+ The course takes place in a quiet community park with very little manmade noise.
+ Tee signs are detailed, colorful and made of sturdy metal.
+ Tees are flat, wide, long and contiguous concrete.
+ DiscGolfPark brand baskets have the built-in arrows to point players to the next tee.
+ Lost & found and map by hole1, but...

- ...No practice basket? I suppose using basket4 or 15 would be fine.
- A lot of the fairways go right past one another or share part of the same area. This would make league or tournaments troublesome.
- The middle part of the course is kind of bland.
- Some safety issues with very steep hills if your disc misses the fairway.

The course at Lakeside Park shouldn't be underestimated. One may look at this 4,500-foot par3 course on paper and scoff, but once the player stands on the tee pads and sees the kinds of challenges awaiting them, the tone will change.

To the course's credit, I was very impressed with the first five holes. Those play atop a bumpy piece of land surrounded on three sides by a worryingly steep gully with a creek down below. Add to that a generous helping of trees throughout, and you've got a nice section of risk/reward throws. They are short and tempting but, oh, so very dangerous-- for your score and your safety. Be careful if you do have to retrieve and wayward disc.

That said, I think that hole5 is the star of the show in both optics and play. Down below, the player sees a swiftly-moving creek. Dead ahead, the player sees the basket behind a line of trees with many gaps. You will want to simultaneously go for it and play it safe.

After that, the course simmers down for awhile. Holes6 through 11 take you away from the water, trees & steep hills to instead present you with comparatively dull challenges of some island greens and wide open longer fairways. Hole9 was easily the most boring one of the course.

And let me say right now that I didn't like hole12. It's just a straight and open throw, but there is an OB road a few feet to the left and a barrier of trees to the right. Interestingly enough, hole13 is almost the same thing except much shorter and with another island green, yet I enjoyed that one.

For the rest of the course, Lakeside brings park-style trees back into the mix, and you throw over water again- twice. It reminded me of the first third of the course, and I regretted that there weren't a few more fairways like that. Still, I enjoyed my time here.

Regular play at Lakeside will develop your courage and nerve faster than many other courses because of those first five holes alone. If you're new to this sport and choose to play here, just take it slow and play it safe. No, seriously. The threats of severe rollaways and bad tree ricochets into water are very real. It requires strong mentality to be aware of those threats and still take your shot anyway. I recommend this course to players who aren't afraid to risk a disc or two for the thrill of that ace run or birdie approach-- just make sure your disc is inked.

So, even though the course is clearly on the shorter side and rather dull in the middle, a higher than expected amount of bravery is required to play here. Bring your nerves of steel. Bring a retriever. And don't forget to bring a towel!

Located close to three other very good Lebanon area courses, Lakeside's design and features make a worthy complement and fun play. It's on a unique parcel of land that can utilize two creeks and a lake to create offline hazards on six holes, water carries on five, and the design includes several island holes and a hanging basket. Relatively short at 4353', Lakeside packs in a lot of challenge




+ Poured tees, DiscGolfPark baskets, excellent signage that explains rules and hazards. Local advertising on signs and baskets


+ In addition to all the hazards created by the water, there's some admirable "evil genius" thinking baked into the design. For example, hole #12 is an otherwise dull, straight 247' par three with an OB road running along the left. But just in front of the green there's waist-high highway guardrail extending across the fairway, protecting an old pull-off from the road. The guardrail prevents the low laser or safe layup play - and it will tend to cause nose-up throws that fade into the road. Then #13 is a bit shorter, also along the road. But it's much narrower due to the cliff down to the lake on the right side - and an island green with concrete highway dividers blocking the front. The designers compensate for the narrowness by making the island a lot bigger than it appears from the tee, but they're still evil geniuses.


+ The layout flows well, and holes #12 and #13 allow it to work its way around the lake as a loop, with only one longish walk (for 13 to 14). Hole 14 is an open downhill playing through a wide part of the park, and it comes as a nice relief following the two road holes.


