-The course is located in a beautiful park, and the course is well maintained. Garbage cans and recycling bins located throughout the course.
-Designed to be a challenging course, for the more skilled player.
-Concrete Tee's, Mach Series Baskets, Restrooms and Bulletin board at the start, with scorecard. (It was empty the day I played)
-Basket 13 is now raised tee in the middle of the trees
-Multiple pin placements and Multiple Tee's (Red and Blue) Red tee's are less risky, but not immune from risk. The tee's with yellow painted on them are old tee's and not in use anymore. (As far as I could tell)
-Excellent use of the terrain and ecology of the park.
-Designed for the skilled player, and it's not beginner friendly. *The Pinebrook course is a excellent beginner course, and is just down the road
-Great pin locations that are wrapped in beautiful and scenic surroundings. Lots of risk/rewards, with plenty of water hazards. If you are intimidated by water, you may want to consider that before playing here.
-18 is an excellent and beautiful finishing hole!
It's even more so when the basket setup in the extreme Dog Leg right position.
-To play here a thrower needs to play smarter and consider their options and surroundings. A long drive can end up wet, as well as a drive that didn't go far enough.
-A variety of shots(Distance throws, dog legs, water carries, alternating terrain, and blind shots) will require the thrower to consider a little strategy when throwing. (i.e. Setting up your second shot and shot shaping)
-Navigation was fairly simple, but I had to constantly reference the map I downloaded from DGCR on my phone. *Flip side to that in the cons.
-Big fun factor for me! I'm looking forward to frequenting this course!
-Located in an area with many great courses. (Sarasota, Port Charlotte, Ft Myers)
For What it's Worth
-Playground Equipment in Park near the course
-Dog Park available

-Apparently Signs Have been installed since I last played here. (will update accordlingly on my next visit) Tee signage was lacking. Though its easy to tell which tee you were shooting from (Red, Blue) It didn't have a map and/or distance. Some baskets require a walk down the fairway to see the location. Possibly posting a map at the Billboard would be handy as well. Print off the map from this site before you go.
-Flip side to navigation, It's easy to mistake a tee and/or a basket and then realize you're playing the wrong hole and/or basket.
For instance: The 10 Tee is a little tricky to locate. Once you finish 9, you need to cross the bridge on your right. You play down then back to the bridge, cross BACK over the same bridge. Play 12 down, then back to the elevated basket 13. THEN you will cross over another bridge to play 14. There are signs, but you will see the 12 tee, and it's easy to assume it's 10, before you see the sign to cross the bridge to play 10. Just pay attention to the signs and the numbers on the baskets.
-Though the course is segregated from other activities, it's not immune to park goers and park walkers. You may find yourself waiting on a park patron a time or two.
-Tee #1 can taking some looking to locate. Drive all the way down, and look for the billboard on the left.
-Odds are good you will leave here missing a disc or two, but you will still have a great time! Just know that there is a lot of water here before you decide to come. (Not a con to me, but may be to some.)

In retro, these issues will only affect the first time players. Once you play here a couple of times, the navigation isn't an issue and you can have fun.

This is a fantastic course that is located in a beautiful park. Having played here a second time, and knowing where I was going, for the most part, I was truly able to appreciate this course for the fun and challenge that it is.

There have been some improvements made that have added to the experience. There are plenty of scenic water carries that make Lakeview a challenging course. The walk through the course here alone is a pleasant experience. Here you will find yourself throwing over a variety of terrains, multiple water carries, and working lines in and around the trees. Though it may be a harder course, it's still very fun to play. Navigation should only be an issue on your first time playing here. Once you've played here, you should remember where everything is. I highly recommend putting this on your wish list.

You may want to opt for playing a little more conservatively. It's not impossible to walk away with all of your discs, it's just that some holes will bait your confidence, and cause one to challenge the risk/reward. On the flip side, there are a few holes that you may want to consider a second shot placement, and opt for a good and accurate up shot.

This course is located in the heart of a residential area, and you may want to use your GPS or printed map to find your way to the park. There are plenty restaurants on Bee Ridge just west of I-75, so you may want to pick up something before you arrive. Come! Enjoy this course, and have a blast!

FUN FACT: Once upon a time, this course used to be a small zoo and a botanical garden.

