Its a great beginner course. Hole ones layout playing behind the oak forces beginners to practice both low ceiling and uphill shot. This course is open and that draws a focus on the accuracy of your game. Decent use the elevation.

Its not the original 18 and cant see the point in having two baskets per hole.

Plain and simple its no built to cater to pro calibre players. Its built for families and new players to enjoy and hone their skills on. That's not to say pro calibre players wont find layouts they enjoy, you just have to use your mind and find the lines you want to practice.

Nice concrete tee pads, baskets were clean. Park was in great condition with plenty of parking and restrooms and fountains available. The course itself was in general simple to follow, signs were easily spotted and marked very well. Grass was cut well and the holes were good for a 9-hole course.

it was only 9 holes. shots were redundant and fairly wide open. there was not much use of elevation or obstacles. the holes were short which was a let down. Hole 7 was just randomly placed by the parks department from what I understood and it is really lacking. There was also a listed Par 2 which was a long putt or soft drive.

with the addition of alternate tees by the saturday morning league players it was interesting and there is an opportunity that they could put them in permanently if they pushed for it in my mind. location was great and it really is nice park.

Nice distance on several of the holes. Decently maintained tees make for a nice course to pratice on. Several of the holes on this course have some beautiful old trees that make for a nice scenic game. Nice changes in elevation that makes a mostly open course a little more challenging.

The biggest con in this course is the poor signage. It used to be 18 and now its nine and the course really is hurt by that. Some holes have signs. Some dont. Hole 7 is completly unmarked and is a short and pointless hole. Too many open holes which makes it pretty boring to play often.

Overall, not the worst course but certainly not the best. The elevation changes are the highlight and its worth playing just for that feature. Hole 7 is unmarked and theres 2 baskets nearby. Youll want to throw at the basket at the top of the hill and to the right rather than the one at the bottom of the hill. Hole 8 and 9 are labled as hole 17 and 18. Overall if your in the Bloomington area its worth playing all 3 courses and making your own judgement on which courses are the best but i find that Sherwood is generally the same difficulty level but alot nicer. And Cresmont is alot more challeging and of a course.

Although the course is fairly open, it still takes a very good shot on most holes to get you a birdie. There are trees on nearly every hole that come into play, but no ceiling limits for the most part. There are alternate tees, but there aren't alternate concrete tee pads. Look for pairs of little colored flags (like one might see marking a gas line underground) that mark the alternate tees -- which are a nice change of pace and require more challenging shots, IMO. The course is well maintained and very clean. Restrooms and water fountain on site.

The loss of those 10 holes really puts a damper on the course.
Only 9 holes (18 if you play alternates).
Some very, very short holes.

Karst used to be an outstanding (4+) 18 hole course, but the nearby fairground annexed back land it had loaned to the complex and 10 holes were subsequently lost. I had heard chatter of a new 9 being put in, but that didn't happen during my stay in Bloomington.

UPDATE (9/10) - The baskets that were used on the old back 9 have been placed again. They're all located within 20 feet of another basket. Now there are two targets to shoot for, but unfortunately it doesn't change a single shot.