This review is coming from a Novice player who started playing back in November. I have played UC, Water bogged Schlater Park and Lost in the back nine Live Oak. This has been a great course to play on as it has its challenges. I like the difficulty to be just a little better that UC and it feels like a mix of UC and Live Oak. Has a little bit of everything which makes it fun. Will be playing this course more often.

This may be difficult to play if you've had recent rain. We saw a few places where the water was still standing and haven't had rain in a while. Nothing like Schlater Park though. Can be difficult to find the next hole as not great signage to tell you where to go, but found it easier to follow the path most worn would lead you to the next hole.

We GPS the directions the first time out and it told us to Park in a residential area and walk to our destination. This is not needed as you should be able to park in the School parking lot closest to the entrance gate to the park. If your new to playing disc golf this may be more of a challenge for you. Would recommend some of the other areas first before trying this one out as a beginner.

Nice variety of holes, McClain has wooded, open, & mixed terrain throughout the course you'll need to bring both your power & technical skills with you to play McClain.

I'm visiting San Antonio from Louisiana for work, the front 9 are backwards format at the present time. It was somewhat confusing figuring out where the tee pads and baskets were located. Everyone I have encountered has been extremely friendly and helpful, great DG community in SA.

Some hole tees and baskets hard to locate. Lots of Pokemon Go players walking around.

I don't know anything about this playing the course in reverse stuff. I think I played it forward. The course has concrete tee pads and yellow banded Discatcher baskets. The tee signs that are present give yu good information. This is a nice challenging course playing at a solid intermediate level. Better players will score well under par while us rec players can still enjoy the course and it's challenging side.
# 3 teepads was a nice bit of engineering. The hole is just 287' but the pad is raised and there is a gnarly tree with large branches forcing you to keep your drive low. I liked the looks of this hole a lot.
There are garbage cans and rustic branch benches here too.
Everyone mentions # 5 and # 6 and they both merit acolades as they really are memorable disc golf holes. # 5 is 405 with a dogleg right. The basket is then perched 20-25 feet up on a ledge and there is a swampy moat at the base of the cliffside. Fun hole! Not that incredibly difficult, just fun.
# 6 was actually freakier for me. It's just 140 foot almost completely over the swampy moat with lots of overhanging branches to knock your discs down It's probably a easy little forehand but for us players who don't have a forehand, it's a little tougher. Both of these holes would take on a different complexion after a rain with the moat/creek becoming engorged with flood waters.
I liked # 17 quite a bit with the basket perched just before the deep ditch.
The course ends back at the start which is always good.

I could see this course being a disaster after a rainstorm of any kind. The crreek alone could cause much havoc throughout the course. And i can see the mud being terribly slippery.
The back nine didn't quite measure up to the front nine, IMO.
Tee signs were missing on # 1, 9, 12, 13, and 17.
There was a garbage can at # 10 and it was overflowing. Who in charge of emtying these?

This is an delightful little course here. There were a couple of those signature holes that really stood out for me. Not too many clunkers. For being close to a couple of schools, the grafitti and vandalism was minimal. Middle school students are especially malicious little monsters around disc golf tee sins and baskets. I'd love to see those four missing tee signs replaced. It doesn't sound like this playing the course in reverse thing is real popular. I like the idea of A & B pads.
This is a nice solid course....Yippee-Ki-Yay mother*^%$^&^&#@!

Long and short tees almost all the way around.
Great mix of technical woods and big open distance.
Excellent use of elevation and terrain changes.
Great signage and well maintained

Several pins only have one tee pad that really need a second one. Given how much harder some of the long pins are on the first half of the course, the lack of them on some of the easier, shorter pins in the back makes that section of the course a lot less challenging, comparatively.

Indicators on baskets of the direction of the next tee pad and indicators on the sign of which basket position is currently in operation would really speed up play, as well.

This would be a 4 or 4.5 review if the course had a full set of long tees, but more importantly, the change in the past year to the pin position of #8 is a serious problem. The pin is still only rated as a par 3 and yet the final 100 feet to the basket is (a) a more than 90 degree turn from the fairway (b) through a complete pinball machine of trees with no real fairway to speak of. Even left handed you have almost no hope of placing your drive anywhere that's actually helpful as your second shot _will be_ facing a wall of trees no matter where you put it.

