- Has all the essentials (cement tees / garbage cans / benches etc)
- Two practice holes
- Two starting points (Hole 1 or Back 9)
- Love the Back 9
- Kept some of the classics

- Despite two starting points, course still gets VERY crowded. Don't even try to play on 4/20 lol
- Not enough RHBH holes (The guy who re-designed it throws predominately forehand)
-

While I am an advocate of DG and encourage everyone I know to try it I have to say I often find a unique type of people at this course which I could do without (Groups with 10+ people, people throwing before you're clear, lots of people littering / vandalizing). I know that's almost expected at any course but it's more so at Kensington, enough to make mention of it anyway. It has to be because of the sheer amount of traffic this course gets on a daily basis you're prone to get your fair share of people who disrespect the course. But the other 99% of people who play here are fantastic.

First course I ever played (well the original) so it will always be special to me.

*27 holes
*short and long tees on 19 holes
*long cement tee pads
* tee signs with hole#, distance, and crude carved map of hole
*elevation changes abound
*vast space
*good flow from hole to hole
*good hole variety with more technical short holes on 1-18 and slightly longer, slightly more open holes on 19-27
*Basket for 18 sits atop a tree stump (check it out in media, I think it looks very cool)
*Most long tees add elevation to make the distance increase more manageable and fun
*Directly across park road from Martindale beach anbd all its many amenities (bathrooms, beach, water slide, seasonal snack bar, grills picnic tables, baseball diamond, and I might actually be forgetting something
*well maintained (the positive aspect of pay to play)
*more than challenging enough for most with many holes going through heavy woods but there is not much underbrush meaning that there some holes look almost impossible but can actually be quite fun (my favorite type of hole)
*Plenty picnic tables and trash cans
*The black locust tree that the course was named after is all over the course, beautiful, has tiny leaves so its leaves will not hide a disc on the fairway in the fall, and is very sparse until the top of the tree, again making many wooded holes look more difficult than they are but fun to play
*The type of flora combined with the extreme doglegs and blind baskets meant that several shots I thought were horrible turned out to be some of my better drives (I thought they faded too early but it turns out I was finding shortcuts through the black locust trees to the basket)
*vast, scenic holes
*the drive from exit 153 (Kent Lake rd) on I96 to the course is at most 5 minutes
*some welcome seclusion on certain holes and scenic views from most

*can get crowded despite being pay to play
*tons of blind tee shots (go with someone who knows the course or be prepared to make an extra trip to see the basket before throwing on these holes)
*No water holes

can't wait to play this again

This course is one of the more challenging courses i have played. It has a nice variety of holes and many distance and height changes within it. I live about an hour from the course but would play again. The locals are very friendly as well as the park rangers. Very beautiful and scenic with great signage and plenty of garbage cans and benches.

Confused on, he need for both short and long tees. They were only about 100 feet apart and not much more challenging. Careful of the thorns near the sides of the fairway. That could have been maintained better.

It was worth it in general and had a great time playing. Would love to see some tournaments here.

**27 holes, seemed LHBH/RHFH dominant, a good number of holes did bend left. I would say only 4-5 of them were significantly 'out of the woods'. Everything else played into woods, or betreed copses scattered throughout fairways. Really dynamic course though, lots of different shots required to score well. I threw a handful of OH, some RHBH(I'm a RHFH/LHBH ambidextrous weirdo), needed a roller or two. No monotony here, folks!

**Pro/Am tees at most holes, otherwise suggested par varies from 3-5 for ams, and strictly 3 for pros when sharing tee pads.

**Great mix of terrain, you'll play through open field fairways, spotty trees w/ mulch/sand, hills up and down of various grades/heights, shady lush woods.

**Seating and garbage cans ABOUND! very clean course litter wise, and plenty of shady spots to rest on hot days (yesterday it was 102*, really enjoyed the picnic tables!)

**Probably because it was so hot, we only came across two other groups, one was a father/son pair who were super nice and gladly allowed my buddy and I to play through. The other dudes seemed like they were on their home course, real nice guys as well and kept their pace the rest of the way through. The Park Ranger was actually an OG too, pretty cool guy.

**We found it pretty easy to get turned around looking for the next tee. Threw backwards off of 3 across the fairway of 19, went on an abbreviated nature hike when we went the wrong way from the chains in the woods.

**Kind of akin to the last bullet, a handful of chains were hidden atop a hill. You get left with your best guess, generally "ah, must be tucked up and right" lol.. Might not be a con, just seemed like a cheap way to get a stroke out of a first-timer.

