Lafayette town hall DGC is still very much in it's early stages. Sounds like it's eventually going to be an 18. That'd be a big boost for this area, which is otherwise lacking for full 18 hole courses. Tower Ridge I and II are the only ones of note nearby. And to be honest have been carrying this area on their back for far too long.

The baskets here are nice. Light green Prodigies. Not my favorite type, but really good. They put some bright orange tape along the top band to help locate them. This was much appreciated. One pin position per hole as far as I could tell. Again, very early stages of development.

The tee pads were very nice. Level, really grippy concrete starting wider at the back and funneling to a smaller front section that points you towards the intended line/path. One tee pad per hole.

There was signage. Very basic. The next tee signs are more important to be honest at this juncture. There's some pretty lengthy walks between holes but the well placed signs get you from one hole to the next with little to no issue.

The property here is moderately wooded with some solid elevation for this part of WI. I liked the design thus far and am excited to see what the final product will look like. Out of the nine holes, the majority are tough, wooded holes requiring pretty specific lines/shapes to hit. The elevation is used well. This is more of a "modern" style course. What I mean by that is lengthier. Which is what this area needs. The par 4's require accurate well placed shots to have a chance at birdie. The rough isn't too terrible in most places. It is in others though.

The course won't be crowded as is currently. Even when completed it's far enough away from most things that you'll probably never be waiting behind others. Beautiful area of the state. The course was clean and as well maintained as could be expected.

The course is free to play, permanent and in nice shape. Good little hike if you're into that type of thing.

Take any of these cons with a grain of salt as it's still very new.

The walks from hole to hole are pretty long in places. holes 1 to 2, 2 to 3 and 6 to 7 being the main culprits. The walk to hole 1 and back to the lot are pretty lengthy as well. This is not a very quick play for being only 9 holes.

The baskets, while I don't mind the Prodigies, Why that light green? It's basically invisible in WI when there is leaf cover. I'd honestly prefer grey/silver. The orange tape definitely helped. Also looks kinda sloppy.

The tee signs are not really helpful currently. I'm going to assume that these are kind of just bridge the gap until it's finished deals if that makes sense. Hole # is about all you can gleen from them. The next tee signs are very helpful though.

The wood chips here aren't exactly "chips". I, not happily, referred to them as wood "logs". These cover fairways in quite a few areas. Not ideal, and I've never really seen something like this. Not impressed with these.

Hole 7 was anticlimactic towards the end of the round. Being surrounded by all these gorgeous trees, then a wide open, wood chipped fairway to a basket tucked behind a few pines. And after that long walk. Didn't dig that one at all. Hole 8 went the other way. Short poke and hope. Hole 8 was a transitional hole, but 7 felt like filler.

I played this course as the last one on a very long road trip. Course 47 out 47 in 11 days. It was unusually humid and hot too. I waited to review it due to those factors. Mulling over it, I liked it. As I've said so many times, it's still brand new. There's a lot of potential here, and Steve West has tapped into that potential on the initial 9. I'm actually eagerly awaiting where and what the back/other 9 holes will entail. Where they'll even be located.

As is, I'd definitely recommend this if you're nearby. Expect longer than usual for your typical 9, especially by Eau Claire standards. But you'll most likely enjoy what Lafayette has to offer. This is a great start to what this area desperately needs. I'm on board for sure. Love the first nine, eager to see the back nine. Not a must play now. Hopefully it's a can't miss 18. We shall see.

Well maintained

Could use a little extra grooming, no map.

Parking is a bit confusing, with the electric gate.

1) This course is technical and challenging yet remains fair. The two par 4s are pretty getable by most players, but some of the par 3s are serious pro level holes (2, 5, and 6). I see lines available to get to an area to make a putt on those holes, but they are well beyond what I can expect to do even halfway consistently. Though, there are safe layup zones so the holes are still fun to play and don't just become punishment if you can't throw the shot the hole asks for. On many holes here the design does really well to punish a poor shot and put a good shot in putting range but getting a tap in (especially on the harder holes) takes something nearly perfect. Exactly my idea of what makes good hole design.

