskets, and full color tee signs with hole map and OB information just like all the other top level courses in Emporia.

3) Has always been perfectly mowed every time I have visited. Course has multiple trash cans throughout and has always been free of debris. Bathrooms and pavilions onsite.

4) Intuitive navigation and short distances between baskets and tees but not so close that you feel like you are throwing into people putting/teeing.

5) Excellent use of what the property has to offer and for how small it is. Some very challenging shots from Hole #1 (Eagle McMahon's roller ace hole) up on a knoll in a tunnel of trees, to Hole #4 a downhill beast through a wall of trees that requires controlled distance and a perfect set of gap hits.

6) Various shot shapes. The course does not present you the same look over and over again (like most small constricted courses do) rather it presents multiple attack angles from the tee and you must decide which is best. And you can't always just choose the hyzer, which is great. It makes the course more challenging.

7) Subtle elevation changes but where available it was used well. Especially to create variety between the holes.

8) Moderately wooded at times to lightly wooded. While there are no super technical shots here, there is just enough tree cover to create a challenging but fair and fun layout.

9) Wonderful beginners course with an array of distances, little chance of lost discs, and just enough challenge that even seasoned disc golfers can have fun here. We were playing in a group behind Chris Clemons, Eric Oakley and Greg Barsby who are all nice stellar individuals and appeared to be having a blast.

10) This 9 hole course is significantly better than a lot of 18 hole courses I have played. You can tell how much effort and planning went in to getting the absolute best out of this tiny piece of property.

1) Limited parking. The parking lot beside hole 1 is very small, maybe 10 spots, and you are right next to Emporia Community College Housing, and Emporia Country Club. So you may have to park and walk a ways to play.

2) Several Road crossings and a well used and busy park. You need to keep your head on a swivel as this is a busy intersection park.

3) Lack of distance, I believe this course tops out at 310 ft and most of the short holes are really short. Great for novice players and families, but if you like to let loose, go across the street to country club.

4) Any other negatives would be nit picking a course that was not intended to be a pro level course.

We had a blast playing Hammond Park and return for at least 1 round every year we visit Emporia. This course is more about just having a good time and playing a fun round with several ace runs than anything for us. Emporia has so many wonderful courses to offer, and this is no exception, but just in a different category of excellent. This would be an amazing glow round, or late afternoon wind down course for a more mellow and less demanding vibe. Not a destination, but if you are going to play ECC, stop by here first and warm up.

Being so close to other courses (right across the street in some cases), this is a great warmup for other courses, but it also stands out on it's own as one of the best 9-hole courses out there.

A 9-hole course with a practice basket?  Yes.  And it has a nice amount of elevation and trees on the practice green.  You can practice realistic straddle putts within the circle... at a 9'er.

The holes are all warmup length (the only one over 300ft is a downhill), but the obstacles sure aren't.  The course kicks off with a very thin fairway with an OB rock ditch three quarters of the way there.  Getting off the tee on hole 4 is a difficult prospect, while holes 5, 7, and 8 have some very difficult trees on the fairway.  And of course the famous McMahon roller ace hole to finish things off.

Most holes have more than one line to get to the basket.  The only ones without it are holes 1 and 5, and those are enough challenge on their own.

The elevation that exists (and that isn't much) is used well.  3 and 4 are slight downhill shots, 7 and 8 are more extreme downhill, and 5 is a very difficult uphill between the trees.

Most of the time, once you've accessed the green, there isn't a lot of challenge besides the OB near the pin on 1 and the very scary green of 9.

Four road crossings, and hole 6 has you throw across the road.  A small gripe, but something to be careful of.

Hole 2 is a flat, open 150' ace run, and is one of the main things holding this course back from a better rating.

Hammond is up there with the best 9-hole courses I've played.  Sure it has it's flaws, but with the land given, they used it perfectly.

When coming to Emporia, hopefully you're planning on playing more than one course (if you aren't, what's wrong with you?).  Make Hammond your first stop.  It's a quick course to warm up on, it's right next to Country Club, and it definitely isn't going to be forgiving or too easy.  Except hole 2, that one's easy.

Baskets/Tees 10/10 - Baskets are DD Patriots, tees are concrete and size isn't a problem.

