Jesse James DGC is a course with some really challenging holes, some great birdie chances on a few holes, nice landscape for a course, and it is very nicely equipped. I played on a cold afternoon, and left a lot of shots out on the course. It was frustrating, but I can not let my poor performance take away from the due respect this course deserves.

All concrete tees with good signs. Good Discatcher targets with classic yellow bands. Diverse mix through the course will test the arm strength, accuracy, short game, and make you execute all types of throws.

There are a handful of fairly easy deuces. I did get hole 6, 11, and 16. 6 was the best of them, a mid range hole that turns right almost all the way, with trees that will knock you down if you stray too much from the center of the fairway. Threw a RHFH (not my natural drive), and sunk the 30+ foot putt. 11 is a short right to left hyzer that I parked with a putter. Not a lot of interference from trees, and only slightly uphill. 16 is pretty open and flat, but the basket is on a small berm, and the putt is much tougher if you are not on or near the crest. I got the distance right, and a good skip that left me inside 10 feet. Should have had a couple of more, but chumped out on a couple of chip ins. Had a nice ace run at 8, a short hole downhill to a basket on the spine of a ridge between two low spots that can be wet. I shot at perfect height, but about the basket width wide to the right. Missed an easy putt on the comeback and settled for par. Also missed an easy putt after a great drive on the last hole. 18 is flat, but has OB to the left and right of a narrow green. I nailed a nice flex shot off the tee but couldn't make the 15 footer, or the come back and took a bogey.

There are just as many great holes that will test your skills throwing directional drives with almost pinpoint accuracy. This becomes obvious around hole 3. Hole that has downhill to uphill, left to right with a narrow strip that is heavily wooded on both sides about half way at the bend in the fairway. Hole 7 is also tricky and kind of long. A bit uphill, with a tapering run to a basket that gets more and wooded as you approach the pin. Hole 10 is another monster, on a steady incline that has a sharp left turn half way up the hill. You need a great drive to hit the landing zone that gives you a chance at making par.

There are two or three holes that left me wondering what shot will possibly give me a chance. Hole 4 is uphill and has a gnarly right to left with a drastic turn close to the tee. Very tough to hit this drive. 5 is not as hard, but is a really strong turn, right to left this time, and plenty of trees to knock you out if you're a little long or a little short. Not impossible, but not easy for the short distance from tee to basket. i didn't know what to throw at hole on 13. It isn't long, and downhill all the way, but there is a line of trees that form a wall of lumber in front of the basket. You have to have the force on you side to get close to a birdie. If the darkside takes control, you are looking at bogey for sure.

There are areas that the layout is not super obvious. Pay attention to the signs, they can direct you to the next tee. I went from hole 2 to 7, and then played 3-6 after the fact. If you take a course map, or just look at the signs carefully, this can be avoided. I was not on top of navigation, and went out of sequence as a result.

Overall, I played really lousy at Jesse James. Maybe it had to do with the temperature hovering just over freezing, or the fact I had pizza and beer for lunch, and went overboard on both.

I was 10 over my first time out here, and should have been way closer to par. It really made me want to shoot someone, mainly myself. I don't know if that is outlaw spirit or not.

I was not pleased with my results, but the challenge and fun involved making the circuit around Jesse James DGC is hard to deny. I love the turf, and skill required to score at or even near par. Surely worth a visit if you have a chance to play this one. It is a bit out of the way from my place in KC, but I am glad I made the trip.

Good elevation changes. Good mixture of shots needed on the front nine. Love hole seven open shot across field down into woods then back up to the basket. Like hole eight as well with the ponds (all though it has been so dry that the ponds are just holes with tall grass). I looked at the tee sign and am already wanting spring to get here so I can see it with water in it.

Not a lot of cons for this course, but here goes. Need trash cans or buckets at a few more holes. I have only seen one at hole one. Fairly new course and I have stared noticing more and more trash on the course. Hopefully with some trash cans on the course some inconsiderate people will throw their trash away. Hole 15,16 and 18 feel like the same hole to me (pretty straight forward not a lot of obstacles. I've even played the front nine and skipped over to sixteen and played to eighteen.

Please take my review with a grain of salt as I haven't played many courses (4 so far). This is the first course I've played (and reviewed) so I don't have a lot to compare it to.

Wow! A course designer who knows his stuff plus a local group of players that's willing and able to execute to a very high standard equals a round of golf that stands among the classics.

Let's start at the beginning.