Environment - The physical environment of this course is beautiful. Going to each hole (especially the back 9) was gorgeous. Hole 17 is something to stop and marvel at as you through from a peninsula along the bank to the hole. There is a huge lake, large ponds and a winding creek to shoot over as you throw under a canopy of trees. The park was well kept and very relaxing to be at.

Variety - The variety was fantastic. Some drives required my midranges and others my drivers. Some drives were flick and most backhand (for RHBH). Some were open (mainly 1-5) and the rest were very technical.

Upkeep - My Sarasota friends were telling me how they moved the baskets around and they recently add a grass bridge to make walking/throwing easier. They seem to give attention to the maintenance of this park.

Neighborhood - The area of this park (contrasted to Water Tower) was great. I felt safe and didn't think twice about who was around me.

Equipment - There were great concrete pads and up to par (no pun intended) baskets. I didn't get tripped up once on the pad or get frustrated at the quality of the chains.

Expert/Pro/Armature Pads - There are excellent options for all levels of players. The expert pads are very challenging and highly risky. The Pro pads have technical shots and are mildly risky. The Armature pads are safer and quite simple. Great for all types of people.

Facilities - The park had great parking and indoor bathrooms.

Hazards - The water can be a little nerve racking when you are throwing a new disc. Water is part of the fun but it can also upset you very easily.

Dogs - As I walked to my shot from the pad of 16, there were piles of dog poop. I step in one and was very upset. Also, hole 4 shoots along the dog park and the barking dogs are incredibly distracting.

Wind - The back 9 borders the lake and there can be wind off the lake making your drives less controllable and more likely to drive into the water.

Distance Hole - There wasn't a 450+ hole for you to air your arm out. Most shots were short to medium and very technical.

This park was a disc golf course. Some courses are parks with baskets throughout. This was a disc golf course first. I live in Tampa and would gladly travel the hour drive for the course. If you go, bring some crappy discs you don't mind loosing. All in all, the best course in Sarasota.

When you pull up, hole 1 is all the way the gravel road almost to the dumpster. Come ready for water...it is everywhere. I would enjoy this course far more after having played it a few times. I had to lay up on multiple holes because I couldn't tell where the water was. The one time I let lose I lost a disc on the water as I didn't see it was behind the pin. This course will challenge your game and force you to manage your shots well.

All in all, this is a wonderful course that I am sure the locals love. You can tell a lot of work has gone into this course and it is very well designed. There are multiple routes on many holes which is nice if you are right or left handed.

Hole 18 is a great way to end the round. You either can lay it up for an easy par or risk it all and hopefully get a birdie on what is nearly an island green.

There were really only 2 problems I can think of. 1 - There are some long walks between holes due to all the water. 2 - I wish there was a little more opportunity to air it out without worrying about water being all over the place. Right when you think you have a chance there is water behind the pin. That is really the only downside to this course that I can think of.

I would love to play this course again and gain some confidence to really give it my best. Thanks to all those who put so much work into this course and the DG scene in Sarasota.

Multiple tees, Multiple pin positions.
Tons of water to create a lot of challenge.
Seems very well planned to maximize water threats.
narrow piece-mealed concrete tee pads.
Ribbons have been added to the baskets to point the way to the next tee, this made navigation so much easier.

No tee signs, distance markings.
Extreme chance of disc loss on many holes.
Parking lot is used as OB
Hole 7's far tee had no safe route (but there is always the short tee)
Hole 16 tee looks at basket 17 which is only 80 feet from it's basket, which is tucked over to the right.
stagnant mud smells horrible if have to jump in, becareful we did see a small alligator in the water.
Course appears to be a frequent victim of basket theft. Several baskets did not match, many appeared far newer, some even showed clear signs of aggressive attempts at multiple thefts (basket 16 specifically).

This course was a challenge, but if you stay dry you will be handsomely rewarded with tons of duece opportunities.

I spent alot of time in the water retreiving discs for my foursome and we still lost 2 discs.