Course Maintenance 10/10 - The course is very clean and has always been well mowed and in great condition when I've been.

Navigation on holes 10/10 - Tee signs are great, they have the same style as the big Emporia courses.

Disc Finding 10/10 - There is no hole where you should have a danger of losing or disc, or really of needing to spend much time at all looking.

Use of Obstacles 10/10 - For how small of a park this is, the designer did a great job of using all the obstacles available to make this course a fun and interesting play.

Decisionmaking required 9/10 - Outside of holes 1 and 5, the rest of the holes all present multiple paths you could take to the basket. Some are more interesting than others, but they're still there.

Comfort 8/10 - There is running water near the tennis courts, bathrooms in the middle of the park, along with a couple benches here and there. Well mowed and rough is non-existent. A couple of holes where you might have to worry about non-dgers either on the playground or cars on the roads.

Navigation between holes 7/10 - The course has a pretty good flow and you can generally see the numbers on the tee signs from a distance. There is no course map or next tee pointers, and there are multiple road crossings that could add a little confusion (After 1, 3, and 8).

Elevation 6/10 - There isn't a ton of elevation change here, but there is pretty good variety. Holes 1 and 5 are uphill, while 3, 4, 6, 7, and 8 are downhill, a few have side-slopes as well.

Variety of Openness 6/10 - While there aren't any shots I would call "very technical", this course has a good mix of open (2, 5, 6, 9) and "moderately technical" (1, 3, 4, 7, 8) holes.

No alternate Pins 0/10 - (It's understandable with how little room there is though)

Variety of shot paths 3/10 - Most of the holes are fairly straight, there aren't any with doglegs that force you to throw one direction or the other. A couple have low ceilings.

Variety of distances 4/10 - Most holes are on the shorter side, with the longest hole being #3 at 311', but there is an okay mix at least. Most holes play around 275-300', with Hole 2 at a 140' ace run, and 8 and 9 in between.

Challenging all Levels 4/10 - This would be a great course for beginners, but while it wouldn't be totally boring for advanced players it doesn't provide much of a challenge for them.

Overall Challenge 3/10
More Precise Rating 3.064

It's right across the street from Emporia Country Club, and the fact that the course is pretty short makes it a great warm-up if you're planning to play the lengthy Country Club course. This course didn't have a lot of land to work with, and is a great example of a park where a 9-hole course turned out much better than any 18 hole course could have. This would be a great spot to take someone for their first time playing, it presents some obstacles to avoid without to much length and is very forgiving of errant shots.

Hammond is right across the street from emporia country club making it a great warmup/cool down for the 18 over there. Park before the tennis court practice basket on hillside by parking lot. Look for tee 1 sign. The 9 hole Hammond has a great design, and good layout. Most holes are under 300 but the trees here provide plenty of obstacles. This course is more than a pitch and putt but let's you use your mids/ putters from the tees as well. Hole 9 has a nice low ceiling basket with roots infront of it.. get to that later. A creek runs through part of the course and is easy to end up in. Good mix of forehand/backhand lines. The tee signs and veteran baskets are top notch. Great addition in the emporia area

No real standout holes. Only 9 holes

The fact Eagle aced 9 with a forehand roller first take is insane. The video doesn't even do the shot justice. I'll just say I tried and didn't have the same result . Great place to throw and one of the better 9s

Park at 18th Ave and Merchant St. Tee pad one is near 18th Ave and basket is near the corner of 18th and Center.

Practice basket near parking lot.

Has a play structure for young kids and bathrooms.

Mixed use Park, so you have to be mindful of other people that are not playing.

Dirt tee pads.

Great course for beginners and challenging for experienced players if you bring a mid range and a putter.

Fun course to play. Although it is overall pretty short there is a lot of variety and it is challenging. little bit of elevation and mature trees used very well to make it interesting. Got a tunnel shot, a couple short ace runs, holes that are better flicked, holes that are better for a big hyzer, some low ceiling.

18 is always better than 9.
No chance to really air one out.

Great warm up course before going to Jones or Peter Pan.
Fun practice course when you dont have time for 18.
Great beginner course.

Go play it, I think you will be pleasantly surprised like I was