Seminole, OK

Johns Park

Permanent course
2.195(based on 8 reviews)
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5 0
MiketheGoalie
Silver level trusted reviewer
Experience: 17.2 years 87 played 43 reviews
2.00 star(s)

Needs a makeover 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:May 28, 2016 Played the course:once

Pros:

Another course in Seminole. Some nice tunnel shots but not overly punitive. A few forced lines, but nothing silly. Easy to see the baskets as they are painted bright orange/white (even though it's a little faded).
Circus hole over the culvert on 18 was neat. Varying lengths but no a ton of variety.
Clover/grass was noticeably high when we played, but shouldn't be an issue when recently mowed.
Playground in the park. Can pretty much see the entire park from any hole so keeping track of family/kids should be easy. Bathrooms near the parking lot.

Cons:

Whoof, where to start...
Homemade baskets have varying chain weights/tensions that do odd things to putts, including reject them, especially in the top third of the target. One basket, 17, has no chains. The bottom of the baskets are solid with a few drain holes and they've collected leaves, twigs, trash, etc. Tee boxes consist of a landscape timber buried flush with the ground to mark the front of the box. Trouble is those timbers are about 2-3' long max and difficult to find in the high grass/clover undergrowth in most of the park. Baskets are showing their age in some cases too. Lots of shad on the front nine and the sandy soil was damp in spots. Shaded spots/low areas hold water and mud throughout the middle nine holes.

By far the biggest issue with the park is the layout. The holes are very tight to each other at times, especially some pin/next tee placements and the course deliberately crosses itself at least once. A couple of faded mando indicators on trees tries to address this, but not nearly enough. The front nine is a lot of tunnel shots through old growth trees with wide well established fairways. The back nine is repeatedly throwing in open field areas. Length variety is good, but zero elevation change throughout.

Navigation was somewhat tricky in places as the tees were not easy to locate and the basket numbering (sharpie on the basket) seemed off around 8 or 9. Navigating 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 & 13 was weird and wasn't intuitive. We ended making up a hole to play the pin we thought was next up. The map isn't unclear, but there just seemed to be lots of walking to the next tee when it felt like a different layout was more natural for flow. Worse than all that is the fact that you HAVE to play around picnic areas and pretty close to playground and other park equipment; it's just not that big of a park. You also have to throw over the entry road on 17.

Other Thoughts:

Not a destination course by any means. The circus hole on 18 was the only standout hole and by then any 'charm' the course had going in had worn off. The dangers to other park-goers is moderate if they're in the right places so be aware if you play the course with any other patrons around. I think that new baskets, better tees, improved navigation and maybe some tweaks to the layout could turn this course into a pretty good rec course. I don't know how possible that is though. Definitely land-locked and if the park is used at all by other patrons, that may not be an option. Maybe turning it into a killer 9-hole with some alternate tees is a better use of the space. Bottom line? If you have to play one course in Seminole, play Mekusukey instead.
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14 0
Heathen
Experience: 19 years 196 played 13 reviews
2.00 star(s)

2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Sep 21, 2010 Played the course:once

Pros:

Plenty of benches. In fact, on many holes, the bench is what marks the tee box. The course also has lots of shade trees which I personally enjoy.

The course makes good use of what little geographic features it had to work with. Even though a couple fairways cross or run nearly on top each other, I can kind of understand why. The makers created a fairly decent challenging course with not a lot to work with.

The holes provide a good variance of distances, and the judicious use of mandos throughout create challenges where none would exist otherwise.

The unique baskets. These are all homemade, with a couple using a bicycle wheel as a chain hanger, but they all work and catch your disc brilliantly. I think these baskets may even work better than the commercial ones, and they sound alot different than what you're used to.

Cons:

*NO signage.
*Confusing to navigate at first.
*Fairways cross each other, and some drive paths are very near other hole's baskets.
*Fairways run in, around, and over other park equipment.
*Unless the park is empty, as it was for me, it would be very difficult to play a round without lots of interference.

Other Thoughts:

The course layout probably violates just about every rule of course building there is, but as I noted in the pros section, in many cases I can see why. When taken on a hole by hole basis, I would probably rate this little park course a 3 - 3.5 just for the round itself. I actually had a lot of fun on this course once I figured out the layout. I have created and uploaded a map for the course. I would highly suggest using it, otherwise you'll spend more time hunting than playing.
I played on an weekday, early afternoon, and the park was deserted other than myself. I would strongly recommend trying to play at a like time when no one else is around.

All in all, even with it's many shortcomings, I'd still give it a recommendation to play. I drove about 45 miles from Norman, just for the pupose of playing this course, and I can truly say "no regrets"
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7 0
Roc1Time
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 22.8 years 131 played 118 reviews
2.00 star(s)

Hidden little course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:May 25, 2010 Played the course:once

Pros:

Little course never heard of and in a spot you would never think of. I was driving down the road and just happened to see some baskets and stopped and played. Not really as bad as it looks but not really worth a darn either. The baskets catch very well for being homemade and for the wear and tear that they have gone through. The actual basket is very shallow as well. The course has a couple neat shots but it be made alot more interesting by changing the pads since there are not many marked. The creek makes for an interesting challenge on the holes that play by it. The course can be played by any skill level and can be made as easy or as hard as you want.

Cons:

No tees that I could really on most holes. Baskets are not marked and therefore the navigation can be an issue if you dont have the patience to walk through it. No trash cans and there are areas that are not taken care of.

Other Thoughts:

I would not go out of my way to play here but if you find yourself in the area and want to add a course to the wishlist then go ahead.
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