The rule of thumb is that a fairway is something you can drive a small car through. While in theory you could drive a car from this tee pad to this basket, the last 100 feet would hardly be in what anyone would call a throwable line. They really need to either open up _some_ throwable line from the fairway to the basket or they need to make this a par 4. It is very frustrating to put a drive on a hole that technical about 40 feet from the pin and still end up with absolutely no chance at a bird because you can't even see the chains.

Provides challenging shots but not overly hard. It was a few easy wholes to recover on, if you like water hazards

needs to be cleaned up a little. If you dont like water hazards there are a few wholes to avoid

its a must play

Excellent design with several tee placements. most holes have longs and shorts, and theres usually red stakes marking more of a pitch and putt course if that's your fancy. Plenty of shade for summer rounds. Nice flow and signage, 1, 9, 10, and 18 are all within a short walk to the parking lot. there are not a lot of great courses in SA area but this one is worth playing.

Lots of trash for my round the other day, regulars need to do a better job maintaining, i know they don't get much help from parks and rec so it's up to the players to keep it clean. The trash was a recurring source of frustration throughout the round. Several schools nearby so it could very well be students using the course as a place to drink and litter, but it was obvious to me that disc golfers were partially responsible.

When the course is clean, it's closer to a 4.0, when its dirty it's closer to a 3.0. Fun and challenging course, the local club has a ceanup at the end of every month so the course should be in good condition during the early days of the month.

This is a course that I put off for a long time playing but has been recommended to me several times. This course has several good challenge holes. I can't think of any better than 5 & 6. Hole 5 has a couple of good throws (about 100 feet each) to a steep embankment where you have to toss up to the basket. Tough to get this one in par. Hole 6 is a 140 foot throw to a basket that is sitting on the bank of the creek on the same side you are on. If you were to play this hole throwing out over the creek, you would have to throw at least 120 feet without dropping into the creek. There is an overhanging branch that is sitting just right to where your disc could possibly be diverted into the creek itself. I got kicked back on the trail next to the creek, so I avoided losing a disc. Hole 10 reminds me of hole 3 at Searight in Austin. Both are slightly over 500 feet straightaways and look almost exactly the same, except hole 10 here is a little tighter in one place. This course contains great tunnel shots on two or three holes and even a couple of wooded holes where you have to do some tree dodging. Good course layout overall. Not hard to navigate. A little muddy on the first 5 holes, but dries up as you play from hole 6 on back. Good challenge all around. Plenty of trash cans that I could see.

No restrooms. Messy on the early holes. Needs better parking arrangements. Lots of places to lose a disc or even lose your footing if you're not careful.

This course is comparable to Universal City in it's make-up and looks. I would be hard pressed to say which one I liked better, so I will say I like both equally.I would definitely play here again. This course is a fun 18 holes and I would recommend it to any disc golfer in San Antonio.

1) Practice basket available at the first tee area.

2) Nice sign and map at the entrance. Nicely landscaped entrance to the course also . . . not something you usually see on a disc golf course.

3) Signs have all the pertinent info Hole # Par, Distance, and a hole map . . .always positive for a first timer and traveller like myself.

4) Nice diversity on this course in regards to shot selection and hole design.

5) Foliage density is a big plus as it forces some real shot making to be needed on a lot of these holes.

6) Very Blair Witch feeling . . . little stones and branches placed in piles to line fairways and walkways between holes.

7) #3 has a very well done retaining wall. Proper and attractive landscaping is becoming one of my favorite things to see on a course because most other courses seemt o throw whatever they can together. Owning a landscape company really makes me appreciate good work when I see it.

8) Water is visible on a few holes although it seemed to mostly be right off the tee. They used the creek well however especially on one hole.

9) Elevation change was used as well as possible on this course.

10) 3 sets of tees to offer a completely different course for all skill levels.

11) Awesome rock wall out in the back corner of the course. It is quite a feature to this already great course.

12) 5 and 6 are two very unique holes and are worth playing this whole course just because of those holes!!

13 Nice concrete tees on this course and they are appreciated because of how wet it can get.

1) Walks from #3 to #4 is tough and also from 9 to 10. It can be confusing and hard to figure out for a beginner or traveller.

