In the funniest movie of all time, Animal House, Kevin Bacon's character is being initiated in to a fraternity. Bending over in only his tightie whities, every time the sadistic Sargent At Arms, Douglas C. Niedamier, swats his ass, Kevin Bacon has to respond with, "Thank you sir, may I have another? And that's exactly I how felt playing Leila.

Walk up to # 1' throw driver, walk down steep embankment, walk up steep embankment and finally you see the basket at the bottom of another steep embankment. I'm already spent and I've only played one hole. Thank you sir, may I have another?

Walk up to # 5. Throw two drives and I still can't see the basket. Thank you sir, may I have another?

I can't locate a basket after a big downhill. Walk 2 miles trying to get back on track. Thank you sir, may I have another?

Throwing down a steep, tight downhill with multiple turns and twists. I'm exhausted. Thank you sir, may I have another?

Leila Arboretum is a large, sprawling beautiful park. I don't think there is one square yard in the entire park that is flat. That my friends is what disc golf at Leila is all about. I had been given ample warning that this course was going to be a test of my endurance and will. Leila won.

Leila beats you down and then kicks sand in your face when you're at your most vulnerable state.

1. Physically. The course is huge with a constant menu of long, steep, sometimes rugged, other times beautiful hillsides to stumble down, trudge up.

2. Mentally. Trying to preserve any semblance of sanity while looking for any sign of the next hole that you could actually play without the trepidation of another

3. Difficulty. # 5 is an 830' journey across three separate life zones.

4. Spiritually. The course destroys your spirit.

5. Navigational. I played the course solo and found my already tired and weary self constantly wasting precious energy wandering about trying to determine where a basket or next pad was to be found.

I don't think the signs were totally accurate. True, I was playing alone and had reached a state of mental exhaustion but....

Few benches. I would have preferred couches but any bench would have helped.

Any navigational help would be appreciated. Numbers on the baskets would help. Some arrows. Some Indians. Anything.

Leila and it's designer have been described as:

Diabolical (my favorite)
An evil genius
Having designed the course while high on acid ( I would add mushrooms or meth)
Insanely difficult
Disappointing Sadism
Not-beginner friendly

I used a few other terms to describe my round here, non of which can be printed in a family disc golf review sight.

I have one suggestion. Don't try to play this course solo your first time through. With that, I have no complaints. The course is too difficult for my sorry ass game. I would have complaints if this were the only course available to me. But I have other choices that suit my level of play so I'll stick to those courses and let the younger, stronger and more accomplished players tackle Leila.

Those with lots of time and arm strength will enjoy this course the most. Hole 5 has a great elevated tee shot onto a long, straight fairway, leading around a pond to an 810' basket. Hole 11 has a tee perched on a steep ridge, leading to a pretty meadow below, and also has one of the best pin positions up a short hill with pine trees. Has quite a few elevation changes on the best holes, including undulating short hills on Holes 12-15. Even the woods holes tend not to be flat here. Has terrific tee signs and sidewalk plank tee pads. A free course, and a lot of exercise in a three-hour round.

Has many frustrating flaws that lead to a less-satisfying disc golf experience. Among these are somewhat baffling pin positions that are occasionally ill-conceived (Holes 2, 3, 5, 6, 10, 17). Some holes play longer than the posted distances. Has some high pain-to-gain woods holes, which unfortunately make up a majority. A few holes seem to have RHBH-only tee shots. Others are way too long for the tree density. Disappointingly, many beautiful grassy areas of the park aren't utilized. Most frustrating was the fact that baskets for Holes 3, 6 and especially Hole 15 (a missed opportunity for a signature Hole) are currently missing; there is little more frustrating in the game than walking through wooded hills looking for a non-existent basket.

Good in spots, but not consistently. Very difficult, but doesn't necessarily reward good play in all instances. Though shorter and less exotic, the nearby Irving Park course is often more fun overall.

Course redesign ideas:
-Keep 1 and 2 as is, possibly moving the basket for 2
-Redesign 3 or Skip to 4
-Split up 5 into two holes
-Eliminate 6, 8, 9, 10 and 17
-Reverse Hole 7 from hole to tee
-Open up 18 slightly, especially near the tee
-Add 4 meadow holes by parking lot and/or the opposite side of the street from 11

The course has not greened out yet so now is a good time to play it. Cement tees and tee signs are in!

Big tree down on Hole #1.

I spoke with the course manager and he plans to finish cutting fairway trees and stumps before the end of May. Landscaping, benches and flags should be up by the end of the summer.
The concrete tees are a big improvement over last summer and the foot paths have been worn in a little bit.
The course needs to be broken-in and trimmed up but it is a lot of fun to play. The estimated PDGA Pro level Par is 68.

-Baskets - I think all but one or two had the vortex baskets and this may be the first time i have putted on these.

- Risk Vs Reward - this is one of those courses where throwing a mid safe and short may be better then bombing a driver.

-Tee pads - Nice long cement tee pads.

-Elevation - this course is a beast when it comes to elevation, it was my 5th course of the day, so my legs were tired, but it was a monster. Bring water.

- No Drinking - While this shouldn't be a con, the biggest con is that so many people were leaving there beer bottles on the course. This could be an issue with the trash cans as there only seemed to be 1 and it was where I think 8 or 9 meets 17.

- No benches - the park itself has a few but they are randomly not really accessable, for this course it would be nice to have a bench to sit on here or there.


-Tee Signs - (this is super nit picky, but I don't think I could mention it as a Pro as it bugged me a lot) They have em now, I was not really a fan as a lot of the holes seem to be over done and a bit dramatic,(for the lines) which as most of the course is blind it makes it hard to figure things out without walking forward.

-Condition - When I was there hole 1 and 4 or 5 seemed had huge branches down and made the fairways not as playable. It seemed the course took a huge beating this winter.

Fairways - I am all for wooded disc golf, but a few of the holes seemed crazy wooded. it may of been because of the conditions at the time.

This was one of those courses that seemed so good, and up there in pro caliber. I am not sure if when i played the course took a bad beating or what, because there was a lot of broken branches and brush all over.

If this seems to be getting better please let me know, I will most likely come back in the summer to check it out again and maybe change up my review depending.

The set up is challenging yet enjoyable. Love the long drives.

This course seriously needs tee markers. There is nothing to indicate as to which way to go to get to the next tee from the current basket. Many of the stumps are still 4-6 inches sticking out of the ground, they really need to be ground down. SERIOUS hazard!!!!

The Leila Arboretum course will be one of the absolute best courses in southern Michigan once the tees and baskets get marked to give direction as to where to go from one spot to another.