Illinois Valley Community College DGC is a 9 hole course that plays around what used to be a baseball diamond but is now just an open grassy area on the SW side of the campus. The course was installed when there was still a ball diamond so the layout skirts what used to be the edges of that.

There's two concrete tee pads on each hole. These are nice sized and in great condition. The two different pads alter the shot a good bit on each hole. This is nice to have on a smaller piece of land like this.

The tee signs are basic. Hole #, par and distance. They're listed as 1-18 though. For example the two tees for hole 1 will have signs that read hole 1 and hole 10. There's also either a blue or red line painted on each. These go with the painted rung on each cage that points to the tee of that color. They continue that way for the entire course. They're mounted on tall 4x4 posts, many of which have bag hangers too. Nothing fancy but very serviceable.

The course is what I would consider lightly wooded. The first three hole are mostly, if not entirely open before getting over to the more wooded section for the final six. The course is basically entirely flat and there's nothing but open fields on three sides so the wind will usually be a factor out here too.

Older Innova Discatcher's on each hole. These are showing their age but still catch just fine. One basket and placement per hole. As I mentioned above they each have a rung painted either blue or red and that points you in the direction of the next tee of that color. Two of the baskets are elevated though. Hole 3's is on ann extended post and hole 5's is placed on top of a gravel covered mound. Nice little touches to add a bit of challenge.

The course was free to play and everything was mowed nicely and very clean. Probably never overly busy either.

The flow is a little goofy from hole 2 to hole 3. You have to walk probably 50 yards to get to 12's and about 80 yards to get to 3's tee. Not very obvious either with there being a steel post right behind 2's basket.

There's no parking by the actual start of the course. You'll need to park in the parking lot directly across from the gravel trail leading into the course.

The last six holes are all kind of crammed into the same little area. It wouldn't be the safest place to play if there were multiple groups out there at the same time.

This course was a pleasant surprise. I was going to play regardless of the rating since I was in the area but it's actually a pretty nice little course. I'd play this one in it was located near me, even with the other better options nearby. Not a must play obviously, but you can certainly do worse than this course.

1) Fairly beginner friendly course but the beauty of it is that it still presents a challenge to beginners to see what disc golf really is.

2) Dual Tees are a nice touch on this course because they definitely give different perspectives and the added distance really helps change the course, with holes ranging from 180-500 between short tees and long tees.

3) Discatchers in good condition and easily visible on this property.

4) Unique design idea starts you out on the first hole. They created a peanut shaped berm about 25-35' long and maybe 3-4' high. The basket was on the front and larger portion of the peanut shaped berm. The berm is a good design element creating real risk reward. I liked it from the tee, but when I got even closer and finally to the green area, I saw the trench (or almost bunker) that was dug behind the berm. Not only is the berm a risk/reward element, but if you go fo an ace and end up in the trench, you most likely will be taking a bogey because the angle you had tot he chains was very small. It seemed like if you were standing int he trench you were likely 6-8' from the top of the basket.

5) Nice variety on this course. It starts you out with the tougher of the holes in terms of line shaping, but then the final 3 holes are a little more open, they all still have some trees to contend with, but for the most part you can pick your line and throw it, where the first 6 there aren't as many options.

6) Quite literally I played the course in 17 minutes while my wife slept. It's always nice to play quickly because that means more disc golf can be played in a day!!!

7) While the course is beginner friendly, it will show them a challenge and the long tees will also keep decent players interest. There are shots that need to be executed and that is a bonus.

8) Slight undulations are available here giving a flat location some variety.

1) The turf seems like it could use a box scraper and some reseeding. There are a lot of ruts and a lot of unlevel areas. It wouldn't take much to scrape it down and ressed it. I am unsure of how the turf got this way, unless it was heavy equipment being used for construction.

2) Tees leave a little to be desired as turf/dirt. There is a decent amount of turf left on some of the tees, but it just isn't the same as concrete or other consistant material.

3) Routing from #8 to #9 could be better perhaps a path cut through the taller prairie grass so that you don't need to walk through right field of the baseball field.

4) Some directionals could be helpful for first timers, and a sign indicating where the first tee is when the gate is closed. Spotting the tees can be tough in a couple locations.