**Some of the roughs are really.. friggin.. thick. We luckily held onto all of our discs yesterday. Keep your shots straight and you'll be a happy golfer.

**It may have just been my bad luck, but I found a tick on my calf after getting a disc out of some tall grass. Luckily hadn't started to bite yet and I flicked the lil punk away, but let it be known, Kensington is in the sticks, y'all. Bring bug-spray and be vigilant about ticks, snakes (I'm sure they're out there) and other assorted oddities.

**If its warm out, go jump in the lake after your round!

+2 sets of tees
+27 holes
+Well groomed
+"Fair" Fairways
+Beautiful Environment
+Challenging without being too daunting

+seemed like it was fairly popular and thus could get crowded.
+tee signs could be much more informative, but they were in nice condition.

I loved playing this course. I ended up here after getting the snot beat out of me at Hudson Mills Monster and this course put a smile back on my face.

Certainly not the most challenging, but that by no means it was an easy layout, especially from the longs. What it did have in spades, I thought, were fun shots. Some real nice elevation changes, a variety of bends to the fairways. I especially enjoyed the long snaking fairways of the last 9 holes.

Well worth the visit and $.

Long cement T-pads
27 holes
Amazing park

Lots of tall grass
Majority of holes were left to right

Like others have said, you could spend a day or two just exploring the park. The place is huge and seems like a fantastic park.

Like the Tunnel the tee pads are great. Pay to play seems to allow the course to be maintained better. Have always like the defined fairways, high rough and lack of trash. The course used only some of the old Tunnel holes but did change basket placement to improve the difficulty. Most holes are left to right but not so much to not be able to make most in par.

I did like the additional 9 due to the increased length. Next time it will be better knowing exactly the basket placement.

Use of the elevation changes made up for the lack of shot types needed.

Kiosk was closed probably due to the time of year.

There was not a great variety of shots beyond a slight anhyzer followed by moderate approach and a solid put.

Wish some of the old Tunnel holes had been kept. Seems like only from 5 through some of the alternates were kept.

The long concrete tee pads are great. They are all clean, in good shape, and long enough for any run up. In addition, most holes have two tees to provide challenge for advanced and beginner players alike.

Fairways are well maintained and fair. High scores will come from bad throws rather than unlucky tree hits.

Each hole has signage for both tees. The basic shape of the hole and it's distance are listed. It would be nice to see a little more detailed diagram, but the basic info is all there.

There is a little kiosk to pay your $2/person fee. The nice thing about this is that it stays manned. So first timers especially have a nice source of information available.

At the kiosk, there are plenty of scorecards and pencils available. The cards themselves have distances listed for each tee as well as a helpful course map on the back.

The overall design of the course lacks creativity. Most holes are mostly straight with a slight left-to-right fade at the end. This certainly rewards the RHFH and LHBH players and does not challenge a player's line shaping ability. On the same token, there are very few holes that offer multiple shot options.

Litter was a problem. On a pay-to-play course that is staffed, there could be much better cleanup done.

On the open holes, the tall grass can really eat discs. Anything off the fairway can be difficult to find if you lose track of exactly where it landed.

Next tee signs would be helpful. Although the layout is fairly intuitive, there were a couple points where we weren't sure which path to take.

Despite my complaints about the layout, I still consider this a nice course. I will certainly return next time I am in the area.

I also would like to explore more of the park. This course is on a huge park with lots to do in addition to disc golf. It would be very easy to spend an entire day here.

Great mix of every shot in your bag.
Pay to play.
Maintaind well by the park.
Best tee pads I have ever played on (long and wide).

To many casuals who trash the course and break trees, litter, and are loud.

My home course.
Only on really nice days are casuals a problem, most are courtious.

Great Use of land
Great Terrain changes
Tight shots & Open shots
27 Holes
HUGE teepads
Alternate teepads
Very clean
Port o Potties
Benches
Tee Signs
Garbage Cans
Nice score cards

Well over half of the holes play left to right. Other than that, I didn't really find anything to complain about.

Today was my first time playing Black Locust and I can easily say that it is the best course that I have played (10). This course offers excellent use of terrain. There are plenty of elevation changes. There was a great selection of open and tight holes. I was challenged plenty of times on the tighter holes.

It is also very nice that there are alternate tee pads for almost every hole. We played the long tees and that made for a nice long course. All 27 holes add up to just short of 10,000 feet!!

