If you want to play Disc Golf in Topeka, you drive down 29th Street. Lake Shawnee takes you down a slight diversion to a fairly generic, but in no way bad, par 3 course with a decent amount of variety and some fun elevation. The down-and-back layout stays in an area of the park just for the course, and all the expected amenities are in place.

I really like the pin placements here. They give a new topping to the hole without changing the underlying flavor. But the distance can vary quite a bit, so you may be changing what disc you throw.

The entire course is on a hill sloping towards the lake, which means the elevation change is exceptional but not extreme. Hole 13 plays down towards the lake, but I also like the bomber on hole 11, and playing slightly uphill on a few others is quite nice.

The course is mostly open, but there are at least a few trees on every hole, and holes 12 and 16 are fairly technical. Changing up the pins gives a little more emphasis on precision as well.

The water holes are pretty fun. You can play safe if you want to (or have a friend play defense), but there is plenty of risk/reward to be had. And it's always clear which baskets are near water, so you're unlikely to get an unexpected roll down a cliff. Only hole 18 plays over water, and while it won't be fun for beginners, you can lay up to only have about 150 feet of water to clear.

A lot of the open holes are, well, too open. This is mostly on holes 2-11, where there's really not much going on. The later holes have a little more thought put into their design, and had more interesting features to work with in the first place.

A few other holes are completely open on one side of the fairway, which means some kind of wide hyzer gets to the basket with no difficulty. Sure, those wide hyzer shots have some variety, but they're still wide hyzers. The water holes are the exception to this.

There aren't any par 4's, which I would have appreciated. One or two open bomber holes over 500 feet are fun on any course, and there just aren't any of those here. I can't even think of any pairs of holes that could be combined easily. Maybe playing hole 1 to hole 2, but that's a fairly uninteresting dogleg. I would like a long par 4 pin on 18.

There are a few pin positions I don't like, most notably the ones in the woods on 17 which are just real strange. And I could do with the pins of 3 and 7 being a little farther from the road. Even hole 11 can produce some craziness if the wind picks up.

The baskets are set in a wide concrete base, which can rough up putters, but each base points towards the next tee, which is nice.

I'm happy with the course as it is. There really isn't a chance of making it better without completely reimagining it, but it's not in a bad shape at all. Maybe plant a few more trees?

I'm fairly critical of the openness of this course, but I can say that if there's a lot of wind, the course is going to feel a lot less open.

A course seemingly geared toward the advanced side of novice, there is indeed a lake at this park.  The mild elevation changes throughout the park will be your main obstacle, matching the angle of a hill or stopping short on a downhill throw will test this aspect of your game.

Sizable concrete tees throughout the park, at least two pin spots on every hole, the ever-informative Dynamic Discs tee signs, and 18 Latitude 64 baskets round out the amenities of the park.  Everything is in excellent condition.

The lake creates a balanced obstacle for the last seven holes of the course.  These are some of the shorter holes on the course, but they play to the risk/reward side of the game incredibly well.  13 is the best example of this: it's a downhill, 200ft hole, and the pin sits about 20 feet from the shore on a small plateau.  You have to put enough power behind the shot since the hill before the plateau could hop your disc up to rolling, but also there's water behind the pin, so obviously you can't aim to overshoot it by much.  12, 16 and 17 have rollaway potential into the water, 18 crosses a not insignificant cove, and 14… well, we'll address 14 later.

Elevation is used smartly throughout the course.  2 plays over a small dip in the land, but still finishes higher than it starts, but with the pin directly behind a tree that can be tough to gauge.  Holes 4 and 8 are the only ones with pins near 400ft, but they are slightly downhill which plays to the easier nature of the front half.  15 is also a big downhill right-finishing hole, but you cant go too far right since the lake looms over there.

What trees there are have been used well.  Shielding the pins of 2 and 4, blocking the right to left hyzer on 9, guarding the tee shot on 12, and the treeline along the lake creating a ceiling on 14 and 16, tucking 17's pin into the evergreens, it's all done well.

The sameness of holes 3-9 is a big flaw.  While it is the easier part of the course, they run together after having played them which makes it hard to think about how you'd attack those holes next time.  I've had to look back at the hole pictures to write about those for this review… that also might owe to me playing 115 holes in a day, but I remember the others just fine.

Hole 14 plays very close to the lake, and that's fine.  What isn't fine is the long pin being so close to the lake that any missed putt has about a 75% chance of flying/rolling into the lake.  The reward is far to small to risk your putter on a long putt.

Some of the routing between holes is a bit odd.  The tee of 6 is over a hill from the basket of 5, the long pin of 9 is directly in 10's fairway, and to get to 15, you'll walk up the hill just to go back in the same direction you came from.  While it does allow for the trees to be better used, there was enough space left in the park that these issues could have been avoided.

Hole 3 is dead flat with a telephone pole as the only obstacle.

While there are groups of holes that do things well, no hole does anything to set itself apart from the others.  Maybe the unique green of 11 long, but that's all I can really think of except the cove shot on 18, but the green of 18 is full of loose scree while trying to make a putt.

Parking area is a bit small for an 18-hole.  I imagine league night parking overflows to the street.

The designers really did make a lot out of this piece of land.  With a few more standout holes this would be a no-brainer to stop at if you're in Topeka.  As it is, it's still a fine option, but it wouldn't be on the top of my list.