5) Mailbox available at the first tee, but just pencisl floating around, no maps or scorecards.

6) The only garbage can on the course was on #1 and it was FULL!

7) Too bad the valley couldn't be used from some holes, because it was deep to the bottom and water was visible. That would have made for some cool holes.

This was the first stop on our THIRD ANNUAL epic disc golf tour. My wife still had wet hair so she stayed int he car and slept, but I am glad I stopped to play this course. It was a wonderful surprise in the middle of Illinois. It was also a plus that all the snow had melted between Missouri and WIsconsin so that I had nice clear teeing areas!

I had a near death experience though when a flock of Blackbirds (probably a few hundred) flew over me on the course. I was afraid they were going to die on me and that the Apocolypse was on its way!

IVC is 2 minutes off the interstate. There are several fast food options at the exit and it's a good option to get out of the car and stretch the legs. A round of 9 will take 20 minutes or less.

Once you find the parking lot the tee to #1 is easy to find. There is a garbage can and mail box which contains score cards. The score cards has a map on it.

There are A-Long Tees and B-Short Tees. They are clearly marked with basic signs. The course is easy to navigate and flows nicely and there is a variety of distance and shots.

This is a very beginner friendly course but does allow more advanced players shot throw the driver quite a few times from the long tees.

The green to #1 is AWESOME! It is a large hump lined by boulders. On the backside there is a trench dug several feet deep. It adds a unique challenge on this hole.

The baskets are brand new Innova Discatchers that have the hole # on both sides.

The tee pads are grass/dirt. It was dry when I played but have a feeling they are pretty muddy when wet.

I saw poison ivy in the rough areas and under the tree areas that were not mowed.

Adv/Pro level players can throw over many of the obstacles and avoid the tougher intended route.

The drive to the gravel parking lot is labeled maintenance vehicles only. Look for the baseball field and follow that narrow road to the parking lot.

Starved Rock State Park is not very far away.
http://www.starvedrockstatepark.org

This is an above average course with a good amount of challenge and some pretty fun shots. Holes 1-6 play through a secluded, wooded area of the campus, while 7-9 play in an open area near the school's baseball field.

The course starts out with a cool mid range shot at a basket that sits on top of a mound. The next 5 shots play through the wooded area of the course. There's a pretty good variety of straight and angled shots thanks to the wooded nature of this area. There is also a surprising amount of distance here has well with a few shots over 300ft from the long tees, and a couple over 400.

Hole 7 moves across a small gravel road and shoots around a small grove of trees at a basket located beyond the walls of the school's baseball field. #8 is a very similar shot, and #9 is a 500ft bomb from the long tee at a basket located at close to a 90 degree angle from the tee, with some large trees shaping the fairway, and some farm land OB to the left. These three holes are all open, so wind will definitely add to the challenge most days.

Each hole has two different tees. The longs provide good distance and some nice challenge for experienced players, while the short tees are ideal for new players and cut down on a lot of the challenge of the longs.

This is a brand new course, so the DISCatchers here look like they've never seen a disc. There is also a mailbox next to the first tee with map/scorecards and pencils. I've never seen that at a 9-hole course before... very impressive.

There's a note on the scorecard mailbox that says this course is still under development and there is a grand opening scheduled for late this summer, so this place is still a little rough around the edges.

While rough around the edges, there really aren't any glaring flaws. The tee pads are grass and marked by wooden planks in the ground, so an upgraded tee surface would improve this course.

As for shot selection, this course favors RHBH players pretty heavily, with the exception of the tee shot on #9. The shot variety isn't bad, but was lacking in L to R shots.

Navigation here is a slight issue. In some instances the course flow is a little weird, and only one of the baskets had a next tee sign. The maps are very helpful for finding the next tee, and each tee sign has directions to the other sign for that hole (i.e. B tee is 25ft to the left)

The signs in place right now are just laminated pieces of paper on wooden sticks. They get the job done for now, but I don't see them holding up well in long periods of bad weather.

I decided to check this course out on my way to the Quad Cities not knowing what to expect, and was pleasantly surprised. It's about 5-10 minutes off of I-80 and is definitely worth a stop.

The course designer really knew what he was doing and has put together a solid course. Even in its current state this is a fun course and as it improves over time, this could be one of the better 9-holers around.