The only real negative that I found was that the majority of the holes play left to right and some seem a little repetitive. There were quite a few holes where you just flick a short forehand out 250-300, let it break to the right and post it. I think that the different terrain and different paths cut into the trees made up for it though.

I found myself using quite a few different shots to get around this course, but I can see where it might get very simplified the more that you play it.

Overall I loved it and will make plans to come down and play it as much as possible!!

Huge Concrete Tee Pads
Pro & Am Tee Pads on Many Holes
Tee Signs (Posts) on Both Pro & Am Tees
27-Holes
Easy To Navigate
Distances Vary
Benches and Trash Cans Throughout The Course
Restrooms (Port-O-Jons) On-Site
Flush Toilets and Other Amenities Throughout The Park
Very Well-Maintained
Friendly Staff
Scorecards & Pencils Available at Pay Booth
Large Map & Bulletin Board At Start/End of Course
Good Flow (No Long Walks Between Holes)
Holes 18 & 27 End at Parking Lot

Some Holes Seem Repetitive
Restrooms Could Be Cleaner
Can Get Crowded
Tee Sign Maps Could Be More Descriptive/Accurate

The Black Locust Course in Kensington Metro Park is a beautiful and very well-maintained 27-hole course. To get to the course take US-96 to exit 153 (Huron River Parkway) and head north until you reach the entrance station. Once you pay ($5.00 per vehicle) for parking continue for .3 miles and make a right into the parking lot across the street from the water park.

From the parking lot you should be able to see the bulletin board/map , practice baskets, and booth to pay for your rounds. Disc golf is $2.00 per person, per day. While all the fees may seem steep, the fees are also good for entrance and disc golf at the nearby Hudson Mills Metro Park which boasts an amazing forty-eight unique holes over two courses providing you with seventy-five great holes of disc golf. Once you pay for your rounds continue past the booth and to the left to locate the first tee pad.

I really enjoyed this course. The designers did a wonderful job of using the natural obstacles and elevation to create some truly unique holes. From the moment you step onto the first tee pad you can see you are in for a great round of disc golf. The perfectly manicured fairways and long concrete tee pads are just the beginning when it comes to the nice amenities this course and park have to offer.

The course has a good variety of both open and wooded holes, but even the open holes have very defined fairways. While the rough along the fairways isn't always brutal, it can be punishing requiring you to lay up or work really hard to come out with a decent score if your shot is off target. Another plus on this course is the nice variety of distances it has to offer. Not only from hole to hole, but the distances and shots from the long and short tee pads can be drastic. From hole 1 the designers prove that with the long tee being a 520ft shot from hill top to hill top, while the short tee is just over 300ft from the valley, shooting uphill.

The only real cons or downside to this course is the lack of shot types required to do well here. Most holes are your standard Hyzer and Anhyzer throws with a couple of straight shots and one decent S-curve thrown in. I did not see a single hole throughout the course that would require you to think outside the box, or try out a roller or overhand shot and many, at least half, of the holes are left to right making this a very LHBH or RHFH dominate course.

With all of that said the pros on this course definitely outweigh the cons making this another great course in the Detroit/Ann Arbor area and a must play when the neighboring (temporary) Toboggan Course is set up. When you do stop by try to get there early if you want to avoid the crowds and, like any course in the area, bring plenty of big spray there are tons of mosquitoes.

These were by far the best tee pads that I have ever played on period. So nice and big. The course is 27 holes of fun with a good mix of open and tight holes. The design makes good use of the natural setting without being overly ambitious with its land use. The tee signs were very nice and it was super cool to see that there were shorter tee pads on all the holes that needed a shorter tee pad and on many other holes. The shorter pads make it more fun for better players to play with more novice players. The course gets no outside traffic and has the feel of a country club. The course is well maintained, though one would expect that with having to pay to play. It is nice that the layout basically has an 18 hole course and a 9 hole course for those who may just want to get in a quick nine holes. There are really nice score cards at the booth. The par listed on the cards is very accurate as to what one might expect to shoot. This course was not out of reason for a beginning player.

There does feel like some repeatative holes. How many times can you throw that slight left to right shot through a tight tunnel? It is a pay to play course which is always a negative if you ask me. The tee signs though very nice did not always give you a good representation of how much each hole bends. Traffic at this course has to be bad, as it was very busy in the middle of the afternoon on a Thursday when I played. The bugs on this course are really bad. Literally put on the bug spray and two holes later had to put it on again. The back 9 or last 9 are the worst for bugs by far. If you are playing in the off season you technically have to go somewhere else in the park to pay before you play.