2) In a similar vein, on hole design, there is plenty of variety here. As much as one could reasonably ask for on a 9-hole course. Hole 1 is a technical par 4 with a tight gap to hit 200ft-ish down the fairway before it bends off to the left. Very gettable, but still challenging. Holes 2, 5, and 6 are all huge flex shots of some variety that will take absolutely perfect execution to get easy putts. Hole 3 is a fun downhill shot with a sneaky low ceiling that bends sharp left. Hole 4 is a must get birdie, definitely the low point of the course but still a fun shot with the steep up slope. Hole 7 is another short, but mostly open, par 4 with the basket tucked in a very tight patch of pines. Landing your drive any bit off of centered up with the gap will leave you a very tricky second shot, so it's still no gimmie. Hole 8 is another flex shot, but it's much shorter than the others and probably has the tightest gap on the course. Then hole 9 is straight ahead, but with some trees dead center that you have to navigate around. There are routes left and right; left is much more open, and right is a better line to get closer to the basket.

3) Despite this course being very technical, probably even enough to challenge pro level players in spots, it still seems accessible to lower skilled players. The fairways are cut wide and there are ample layup opportunities on the harder holes to bite them off in manageable chunks. The rough is very punishing in spots, but if you find yourself in it you truly deserved to be there so the punishment is plenty fair in my opinion. Certainly not a course I'd recommend for someone's first ever round, but a course that almost any player can thoroughly enjoy.

4) The tee pads are large and in perfect condition, could not be better.

5) Baskets are great, Prodigy of some variety. They are unfortunately green, so they can be tough to spot, but that's the only (very minor) issue I have with them.

6) It's designed by our very own par delusionary, Mr. Steve West, so you know the pars are set correctly.

1) The course is brand new and still very rough around the edges. There are lots of stumps and rutted out soil in the fairways from tree removal and the course still feels like it's under construction despite being fully in the ground and playable. I expect this to improve as the course ages, grass grows on some of the fairways, and traffic knocks down some of the thicker rough. Though, I wouldn't really expect this course to see tons of traffic, so it could take quite a long time for this to occur.

2) While the variety and technicality here is truly wonderful there are a couple minor complaints I had while playing. First off, I feel like the 'flex shot with and over stable disc' shot is a little bit over used. Even though all of the shots are very distinct from one another, 4 of the 9 holes (2, 5, 6, and 8) more or less force you to throw that shot shape to get into a scorable position. Second, hole 6 I think needs either one/two of the conifer trees on the left taken out, some of the lower branches of the big hardwood right in front of the tee trimmed up, or some clearing to the right of the big hardwood to open up some sort of straight gap. It's the only hole after playing twice through that I still think is a bit cramped line wise. A little bit of opening it up would still leave the hole plenty hard, but make getting off the tee a little more reasonable.

3) Navigation without a map your first time through will be a doozy. Do yourself a favor and have one handy, the course map on the site here and the UDisc map are both great and will save you some walking in circles. There are also some quite long walks between holes and there isn't any directional signage up. Hopefully that is coming in the future.

4) No tee signs, just posts near the pads. They don't have numbers or distances or anything. Also something that is hopefully coming in the future.

5) Kind of minor, but with how spread out the holes are there feels like a bit of wasted space. If the town only had funding for 9 holes, this is probably the best 9 holes they could have gotten. But there is definitely room for at least a few more if they can/want to ever expand, even while avoiding the previously existing walking trails in the park. Based on my very quick look around while playing, I think another 3, high quality, holes could be fit in to improve the course and smooth out the flow/navigation between holes.

Lafayette Town Hall Park is a good course with some amazing potential for the future and it's very clear that a lot of hard work went into getting it into the ground. If the town can keep up the effort, I see no reason this course won't just continue to get better. Even in its very rough around the edges state it is still the best 9-hole course that I have played as of the writing of this review. As the scars from construction heal, even with no changes to the course I think it might be a 3/5 course in a couple years. With good tee signs, and some directional aid to smooth navigation it would be a 3 right now. And with an extra set of tees and/or a few extra holes in the empty space between holes for added variety it'd almost certainly be a 3.5.

If you live around this area, play this course. If you are driving through the area and have an hour to kill, play this course. If you are visiting nearby Lake Wissota State Park, play this course. I think you get the idea. It's not a course to center a trip around by any means, but well worth your time if you are in within 30 minutes to an hour.