A couple of the par 4s offer interesting lines. Not busy at all on a Sunday morning.

Extremely easy holes. All the 3s feel like 2.5s and all the 4s feel like 3s or 3.5s.

I'm a very average player and I shot -7 my first time here. I made two poor drives; otherwise, I'd have birdied every hole.

I had a 7 hour stop during a recent Amtrak trip and found this little 9 hole to be within a reasonable distance of Union Station.

The course surpassed my expectations... although I have only played two other 9 hole courses to compare against and both were VERY short. Several of the holes are longer than a couple hundred feet with a few interesting guardian trees.

Nice area with not nearly the pedestrian traffic I was led to believe would be there. I never had to slow my game. I was able to play 2 rounds in just over an hour.

With par at 31 this course is an ego booster!

Only a few shots where I COULD have used my driver....but didn't need to. Played the entire round with my mid.

Just learning or need a lunch-time round? Perfect!

While what makes IIT's DGC truly stand out is its accessibility via Chicago public transportation, this doesn't mean the course itself doesn't have something to offer. I was pleasantly surprised by the design, which sports the ace runs (2, 4, 6) that are typical of small 9 hole courses but balances these with a few much more challenging and interesting holes. 5 would be a solid hole on any course, with a contested hyzer off the tee that leads to a low-ceiling approach for a challenging try at a 3. A roller comes in handy here. 7 forces a wide FH hyzer/BH anhyzer and would make for an impressive 2. Holes like 1, 3, and 8 are less complete but still solid, with obstacles to shape your shot around and/or well-guarded pins. Road OB comes into play throughout and is both intuitive and reasonable in its challenge.

There's a decent diversity of lines here relative to the presence of some short holes and the fact that there's only nine in all: buildings, trees, and OB offer lines, landing zones, and low ceilings to contend with. The course is beginner-friendly but offers enough to keep more experienced players interested. I thought it made for a fun and very quick casual round. One could play it solo in 20-30 minutes easily.

Navigation isn't perfect but is largely intuitive. The course plays in a compact area but avoids feeling jammed in (this might change if the course fills up; when I visited there were only a few others playing). I found the course to be easy to find on campus. Grooming was great when I visited even though school was out. There's little chance to lose a disc as long as you don't attempt to throw a thumber near a building like I did (doh).

The design is solid considering the surroundings - I especially appreciate the fact that the designer didn't try to jam more holes in - but it's still limited. Four of the nine holes are 209 feet or less, and three of these are just straight runs at the basket. The OB in play on a few of these holes helps, but it's hard not to run such simple holes in a casual round. Overall the challenge factor is lower than you'd like, with the few exceptions noted above. It's simply hard to squeeze more out of surroundings like this.

This course plays through the heart of a college campus, meaning there's every opportunity for conflict with pedestrians. I played at 10 am on a Sunday morning in early August and it was mostly clear, but still had to wait for what was either a maintenance crew or campus police on a golf cart to pass by. Hole 9 was also unplayable due to a temporary fence. These kinds of obstructions are pretty unavoidable given the course's presence in the heart of campus.

Hole 7's tee sign was missing when I played, and it was hard to find the tee (though we managed). The tee boxes are natural and can be unfriendly to footing, with roots and the like. It's manageable but not ideal and would be rough after a rain.

I played this course to bag a new state and take an hour off from what was otherwise a business trip, but was pleasantly surprised. For a short 9 in a public setting this course offers more than what I'm used to from comparable surroundings. Definitely worth a stop if you're in the city and want to catch a round!

Also, while you're in town, do yourself a favor and go to the Pork Shoppe.

- Only course in Chicago

- Close to public transit/easy parking

- It is on campus, which makes use of buildings, crosswalks, sculptures...pedestrians as obstacles

- Nice baskets, Tee markers with hole info

- Short and can get repetitive

- Can get busy during school, which makes peds a real problem and hazard

- Natural tees...and only 1 set

A solid, short, urban course. Reason I love it is I work in the Loop and can get in a round or 2 after 5pm no problem. Although this is a beginner course, use caution newer players as if you go long, you can very easily hit buildings, peds, parked (and moving) cars. Played here a couple weeks ago and friend pegged a lady sleeping on a bench. She was not happy. To our credit, we screamed FORE, and she WAS in the middle of a course. Can get a little repetitive, but good practice for your Mid-range/putter. If you have a bit more time, make the drive to Katherine Legge Memorial Park in Hinsdale. This course will continue to be my practice, after work course until something better comes along to Chicago.

