Mt. McSauba DGC is a truly epic disc golf destination. The course traverses up, down and along the ski hill. It's a hike and will wear you out. But in the best way possible. The course will take a couple hours minimum to play, depending on your speed of play and group size, it could easily exceed 4 hours.

The baskets are Arroyo Vortexes. I've only played on these a handful of times, if that. They're pretty solid baskets. No issues on these as far as catching. A little hard to spot in the woods being all silver. No different than Chainstars or Mach's though. One pin and pin position per hole.

The tee pads are a mix of concrete, framed in gravel an natural. These were all acceptable or better for our round, though it was pretty dry recently. Two tees on the majority of the holes, though not all. The difference between the 2 sets of pads is generally quite extreme. We played a combination of the longs and the shorts.

The tee signs, where present, were very well done. They had all the general information you needed. Hole #, long or short pad listed, distance, a overhead hole diagram and next tee arrows. More than adequate to be sure. The signs are on both sets of tees which is definitely a bonus on a course of this caliber.

The elevation is used to perfection here. You will traverse up and down the hill a few times, but it's done so in a way as to not be overtaxing. They give you time to get your legs back under you. The last 6 holes zig zag through the woods and drop you off right where you began. These holes have slight undulations and break up the beatdown you'll recieve from the first 13 holes.

You'll need to use every type of shot in your arsenal to score well here. And staying in the fairway is rewarded here. Ending up off the fairway, even by a few feet can be disastrous. Many risk/reward situations abound.

This is in my top ten of most scenic courses. The views from holes 6 and 13 are absolutely stunning. Every hole in the woods makes you feel like you're on Endor. It's just spectacular.

Quite a few of the tee signs were missing which is not ideal, especially on such a physically demanding course where you really don't want to have to do any additional walking.

My personal number 1 con is the general lack of next tee signs. There are a number of long walks between holes, and to be honest, without the Udisc map there's no way I would have found my way around. We struggled to find hole 3 right off the bat, and that's at the bottom of the hill still.

The tee pads aren't always the greatest. That's usually the case on ski hill courses and to be fair these are some of the best pads I've seen on a ski hill. But don't expect anything special.

This course is one of the more physically demanding courses I've ever played. Not a con really, but this course will not be for everyone. Make sure to bring plenty of fluids. And I mean at least double what you usually take for a round. Especially in the warmer months.

If you find yourself up this way, make sure you find the time to play this course. This was one of the top ones I wanted to play on my trip over here and it did not disappoint. In fact it was my favorite new course of the whole trip. I can't recommend this course enough.

The pics on here are older and don't show the imrovements that have been made here since then. The course definitely gets love from the locals and it shows. Just an all around gem of a course.

THIS is the kind of course I envision when I take a vacation or travel somewhere. THIS is the kind of course that warrants a special trip or long drive. THIS is the kind of course that you dream about stumbling across that has that magic alchemy of raw natural resources and excellent design.

Mount McSauba is built around a ski hill/recreation area. It has beach access (looked like a nice one, though I didn't explore the waterfront too closely) and numerous hiking trails through the property. It's a beautiful property that spans a large acreage on Lake Michigan that really embodies examples of some of the best nature Michigan has to offer.

Long and short tees are both available. We ended up playing the longs. If you only have time for one or the other (and are in decent shape) I think the longs are the right choice - it really allows you to appreciate the epic nature of the holes. I'd budget about 3 hours for the whole circuit - longer if you're prone to breaks (which I certainly wouldn't judge you for taking!).

I'm not sure how to begin describing the holes on the course. Almost every one is a treat. You find yourself throwing in and around sandy lakeshore hills (sandy, but not quite dunes), mostly forested but with a few wide open spaces.

Elevation is used to maximum effect and present on nearly every hole. The majority of fairways run through the woods and are very fair. Challenging, particularly over long distances, but fair. The ground is soft so discs tend not to skip, but many of the greens are "fast", being located on or near some sort of slope.

