Kanza is about what you would expect from Kansas. Good use of elevation and trees, though there's not much of either, and great upkeep overall. The front and back nines are divided by a bike trail, and you're never far from the start.

I didn't expect there to be any par 4's and 5's, but there were. It's a par 60 layout, and the higher pars are real interesting. They make the park a bit cramped at times, but I think it's worth it. Hole 14, the par 5, plays through a tight section, using the creek as OB to make the middle part harder. Hole 17 is overall the best hole on the course, although it plays a little too near one of the paths.

The creek is used on a few other holes to make you think twice on a handful of drives. It ends up making a decent OB challenge. And it's small enough that you can ignore it completely if you want.

While a lot of holes don't have much going for them, they're all a good bit different. That one tree that's in the way is in a slightly different position on almost every hole, and there are a few low ceiling shots at the beginning and end of the course.

With the little amount of space there is here, a few holes end up rather boring. Hole 6 is the worst one, but a lot of others have only one tree in the way, and won't provide much difficulty after a few plays through. The drives of 4, 9 and 16, and upshots of 13 and 16 are also pretty wide open. Once you figure out all of this, some of the holes just lose their spiciness.

Even on the more interesting holes, there's often one line that is super open. Granted, which line that is does vary from hole to hole, but when you can step up to several of the tees and throw your most comfortable shot with nothing in the way, it's not great.

The walking and biking paths are really close on some holes. Hole 17 is between two of them, and hole 1 is between one and the parking lot. Playing OB, it makes those fairly interesting holes, but it does hurt safety. A few other holes start right by the path, so while it's easy to see anyone approaching, you might be waiting for a little while. In addition, a few holes play pretty close to each other. When you're already avoiding the paths and the creek, your only option is to throw down the middle, and if you miss that line even by a little, you might be yelling fore.

This does seem like it's a good beginner course. The distance on some of the holes won't be accessible for them, but with the relative openness (but not completely open) and the niceness of the park, this is a decent place. Some shorter tees on the par 4's and 5 would help for beginners.

There aren't many other ways for this course to improve. I think a better version of hole 14 is possible, but I don't know how that would happen. Anything to get hole 6 out would be good, but I again don't know how that would happen.

This feels like the most average course there is. Not bad by any means, but nothing special either. And not just in overall quality, but every aspect is average. But when everything is average, the result ends up being pretty decent, and someplace that most everyone can have fun at.

Sprawling across the entirety of Kanza Park, the disc golf course invites a lot of low scores - but could get tough on you if your throws start getting errant.

Good tee signs and great quality DisCatchers are the best of the amenities. The pads could be a little bigger, but they're not unusable like they used to be.

A good variety of distances and shot shapes; you'll get to use most of the discs in your bag here. Getting a par 62 (60?) course out of this land without being easy to the point of becoming a bore is a nice feat in itself.

The more open front 9 is contrasted by a tighter, more wooded back 9 with the bigger pars. Always nice for the challenge to go up throughout a round, but count yourself lucky if you get to start on holes 8-10 in a tournament.

Both the par 5s stand out from the rest of the course. 14 is a shocker when you read you'll be going 920ft through the middle of the park, and beating the last wall of trees justifies the par 5. 17 has a very interesting design, with a low ceiling off the tee and tree placement that encourages control off the tee then a big drive on the second shot, with the landing being important to zip into the green for a 4. It's not the hardest hole to birdie, but messing up the placement or going for broke off the tee is a good way to take a par or worse.

Design is the weakest part of this course. Holes 1, 7, and 16-18 all play next to or across a walking path, holes 1, 5, 6, and 9 are all open air, and the baskets of 2-4 are much too close to the tees of 3-5 to be "safe." On top of this, if hole 4 thinks that a 3ft strip of that orange mesh construction fencing just to take away the straight line is an "obstacle" that I'm not gonna complain about, it's wrong.

Holes 7 and 13 are not par 4s. 407 and 330 downhill respectively are not enough of a challenge to warrant a 4. Switch them to a 3 on your scorecard and enjoy the rest of this par 60.

None of them are horrible, but none of the par 3s really do anything to separate themselves from each other besides being super short (6) or super wooded (18).

This course has some big weaknesses to improve on. Defining official OB and making some safety fixes would bring the overall value of this course up, but combined with the other Ottawa course this makes for a fine day trip from Kansas City or Emporia. Not the flashiest or best of courses, but it's not boring and worth your time if you want a solid small town park experience.

Make sure you search for the park itself and not specifically the disc golf course on your maps app or it takes you to the wrong side of the park where there's no parking lot.

Kanza Park is a really nice park, all grass covered with ripples on the surface that are too meek to be called hills. The trees are spread around sparingly, and are significant enough to be in play in some manner on most holes.

A course map in the parking lot will give you the layout, and the tapered concrete tees indicate direction to the pin. The baskets are really nice models, and also have concrete pads to hold them steadily in place.

Making the most of the vegetation on site, but there are a few wide open rippers with two par 5 holes, and some par 4's thrown in too. If the wind is blowing, things will get a lot more interesting.

Holes 2 and 3 have nice clusters of trees around the pins, and hole 10 is a fun little ace run. Hole 17 has good trees coming out of the box. Very roomy and good for practicing controlled drives and approaches. Beginner friendly, with no water or heavy rough.

As well groomed and nicely equipped as it is, Kanza Park is fairly tame. No real elevation change, few trees and part time breezes are about all of the obstacles you will face there.

Mind the walking trails that are alongside some of the holes. Plenty of pedestrians were out there walking off the Thanksgiving lunches on the beautiful afternoon I came into town.

It is 18 holes, and the layout is not bad. I liked the equipment, even with the funky tee pads. Kanza Park is enough to give you a game, but it's not the most exhilarating round.

Still, it's well designed and executed, and is worth a look if you don't have too far to travel, or find yourself in Ottawa, KS for some reason.

I did not fair well on the score card on my single round played there. 67 (+6) with only one birdie. Maybe my firecracker for breakfast or holiday libations factored into my poor putting, but I couldn't sink one to save my life. If nothing else, I need to return to Kanza Park to try and restore my confidence. Feels like I should have been much closer to par.

this was a good course with a variety of shots and distances. Fairly open but enough trees to offer some challenge.

Tees, it was a pretty wet day so had to watch some low muddy spots especially when throwing to hole 14.

I played this for a tournament so alternate tees were set up. I preferred throwing from the grass than the triangle tees

The course is never packed with people, (there's not alot of us disc golfers in Ottawa) so its easy to get on at any time. You get to have a wide variety of holes, in the distance and the way you must play them.

The tee pads are by far the worst part, do yourself a favor and tee off from the grass beside the pads. The baskets also aren't the best, but they do the job.

I played a tournament here with the courses designer, and there are a few tweaks to the course that make it a little better. On number 8, instead of teeing off from the normal pad, move back about 20 yards to the bench on the walking trail, this will make the hole a little more longer and difficult. Also on number 14 there is a mando that requires you fly it between the creek and a tree, making it about 30 feet wide at that point, it's about 2/3's of the way through the hole, I'll take some pictures next time I play and add them. Overall a fun course.

Good variety of long and short holes. Fun park. Back nine is much longer than front, but all holes are a good mix and a good challenge.

Tee pads. Weird. Why the little triangle point? Good that it points at the hole, but a little weird nonetheless.

Nice baskets. Large holes. The course is never busy.

Weird tee pads. I think they are there for directions only. Well mowed.

I don't think anyone in Ottawa plays disc golf. I have never seen anyone there. If your from Lawrence it is worth the drive for 18 holes.