This is a beautiful state park on the shore of an impoundment about 20 minutes south of I-20 to the east of Shreveport, Louisiana. The course winds through open, moderately wooded and forest areas around the lake. The first five holes stick close to the lake shore in a moderately wooded area with hole 4 having a short water carry. Hole 5 is followed by a tunnel shot and then two holes that go through a large open area. Hole 9 follows a power line right of way with significant elevation change (first down and then up if the basket is in the long position). Holes 10-14 go through forest with several of the holes following old roads. The last four holes bring you back out into the moderately wooded areas around the lake shore with the last three having the lake to the right.

When I played, the lake had been drawn down, so I did not get to experience any danger of a lost disc, but it appears that this danger is pretty low, even on the hole with the water carry.

This course is only moderately technical but it still offers a lot of challenge and I found it to be a fun course to play. It starts at parking lot by the lake and finishes at a pavilion near that parking lot. The transitions from forest to moderately wooded areas keep the course from being only technical and give the opportunity to use those distance drivers occasionally.

The Pavilion has bathrooms and is a good place to rest and enjoy refreshments after the round.

There is a good mix of hole difficulty with only a few holes that don't require some amount of shot shaping. In comparison to Lake Claiborne, one of the three State Park courses in North Louisiana, this course is more open, with a little more involvement of the lake as a hazard.

It is only $2 per person to play all day. There are camping and cabins on site with at least one of the cabins right on the course.

Navigation is not all that straightforward. The course needs better signage. In some cases, the signs are there and we had no problem finding our way from 9 to 10 despite a bit of a walk between those holes. But other holes, such as 16, weren't as easy to find, even with one member of our group having played before. We also had to scout ahead to find the basket on several holes because there was no meaningful tee sign and no way to determine what basket position was in use.

There is precious little elevation on this course - another distinction from Lake Claiborne. The only holes with any elevation were 9 and 16, and even on those holes, the elevation change was not much of a factor.

Holes 7 and 8 just don't fit all that well with the rest of the course IMO. Hole 7 is a very long hole that is wide open for the first two throws. Just throw as far as you can twice before you throw into the woods toward the basket. Hole 8 has a mando and isn't as wide open, but it also sticks out from the rest of the course and I think, along with 7, it doesn't live up to the challenge and fun standard of the rest of the course.

Before the course at Lake Claiborne was built, this course had the highest course rating in Louisiana and it is apparent to me that it certainly deserved that distinction. This is a course that left me wanting to play it again.

This is also a course, along with Lake Claiborne, that should be considered by anyone traveling through Louisiana on I-20 and looking to play disc golf. It is well worth the effort and is the quickest detour from that route of any of the State Park courses in North Louisiana.

Good mix of long/short holes, water holes, "tunnel" holes, etc.
Discatcher baskets.
Mostly shaded.
Bathrooms & water fountains

Usually high humidity & mosquitoes.
Tiring to play during the summer.

Small fee to get into the park.
Can be confusing to navigate - be sure to get a map at the entrance!

Lake Bistineau DGC is an excellent course located next to a very cool lake. There are plenty of trees to negotiate on holes that cover a full range of left/right shots at varying distances. The lake is near the course in places, but only once did I throw near the water. It looked to be lower than normal perhaps. There are dual pin placements on many holes, and a few of the longest holes offer short tees if you don't feel up to those 800 footers. Tee boxes were natural and generally nice and level. All tees had numbered posts with distance to both pin positions. Each of the baskets was in decent condition. There are benches, tables, and trash cans placed all through the course. Scorecards with a map are available at the park entrance.

A more detailed map would have helped in negotiating the course. The layout had some long walks between holes that weren't well marked. I never played here before, so baskets that were not visible from the tee pads gave me some trouble, also. Some of the grassy tees had pine needles slightly compromising the footing. Bug spray may be a good idea. There were plumes of gnats around the last three holes, and we were warned about some kind of mites at the park entrance.

I enjoyed this course very much, and would love to play it again. Definitely on my list of favorites. Some upgrades with maps, signage, and maybe concrete tee pads would boost my rating, but it is a great time all the same. Will test your skills in accuracy, and power. Birdies are possible, but you got to be on your game to shoot a low score on this beast.