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BRIEF HOLE BY HOLE
Hole 1 starts out using the parking lot as OB and the basket is perched on a small mount with a low ceiling forcing your disc to stay low for a decent ways.
Hole 2 has water hazard on the right which affects lefties during the drive and righties during the putt.
Hole 3 uses the parking lot as OB again on the left 274 feet relatively straight.
Hole 4 features a mando that only affects LHBH players and is only there to keep your discs off the dog park
Hole 5 is 311 feet over a small hill
Hole 6 brings back the water in a deceivingly risky shot. It is a 227 foot hole over a small water hazard, but the trees can easily knock you straight down into the water.
Hole 7 is a more intimidating hole over a larger water hazard with very little opportunity to play it safe.
Hole 8 is basically a repeat of hole 7 going back the other direction.
Hole 9 throws over a creek with enough foliage to create risk.
Hole 10 is a dog leg left, throwing directly at the building and letting it fade to the basket.
Hole 11's tee is the sidewalk behind the building and the basket is infront of a small water hazard.
Hole 12 is a dog leg left with water on both sides.
Hole 13 is a 326 foot shot with a good amount of foliage and water behind the basket.
Hole 14 features lots of water. with the safest area being on the left side.
Hole 15 is a straight shot with a late sharp dog leg left. Water on 3 sides!
Hole 16 looks at basket 17 but it is really a slight right with the basket tucked over by the stone trail.
Hole 17 plays back to the 2 baskets in the opening, but to get there you have to throw down a tunnel of trees. Past the wall of trees there is water on both sides. There is also water behind the basket if you fade right on your drive.
Hole 18 is a short throw over the water, but a short shot will send you into the water infront of the basket.

1) The water on the course is used well. Most of the holes required you to clear short stretches of water, and two holes had blind shots over the water, which were fun. Disc retrieval is also easy; excluding the water around holes 16-18, the water is shallow and I wasn't afraid to lose a disc.

2) White tees work around most of the water hazards for those not comfortable with them. The tees either avoid the water outright in a few cases or shorten the carry needed.

3) The course put the few elevation changes it has to good use. A few baskets are elevated and a few hills are used to make a few blind shots. The low tree canopy with this made for some fun shots.

4) There are full restroom facilities over by tee #11, and they were quite a lot better maintained than some other park restrooms.

1) Tee pads are short and narrow, and the pads for the white tees are simply a thin strip of concrete marked as such. The tees also weren't consistent, with some being longer and wider, and others were oddly placed. One tee in particular (I believe it was tee 3?) had a sharp drop off at the end, making a follow-through awkward.

2) Navigation of the course is pretty poor. When we found hole 1, we teed off in the wrong direction toward 10's basket-luckily one of the locals let us know before we tried to play those lies. Each basket has an arrow tied to it pointing in the direction of the next tee, but it was still a little difficult to find the pad sometimes. The course also doesn't have any tee signs.

Lakeview was one of a few courses we had visited that day, and it stood out as my favorite. Playing the course was a blast.

Despite all of the water on the course, the water didn't really feel all that 'hazardous'. I usually hesitate a bit around water, but I didn't have any issues at all. I wasn't avoiding it for financial reasons; I was avoiding it because it would hurt my game.

We've been improving the course at Lakeview Park for the last year+.

First, the county has built a man-made damn and installed a pump that runs 24/7. This has greatly increased the health of the park and the clarity of the water, so discs are much easier to retrieve.

Second, the County hired a private contractor to remove dead and dying trees, which has opened up the course a bit, and made a few of the water holes play easier (safer).

New pin positions have been added to holes #1, #2, #5, #6, #7, #9. We've also added paver bricks behind tee pads to improve the length of tees, as several were too short.

In addition, our club (Sarasota Sky Pilots) continues to trim back the invasive plants that grow into the fairways. We've also added a couple benches.

Obviously, there is still work to be done at Lakeview Park.

Join us at the end of September for a PDGA C-tier event, the Snake & Lake Partake benefiting the Racing Dog Rescue Project.

1) If you came for a challenge with water this is your course. There are many little pockets of water that you need to throw alongside of, over, and even around. They come into play because of trees, baskets tucked precariously over the water, and there are even holes you can overshoot the basket and skip away into the water.

2) Concrete tees on every hole. Alternate tees available on all holes where carries over water are required and either significantly shortening the carry ot altogether removing the carry. This is an awesome feature to help make this course more playable for all people.

3) The rolling hills in this park add to the uniqueness of this park and DG course. They also contribute to the difficulty level because they will cause some odd skips and they will also knock down a low shot and prevent you from sliding up under the basket.