+ Holes 15 and 16 are back-to-back water carries that both allow for conservative bailouts. The view on 16, from the tee on a bridge over the creek, is pretty spectacular

- Nothing significant, as long as you don't expect Lakeside to be more than the space permits it to be (multiple tees, baskets, long par 4's or 5's, etc)

~ The course can feel a little "tricked up" at times. For example, the mando on #2 creates a very narrow alley that punishes offline shots with a steep drop down to a creek. It's probably there for safety (#4 comes back in the opposing direction), but it feels pretty severe. Holes 6 and 13 feature island greens that add to the challenge, the tee on hole 8 is behind a low concrete barrier. Drop zones are generous in their placement and well-marked. None of these holes are bad or compromised - it's just that the cumulative feeling the first time arriving at tees can be "what fresh hell is this?"


~ On the other hand, all the features keep this course interesting for replaying. As mentioned at the top, Lakeside complements Lenni, South Hills and Jackson. Hole for hole, I think it's the most interesting set of challenges of the group. It's a lot shorter, so you're going to miss out on those long gliding field throws you have at the others. But as long as you don't mind more risk of lost discs, Lakeside might be a lot more fun for replaying.

Another Mike Dunkle designed course and probably the one I had the most fun on outside of Camp Swatara. Lakeside is located on a former (?) stone Quarry in Myerstown forming the Lake and it makes a fantastic eastern side addition to the satellite of Lebanon courses (South Hills, Lenni Lenape, nearby Jackson Recreational Creek). While it's not the most visually watery DG spot I currently know in SE PA, nearby Jackson wins that crown, water comes into play much more often, by a mile. But the distances are shorter and it's more fine touch play overall.

Steep cliff-like sides are in play throughout the beginning and more hidden in the middle, as is a lot of creek and to a lesser extent, the lake leading to a number of disc loss possibilities. It's not like a lot of holes are particularly hard, but the opportunities to lose discs are plentiful.

Random tree kicks down cliffs into the creeks on #1-4, creek crossovers with a multitude of trees on the edges on #5, 15, 16 or possibly shanking right on #6, 13, or 18 into down steep cliffsides into the Quarry Lake. The creek crossovers might be recoverable unless the water is running fast - especially with a retriever.

That said, a fair amount of hassle here can be avoided if you're willing to layup short or able to shoot straight trajectories around 200' fairly consistently. However, risk is part of the game, the fun in something like #3 is a challenge of trusting your aim, and even straight shots like #11 and 12 are finicky with how small the islands are at the end. #16 is a 150 tunnel shot, with creek as the floor.

Lakeside thankfully isn't my hometown course. It would have treated this griplocking beginner rather poorly and would have made learning the sport a rather expensive endeavor much to the delight of the nearby disc shop. But as a relatively nearby (1 hour drive) course, it completely works for me. Getting a birdie on something like #3, 13, or 16 feels like a small accomplishment. That it's in a circle of three other good courses is icing on the cake.

Tees are adequate, signs are good, navigation was easy, baskets had built-in next tee arrows.

+#10 has photogenic potential

It can't be ignored that this park is right up against Myertown's Waster Water Plant. People report bad smells at times. I didn't notice anything overt but it smelled a bit funky around #13, but I think was the farm across the street.

However, the thing I noticed immediate is this course plays a lot into itself. Getting to and playing #4 backtracks all of #3 and #1-2 fairways. #9 and #10 has a mild bit of overlap. But everything after #14's tee is a slew of overlap and backtracking until #18. If this course becomes popular, I imagine this will lead to a lot of traffic jams and near misses of other players.

#7, 8, 9 is a bit of a lull and rather dull, pedestrian filler that's been seen often enough.

I almost lost discs here 3x in one round. Had to get into the water once on a bad kick.

I DO recommend bringing throwaway discs and a retriever. I don't recommend bringing newbies or beginners with only a few rounds under their belt here.

Entire Course loops back to itself.

First four holes start on this single long strip of land, starting at about 64' wide and getting narrower until #3, with steep sides bordered by Owl Creek on the left and Tulpehocken Creek on the right. #3 has two routes guarded by a lot of trees and is generally narrow. #4 backtracks plays back out on same fairways.

#5 throws across Tulpehocken Creek. Distance is easy but a number of trees on the opposite bank for a number of medium sized windows.

#6-7-8-9-10 make use of the field between Tulpehocken Creek and the Quarry Lake. This is a general respite featuring easy-going, back and forth, open holes. The sign for photogenic #10 seems to message the Lake can be significantly higher than it actually was on my trip there.

