Well laid out course.
Good baskets.
Signs.
Made good use of elevation.
Variety of holes.

Benches are not to be trusted.
The idiot who put the signs up did so like an idiot.(they are all bent)
If the course is busy watch out for discs from other players.

I like the course, especially the 19 - 27, but I don't think I would like it if it were busy.

-Well kept course and baskets
-27 holes in total
-Good variety in the holes
-Lots of friendly people on course

-Large hill to walk up and down
-Kinda rocky. Be prepared to have your discs banged up a bit.

With several courses in the Joplin area, this is by far the best one available. This long 27 hole course offers just about everything. On the first 18 holes, about ten of them are long bomb holes, easy for beginners. Other holes are kinda tricky with trees you have to throw through. The last nine holes offer a bit more of a challenge. A few are long shots, but most are more tricky then the first 18.

Another great thing about this course is that you can start at hole 1, 10, or 19 and have a great time. I have done this on different occasions to get a different flow to the day.

My only suggestion is that you wear hiking boots or a really comfortable pair of tennis shoes. The course is a bit rocky in places, so watch out for loose rocks. It can also bang up your discs a bit. I have a couple of discs with some pretty deep gouges from landing on rocks.

My favorite on the course is hole 8 or hole 13. On hole 8, you have to throw through a grove of trees, making a nice setup shot a must. Hole 13 is a par five over a small hill with some trees along the fairway.

UPDATE (5/19/17): Since writing this review, I have played several other courses and found my original rating of a perfect (5) to be vastly over stated. Don't get me wrong, this is an excellent course for the Joplin area, but giving it a five rating was overstating the true value of the course. I have since moved my rating down at a more respectable (3.5), which is more in line of what this course actually is. There are some great holes on this course, and it is truly one of my favorites, but the five rating was just too high.

Great variation of short and long holes
Suits advanced players well as it offers. challenges in distance and with well placed trees.
Has shorter holes which are great for beginners.
My fiance and I went to play this course today. I followed the pro par and she followed the novice par. It was a very nice system to have.
Locals are very friendly in helping you navigate the course.

One could say there isn't a great enough challenge for exceptional players.
It is much improved, but the course can be a bit confusing, especially with multiple baskets near each other.

This was a really fun course to play. The people on the course were very friendly and helpful. I definitely want to go play this again soon.

This course has something for everyone. It is not the longest course or the hardest course but it might be the most fun. There are always people out at the course playing and willing to bet some money. It is pretty well kept and the league does a good job updating things (new baskets soon). There are really shots for everyone here. The old setup can still be played and is quite easier than the new setup. There is some elevation change and enough trees to make it interesting.

This is not a very technical course. It is best suited for people who can bomb a disc down the fairway. The baskets leave a lot to be desired. I have played here many many times over the last couple of years and I would say it is easy to lose 2 or 3 strokes a round from the baskets alone.

We had a vote last week (6-21-11) and we are getting new baskets before the 4 States Open (end of September). They will be Monkey Traps. We have also discussed putting in another 9 on the West side of Hole 1. This would be all in the woods and would give the course an aspect it lacks. We have also talked about getting alternates pins. But to do this we would have to recreate the layout once again so we are still debating this.

Tuesday Night League Doubles at 6:00 pm every Tuesday. $5.00 to play.

The course is very solid. The park it is situated on is beautiful and in a very unexpected part of town. The course is completely a park-like setting style course. There are tons of elevation changes used very well throughout the whole round. The tee pads are in great shape. All 27 holes have concrete tees that are a nice length. There are many opportunities to grip and rip out here if that is your preferred style of play. While some technical shots are required in places, for the most part you can use any style of shot on each hole and be fine. Because of all the elevation changes, wind can play a major factor out there (as it did for us). There is a beautiful scenic view around hole 11 (i think). It is a really awesome downhill tee shot where you can reach back and let it fly. The course was very clean and well maintained. There is no other intended use for that part of the park which is nice. You don't have to worry about walkers or joggers out there. It appears the course is played a lot. Around 2:30 on a Tuesday the course had at least 10-15 cars there.

