Murdock park is a small city park a few miles west of I-65 in Lafayette . There was limited access to the small parking lot and facilities when i was there due to construction . A nice bathroom is on site near hole #1 and #18's basket . Murdock is an 18 hole course .
The Equipment - I was reading past reviews and found out that the equipment here has steadily improved . The baskets are mixed here , but most favor nice Chainstars . The baskets are encircled by a brick arrangement ( classy ) . There are 2 tee pads per hole .They are mostly cement , and some have a turf carpet over cement . The #11 long tee pad was a paver pad . There were nice Next Tee signs under each basket to help with navigation . A nice touch . The signs are on the orange posts for the long holes and white posts for the shorts . There is a kiosk with map up near the parking lot .
The Landscape -The course was mowed and the grounds were well taken care of while I was here . I have played many courses so far in central Indiana and most are flat or just rolling . This course is not . There are a decent amount of trees in the park , even more on the back holes . They are all sitting on some elevation at Murdock . These holes go from park-style , examples . 1 , 2 , 10 , to semi wooded , 4 ,5 ,6 , 7, 8, 9, to total woods 12-17 . This is a pleasant change from the usual flat courses close by .
The Highlights - There was a lot of variety and balance ( right and left ) here . #1 ( 314' , 420' ) starts you off with a long slightly sloping downhill drive that fades right , protected by overgrowth in the fairway on the right , protecting the fairway angles where the basket is located on the right . #4 ( 245' 296' ) is a short drive to an elevated basket . #10 ( 283' 355' ) is a right to left uphill drive , with overgrowth protecting the basket about 50' in front of it . #14 is a short gully shot to a basket that is level with the ground ( ? ) Beware of #15 . The basket sits in front of a long dropoff . Lots of risk/reward in your drive or putt .
Signature Hole - #11 ( 433' , 598' ) . This choice was a no brainer . It is a long downhill drive along a treeline that slowly breaks left . The ground will start to slope left . The small flat green is protected around it by small trees and overgrowth .
Disc Risk - For having woods holes , there is not a lot of threat to lose a disc , unless you bang one really hard off a tree from the long tees in the woods . The park was clean and well cared for .
Time - It took me just over an hour to play here . A group of 4 should finish in 2 hours , or just under .
I feel there is a lot of fun factor here for both the Average Joe and the better players .

#1 Safety - Even at 8:00 on a Sunday morning , there were a couple of players out here . Some of the fairways do come close together ( ex. 7 & 8 ) , and there is the occasional dog walker . Give them the right of way and be classy .
#2 Rain - I couldn't see laying my life ( or my rump ) on the line after a good rain . Lots of elevation and lack of grass = some nasty falls .
#3 Challenge - upper level players will have their way with most of this course even from the back tees . You are rarely punished for missing your line . Please don't confuse challenge with fun , though . One man's frustrating 3 is another's exhilarating 3 .
#4 Amenities - The course could use some benches or bag hangers , maybe a decent shelter or picnic tables to keep the players in the park between or after rounds .

When I call a course a " Sleeper " , I mean it is a course that is either underrated or overlooked . Murdock is what I call a Sleeper course . In this area , I heard more about Wabash Washout and Camp Cullom than I ever did about this course . It is a veteran course ( ca. 1984 ) , that has tried to improve and keep up with the times .I had this course rated just above a 3 , but I had to move the needle up instead of down . Why ? You have to appreciate the 2 tee pads per hole , and the fact that instead of pulling up holes 11 & 17 during the winter for sled riding , they just move them . I think the course is not only fun , but a great course to either play as a local or coming off of the highway . I just hope this construction doesn't take a chunk of this course .
My Recommendation - This a fantastic course for newbies and locals . even maybe families and 1 discers . With the 2 tee system and the right amount of fun from platform tees , elevated baskets , woods holes to keep them excited and wanting to improve . Intermediates will like this course because of the woods and park holes from 1-10 will warm them up , take them though long hole #11 , and rough them up with the more technical woods holes ( 12-17 ) . Ams should like the course as well . Might be only practice for the pros , but the will have fun doing it . The traveler will like this course . While a little hilly , it is about 10 minutes from I-65 , and fun from either tee . The Course Collector will oove it here . It is an easy add , and you can group Murdock with 2 short courses at Purdue and both Wabash course . Cha-Ching ! Play This Course !!!

Pars are fair and multiple tees for different experiences.
Easy to navigate in the open.
Not too easy of a course.
Multiple lines on most holes.

Holes are placed close together.
Somewhat difficult to navigate in the woods.

