Ludington Park is a huge multi-use area that is NOT located in the established disc golf destination of Ludington, MI. Instead, it is located about six hour's drive away in the up-and-coming disc golf destination of Escanaba, MI. Ludington Park IS located right on Little Bay de Noc, which is an inlet of the same Lake Michigan that the other Ludington is on. Ludington Links is a 9-hole DGC that plays around the park.

The disc golf course starts in an easy-on-the-eyes grassy area that is right on the water. Holes 1-4 all have baskets near the shoreline, and overthrowing any of these baskets could cause your disc to get wet. After a fifth hole that is set a little further back from the water, the bay is in play again for the remaining four holes. The most memorable hole for many disc golfers will be #6. This one requires perhaps a 175'-200' carry across a channel separating the mainland from an island. The park drive crosses the channel on a bridge to your left, and the channel opens into the bay on your right. I released my RHBH tee shot late, but fortunately my disc had enough stability to fade back to shore. I managed to play all 9 holes and avoid throwing any discs into the water, but if you aren't as lucky it looked like you would be able to wade in and find them pretty easily.

#8 and #9 are nice holes playing out and back on a little wooded spit of land extending into the bay. These holes require a bit of shot shaping and are a nice change of pace after the mostly open 1-7. There are also a pretty good mix of distances here, ranging from 164' up to 413' and averaging about 290'. I imagine wind often adds more challenge here too, although I visited in calm conditions.

The course infrastructure is mostly good. The baskets are yellow banded DISCatchers. The tee pads are concrete. The tee signs are good quality and have all of the required info. All of these items are in fine shape. Trash cans, benches, and restrooms are not installed for the course specifically, but can be found nearby in the park.

There are no navigational signs, but navigation is mostly easy since the course is so open. I could have used a couple arrows between holes 6-7 and 7-8.

Although pretty, the first five holes are kind of boring to be honest. The distances to the basket vary but these holes are all otherwise basically the same - throw across a wide open and flat field, away from the park drive and toward the water. The water is always located behind the basket and to the right as you approach. The only other tiny variations are a couple of small trees in play on a couple of the holes, and the fifth hole being a little further away from the water. Hole 7 is also similar to these first five. That leaves only three holes that have any real technical challenge. Even on these three, a well-angled RHBH hyzer will be just fine. I think I threw the same disc off the tee on all nine holes.

The entire course is quite flat.

There is a huge walk back to the parking area after hole 9. Like, HUGE. The first eight holes basically all play in the same direction, and the ninth hole plays back parallel to hole 8. So after the round (or before the round, depending on where you park) you will need to basically walk back holes 1-7 - a distance that has to be at least 1/3 mile. Because of that, this is definitely not a quick play.

I had a couple of minor safety concerns. The park drive could come into play on hole 6. When I played holes 8 and 9, a couple of people were exploring the wild little peninsula which created a safety hazard as these throws are blind. Pay attention when playing hole 7 so that you can be aware of any people walking into that area.

A couple of benches and trash cans at tees would be nice. A practice basket and kiosk would be nice.

I enjoyed my round at Ludington Links, but most of that came from playing holes 6-9. I got a little bored playing holes 1-5 (and later, walking back through them to get to my car). It also felt like more could have been done here. There appeared to be plenty more open terrain near the current course to add a few more similar holes that play back towards hole 1. Alternatively/also, if the layout could stretch past the beach on the island there are some nice wooded areas where it looked like a few more sandy, technical fairways could be added. Maybe the course could even reach a full 18 holes that way. Don't get me wrong - I'm glad that holes were not added near other park amenities like the playground, basketball court, etc. But it just seemed like there could be an opportunity to introduce a little more variety on the course without sacrificing safety, and also have the layout come closer to being a loop.

As it stands today, Ludington Links is an interesting oddball course in a pretty lakefront setting but I would not go out of my way to play here again.

(2.116 Rating) A links style niner that requires some moderate distance off the tee.
- LOCATION AND BEAUTY - IMO, the best part of this course is its adjacency to Green Bay. Ludington Park is a beautiful large waterfront recreational area. Views of the bay are constant from this layout. Several holes tee off from the north towards the south backdrop of the bay. The scenery for holes (7-9) is flip'n awesome, although one basket is missing over this stretch. See cons. Overall I went with 60 percentile. There are not many trees in play and the course is relatively flat.
- BASICS - The course provides a reasonable disc golf experience. It has concrete tees and tee signage. The baskets are DISCatchers and are in nice shape. IMO the overall experience was better than the average niner, although not by much.
- NAVIGATION AND SIGNAGE - Good enough. No course map, but very respectable tees signs. The tee signs have an artistic description of the line in addition to the number and distance. No next tee direction on them though. What makes the course mostly easy to navigate is the open nature of the course. The course map on DGCR is accurate as of this review.
- QUICK PLAY - I finished my solo round in 23 minutes. Unfortunately however, the course doesn't loop, and it's a 10 minute walk back to tee (1).
- CHALLENGING - Although definitely on the openish side of the spectrum, players are going to need recreational skills to shoot below par. The first hole is the longest par 3 on the course being just over 400 feet long. A couple others are plus 350 feet too. Not much in the way of technical skills are required except towards the end of the layout.

Needs to loop and needs one basket replacement.
- MISSING BASKET - The basket for hole (8) is missing. Which is a shame as this would likely be the most iconic hole on the course as its supposed location is surrounded by water on three sides. I couldn't help but notice that there was another basket west of tee (1). I assume this is a practice basket, but it may be basket (8) moved over here from a winter season for all I know. Regardless, they should really consider moving this basket back to the course.
- FORGIVENESS - If the waters of the Bay are up, like when I played, water will be in play numerous times. Don't go long on the first four holes as water lurks behind the basket in each case. Hole (6) will probably claim the most discs as the basket is across the water. There were also some very thick overgrown grass areas on the last three holes for my visit.
- NO EXTRAS - The equipment is basically the required basics of tees, signs and baskets. No extra tees or alt basket placements. I saw one bench, which was likely there by happenstance next to tee (4). I got a good chuckle from seeing the life ring buoy mounted to the tee sign on (6). Restrooms are near basket (9).
- HOLE VARIETY - As alluded to under my challenge pro, this course is about length over accuracy. Holes (1 thru 5) basically all felt the same. Hole (6) was a nice change of pace with the water clear, but then (7) felt like the beginning holes. (8) would have been a real unique shot had the basket been there and (9) had a different feel to it.
- WIND - Due to the lack of trees, wind will likely be an issue.
- NO LOOP - It's a 2,500 foot walk back to tee (1) from basket (9).

It's really a shame that perhaps the best hole on the course is not playable as of this review. Considering the missing element, I'm going with a solid 2.0 overall. The course definitely feels like a disc golf course, it's just nothing special when considering just the disc golf aspect. For those that enjoy beautiful settings, I would in fact recommend checking it out if within a half hour to an hour's drive max. Ludington made it into my plans as I was driving across the U.P. this day with my family and I needed a place to stop. It was perfect for me with my family in tote. They liked the views, playground and beach, and I got to play disc golf. Win win. This was officially the first course I played in Michigan, my 19th disc golf state.