It's pretty easy to find the next tee. There are arrows by the basket posts that point the way. It's a bit confusing to tell which hole is 8 and which is 10 (see below). 18 is the only other tricky spot since there are a couple alternate tees. Course navigation 9/10

Baskets and tees are both in solid but not perfect condition. A couple of baskets are slightly tilted but not bad. Holes 8 and 10 share an L-shaped tee pad, which is kind of weird. An alternate tee on 18 is in pretty bad shape. 8/10

Hole 1 and several holes on the back force you to choose a route through the trees where several are possible. Some holes on the front only have a couple of trees right around the basket and you have to decide how to get around them. Decisionmaking 8/10

It's pretty easy to find discs most of the time. The lake is very in play on holes 13, 14, and 18. 13 the lake is behind the basket on a downhill shot, 14 is along the right side, and 18 requires about a 200-250ft carry (the shore is closer the further left you go) from an elevated tee. 8/10

There's a decent amount of elevation that's mixed pretty well. There are a couple more downhill holes than uphill, or at least the downhill holes are typically more severe (12 is more severely up). There are also a couple of interesting sidehill shots. However, many of the holes on the front nine are mostly flat. 7/10

Obstacles are used very well on the back nine to provide a challenge, but something to be desired on most of the front. 7/10

Navigation on holes is decent, as it's pretty obvious on most holes. However, the only information you have at the tee is the hole number on a post, no distances or maps. A few holes have blind shots where you have may have to walk ahead to find the basket. 6/10

The course is usually pretty well mowed, and there are a couple benches along the course. No tee signs or trash cans. The brush along, 1, 13, 14, 16, and 17 sometimes gets a little out of control. 6/10 on maintenance

Beginners will find plenty of challenge on this course. Intermediate players will be pretty bored on the front nine but find the back a lot more challenging. Advanced players will have enough challenge to keep them interested on the back. 6/10 on challenging all levels

Most holes have two pin positions, but on many of the holes the alternates aren't much different from each other and don't change the feel of the holes at all. There's one alternate tee on 18. 3/10

There's not much variety in distances. Most holes are 275-325 feet, especially on the front. There are a few shorter more technical holes on the back. Not many long bomb holes, 8 and 11 are about as close as it gets. 3/10

Much of holes 2-11 are pretty open, with a few trees to avoid. There is some decent variety on the back. 1, 12, 14, and 16 are fairly technical. Variety of openness 5/10

This course doesn't have many holes that force you to throw a certain shot path. There are some exceptions, holes 1 and 18 require right to left, while 9, 10, 12, and 17 require left to right. 5/10

Overall Challenge: 4/10

This course is a decent play if you are in the area, though if you're in Topeka I definitely prefer Crestview Park. Neither of these courses are particularly challenging, and if that's what you're looking for you should head up to Longview at Perry Lake.

This course is pretty solidly at a 3 for me, with a 2.902 on my spreadsheet. Holes 2-11 are a 2.5 quality, while the rest are more of a 3.5 quality, averaging out to a 3.

Very well manicured in a park setting that does not share space with other activities-no picknickers on the fairway here. Concrete tees are in good shape as are most of the baskets, but I'll get into that a bit later. Trees are mostly mature and provide a decent amount of challenge. This course does, for the most part, favor the RHBH player, with the exception of holes 17,14, 8, and 3. Good variety of lengths keep you guessing on which disc to throw which always provides a fun challenge. Course flow well for the most part and makes good use of the hills around the lake.

The water is not always utilized to the extent it could be. Often the tee for the next hole is too close to the basket of the previous which can be a problem if the course is backed up. Trees don't provide much of a challenge for the post part and it seems the baskets are almost never in the most interesting of their pin locations. Tee signs would be a really nice addition. This can be seen as a pro to those who call this their home course- the baskets are all mixed and matched- Some are 20 year old DGAs, some brand new Mach 3's and everything in-between. You must adjust to the basket.

There is a severe lack of great land for courses in Kansas, and although this isn't a bad course, it isn't really a good one either. It's not a course to go well out of your way to play, but if you happen to be in the area, it's worth an hour of your time.

This course has been nicely groomed every time I have been out here, and is very easy to navigate without a map. There are nice benches on the course and a couple of trash cans. Multiple pin placements that seem to be moved often. The teepads are large and in great shape. There isn't much elevation on this course, but enough to have some fun with and what they had to work with was used very nicely. I especially like how some of the baskets on the back 9 were in risky areas and the shot on 18 over the cove although it would definitely be overwhelming for beginners or rec players.

No restrooms on or near the course. There were no signs with any hole info other than hole #s on a stone next to the tee pad. Most of the front 9 can be pretty boring, especially on a calm day since there isn't much to navigate around and the wind would be your only hope for much of a challenge. A couple of the baskets could use some minor work, but nothing that would cause any trouble.

Maybe something as simple as some designated fairways with some marked OB would make the front 9 more entertaining.
Of the 3 courses I am familiar with in Topeka, this is always my first choice while passing through town.

Well maintained park. For at least the front nine, not much potential for losing a disc (The back nine is a different story). The open nature of the course, coupled with some moderate elevation, will provide beginners with a great place to learn how to manage wind. Arrows on the cement circles which surround the pins show direction to the next hole. You can also play some cool safari shots if you get bored with the traditional layout. The water shot over the cove on 18 is challenging. Small arms will likely not be able to get it over from the teepad, but there is room to park a layup on the shoreline. (Just don't go too far). Some of the pin locations on the back nine, some of which are tucked in the woods also have some good rollaway potential, so watch out on your approaches.

Big arms and pro level players will likely find this one a bit underwhelming. Rounds in the low 40's by pros aren't uncommon here. Nearly all of the pins can be parked easily provided you don't encounter a tree (and several of the holes don't have many to encounter). Wind, which can blow quite furiously here, may be your biggest obstacle to scoring well.

Yeah, its not blessed with the best set of trees, or a high degree of challenge, but I kind of find this course to be undervalued. Pros kind of look down upon it because its too easy. Rec players with just a few discs may shy away from it because of the water threat. It does compliment the Crestview course across town rather well. Worth a quick round if you're in Topeka.