- Decent Parking
- Bathroom on Course
- Multiple Tees
- 1-10 and 18 are more open park style while 12-17 are tight and wooded.
- Arrows after baskets pointing you to the next hole
- Variety of basket heights, a few that are really elevated and one that just sits on the ground.
- Some holes have really demanding lines which makes up for their shortness
- Play at your own pace, I played it twice and never saw anyone.
- OB roads and parking lots make tee shots more demanding
- Difficult to lose a disc here except in the marsh on the front 9

- Hole 11 is completely unplayable, the entire green is covered in felled trees and the basket was crushed by one.
- Handful of rusted baskets
- So many leaves, I spent 30 mins throughout the round just looking for discs that slid underneath them.
- Lots of holes on the front 9 are next the road so you can hit cars and you will have audiences for your tee shots.
- The line on hole 12 is insane, can someone explain to me how it's possible to reach the basket?

7/30/19 UPDATE: Played this course again after improving a fair amount and decided to go from the long tees. It was the perfect challenge, pretty much no holes played as gimme birdies and most required 300+ feet of power. The par 4 played super long. Course was in perfect shape, well mowed grass, par 4 green was fixed since the storm toppled those trees, all signs and tee pads were perfect. Love this course!

Park/woods hybrid course next to an elementary school. Wooded holes are short but have very tight lines--if you really want a challenge just play the back 9 twice. I was disappointed that the only par 4 was unplayable. Very prone to wind since its on a hill, makes the up shot on hole 10 very challenging.

Good tee signs, hole layouts, and variety of holes. The terrain is interesting and they have both amateur and pro tees. Going from one hole to the next is pretty logical and easy with the "next tee" signs

Some tees use uneven rubber mats, and some baskets are old.

Some holes in the woods are way harder than the rest.

Now 18 different holes with 18 grippy baskets. Original baskets are the same but the new ones are Chainstar. Original holes 1-9 are still there but most of them have been renumbered.

Two tees per hole: 1-10 and 18 are brick pads for both tees. 11-17 are rubber mats.

Signs - each tee (pro and amateur) have their own signs that include distance, par, and a map of the hole. There are also signs between the wooded holes pointing to where the next tees are (pro or amateur).

Variety: uphill, downhill, flat, open, and wooded holes. Holes 12-17 are new wooded holes. Each wooded hole has elevation of some sort. Bad throws will result in a tough approach.

A few unique baskets: Holes 5 and 12 are raised baskets. Bottom of the basket is at eye level. Hole 13 was lowered to the ground. Adds variety and alters approach shots.

Benches, water, and trash cans on site.

Holes 4 and 8 Pro tees share the same spot. Bricks in the shape of a capital L. Interesting to see.

Rubber tees on holes 11-17. It breaks up the unity of the course. The tees did not alter your throw. I didn't have a probes with it but others might.

I thought holes 1-10 and 18 were pretty bunched together. Across the street, there was plenty of unused land that could have been home to two new holes that would have been downhill/uphill bombs. With that being said, the new holes really improved this course.

Course could use a practice basket or a practice hole.

I was very impressed with the new look course. The wooded holes take this course from a typical course in a college town and make it more of a destination and make it much more challenging.

The last time I played this course was 6 years ago. I'm glad the original holes are mostly still there.

Original course had alternate tees that were considered holes 10-18. Now those have been switched to either the pro or amateur versions of that hole with 9 new holes.

I would recommend this course to anybody looking for not only variety but for a solid round of golf. I will definitely try to return although I'm not often in the Lafayette area.

Length: several very long holes that let you try to air it out.
There are some "technical" holes on the back 9 through the woods that blend nicely with the open ones.
Regular and pro tees that are well-marked and arrows on the pins that direct you to the next tee.

I'm counting it as a "con" because I'm not happy with how I scored the first time--given how well I thought I played it. But this course doesn't seem to reward "good" drives enough. Even when I put my drives where I wanted them, i.e., hit the "window" or the path I was aiming at, I ended up with a lot of tough approaches with small trees blocking them they even obscure you when you're surprisingly close to the "green".

The course doesn't let up. Every shot is a challenge. Again, though, that could be a feature instead of a bug.

Several OB areas that genuinely come into play. The course is fit into a pretty compact space and driveways and sidewalks do come into play.

I am pleased to have access to a course of this quality as my new "regular" course.

- 18 holes with dual teepads.
- Good mixture of mature trees and tight woods.
- Directional signs on baskets point to next tee. Directional signs also on paths in wooded part of course.
- Good mix of shot selections.
- 2-3 elevated baskets and 1 ground level.
- A lot of work went into redesigning and improving this course.

- Temporary teesigns for now ( permanent teesigns are coming)
- Mixture of basket types (Mach 3 & Chainstars) could be a problem for some.
- Mixture of teepads( Pavers and Rubber mats) could be a problem for some.
- Not too much difference between Orange and White tees on most holes.

This is a very good course for a park course. I never played the old layout but i can summize from the earlier reviews that it was awful. I would suggest that those people should come play Murdock's new layout.