4) Great park for disc golf and the course is completely isolated from all other activities. There is a dog park but it is fenced off from the DG course. So get here and throw your plastic to your hearts content.

5) Big open picnic area is centrally located in the middle of the course. It is accessible from Hole #1 tee, 9 basket, 12 tee, and 14 tee. Plenty of picnic tables and some garbage.

6) Bathrooms are located at the far end of this park near #10 basket and 11 tee. I am not sure if they are normally open or closed but they are there.

7) This course will challenge you with shot shaping also. There are holes that are a simple hyzer, but there are also a few holes that force you to throw an anny. Shots over water will also require both shot shapes, making the course extra difficult.

8) Baskets have #'s on the posts on them and they also have painted or tapes rungs pointing you to the next tee.

9) Risk/reward is really high here. Not only is the course challenging, but the risk of shooting for birdie is high both in chance of lost discs and how it would affect your score if you overshoot or undershoot.

1) Course flow was a little confusing to me. I played #1, then #3 then found #4 tee and figured I missed a hole, so I ended up walking backwards looking for #2 tee. I also ended up playing #12 after #9 and then only seeing #13 tee. I decided to play #14, 15, 16, 17, 18 and then I went back up #13 and crossed the bridge. I found #11 basket and saw the tee in the distance so I walked back there and played the hole. From the 11th tee I saw #10 basket but had no idea where the tee was. Finally as I had given up I saw the tee outside of the fenced area next to the garbage dumpster area. I finally played the 10th hole and made a birdie to end my day so the hunt was worth it. These things are issues in my opinion, my suggestion is to print the map of the course from the Sarasota Sky Pilots. On multiple occassions you might throw at the wrong basket as your first time because the basket visible from some tees is not the basket for your hole.

2) Too much risk of losing discs. I like courses wih the challenge of water but there simply seemed to be too many areas where water was easily thrown into. The tightness of this course has also contributed to the high plastic count in the ponds and rivers because it is still very easy to plunk one into a tree and drop into the water.

3) Some of the posts and signs are missing and/or damaged.

4) Parking lot may be a little small to house a bunch of people on a busy day or a tournament. I would guess maybe 30 cars or so could fit in this lot.

5) Not beginner friendly. Even though the short tees make the water carries shorter, there still are plenty of ways for beginner to struggle here. The trees are tight and there is a canopy over most holes.

6) Grounds had some issues in my opinion. There were many trees that were unhealthy and I would see that this is due to the fact that this is virtually a swamp. There also were a few areas under this dense canopy that lacked turf. It would be tough to maintain turf int his tightly canopied area combined with how tight the area is for traffic. This compaction will eventually contribute to muddy fairways.

7) Baskets were old and rusty. They still caught well I suppose but the baskets could use an upgrade. I guess I would rather have directional signs and tee signs over new baskets.

This is an awesome course with an awesome design (in terms of challenge and variety). It lacks flow in its design and can be very confusing because of its flow issues and lack or consistancy of signage and tee signs. It was very frustrating and it was aggravated by the fact I had already lost 2 discs on this course to the water. It will challenge you from Hole 1 until you make your final putt on #18. When you factor in the facilities and the maintenance this is simply a slightly above average course. Like I said it is an awesome DG course, it has great holes and always challenges but the flow issues, the tightness of some of the holes and danger issues, and lack of signage leave me feeling a little bitter about this course. I would play it, and from now on I will be sure to keep my Dragon with me. There are 4 or 5 shots where I could execute with a lot more confidence if I knew I wasn't going to lose discs to the murky black water. I love what someone else said about feeling like the Swamp Thing is gonna walk right out of the water with all of your lost discs and ask to play a round. Now thats funny right there, I dont care who you are. I wish I could give this course a better rating because it plays like a better course, just a few things keeping it fomr being a 4 disc course in my opinion, and most of the reasons would be easily resolved.

It was cool for a horticulturist to walk through this park and see the variety of vegetation. Apparently it was an old Botanical Garden and some of the flowers and plants do seem a little out of place for a disc golf course. My wife had some awesome pictures from this course of closeups to the flowers and such.

Can you find the pet cemetary? I found 3 graves on the course, 2 of which were in one location. You should not throw your disc near the pet cemetary with 2 graves but you might be able to throw your disc near the single gravesite. Just a little wierd.