At hole 1 (fall out of your car and you're on the teepad) you have a really classy bench, a high-quality kiosk complete with large, easy-to-read map, and a great warmup hole: uphill, no obstacles, just what you need to get the blood flowing.

After that warmup you ease into a series of technical holes that present various line-shaping challenges through the woods. The fairways are narrow, the rough, ROUGH, and the variety is constant.

For instance, check out hole #5, which is short but uphill and incorporates an extreme dogleg left. It's probably reachable with an overhand shot but since I don't do that well I'm forced to play the fairway, which looks a bit like a worm on a hot sidewalk.

Or check out #8, which is also short, this time downhill, but once you shoot the gap between the trees you have to land on a narrow strip between two OB ponds.

Then there's #10, which actually starts with a forced annie shot and then doubles back on itself with a dogleg left.

Sprinkled in the mix are a couple of ace runs and then, starting with #14, some long bomb opportunities. 18 is probably the weakest hole on the course, looks almost like an afterthought, but once you've navigated the first 17 holes you're glad to see something so straightforward.

All throughout the course, the tees were generous and the baskets pristine. The signage, though, really showed what could be done. Every sign showed the hole layout, the distance, the par, the location of the next tee, any mandos, and it was all done tastefully, without clutter. Ten gold stars to whoever did this.

The main "con" here is the lack of amenities once you leave tee #1. It would be a really significant improvement to see a few benches here and there (buck a log into two-foot segments and presto!) and trash cans likewise. Seems a shame that a course that's been open for less than a month already shows beer cans, cigarette packs, and other cr@p that people have "mistakenly" forgotten to pack out.

With the amount of work that's already gone into this course, those two items seem pretty simple and would easily add half a disc to my rating.

The only other thing I didn't like was the fact that you had to cross #10's fairway to get from #12's basket to the tee for #13. Seems to me that if you played 12 (backwards) first and then 11 (backwards) next, that problem would disappear.

Somebody has put birdhouses up in several places in the woods. No birds that I could see living there yet, but they're sort of a signal to avoid trees - a good philosophy in general, imo.

All in all, this is a very classy course that will only get better as the community continues to take care of their baby. I'll be back, you bet.

ADD: Talked with the designer, who clarified a couple of my comments above. Hole #18 will change dramatically when the young trees there grow up. Give it a few years and that hole will be on a par with the rest of the course.

Also, regarding the order of play of #11 and 12, the Parks Dept had safety issues with the jogging path - that's why it was configured the way it was.

Very good mix of wide open and very technical shots needed here. Surprisingly challenging for a shorter course, but also a nice use of the existing land and park design. Brand new signs are very nice, as are the bright yellow DISCatcher targets.

There is still some poison ivy and honey locust trees and other thorny threats if you get off the main fairway. Not many trash cans or benches (yet) - but that will come in time.

Very well-designed and thought out, another home run for Dick Parker!

This park has nice Tee boxes, chains and rolling hills. Going to be a nice water hazard soon when park is complete. good technical shots.
UPDATE: The park is done and the city has sprayed and gotten rid of a lot of the poison ive, oak and sumac. They have also cleared a lot of brush from the fairway and made it more forgiving if you throw a little too far to either side.

POISON IVY,OAK AND SUMAC!!!!! I am really allergic to this stuff and it's everywhere!!! I've already had to go to the hospital. Heavily wooded and with lots of the poison ivy,oak and sumac. If you throw too far to the left or right you will go into the woods.

I do like this course the only downfall for me is the heavily wooded area with poison ivy.

Variety of challenges; narrow & short, long & open, good balance between right to left (10) and left to right (8). Good use of limited elevation and the amount of space squeezing in 18 holes into such a small park is impressive. Layout meanders throughout the park so the flow never feels like back and fourth which you find on so many courses. Well maintained park and bathroom in parking lot.

Rough right now, brand spanking new so not all tees were marked and so were difficult to impossible to find. Tree holes are fairly rough and wild if you wander much off the narrow fairways. Lots of poison ivy. A couple of the holes left me scratching my head #5 and #7 were almost to overgrown to be played. Walking path is going to be in play on several holes which hopefully won't get too much traffic, otherwise it could really slow you down.

As more play occurs and more clearing occurs and tee pads get finished things should get better. Saw trees with red X's indicating removal. There's a couple holes that have the potential to become some of my favorite in the city. #8 with its narrow island green in between 2 small ponds has awesome potential; #16 elevated tee to an elevated basket. Last thing, the tees had scoring through the middle to prevent cracking? First time I had seen that?