This was a really fun course to play. I happened to like most of the longer holes on this course and was only frustrated a couple of times with the tight holes. Still the tight holes were fair. This is one of those courses that you will definately want to play though there are a few things that detract from it.

-Well maintained
-Long concrete pads
-Easy to Navigate
-lots of variation in hole design
-Lots of benches for resting while waiting

-High grass and thick woods off the fairway, easy to lose a disc
-Lots of blind holes, partially good and partially bad
-Pay to play... but its worth it.

huge course, they open up an extra 9 holes at peak season, lot of tournaments-great course for right or left handed peeps, pretty nice hole lay-out

lots of trees, tall grass, lost discs often, but dont let that get u down it pays off u find a lot of discs too!

try to concentrate!

Nice landscaping and park maintained. Also helped me work on my anhyzer for 24 holes. Playing from the pro tees that is. The short tees make it an easy course.

There was not enough variety on the course. All tournaments at kensington should be on Tobaggon.

went there to play tobaggon but the am nationals were going on. tobaggon looks sick.

Nice length.
Nice variety of open, and wooded shots

I like a course that has a variety of shots going right, left, and center.. (6 of each to mike a nice 18 holes) but this course just goes insane with putting baskets on the right. Most of the holes that could be straight shots have the baskets along the right side of the fairway too. It was designed by someone who threw forehand, and it shows.

The course is not bad, but instead of challenging me to throw many different shots, I just found myself working on my anny shots.

Really solid hardware. The concrete pads are all in good shape and large. The baskets are adequate and above. The signage could be better in terms of hole diagrams. But, the important information is made clear in aesthetically pleasing fashion. Sadly, vandals' penises adorn some of them.

The course is well-maintained and fairly free of trash, but not immaculate. Bottles and cans are occasionally present to trick your eye while looking for plastic. They do a nice job of keeping the pads clean.

The course makes good use of a mix of holes from the old Tunnel course and newly built holes. Navigation is primarily smooth (excepting the Black Locust cherries who without fail head towards the wasteland/dirtpile/old Tunnel teepad after #5). The course flows well and has numerous spots to take a sit at a picnic table and rest. Many of these spots offer some welcome seclusion.

The holes are varied in both distance and shot requirements. Pro and Am teepads on many holes add more variety. The first 18 doesn't have any huge holes, but there are a couple opportunities to let fly. And, the pros add some length. The first 18 does a better job with wooded finesse shots and ace runs, which are plenty. The all-new 19-27 (the back) add substantial length, especially from the pros. The back offers more isolation as well. The holes are interesting and challenging, and include wooded finesse and open power shots.

Black Locust is in a strong facility. There are port-a-cans onsite at the course. Running water can be found across the street at the beach complex and also at a blockhouse of bathrooms near the ballfields. I think the beach complex has a snack bar that is open seasonally. I've never eaten there.

Holden's near the Milford Rd. park entrance is the joint for discs and provisions.

The course is pay to play.

Although the back adds some length to the course, there is a shortage of holes that permit a power shot.

Most of the greens are fairly pedestrian. Other than #27, none of them really punish aggressive misses at the pin.

If you don't have a shot that can reliably handle left to right lines this course could get frustrating. Some complain that the new course favors lefties and rhfh too much.

Peak summer hours can be dreadful for crowds. Large groups of people tend to proliferate, each possessing only the thinnest connection to this concept 'disc golf.' The advent of pay to play has whacked some of these fools, but not all.

It's not free.

There are no water hazards.

Course lacks a signature hole.

Kensington is my home course and I have deep affection for the entire park. It's beautiful in all seasons.

I was bummed when they moved the course and I still miss a couple of the old holes. I believe that in the moving process Kensington lost its signature hole, #14.

Despite this loss, the new design and new holes come together to produce a very strong course. If I included in this review the amount of fun I've had at Kensington, it would have been a 4.5.

As for the crowds, timing is everything. Early = good.

This is the best course ever made! (in michigan) it is a lot of fun. i go almost everyday

the entry fee is the worst part even though its not much at all

i love this course more then any other course ive ever been to

Course maintained, combination of tight woods shots or wide open bombs. Technical, Chainstar Baskets.

None that I can think of.

This is my home course and absolutely love it. With the hilly terrain and tight woods shots this course will force you into taking the right shot or you may pay dearly.

Good mix of holes, short and long. Pro tees offer the allowance of testing your arm strength and other holes test your technical ability

if you throw into the woods on some holes you may not find your disc

bug spray