Tough course. Wide variety of holes. Very clean, no trash anywhere. There were very few easy holes.

Tee boxes could be better. Lake is drained so it doesn't look as nice as it could have. Sometimes it's a bit hard to navigate.

Very nice park. One dollar to enter per person for parking, but it's well worth it for the course. Bring a map or know where you're going. Even playing scrambles it was a little difficult. Tons of tight shots and slim fairways.

4X4 posts marked every tee
Distance listed for both hole locations
a few short tees on some holes
water available after hole 8.
multiple hole locations
good mix of left/righty shots
nice water shots
Only $1 per person to play all day!
regularly mowed!

Map was TERRIBLE
park rangers seem to not even acknowledge the disc golf course here

construction on holes 15-18 should be done by end of August 2012 but they failed to tell me this on the way in. I played them anyway.
Some holes were in long and some were in short so most of the time you are teeing off blind

natural tees were not in the best condition

The map was horrendous. Very hard to find hole 16 and I had played the course a few times 2 years before. Map needs to be revised to include short and long position. It seemed to only have the long position on the map and sometimes the short position would be the opposite direction. Park rangers don't care about disc golf. They didn't even know the State Championship was going to be hosted here in a little over a month. Great long course that is tournament material.

This course in the longs will test your skills. A very unique course with lots of old trees and spanish moss. Camping is available. This is one of the best I have played.

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If traveling through, DO NOT play any other course. You will not be disappointed

The state park itself is beautiful and set far enough away from the city and main roads that it feels very secluded. Wildlife abounds, including deer and alligators (though I believe the gators are rarely seen near the course).

The course is quite wooded and very technical, but mostly flat...there are only 2-3 "open" shots that allow you to really let one loose without worrying about your shot being "tree-nied". Several lake-side holes surrounded by Cypress trees w/ hanging moss make for some great scenery. 2 pin locations on most holes add some variety for tourneys, but they aren't moved very often otherwise. Good variety of shots required to shoot well, nice facilities, cabins for rent (2 are actually on the course), and several very unique shots. My favorites holes are #3-short (shooting through a small gap in the Spanish moss for an ace run), #7 (700' through an open field with a few trees, then 100+' through a tunnel cut into dense woods), and #9-long (mini ski-slope type hole with dense woods on both sides of a 30' wide fairway).

Last time I played (a few months ago), the only signs were 4x4s in the ground and small green arrows showing the general direction of the next tee...can be a little confusing your first time through without a guide. All tees are natural right now...which I personally like, but many others might not. Not very beginner friendly...unless you're a beginner that likes a real challenge. Bring bug spray for the swamp mosquitos!!!

**Update - distance and number signage has been added to the existing 4x4 posts marking each hole**

The new pin placement on Hole 13 (right side) is pretty cool, but definitely needs some clearing done. There is only a 2-3' wide gap in the rough surrounding the basket, and only about a 5' radius around the basket has been cleared so far.

Once some better signs and good tees are installed, this will be a superb course. Last time a played there were flags marking alternate tees on most holes..hopefully those will be finalized soon. The park employees have seen a huge increase in park attendance since the course was installed, and if those numbers stay the same there might be a 2nd course coming soon! If you play, stop by the office to pay your $1 entry fee and make sure you tell them you're ther for the disc golf.

All holes are clearly marked,and a map is available at the check in office. There is a beautiful camp ground with other activities available such as bike rentals,canoe rentals,a swimming area in the summer,group lodges and pavilians. There is even a little gift shop where you may purchase Discs for a reasonable price.

All the trees draped with Spanish Moss pose a big challenge .(But That is one thing we all love.)All tee's are grass. None of the baskets are marked as to par ,so I assume they are all a 3. This poses a huge challenge for the novice player such as myself. A couple of holes are 800+ ft.

While it may sound as if I am complaining about the challenge of the course these are just the thoughts of a novice player who loves the game and just played this course the first time. I would highly recomend taking the family and make a vacation of it. (We are booked for a wk the end of Feb.)