Distance is actually quite varied, with a fairly even mix of sub-300', 300-400', and 400+ holes. The designers did a great job "pacing" the course and mixing up the distances. There is a bit of a clump of shorter holes at the end, but frankly we were so tired from the rest of the course it was welcome.

Underbrush is present but not bad to move through or search. I'd say losing a disc is unlikely but it is possible to lose sight of where it lands on some of the huge downhill throws. Additionally, I expect more than one disc has been shanked down a loooooong drop off, saluted for its service, and left behind because it takes a special soul to clamber up and down these hills more than the minimum necessary.

There's so many wonderful holes on this course. You'll need a lot of shots and have an opportunity to use most of the discs in your bag.

If I had to pick my favorite, it's probably #5. If ever there was a hole to make you go "WTF", it's this one. You start off with a 150' tunnel shot onto the ski slope. From there, you look up and see you need to throw ANOTHER 400' UPHILL to get to the basket. It's not fun, it's a d**n gauntlet thrown down in your face that says "Oh yes, we're doing this". You're rewarded for the trek up with hole #6, which is a huge 600' downhill over an open field. No obstacles to the basket, it's just you, the huge down hill, a gorgeous view, and the wind barreling into you from the lake. Special mention also goes to one of the later holes, probably 12, that throws along the ridge of a hill with steep slopes dropping off to either side if your discs goes wandering.

Variety of teepads present. I believe some are cement, some are deckboard/boardwalk, and there might have been a natural pad snuck in there occasionally. I don't remember having any issues with them and I do think most were cement. Not sure on the shorts though.

Signage is good. Parking is good. No cost to access the course and play.

In a vacuum in which we consider simply the holes, this ranks a 5 for me. It may quite possibly be the best course I've ever played. There are some "buts" though.

This course is not for everyone. You need to be in decent shape to play it or you might die. That's only slightly hyperbolic. This course is a monster of up and down climbs spread over a massive distance. We played on a warm but not oppressive summer day and went through something like 4 liters of water between two players and wish we had twice that.

Seriously, don't bring one little 20oz bottle and think that will be enough. There *might* have been an area we could have used the bathrooms and replenished our water supply around hole 13 or so but it was closed down due to COVID. I think there may have been bathrooms available at the parking lot but I'm not sure. Actually, thinking about it, there was a couple of portajohns near 13 as well. No water, but at least an area to use the restroom.

I don't think there's a bench or a trash barrel on the course. Good lord would I have appreciated benches. Eventually we came across a hole that ran next to a road and I was able to sit on the guard rail. Man would that have been nice after some of those climbs though.

Paths are sometimes a bit dubious, though some of those are likely due to being "desire" paths and not official ones. Regardless, you are going to hate life if you try to mess with a cart. Unless it's a cart with a cooler filled with ice cold beverages that you can sit on and are able to share Sherpa-ing duties with your party and/or move at a crawl. Man I can't imagine dragging one through that sand though.

Directions to the next tee weren't great. There's a few signs here and there but we had to rely on U-Disc quite a bit to get going to the right spot. Nothing quite like making the decision whether to drag yourself up or down a hill with the knowledge that if you choose incorrectly you're going to have to go back. It's like choosing which grail in the Last Crusade - if you pick poorly you're going to feel exactly like Walter Donovan after that last drink.

We stumbled across a surprising amount of hikers while playing. A few folks had set up hammocks in a fairway behind a blindspot created by a hill. Lots of beach goers making their way down to the water. While the course feels isolated and natural, I think the park is popular. It wasn't crowded, I was just surprised how often we would stumble across people. You'll need to pay attention and be courteous. There wasn't enough disc golfers to have to wait on tees though - I think we only spotted one other group playing while out and they were a good ways away.

I didn't give it a 5 because that would be perfect and with the lack of benches and mismatched tee pads I thought that just wasn't appropriate. There are also two holes I had an issue with. One is minor, but hole 2.5 is a little 100' toss. I think UDisc has it marked as hole 20 maybe. Just play it when you come across it - you aren't going to want to come back. It's not awful, just goofy and short and feels out of place.