As seems to be well documented by the other reviewers the baskets are pretty sketchy. I went in open-minded about the homemade baskets, but some of them are pretty rough. Height from the ground (for the baskets) varies widely throughout the round and the cages are different shapes and sizes and depths.
Flow---the signage is quite confusing in the beginning of the round. We got turned around pretty bad around hole #7 ( can't remember for sure, but it was in the general area at the top of the hill). I will give credit to them for the excellent signage on top of the baskets. They are very easy to spot and accurately marked. It is at the tees where we experienced problems.
Other than those things, my biggest gripe is that while the land is great, I didn't feel like the variety of shots required was very overwheling. There multiple ways to attack each pin which is nice for a time, but after 27 holes of the same thing, I was ready for a bit more in the way of shot-shaping requirements.

Great course and lots of fun. I would recommend it to anyone in the area wanting to play. Probably the best course in the Branson/ Springfield/ Joplin area. As a side note, if you don't like getting exercise, stay away because there is a ton of hilly walking.

Ice Bowl 2011~ Considering there was 20"-24" of snow on the ground, it was an exceptional experience for me. Tee pads had been cleared & salted which made for stable footing. Very scenic, with well placed pin locations. Good mix of shots with rolling hills for elevation change. Benches and trash cans placed every few holes. The local club members were very friendly and I was told that most locals would be glad to throw a round.

The baskets were made by the city parks department and I witnessed a higher percentage of spit-out/fly-through than with Mfg baskets. No course maps.

Locals said, They were working on improving the Baskets and possible future maps. Most definitely will play this course again.

This course has everything you could want. Shade on almost all the holes. Every type of shot is coverd through the 27 holes. You can through back hand or fore hand which ever you decide on most all the holes. This courses grass is very nicely keeped. Not to many trees so you could have a nice line at the basket.It is also layed out well the course seems to flow well. This course play pretty open so not much of a chance of loseing discs. The eleveation changes are really nicely utilised.

Ths first thing i can say about this course is the baskets suck. well at least the chains suck. the first 18 are home make and are not the right shap or size they should be. Not really enough challangeing holes. There is a lot of the same kinda of shot. Lot of small rocks to twist you ankle on and some hidden sink holes that are kind of jarring if you step in to one. The stones are also hard on you discs I have some new dent in my pro plactic I would recomemed throwing champ or star beacuse it is tuffer and not many chances to lose discs.

I did here that new chains are coming. Also that they are going to be fixing the baskets that are not any good. This is a must play course. It is very pretty and has a really nice river that is close to it.

Nice challenging with rolling hills and decent technical challenge. This course can push you to use all of the throwing techniques you have, with hyzer, anhyzer, tomahawk, you name it. Nice long holes compliment the short technical holes..have fun on the 600+ hole 10. Another pro is that it is 27 holes so you can add the last nine if you have time, and they are just as good as the initial 18.

The locations of the pins have changed which make the tee pads not always facing them, which means a couple of times playing will get you where you need to be. The home made baskets aren't the best made, and I also have experienced bounce outs, which make for an 'off' day on scoring.

After playing courses in all of the four state region, I would recommend this as the best course with a practice pin, 27 holes, clean restrooms and a clean course that is dedicated to disc golf. If I lived in the area, I would for sure be there for the Four States Open. I strongly suggest if you have time go and throw this course.

Good course for a variety of skill levels. Very picturesque surroundings. Large well taken care of park. Land is disc golf only so there are no conflicts with other activities. Elevation is used very well. A good variety of hole distances and hyzer / anhyzer shots. Not too shabby for advanced arms, and not too overwhelming for beginners. Sporadic woods give players a good choice of slot selection based on their handedness /abilities. Street sign "nickels" on the basket tops are cool.

Gently rolling hills with sporadic woods is probably one of my favorite terrains to play on. If there's an issue with McClelland, its that those kind of shots are really all there is. Some of the tee boxes seem a little off kilter causing players to perhaps aim for the wrong basket. Homemade poleholes which have some dead spots (didn't have a spit personally, but I could see where it could happen) as well as inconsistent basket cages.

Not perfect by any means, but probably the best course in SW Missouri. You see some of the densely wooded land around the perimeter of the course and wonder if expansion to two full 18 hole courses is possible, perhaps with some tunnel shots. Not far off of I-44 and with nine extra holes, definitely worth the stop.