#11-12-13 starts with a anhyzer hole towards the street and then two tunnel-like shots, with a small "island". Shanking #12 or #13 wildly right here will lead to bad times. Steep cliff down to lake. Left is forgiving OB of rural road.

#14-18 is the end stretch all taking place on a field going back down towards Tulpehocken Creek. #15 is another creekover. There is a quick over the creek route that does best with forehand but the sign gives a tantalizing RHBH option 200' over water trusting in the fade of the disc. I wasn't that brave but #16 forces the same throw, in the opposite direction, this time but the bridge elevates the tee and it's shorter to the basket. With the trees, it's a true tunnel the first 150' or so. #17 is a conventional uphill and #18 goes downhill to the right with a number of guardian trees around the basket.


Terrain: OOOo - Interesting terrain but a bit small for 18 holer and it shows in design.
Execution: OOOo - Very good. The best holes are on overlaps, good with the bad.
Upkeep: N/A. Brand new.
Difficulty: OOO - Intermediate. While the throws here don't have to be advanced or far, the touch at times have to be quite precise.
Fun Factor: OOOO - I had an excellent time here but I can imagine having a miserable time here too. Lots of luck!
Crowded: XXx. Reasonable. It's brand new but encountered a number of players.
Overall: OOOo - Very good example of a water course. It has issues but well worth the play.

Very easy to walk
Pretty lake views
You're never very far from your car if there's an emergency, other than holes 11-14
Most of the holes have a little quirk or two to make them fun and memorable
A great place for a relaxing round that won't burn your arm off
Enough trouble to make you a little nervous on most holes.
Nice baskets and cement pads
Good signs.
Direction arrows are built into the basket, although it's pretty rare that you'll need them.
There are multiple island holes and the islands are very fair in size.
The township does a great job of maintaining their courses.

On most of the holes, if you get a little wild, you'll have a hard time finding and getting your disc, which will probably cut down on the number of people who play here.

It's short, but I'm not sure it's "beginner friendly" because of the near constant danger of losing a disc in the water.

Lots of holes share fairways due to the small size of the park. This isn't a con if it's not busy, but there'll be some traffic jams in leagues and tournaments.

There are 3 holes that play right alongside a public street so watch out for cars.

The ground on the first 4 holes can be pretty soft, and the grass is rarely mowed, although that does keep discs from skipping off the sides of the cliffs.

There are no par 4 or 5 holes so if you like throwing something 400 feet or more, you won't be doing that here.

This is a pretty popular park for fishing and other non-disc golf activities. People tend to park right in front of you.

The neighbors have made it clear they don't like or want disc golfers there so tread lightly.

Unfortunately the course is frequently vandalized.

This is a very pleasant and fun course that is kind of a shorter mix of the other 3 courses in the Lebanon area. The course starts with some narrow woods, like Lenni, then transitions into some open field shots alongside water, like Jackson, and finishes in a picnic grove with scattered parkland trees, like South Hills.

To compare it to a course not in Lebanon, it's kind of a cross between the 9-holer in West Reading, and the Covered Bridges course near Allentown. Both of which are kind of cramped but also a lot of fun.

West Reading has some similar shots over the Wyomissing Creek, a hanging basket, and a nearly constant danger of disappearing into the creek with something a little wayward. Covered Bridges is also 18 par 3s with a hole you have to walk back to play the next hole and a couple of areas where the holes are piled on top of each other.

When they were building the course earlier this year, I had no idea where they would even put 18 holes, there was just not enough room on the map, so it seemed, but they've managed to do it even if there are a couple of awkward walks and a couple of holes that really are just too close to the road. I don't think it'll be as popular as South Hills since there's too much risk in losing your disc, but if you can throw a disc 225 feet with some accuracy, you'll probably find this the most scoreable of the area courses and maybe even the most fun. The PDGA rating for an even par round here is the lowest of any of the Lebanon County PA courses, usually in the 860s. If you can avoid the OB that exists on almost every hole, you should make some birdies.

While there are tons of fun and cool shots, especially two straight down the creek shots on 15 and 16, i'd be careful about when you go. If you are finishing up a round at sunset, well, let's just say people like going here after dark.