The other reason I hesitate to give it a 5 is one hole I just didn't care for the design of. It places the basket maybe 30' from the road. You have a choice of flexing it right over the road, which I don't feel is a safe option, or taking it left and possibly hitting a warming house or some other building. Judging by the plexiglassed window, I'm thinking it's been hit before. I just don't think it's a particularly safely designed hole.

I don't hear a lot of buzz about Mt McSauba, and that's a darn shame. It is easily in my top 3 courses in Michigan and I will strongly recommend it from the dune tops to anybody who will listen that it's worth the trip to play it.

I can't caution people enough how arduous the course is though. It is a legitimate hike. You'll see gorgeous views and nature and play a heck of a good round of disc golf, but you need to be in decent shape for it.

-phenomenal terrain
-very challenging
-great scenery
-good signage (however, some depict the hole from the direction of the basket which can get confusing)
-arroyo vortex baskets
-unique/challenging pin placements

-holes 2.5 and 3.... 2.5 is a "practice"/ bonus hole and hole 3 is short poke and pray hole. I actually don't mind hole 3 except its very out of the way from the rest of the course. I usually skip these two making for an 18 hole loop
-some steep/rugged walks between holes

From a pure disc golf perspective, this is one of the most challenging courses in Michigan. Its a mix of tight/wooded lines, a few open long distance drives, then it finishes with a few fun but completely wooded deuce or die holes. Most of the holes offer more than one way to navigate the tight fairways, however, the rough is quite punishing.

Overall, this course does require an extreme amount of "hiking" and physicality. Distances between holes vary, but the flow is intuitive and most holes feel like they're on their own chunk of land. There are two significantly steep and uphill hikes between the holes added to hole 5 which plays extremely uphill. The course is not cart friendly, but aside from the uphill portions there is very little unnecessary walking.

+One of the best 'hiking' courses I have played!
+Tee to basket layout was so well thought out, with full advantage of the topography and views taken into the design layout
+This is NOT a metro course, put on your 'big boy' pants and ready for huge par 4's, awesome elevation changes and killer lines!
+Hole 1 is an awesome par 4 with an expertly designed long tee layout
+Hole 3 is a little off the beaten path but the 'hobbit' hole is well worth it
+Hole 4 is one of my favorites with it's naturally raised tee on a cliff throwing down a narrowing uphill winding tunnel
+Hole 5 is an insane steep uphill that gets your arm in shape for the crazy 600'+ downhill bomber on hole 6
+I like the righty backhand route on hole 7
+Hole 8 is 'crazy' with it's narrow horseshoe shape through a gulley with steep banks, elevation changes and trees with the basket placed on the edge of another hill, nice!
+Hole 9 is a hike but well worth it up to the pro tee, the line to the basket and the view is killer, sit there long enough you may have deer come up on you too!
+Hole 10 is going to become a legend! The elevated cliff with tempting options across this par 4 field down a narrow curved fairway to the basket tucked neatly at the end is incredible!
+Hole 12 is abit sketchy but I hear it may be altered
+Hole 13 is another downhill bomber, the view is breathless both off 13 and 6 which are atop the same hill. Stop and chill here for a few, it's that cool
+Holes 14-19 are some of the best I have played as far as wooded courses. Righty's lefty's, forehand's all stand pretty equal on this stretch.
+Again, the tee to basket placements are just awesome taking advantage of natural hills and even building some.
+Hole 19 has to be one of my favorite holes anywhere, ever!
+Mixed tees, but work well with the environment
+Close to downtown Charlevoix and Petoskey, US31 and gas stations, easy to find

-I need to figure out a way to make more time to help make this place even more awesome

^Huge thanks to Ric Evans, Brian Christansen and The Chain O'Lakes Disc Golf Club for all their work to make this happen! This course has been in the works for a couple of years by the extremely hard work of a few volunteers!
^This is a hiking course, be ready to hike!
^Bug spray
^It's still a work in progress but very very playable
^Good signs, maps, benches and trash barrels are on their way, good things come to those who wait! Temp signs and arrows are in
^I highly recommend playing this course if you are able to!
^It really will not take much more to make this one of the best courses anywhere!