really short holes
nice green grass
really nice baskets
cement tee pads
sign on every hole
easy to find the next tee pad
some are technical
most are wide open and short

the farthest hole is 275
there are no problems with the course
great beginner course
if you are good at putting you would probably be 10 down or more

immaculately maintained course
short holes great for new players
water obstacles that aren't hard to retrieve your discs out of
bathroom on site

some bicyclists unclear of where the bike path is makes errant throws dangerous
close together small holes make errant throws dangerous
water might be too much for those not willing to take off their socks and shoes for their disc

course seemed to be populated with extremely friendly and helpful locals. heard it can be very busy but didn't run into that issue.

edit: people are annoyed by the five star review, since apparently this isn't a very 'serious' course. i'm not a very serious player, as stated. I think this is an excellent course in the ways I described above. is there a different disc golf site I should look to for information where people won't be offended when a new person gives their input?

The re-design is a great example of how to turn an extremely dangerous lawsuit in-the-making course into a very fun, friendly course that shares the park space well with other users.

The course gets the most out of the available space, is great for beginners, and is still fun as a putter-only course for advanced players. The course is very busy, but the new design accomodates the flow of players significantly better, thereby greatly reducing the previous wait times.

Aside from the safety improvements, the park itself is much prettier than the last time I played there.

I've played ten courses on my current road-trip and the Johnny R re-design has exceeded expectations more than any other course.

Obviously, this is not a challenging, tourmament-style course.

The 2.5 may seem low in light of my praise, but that number is strongly influenced by challenge level in my methodology. If it were purely for the optimization of a given space, I'd probably give this one a 4.5.

Kuddos to the re-design team for a job well done.

This course is very well maintained. They tees are concrete and the pins are easy to spot. Fairways are grass and well kept.

If you visit on a weekend you may get quite a bit of civilian foot traffic so be careful. The course is not very difficult so there tends to be large groups of first timers and novice players who will usually let you play through and are friendly.

If you are used to long drives this course could be a challenge for you. The course has shorter more technical holes that don't tend to have much distance. Try playing with only a putter.

This is a great course to play for beginners and those wanting to practice their short game. Most of the holes have ace opportunities but they aren't straight ahead or without obstacles. I'm a relatively new player and love this place because you need to do some shot shaping and have distance control. Even as a newer player I can get by with a mid and putter here. People have been super friendly here as well, lots of good advice to me and my girlfriend.

Can be very crowded, even during the week. I haven't played on a weekend yet but I can imagine it would be jammed. There is a creek that runs through and is a water hazard on a couple holes. Not necessarily a bad thing but something to be aware of, you can lose a disc here.

Great course for beginners, if you're pressed for time (granted it's not jammed with people), or for practicing your approach game.

-good concrete tees
- good tee signs that give you all the needed info
-multiple basket placements
- you can see almost every basket location from the tee pads
- the course is very accessible, right in Denver in a large park with a big parking lot
- bathrooms right by the first tee
- plenty of trees on the course to force you to throw many different lines
-tons of ace runs!

- its a short course, most shots are 200 to 275 feet
- this is one of the most popular course in the Denver area, it's almost always crowded
-though this new layout is safer for pedestrians, there are a few fairways close together, and with how busy this course is, it still may be a bit dangerous for golfers.

Even though this is a "short" course, I really enjoyed throwing my putter around on it. If I lived near by I would just bring a couple putter and maybe a mid and just work on my short game.
I played the old layout of this course, and the new one is much safer for pedestrians. During my round on the old layout, I remember waiting several times for pedestrians wondering right through fairways with no idea there was even a course. With the new layout it seems much safer for everyone.

-Lots of different lengths
-Beautiful park
-provides a nice challenge
-lots of verity from hole to hole ( trees, water, hills, flat plain, exa.)

- hole 5 goes over a river; there is lots of branches in the line over the water so easy to lose disc
- There is only the A course OR the B course up at the same time. Not more then 1 basket per hole
-very confusing to find way from hole to nest tee when there is snow on the ground.

This is one of the best courses I have ever played. The 5th hole is a large rick of losing disc (Like yours truly). Also its not overly crowed.

