Pros:
- Busy multi-use park next to a school featuring lots of amenities such as playground, fitness area, walking paths, whiffleball, baseball, football, and soccer fields, tennis courts, etc. now welcomes a beginner level nine-hole disc golf course.
- Concrete tees, descriptive signage, dual pin positions on hole #'s 3, 4, 6, & 8. Longer pins allow for bigger arms and intermediate players to stretch out a bit. Distances range from a nice mix of 210'-550'. Nice new baskets, next tee directions currently spray painted in orange on the grass. Look for the arrows after each basket. This should probably be replaced with tape or "next tee" signage directly on the basket but for now is sufficient for successful navigation.
- Great use of elevation for the park. Kesling Park has one shred of elevation, and the course utilizes it beautifully. Hole #'s 5 & 7 go up, and 6 & 9 play downhill. Nice bombers for an otherwise completely flat piece of land. So kudos here. I've actually been in this park, with kiddo, throwing condor shots from the exact same hill, prior to any hint of a course...so, they used the areas I'd want them to use.
- Good use of trees. A nice mix of deciduous and coniferous species without any real schule or undergrowth in which to lose a disc, while still affecting play from a scoring/shot selection standpoint.
Cons:
- The course is in a busy multiuse park and is encircled by a walking path that sees a lot of action; however, the course for the most part stays away from the busiest parts. Only #1 is really in conflict.
- A few benches atop the hill should probably be removed, as they are now in blind killshot zones for #'s 5 & 7.
- A bit zig-zaggy in flow, but for sole purpose of maximizing elevation, so not really a big deal. May come into effect if course is busy at all.
-UPDATE: Course seems to have pins pulled during winter. Rating now reflects Kesling's part-time status.
Other Thoughts:
- Lil' Juke cut his teeth running cross country in this park many moons ago, doing wind sprints up and down the hill at the center of this design. If this was the park La Porte's first disc golf course was going to be in, this is probably the best area of it to be used. Solid beginner style holes, with reasonably fun layout.
- I'd never imagine LP having a disc golf course, but now the whole "beginner niner at local school" thing seems ubiquitous: so why not Kesling Park? I guess the times they are a'changin'...