Middle Park is a multiuse park but the disc golf course generally steers clear of other park activities. The front and back nine both end by the parking lot which is always a plus. The baskets here are orange Mach V's which are in good condition and catch nicely. Like so many courses on this road trip, I love the orange baskets. They stick out so nicely. Especially compared to your standard silver Mach's. There is one tee per hole. These were all concrete except one, maybe two, but hole 8 for sure was a rubber mat. This was fine as it's probably the shortest hole on the course. There are multiple pin positions per hole. The signs showed some having up to 4. The distances here are all over the place in length. They range from about 200 or so on hole 8 up to 900 or so feet on hole 7. Most are in the 3 to 400 foot range though. The course, especially the front 9, features quite a bit of elevation. The front 9 is also more open, park style golf. The back 9 is generally flatter, though not completely flat, but also more wooded. There are a number of different lines you need to hit to score well. The water comes into play on quite a few holes as well. Hole 10 is a fun little shot with the basket being on the other side of Duck Creek. Also holes 4, 5 and 6 play alongside a drainage ditch that can eat a disc with an errant shot. The course was mowed well and was generally very clean. We didn't see a single other golfer out there on a Wednesday afternoon, but I would assume that the course does get busy on evenings and weekends. The course is listed as not cart friendly but its really not that bad. We pulled 2 carts around with little to no issue.

The tee signs are the number one con here. The ones that are there are generally pretty nice. That's the problem though. I'd say more than half were missing. Also hole 6 is basically skipped. It has hole 7 on the sign for it. It's back on track again by hole 10. The rough can be pretty thick in spots so be sure to watch your shot closely. We seen right about where a disc landed on hole 15 and after 20 plus minutes of searching came up empty handed. It's almost as if it just vanished. Also the flow is a bit tricky without a map in a few spots. Nothing too major but worth mentioning. Also I'm not sure if it's always like this but Duck Creek had some chocolate milk colored water that if a disc went in you'd never see it even a few feet offshore.

While this isn't a destination course by any means, it is a really fun course and is definitely worth a round or 2 if you're anywhere nearby. I think this is just a really well designed course that has quite a bit of replay value. It just kind of lacks any major Wow factor. So a 3.5 it is for me, a very good course.

Good variety of holes. Relatively open course, except for a few tight ones in the back nine. Takes you through a scenic park. Nice tees and pads.

There are some very challenging holes. 1000+ foot hole is a real bitch. Also risk of losing discs in large creek. Can be very muddy and wet in some low areas.

Overall this is a decent course. If not for the very long holes, this would be an excellent course. It is a relatively new course and has the potential to be a great course.

-Concrete Tees
-Orange Baskets
-Easy shots, Hard Shots, Long Shots, Not so long shots, Hyzer Shots, Anhyzer Shots, Thumber Shots, Backhand Throws, Forehand Required, uphill shots, downhill shots, wide open shots, tight (nearly impossible shots)...I think you get the idea!
-CHALLENGING!!
-Park has everything, pond, playground equipment, water park etc.

-Bring the bug repellant
-Course is very wet, even though it hasn't rained for a week
-Back 9 is dirty, lots of boggy ground and brackish water. It's going to be mosquito hell when it warms up.
-Wooded holes need some attention. As per previous review, too many trees make a calculated throw impossible.

I've played this course once before when I first started. I hated it! Now that I have more playing experience, I really enjoyed myself. This course is a must play if you're in the QCA. Just bring your A Game and your hiking shoes.

*The holes on the front side of the river (1-10?) are outstanding DG terrain -- rolling, grassy hills with big mature trees (kinda like perkerson in Atlanta, or less hilly waterworks in KC)
*1st ~10 holes are really fun to play; some great holes on the back too
*Good mix of terrain -- begins in hilly mostly open area and eventually enters the woods & transitions into tight technical holes
*Located in another very nice Iowa Park
*Good signage; easy to find way around for the most part (aside from #6 as mentioned in other reviews)
*Variety of shots required
*Variety of hole types -- up & down hill, left & right turning, long & short, etc.

*The biggest con was that 3 holes in the wooded area around #13 (a couple after crossing the river) were jammed in the woods, as were a couple of others on the back 9....the 1st 10 holes were so good that it really stuck out
*you would get lost after #6 if not pre-warned by a prior review & carrying a map
*you have to cross a river in the middle of the course to get to the holes on the other side
*several short wooded holes are 200' or less with no fairway. a 2 is luck on a these holes, not skill.
*safety hazard? on the long downhill hole that plays toward a ball field...
*the hole after you cross the creek eats discs. the shule on the right side of the fairway on the downed tree is a disc eater

This course had two sides...the 1st 10 or 11 holes prior to crossing the river were great (4 stars) but the holes on the other side were lacking (3 stars) ... they needed major tree/shule removal as they current eat discs & block the fairway.

Potential to be a great course; too bad there isn't 18 holes of room in the front side terrain or this could be a top course.

Memorable holes were the long par 5 hole with a left to right downhill slant, the downhill par 3 through big trees (#6 or 7) & the bomber downhill hole towards the ball field

-Ample parking area near first hole
-portajohns throughout front nine
-Great signage, which seems to be a common theme among all qca courses
-Good concrete tee pads (4' x 8' I think)
-Well maintained (recently mowed when each time I was there)
-Good shot variety (hyzer, anhyzer, straight holes)
-Good variety of hole lengths (anywhere from 200' in the woods to 850' in the 'open' (1002' foot hole not in placement when I played))
-about half the holes are "open" (although shot placement is still paramount) and half are in the woods and fairly technical
-water on a couple holes (2 with a bad shot and 10)

not a lot of cons just ones that bother me
-the walk from 6-7 is ridiculous-you have to walk down the hill between 3 and 4 (when dry, through 3's fairway when wet) then up the hill, cross the road and up another hill to 7's teebox
-the walk from 9 to 10 crosses 1's fairway
-you have to walk over the road bridge (23rd st.) to get to the pin on 10 (they should just build a bridge for it)
-long walk btwn 17 and 18 (back across the aforementioned bridge, then up the hill)
-navigation gets a little hairy in 15, 16, 17 there are good paths through the woods, but it's easy to miss 16 if you're not looking for the cut into the woods
-park is fairly heavily used by nondiscers (mostly pedestrians and bikers on hole 10 but could also be a problem with fishermen (hole 2) and kids on hole 6), just be careful on 10 and make sure not to put anyone at risk, there is a warning sign on 10 for people who don't realize the danger
-water backs up on back nine in low areas (I played the day after a heavy rain and 11's left rough had knee high water in it.)
-No drinking water that I saw on the course, there probably is some by the water park area, but that is a bit out of the way

This is truly a great course, there are some course layout issues that I think could be addressed with a little thought and sign moving (for instance skip hole three, with kind of a long walk to 4 then after playing 5 and 6, play 3, it would make the walk less arduous to 7) but not really sure how you'd fix 17-18.
This course is huge and tough and not recommended for beginners.
If you are coming to play here I would recommend going to www.iowadg.com and posting up to see if a local will join you.
I could see this course as a 4 or 4.5 for some people who know the course well and aren't bothered by long walks.

UPDATE: The best order to play the holes on this course IMO is play 18,1,2,4-6, 3, cross road to 7-10, cross creek at 23rd st. then play 11-17 with a hike back to the parking lot.