2) The hole across the power wire right of way seems really unnatural and is also really tough to see the basket because it is tucked right into the edge of the woods.

3) Seemed to be a lot of garbage around this course. I just don't rem

4) As seems to be the same on almost all TX courses so far . . . compaction and erosion are factors on this course. Mulch could be needed in spots to diminish the impact of the visual on this course.

This is just another great course in Texas . . .well designed, cool property, nice challenge, nice variety . . . what more can you ask for? I would be here all the time too!!!!

The course is well maintained. The tees are all in good shape and the baskets are all there and marked. Each tee has post with hole info. The course has a good variety of open fairways and ones through the woods. The vegetation is thick but easy to search for a disc (little high grass). The occasional ravine is also a welcome treat.

The course is a little too generic. I feel if you were to play this a few times it would become very easy and monotonous. The deep and disgusting looking water at hole 18 tee was a worry for me. Would not want to unluckily hit a tree and have to fish my disc out of that murky water.

I was visiting for Thanksgiving and McClain Park provided a great place to disc golf for the day. Props to whoever maintains the course. I hope all of San Antonio's courses are this nice (hopefully a little more technical).

Very challenging course that puts a premium on accuracy and placement. There are many birdies out there, but playing too aggressive can really make the strokes pile up. You can make quite a few birdies and still find yourself over par. A good thumber will help you quite a bit.

Can become very muddy if not unplayable after a rain. Some people can't seem to pick up their trash. Vandals like to paint graffiti on the course. Water in creeks can become murky making it impossible to retrieve your discs.

Since I have moved to SA, I have seen the pride that SADC puts into this course. I really wish that everyone would share that same pride and not trash and deface this great course.

A beautiful course that takes advantage of the local landscape. You would never think that this course would be tucked away inside Loop 1604. It's such a nice retreat from the city which is just outside its boundaries. This course will definitely test your skill level, as many holes are designed for specific shots. This course is designed for players with shot control.

Be prepared to fight trees and incline shots. But none to ridiculous.

This course is on the backside of an elementary school so be careful.

There are a couple of really cool holes, but what stands out about McClain is that it has a total package that includes almost everything you'd want in a course.
On the Design side there's a very good balance of fairway shapes with 7 St/ 4 Lt/ 6 R/ 1 S. And there's a tremendous variety of hole lengths ranging from 140 to 605 ft. (3<199/ 7<299/ 4<399/ 2<499/ 1 of 503/ 1 of 605). The terrain is what I think of as quintessential Texan- rather rough and dry, a bit dusty, with some gnarled trees, and dry creek beds. I liked it!
It's got all of the Basics covered quite well- excellent tee signs with good maps, very good long trapezoid cement tees, good double chain Discatcher baskets.
The course has almost all of the Amenities covered too-- a very clear map and scorecard are available online. There's a warm up basket, an excellent message board, plus lots of benches and trash cans.
Add up the sum total of the Design, Basics, and Amenities and you've got a very good course!

These are really just minor quibbles...
The tees for holes 10 and 17 were hard to find, even with the map.
The course is predominantly flat, with 11 holes that are flat (but you have to use the land you've got).
There's no restroom.

Course Level: Blue (most suitable for Advanced players rated 925-975)

My favorite hole- 6. (The signature hole) A short hole over a dry "stream" bed that could easily be aced, but it also has plenty of risk vs. reward. The safe hyzer route to the right is more obstructed, so you're more tempted to take the riskier straight shot.

The majority of the course has good solid holes that may not "Wow!" you, but a few are exceptionally good (6, 16), several are quite good (5, 7, 12), and none are lame. It's definitely worthy of adding to your Wish List of courses to play.

<span class="underline">A note about my rating:</span> My rating is a subjective measure of my <span class="italic">enjoyment</span> of the course, on the day I played it, and it is NOT intended to be a measure of the <span class="italic">quality</span> of the course. My Enjoyment Ratings are given "on the curve" in relation to all other courses I've played.

Look in the "Links/Files" section for my files with Hole-by-hole ratings and a more detailed Overall review. You can also read more of my review philosophy and rating notes at Disc Golf Course Reviews
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I'm always trying to improve my reviews, so if you mark this review unhelpful or you find a mistake, please send me a Personal Message here on DGCR to tell me what is wrong with it. I'll be grateful for the feedback.