This is a very short course, perfectly suited for putter and midrange tee shots. Tee signs and concrete pads on every hole. Easy to find your way through since the next hole is always near and you can simply follow the group in front of you very easily. The redesign alleviated much of the fear of losing a disc into Ralston creek. A fair amount of trees, young and old, provide shade as well as obstacles. Rounds here do not take much time due to it's short length. Ace opportunities on just about every hole.

Very busy on afternoons and weekends, be prepared to wait a few minutes on hole 1 for your turn. Please do not jump in front of other groups already on the course, as they most likely waited in line.

Good to see the course return in a much safer, sustainable layout. This course definitely has it's own unique appeal that keeps players coming back again and again. Lots of ace chances, take the Johnny putter/mid challenge and see how low you can go!

Great for a round when you're pressed for time, playing with children or new players, or just trying to make a run for some putter aces.

This is probably the best course to start your friends and partners on if they have never played before. It's also good just for practicing your form on without much pressure or distance. It's a confidence builder.

Probably the most visually appealing and best maintained course in the Denver Metro area.

Great concrete tee pads with good signs.

One of the only courses in the area that went all out on excellent quality Mach V baskets.

Decent usage of a very small plot of land. Even though each hole is very short, there are still a couple of challenging shots. Also, the swiftly running creek makes things interesting.

Easy access to parking and portapotties.

Easy aces

Hands down the biggest con to this course is that it is almost always packed. It can sometimes take just as long to play as any other course in the greater Denver area just because of the waiting.

The course is very small, but it is what it is. If you come here with a Ranger full of long distance drivers you're wasting your time. You could very realistically play this course with only one putter. And ace every hole.

There are a couple of fairways that are right on top of each other. If you throw even a couple of feet to the left or right you can end up right in between the tee and basket of an adjacent hole.

This course is great for what it is. It's immaculately maintained and it has awesome baskets. It is unquestionably the best place to bring children or new players who might get discouraged by longer courses, or to play a lightning fast round. However, this is not a secret, and it has an according level of traffic from all types of people.

If you're a more advanced player used to longer, more difficult courses, this place will probably seem pretty boring. You can have as much fun here as you want, though. Try Zephyr rounds, putter rounds, Roc rounds. Try betting with your friends on who can get the first or the most aces. I am a novice and just getting better myself, but the last time I played here I came within inches of acing two holes with my DX Roc and one with my Judge. This is the place to get goofy and try things you normally wouldn't at other courses.

Very well maintained from my short time there, quick holes, very good flow, only a few holes wehre u may have some crossfire occuring otherwise real nice, also its all copable of being played with just a putter(nothing really far enough to justify use of even a mid range imho). lots of trees(makes for some real technical shots), good bridges to cross over streams. very nice sign posts(listing both pin locations and what seemed to be accurate yardage) and the base of the pin has an arrow that guides u easily to the next hole.

Its very short(too short if u ask me). i like at least a few holes where i have to break out my driver.

I really enjoyed this course, its got some technical shots, and was a very fun course (when i only used my putters). i suggest this for anyone teaching a friend to play, or a fun round with single disc.

Nice multi use park

Concrete tee pads

Porta potties

only one set of tees/pins

Crowded with both discers and non discers

The new redesign is better in that everyone is safer (not safe, but SAFER) but has lost the fun nostalgic feeling of the old course which I was told was designed by Steady Ed himself.

I loved this course when I moved to the Denver area, but over time I realized that it didn't require different shots than I'd thown on similar courses in the flatlands, my discs just flew differently in the mountain air. Once I figured that out it was on to greener pastures and tougher courses.

By no means am I trying to bag on Johnny Roberts, it is a nice local course, but it's not worth a road trip. I hope out-of-towners find some of the better courses CO has to offer.

-Well maintained park
-Nice concrete teepads
-Nice, large tee signs
-New baskets
-Easy to find your way around the course
-Quick 18
-Easy to par or birdie every hole
-Still presents good challenge with a river and trees
-Good practice or beginner/amateur course

Very crammed together, and also very busy, which is not a good combination. Multiple times on a round, if you play in the evening or weekend, you will need to duck, dodge, or dive from a disc, and even good players will need to yell "fore" more times than it should be. You also need to watch for people walking around the park.

Definitely not a destination course, but if you have some free time during the day and want to explore, or if you live nearby the course, it's a nice, decent course to play around on.