Living in Chicago this is really one of the only options in terms of a free course located within the city. This leads to definitely the biggest pro of this course...Location.

Other things I like about this course include its surprisingly wide array of shots you will likely encounter. Pretty much every hole but two are very reachable with a driver (or putter for that matter) but holes 5 and 9 are challenging bombs over the tops of low trees and bushes. Holes 2,4,and 6 are fairly short straight shots that you can certainly make a good ace attempt at. Hole 1 is a mild left-hooking shot just under 300ft. Hole 3 for me is a short but fun Hyzer around a giant pine. Holes 5 and 9 are 400+ foot bombs accross walking paths and over trees (watch for pedestrians) and holes 7 and 8 are fairly straight forward left-hooking shots around 350 ft.

I think the course designers did an excellent job working with what they had, a college campus with enough trees to make a fun 9 hole course that is great for beginners and pros alike. I'm actually living on the IIT campus this summer so I'm sure I'll be playing this course on a weekly basis.

The biggest negatives about this course are pretty much unavoidable consequences of an urban course. TONS of foot traffic around the campus, and actual traffic on the streets surrounding. Playing this course you have to be VERY careful not to overthrow your shots. Hole 1 I hit a window on the building behind on the pin, hole 2 I put my drive into the middle of the street behind the pin almost hitting a police officer, and you will encounter similar situations on virtually every hole.

Another con includes the fact that the tee pads are dirt, and some have roots sticking out of the ground which look to be good ankle twisters if you're not careful. Also people like to hang out on holes 1 and 7 so sometimes you are not able to play these holes without being a jerk. I have had to skip hole 1 because of people sitting by the pin on more than one occasion now.

This course is actually a pretty fun little niner inside the city. If you just want something to play a quick nine holes on without driving out to the suburbs this course is a great option. I would recommend not throwing drivers on the majority of the holes just to reduce the risk of overthrowing into the streets or people on the sidewalks. As long as you're aware and polite to the people around you there will be no problems and it will certainly be worth your time to play this fairly unique urban course. Happy discin!

- Course is set in the school's campus, complete with statues, buildings, and a ton of concrete. Pretty much dead flat overall.
- Holes are spread out nicely, allowing for some good length and variety. With four of the holes around or well over 350', there are plenty of places to let the drives rip. A few shorter holes, including some ace runs, help to keep a good balance.
- Good amount of obstacles to be found here, mostly in the form of short trees, but also with some statues, light posts, and buildings to avoid. #7 pretty much forces a RHBH anhyzer, #8's tee is out of a small grove, definitely some tricky shots.
- Tons of OB pavement, on nearly every hole. Great punishment when trying to go for the ace or the long approach.
- Great signs, good baskets, tees are in good shape.

- Location of the course does provide some headaches. Pedestrians, cars, roads, and nasty man-made obstacles are different, but still not that enjoyable.
- Fairways cross at some parts, notably #5 and #9, and #7 and #8. Not much of a choice, but still a problem.
- A fair amount of holes are wide open, and don't have much to them. OB helps, but still no-brainers.

- A very solid course, for being in a big city college campus. Some holes provide a real challenge, with line-shaping and good length. A few ace runs (with tons of OB), and some simpler ones. Might be a bit straightforward for an advanced player, but everyone else should enjoy the urban setting.

The course weaves between campus streets, buildings, and random sculptures to create some interesting shots. Additionally the holes were all fairly different. The tee signs and scorecards were very nice.

It is only a 9 hole course and roughly a third of the holes are very short( less than 200ft). On nearly all of the holes you will have to contend with walkers. The pads were all dirt/grass/mud.

It is easily reachable from downtown chicago via the 'el' trains green line. There was a fairly strong steady wind but that was to be expected due to the fact that the course is in the "Windy City". Due to the relative newness of the course many students and employees on campus asked me what I was playing.