The course at Lewis University is definetly unique. Quite possibly, other words have been used to describe it. It's one of those courses that's going to bring out the emotions in players. The course sits behind the school's baseball field. Actually, you go past the field to the next left turn to find the course. The course plays in three very different types of terrain, a grassy meadow on a hillside, the wooded ravine with the creek at the bottom, and a grassy area near the ballfield's right field corner.

There a couple of epic holes here. # 3 is just 245' but crosses over the creek and another small ravine and the window to get through is minuscule. # 6 could be missed. Don't, miss it! It's tee pad is up and above the creek and you throw through a narrow opening out into the meadow, then you have to thread another shot through another tunnel to a basket which is perched precariously close to a ravine.

The course is Intermediate to advanced player level. It is not a course for newbies or players who can't throw accurately.

I hate courses with mown fairways out of tall grassy fields. The ones where if your disc lands in the tall grass, you may never see it again. This course has much of that and rest assured you'll spend plenty of time searching for your discs.

I think courses on a college campus should be aimed towards their target audience, which is college students, most of whom are just out to throw a few discs, maybe drink some beer and enjoy an easy round without the agony of searching in the tall grassy fields and woods for their discs.

The course is difficult to the point of frustration. Throwing uphill 425' and trying to keep your disc on a 30' wide fairway is my idea of a hole that is not enjoyable for most of us.

The tee signs are the old school fiberglass ones. They're in pretty decent shape. The baskets are DGA models with the tough to read red numbers.

The tee pads are composed of some kind of dirt, cinder, metamorphic rock? I don't know what they were but I didn't care for them.

If you desire a challenge, come here and play the Lewis College Disc Golf Course will provide all the challenge your little heart desires. If you are a newer player or have a scatter arm or hate looking for lost discs, then I might advise you to find another course.

I consider this a great practice course. Its 9 holes with distances ranging from 190 to 435. the course makes good use of the elevation changes that are there. its got a decent variation with wide open fairways and tight tunnels. the course looks like it is maintained fairly well by the university with mowed fairways/paths. the course was very clean.

the course layout leaves a bit to be desired. i have been the only one on the course every time i've played, so i didn't have to worry about it, but there is some crossing of fairways that could be dangerous. #2 and #6 cross, walking from #5 basket to #6 tee puts you directly in the path of #3, and #9 crosses #7. the other thing i've noticed is that it seems as though when the course was measured, a rolling type measuring device was used (i'm assuming) as flight path distances seem to be contradictory. as an example, #1 is marked at 305ft, but after skying the basket a few times i used google maps measuring and it marks at 268ft. it doesn't detract from the course much, but its something to note.

with only 9 short holes, i can't consider it a serious players course, but it is great for getting familiar with some new discs or working on your short game. as long as there isn't too much traffic on the course, ill continue to stop and shoot a quick round if i'm in the area.

Very narrow green entrances.
Informative, old metal tee signs. Yardages seemed correct.
A few roll-a-way greens.
Couple interesting o.b. holes. #7 especially, is an interesting hole; finishing on an elevated green; with roll-a-way potential. Road above green, and parking lot below. (One of our crew threw directly into lot and through two rows of parked vehicles and a student gave him his disc back with a smile. Evidently, students are aware of the danger of parking in this lot.)
#8 is a short hole. But, again, their is an o.b. fence running the entire right side of the fairway; with parked vehicles and a lot to right of fence. Thick schule to the left.
A couple of 400+ foot semi bombers; both uphill finishes, essentially making hole play even longer.
Beautifully done, steep stairway on ravine hole.
Attendant at gate was very helpful. Gave us directions and a parking pass; no charge.

Natural tees. We played in winter; with some snow and ice; and therefore hard to tell how rutted tees are. They seemed to be in pretty good shape.
The parking area holes....while interesting in an o.b. sense; could easily cause trouble. I am sure cars get hit here.
Navigation at this course is the biggest issue. Tee signs do have an arrow telling where to find next tee; once hole is finished. However, as noted by another reviewer; these give you a general idea; but are not precise.
After driving hole #6, you must back track towards #5 and descend stairs to cross bridge. Navigation is not that difficult, but you will have to have your thinking caps on a bit; and will probably wander slightly; first time through.

I would say this course is nearly a three rated course; which I very rarely give nine hole courses. I thought they used the land available to it's fullest. Lewis University DGC is one of the better college courses I've played. This is not just a stuck in afterthought of a course.
For those playing the multitude of nine hole; rather boring courses in Chicago land; I suggest you come and play all of the gems in the Joliet area. This would be the first you would arrive at; coming from the north; and will provide a good warm up. Combined with Trinity Links, Highland Park, West Park, Community Park, and Shorewood Park, this set makes for destination disc.

Good signs and nice baskets.

Good use of elevation, pin placements, and shot variety.

Mix of RHBH and RHFH shots.

Clean course located on the Lewis campus.

Not crowded when I played.

Dirt/gravel and uneven tee pads in spots.

Layout was very weird, holes 1-5 are alright to find, but you have to walk a ways to hole 6 then walk back to get to some tees.

Bad throws can be punished badly with thick rough and trees. Poison ivy was spotted.

This course can be quite difficult with small narrow fairways and tough rough to look through. It is a nice and some what challenging course for 9 holes but I haven't had the urge to play here again.

What I personally like and how this course stacks up in my list of 9-hole courses:

1) Holes with good risk/reward. Fair, but harsh punishment for bad decisions or execution. == B (2 of the holes have tunnel fairways though very dense wood. It is easy to turn an aggressive shot into a 4 on those. A couple other have pins tucked into dense alcoves in the underbrush punishing go-for approaches that do not land very close to the pins)

2) Holes that have rewarding birdie opportunities for me. I throw 300' accurately, 360' max. == C+ (Several holes are too long for me to reach, but are not long enough to make the ensuing approach at all challenging)

3) More wooded than open - lots of variety of shots required caused by hole shape and topography == B+ (Great variety for a 9-holer. Thows over the raving are fun and a few holes make good use of the available up and down elevation)

4) Natural beauty (Appalachian beauty preferred) and seclusion. == B- (A few places are quite pretty, but the course bumps up to University parking lots and view of buildings to get a good grade in this area)

5) Bonus points for multi-shot holes with defined landing zones, good risk/reward and multiple options to play them. == N/A

It's all about feeding the addiction, so I ranked this course subjectively based on my own "personal addiction factor". The grades above tell how well the course will draw me back to itself again and again and again. Since I have played a decent number of courses (125 18-hole, 64 9-hole as of mid 2009), my hope is that players/explorers who have similar addiction tastes will find my ratings list helpful as they choose courses to play and explore.

I fully expect others with different tastes/philosophies to disagree with me....that's the fun of things here. See my profile for my rating philosophy.