Also I noticed a local guy disc hawking both days I played this course. The first day he had 2 discs in his hand and a retriever, and he "claimed" that he just didnt bring his bag along and was walking his dog. Not sure if this was his facade to throw me from the fact that he was disc hawking, but I noticed him today too after 3 days since I saw him the first time. I wonder if he found my newer Wraith and my beat up Viper!

I read the reviews on here about this course and wondered what everyone meant by the "old Florida feel" and now I know. This park is absolutely beautiful and it feels like you've stepped into a forgotten land. The water is murky, the trees are thick, and you just feel like Swamp Thing is going to walk out of the water with a bag full of discs to join you in your match. And notice this is all under the pros! I don't mind water hazards because they add to the thrill of the sport, which is good because this park has plenty. The course is absolutely beautiful with all of the vines and waterways as well as the left over flora from the old botanical garden.

The signage is terrible. The first day I played this course I couldn't even find the first tee. There are some signs at tees noting the distance and hole number but the baskets an be very hard to see. If it weren't for a couple of locals and their mom allowing me to play along with them I'd have been lost all day.

I think out of all 18 holes that there were only 3 with benches at the tees and I only noticed a handful of trash cans throughout the park, which isn't a problem so long as you pack out what you packed in.

Yeah, you'll probably lose some discs. By some fluke of the universe I didn't lose a single disc on either of my 2 plays through, but that certainly isn't the norm. One of the locals I played with, lost 2 discs within the first 5 holes. He proved though that you can easily wade in the water and find some new ones though when a couple of holes later he waded in and found 7 discs in under 10 minutes.

I cannot state how much fun this course was though. the scenery and the thrill of the water hazards made for a super fun game. If it's your first time out I recommend waiting for some locals to come along otherwise you may miss a few holes or even throw at the wrong baskets.

-Good balance, variety
-Plenty of obstacles
-Good risk/reward quotient
-Fun for the finesse player

-Concrete tees very small
-Poor signage
-Poor traffic flow in spots
-Some blind throws along walking path

Lakeview Park is a small park that borders a lake on the east end, a dog park on the west end, the parking lot on the south and a street on the north. From what I understand, from researching the course in preparation for my trip, this park is a former botanical garden, supposedly a precursor to Cypress Gardens. You can see elements of this from the variety of tropical flora and a canal that winds through the park.

First impression of the course is that it's plenty of holes for the size of park. Holes are on the short side and are packed fairly tightly into the available land. The short length of the holes is offset greatly by the danger of OB provided by the lake and canal (water comes into play on 12 holes). Another impression is that finding your way around will require knowledge of the course or a good map. There are a couple of places where the next tee is not readily apparent and you might have to walk past several tees to get to the correct one (9 to 10 is an example). Also, when you stand on #16's tee, you will be tempted to play #17's basket as that is the one you can see. Tee signage is no help as most of it contains only the hole # and the distance, if there is signage at all.

Safety can be an issue with people walking their dogs along the paths, sometimes blindly. The course shares the park with a dog park, so I imagine this is a common occurence.

Overall, the course has a lot of liabilities. However, it is extremely enjoyable to play as the holes themselves are well designed in balance and variety. The water provides great risk and excitement, requiring finesse to score well (and to keep from losing your plastic).

As stated in other reviews this course is not a long range bomber course, it is a tricky tech course with plenty of lines and shot options for everyhole. With that being said bring your A game when throwing your putters and midranges as accuracy is crucial to threading through the many ponds and trees throughout the course. This park is gorgeous with great trees, ponds, and wildlife. I've been in the area to see my grandfather and played a triples round with the www.SarasotaSkyPilots.org club members and had a great time hanging out and seeing how they play their own course.

Some of the teepads are short and worn down, but I found ways to work around this. Holes 16-18 are a little tight, but as long as you are paying attention it should not be an issue.

I can't say enough good things about the the people from www.SarasotaSkyPilots.org and how they run their club. All around good people, fun to play with, and some really good players. If you are looking to air out some big shots then roll over to North Water Tower, but for pure beauty I don't think you'll find too many courses as nice as Lakeview. Go throw and see for yourself.