-River winds through the middle of the park, providing a nice obstacle as well as soothing sounds

-Plenty of trees provide shade and added obstacles

-Even though it's short, there are a good variety of left and right finishing holes, and multiple lines to the pin

-Some nice risk/reward shots on the pins closest to the river

-Lots of ace runs!

-SUPER short, great for families and all, but even mildly experienced players won't find a ton of challenge

-Can get super crowded when the weather is nice; good for the game of disc golf, bad for safety

-Some safety issues with criss-crossing fariways and pins close to teepads....nothing really dangerous, but keep your head on a swivel

I loved the old Johnny Roberts course. It wasn't the hardest course out there, either, but much longer and much more challenging than this current pitch and putt. Unfortunately, the city greatly reduced the area that could be used for a disc golf course. Luckily, they allowed a course to stay.

This is a good course for families and younger players. The fun spirit of Johnny Roberts himself still permeates the course, so with the right attitude anyone can still have a lot of fun here. Plus, every hole is an ace run!

There is a guap of other, longer courses very nearby to Johnny Roberts, so it can make for a great warm-up and/or cool down. There is also a weekly tag match as well as weekly doubles, that have great turnouts.

1) This course will let you know how good your short game is. Most holes are in the 150 ft. range.

2) Beautiful course that is very well maintained.

3) You'll spend less time swimming after your disc than you used to.

1) Very few long throws, if any, so if your short game is weak this course will be hard.

2) Crowds, crowds, crowds. Very popular course than can leave you waiting a long time between holes. Rounds before noon will avoid this problem, typically.

3) In the "backyard" of the Arvada Police. Cops on bikes will patrol and ticket so be wary of any extracurricular activity.

The new Johnny course has become one of my favorites! It's a fun course to play and is nice to see the City of Arvada put so much effort into making this course one of the better courses in the Denver Area.

There are some things that are missed about the old course but overall this new course has vastly improved the quality of the Johnny Roberts course.

I would highly recommend this course to all skill levels.

*The course designer suggests playing the whole course with your putter to best improve your game and take advantage of the short hole distances.

See other reviews for short putter course-type reviews....(it is pretty short, nice teepads, multiple pin positions, you'll need to be able to shape the short approach shots to play with finesse)

MUCH safer for other park users, and the park redesign is top notch.

Johnny Roberts (the man) from what I have heard about him would have liked this course!

none if you come to play a short putter course, no big hucking here.

Played the new course for the first time to gear up Johnny, a perfect mental round. Was surprised at how many players were on the course before 8 on a Friday morning

-Nice brand new Mach V baskets that catch very well.
-Every hole has nice concrete tee-pads, and they are plenty long enough for a run-up (though a run-up is not very necessary on this course).
-Very nice tee-signs. They give you a good layout of each hole,and the distance on each hole.
-The river comes into play on a couple holes and adds a little risk and reward to a few shots.
-Lots of ace runs and a good course for putter only rounds.
-This course requires several different shots, as a LHBH player, I had to throw some anhyzers, some hyzers and a few straight. They used the trees they had on this course pretty well to make some interesting holes.
-Good course to beginners. All of the holes are very reachable but have some obstacles, which makes it more interesting than some beginner courses.
-Very well groomed park setting. The only way you will lose a disc on this course is if throw it into the river.
-Multiple pin positions on each hole.

-Very short holes. Almost all of the holes are under two hundred feet. There are different pin placements that could add some distance to some holes, but none of the holes even in the longest pin positions are over 300 feet.
-Not very challenging. On every hole, I had a chance at the birdie. More advanced players will not find this course very challenging.
-While there are some well designed fun holes, there are also some straight ahead wide open shots under 200 feet, which can get boring at times.
-A few of the holes play really close to each other. Be careful when throwing off the tee-because you could potentially hit another player.
-I wish the river was used a little more in this course, the 3 or 4 holes that use it were a lot of fun, but if it was used more it would add some more risk/reward to the course.
-Course can get crowded, with some slow players who don't let you play through even when you are playing a lot faster than them.
-A few holes play a little close to sidewalks, but not too bad and most can be easily avoided.

Overall, I do miss the old Johnny Roberts, but this one is much better designed in terms of safety than the old course. Other park users rarely come into play on this new design, which is a major plus from the old course. While it is not a as challenging as the old course, it is still a lot of fun as a putter only casual round.