Wonderful course on the site of the old Sunshine Springs and Gardens. A botanical gardens park with swan boat rides on a canal that winds through the park and a spectacular ski show on Sarasota Bay that was open from 1955 to 1959. The gardens are mostly gone, but the canals, the trees and the Old Florida feel remain. There are no long holes, only 5 holes are longer than 300 feet and the longest is 352. It is instead a technical challenge and a severe mental challenge to not let the water get into your head. The course ends, by heading out on a peninsula that is surrounded by Sarasota Bay. There are some great views and two challenging finishing holes - 16 and 18.

The tee pads are very short thoughout the park. The signage is very poor and the baskets are not marked.

Start off with lots of old growth oak trees, complete with plenty of hanging moss. Add in a peninsula on Sarasota Bay that was once home to a great ski show. Next, add a meandering canal that served as a prototype for Cypress Gardens and you have one of the most beautiful parks and disc golf courses in Florida. This course has a feel unlike any other other in Florida. It also has a very cool dog park at one end of the course. There is a lot of water here, it comes into play on 14 of 18 holes. On most holes, it is more a mental than an actual physical challenge. The water that you need to clear is usually pretty close to the tee. The exception to this is hole 18. It is 262 feet but you have to cross water to get to the hole on another small peninsula. The crossing is about 240 feet, and the landing area isn't huge. For most players, it is a definite lay-up hole. For your first time, you should print out the course map. If you forget it, just remember that the tee for hole 10 is actually across the entrance road, next to the dumpsters. If you follow that painted basket clue for the next tee, you will end up playing hole #12 instead of 10. Make sure you take a little walk and cross over the road for tee pad 10. That is really the only hard tee to find and the only place that the course doesn't flow well.

This course is only 5 minutes off I-75. Do yourself a favor and add this course to your wish list and take the time to get a taste of Old Florida. It is definitely one of my favorite courses and is a wonderful round spent going back in time.

Well-designed to make a good course out of a pretty small piece of land. It's short and technical but not frustratingly so, the water is really pretty non-threatening if you can drive at least 220 feet with decent accuracy. The water isn't the most pleasant looking stuff but it's nothing that should prevent you from going in after a lost disc. There's some minor elevation change in a few places which is nice for a Florida course. As far as the act of throwing the disc to the basket is concerned it's a great course to play.

The signage is terrible, in the few places it exists at all. Nothing at the park to tell you where the course starts and no course map. Many holes don't have tee signs and those that do are just wooden stakes with the hole number and distance, plus some have an arrow showing the direction the basket is in. Not all of the teepads even have the hole number on them so you may come up to one and not be 100% sure you're in the right place. Due to the small size of the park you can often see other baskets from the tee so without a tee sign there are a couple times where you may throw towards the wrong basket. If it wasn't for the orange ribbons on the baskets you'd have to walk the course first just to know where to go. I never did find hole 10's tee, looking on the map online now I see that's because it's pretty far from hole 9's basket and apparently not even in the park itself, it's outside of the fence.

In spite of the signage issues this is still a very good course to play. It may get a little too crowded if there are a bunch of groups playing at once due to the closeness of the holes to each other but once you get the hang of the course flow it has a lot to offer. It's absolutely worth checking out if you're in the area and makes for a great day of golfing when combined with a visit to North Watertower Park. Just make sure to print off the map from Dscgl4's review, you'll be glad you have it.

Word of warning: Even if the water levels are down like they were today it's not always safe to walk across the ditches. Some of them look firm but are actually deep mud that you can sink shin-deep into so walk with care.

What I personally like and how this course stacks up:
1) Holes with good risk/reward -- A-
2) Holes that have rewarding birdie opportunities -- B-
3) More wooded than open - lots of variety of shots required caused by hole shape and topography -- B+
4) Natural beauty (Appalachian beauty preferred) and seclusion -- A
5) Multi-shot holes with defined landing zones, good risk/reward and multiple options to play them -- NA

I ranked this course subjectively based on my own personal enjoyment factor...more accurately my "personal addiction factor". Since I have played a decent number of courses (115 18-hole, 50 9-hole as of early 2009), my hope is that players/explorers who have similar tastes will find my ratings list helpful as they chose courses to play and explore.

Over time, I expect to fill some of my reviews in with more descriptive verbiage...if what I say adds anything to what has already been written. For now, my list is more important to me than the verbiage of my reviews.