- concrete tees, some with nicely finished "retaining walls"
- 2 basket positions on each hole
- deep baskets
- nice touch on circular, brick-lined base under baskets
- beautifully finished, new grass, benches by many tees
- fine signage
- good flow between holes, after playing 1 time through it is easy to navigate without map
- tree obstacles
- faster play than previous course due to short holes
- safer for non-disc-golfer patrons
- awesome stream crossings with large rectangular rocks
- good layout for beginners

- crowded, as always
- most holes are very short (many well under 200 feet)
- danger of being hit by discs due to cramped quarters
- water hazards mostly gone
- layout not as challenging for more advanced players
- must be careful not to trip over tee "retaining walls"

I was really looking forward to playing the "new Johnny" after the course closure of just about a year or so, and now after playing it I have somewhat mixed feelings about the new course. The old course was relatively long, and water was a true hazard. I remember many people hunting for their discs in the not-so-clean stream water. I was genuinely scared of some holes, and obviously really liked that about the old course. Now, from that old course, the only survivors are current holes 6, 7, and maybe 9 and 12 (in shortened fashion).
With this new course, only 2 holes (2 and 5) can be said to have any kind of water hazard any more (of course if you throw REALLY wild, you could get in trouble on other holes as well), but for anybody above beginner level, they are really not hazards at all. Be that as it may, the 2 holes mentioned above are very well done nonetheless, not too long, but just blind enough to require a good touch.
While the goal of making the park safer for non-disc-golfers has likely been achieved, what troubles me is that making it so cramped (especially on 9-12 and 14-18), it has been made more dangerous for disc golfers themselves, as I recall many a disc landing very close by, that with playing the course only twice. While most of the above holes are not very memorable, 12 and 15 are definitely kind of cool.
The play is much faster than before, even with a lot of golfers ahead, since the holes are so short. In a way, this is probably the best improvement to the course, as the waiting was getting out of hand on the old Johnny.
Also, regarding the shortness of the holes - I think this pretty much had to be done in this park, has been done well, and is effective. I think this course should be a blast for beginners, and like others stated, more advanced players can still work on trying to get the birds and aces.
While part of me wishes the old Johnny was still around, I understand now that it had to be changed, and in the end, we get another beautiful course back in Denver, and that's all that matters...

-Brand new nicely made tee boxes
-Great signage, explains OB's and Mando's
-Each tee has two pin placements
-Each basket has a nice brick outline around it
-Easy to navigate

-Shorter holes from what everyone is used to at Johnny Roberts, this however does not take away from how fun the course is since they try and make it more challenging with obstacles
-Crowded as it always is

Before I knew it was open I had people saying that they already tested it out and was not a good course because its too short. I think this is a good course for beginners and a good course for advanced players to get better at their short game and technical shots and a way to get a few more aces added under your belt. Overall this is a great new course in the area and is a good change from the badlands/westminster scene.

The brand new Mach 5 baskets are really nice to look at with their new super deep trapper baskets. The tee pads are all freshly poured and have a great feel to them. The park looks amazing right now and there has clearly been a lot of work put into the redesign of this park and disc golf course. Design was done in such a way as to keep park pedestrians away from the course for the most part. The tee signs are new and very nice. There are plenty of other things to do in the park including a playground, skate park and basketball court. There are plenty of mature trees and several new trees that were recently planted. The course makes good use of the terrain that is there and plays around the more healthy mature trees in the park. The course plays super quick. There are arrows at the bottom of the basket that point you in the direction of the next tee.

Several holes are close together. Every hole is short, under 275', which really just means you are working on form and your short game. The walk from 1 to 2, 2 to 3, 8 to 9 and 12 to 13 may be slightly confusing. While I did not personally see much traffic, previous versions of the course at this location have brought significant traffic and with it being even more beginner friendly traffic should only increase.

This is by far the best pitch and putt course that I have ever played. I was skeptical walking in to my round there but ultimately enjoyed myself way more than I thought. There are so many tight shots on this course and yet with the length being so short, it is really a course the even the first time disc golfer will enjoy as they have a chance to get a low score on a well played hole. There are a lot of unique shots through out the course. It really is just fun to play. Because there are holes close to each other make sure you know where you are trying to throw before you do so and make sure to let others know of shots headed at them. The first tee is now on the Eastern side of the parking lot. While I will always miss some of the great shots from the old Johnny layout, I know I can come to this course and have a fun round.