I fully expect others with different tastes/philosophies to disagree with me. See my profile for my rating philosophy.

As jaymon1 noted, this is a unique and wonderful course. The water takes what would be a pitch-and-putt course and makes it truly competitive. You don't need to lose any plastic here--every hole can be parred with a lay up shot. It is one of the few courses I've played where it isn't grip it and rip it, but aim it and place it. And it's a beautiful setting with the unique trees and water.

One tip on course layout... the baskets have one wire on the bottom painted red--it points to the next tee. Check the map at http://www.sarasotaskypilots.org/lakeview.htm if you want more guidance.

Finally there's a great old couple who play here and will show you around and give you a history of the park (once a water ride theme park).

Water was getting low when I was there and was indeed swampy. I hear there are plans to stabilize the water level with drainage to the lake, which would be ideal.

No big holes, but the mental challenge and strategy make it worth a visit.

The park has a unique "old Florida" feel to it and many unique holes as well. It's a short, technical track that will definitely test your accuracy and nerve.

There's a lot to think about strategy-wise and those with strong emotional/mental games will be at an advantage.

There's a very good chance of losing discs in the "creature from the black lagoon"-type water that you won't want to wade into.

The shape of the available land is not conducive to smooth course flow. The routing is tricky to follow and course signage is inadequate.

The course is not good for tournament play due to the routing issues and some holes crowding on each other.

The tee pads are small and some are in poor repair.

This course is very unique. I enjoy playing it a lot, but always pull out some old beater discs that I don't mind losing to play with.

Remember: Don't be a dirty disc golfer. If you pack it in, pack it out!

The course offers many challenges for all skill levels. Mostly tight technical shots and on almost all holes water comes into play, either over, around, or along side. Nice neighborhood and locals.

water, Water, WATER!!! Lost plastic is something that should be expected, I played here yesterday and didn't loose any for the first time. In fact, I have a bag full of factory seconds and old discs that I call the lakeview bag. I wish the course had atleast 1 or 2 holes that top 300ft. The course is tough to navigate as there are no signs to direct you where to go next, but if you look at the basket one of the basket wires is colored to destinguish what direction to go for the next hole (local tip). Cleanliness and park maintenance are almost non-existant.

I play here from time to time to improve my short game but if this was the only course around I would definately play less.

Landscape, flora and fauna

With prominent water, many old and sprawling live oaks, and a wide variety of other exotic palms and bushes not often found elsewhere in Florida, Lakeview Park has to be among the most distinctive courses in the state. Built on the former site of a classic Florida wildlife and water-skiing park, I'm told, the course plays around the remnants of a wide, meandering canal, with a pond at one end, and a beautiful lake at the other. Nine of the holes play over or very near this water, so the trade-off for the scenery is a high potential for lost discs. The water level in the canals does vary, however; I was there in spring, and during a drought, so the water level was low in the pond, and much of the canal was just a big, muddy ditch. So no lost discs, but less natural beauty too. Yet I could see that with a normal water level the course would be much more beautiful, and much more treacherous.

The course is relatively short, even from the long tees, so you don't need a big arm to clear the water on any hole. You will need, however, control and probably some luck too. In addition to the water, like many Florida courses, another feature of most holes at Lakeview is low ceilings and in some cases, well defined (but never really tight) fairways. Unlike many Florida courses, though, thick palmetto stands and undergrowth are not really a factor out here, as the many large old live oaks have created a large shady hammock with minimal undergrowth. The trees and other flora, not to mention the bird watching around the lake, are the truly distinctive features of this course.

Lakeview Park has numbers on the teepads but not the baskets, and minimal signage otherwise, so you should probably take a map for your first time out here. And while it does have concrete teepads, they are the shortest I've ever seen, and thus can throw you off a little bit. Finally, as the course is tightly parceled in among the canals and lakes, it's both relatively short, with no hole much over 300 feet, and does have a few overlapping fairways that could pose a problem on a crowded day. Considering the space, though, the course is laid out well, with good variety of approach and taking full advantage of the distinctive landscape. If you're willing to take the risk of sacrificing a few discs, Lakeview Park is worth a visit.

Favorite hole - #9 - One of the longer holes on this short course, the flight path goes over a wider part of the canal, then has to hook back into a grove of old live oaks and thick bougainvillea.