North Park of Wood County, or Richfield as it's known to us locals, is an old school style course offering a mix of slightly wooded and a few more open holes. The course is in a mostly disc golf exclusive section of the park. The park road and a pavillion can come into play. The pavillion would take quite the errant shot to be in play but it is possible I suppose.

There are two sets of tees on every hole, minus 4B. Hole 4B is one of 2 "bonus" holes, along with 16B. As of 2020 or so 16B now has a long tee too. All tees are concrete, level and of a decent size for the distances required. These have all held up really well over the 15 or so years I've been calling this my home course.

The baskets were upgraded to Mach X's about 6 years ago. These are a nice upgrade from the old homemade ones they had. Though I had no complaints on those, some of the best homemade baskets I've seen, these are better. One pin position per hole.

The flow of the course is pretty intuitive, though I'm probably biased. There's a couple transitions over the park road. 4 to be exact. It's pretty intuitive to follow though. There's a large course map next to hole one which is accurate so take a picture if you don't have Udisc.

The tee signs are your standard Marshfield area specials. Same ones they have at Braem and had at the now defunct Wildwood. Basic hole map, hole #, par and distance routered onto a 4"x4" piece of wood. Basic butplenty serviceable. The long tees just have the hole # and distance. Garbage buckets are attached to most posts of the tee signs.

The course offers sufficient challenge for mid level players, especially from the longs. The shorts are more rec friendly for sure, but still offer some challenge in shot shaping/gap hitting.

My number one con here is the water retention this course has. It's located right outside of Marshfield, which is aptly named. This course does not drain well and holds water in numerous spots for excessive periods of time. Holes 16, 17 and especially 12 come to mind. Hole 12 being the worst offender. Wear some kind of waterproof shoes, or at least ones you don't care about when playing here.

The flow, while solid for the most part from the shorts, does has a few awkward transitions. From the shorts hole 11 to 12 is the most glaring. Pretty straightforward otherwise. From the longs, finding hole 4's tee is not intuitive at all. It actually tees off from the park road by the bridge. Hole 13's is in a bit of a strange spot too. Nothing crazy but may take a bit of wandering if you're without a map.

The lack of alternate pin positions is irritating to me. There used to be alt locations on 16. Not that that's much but it was something. For a pay to play course in a disc golf exclusive area, alt pin locations would do wonders here. Even if they're subtle. Hopefully this is a future consideration.

This is my home course, so I'm going to seem biased. I love playing this course. I play the shorts the majority of the time too. Beautiful park, never as packed as it used to be it seems. Just a fun, easy going park style course. Flat terrain, hard to lose a disc, minimal bugs. Secluded feeling compared to say Madison or Eau Claire. Not really a northwoods vibe but more serene than say Yulga or South Park of Wood County.

About five years ago this course went to pay to play. $4/round or $20/annual. I was disappointed at first, especially since they put the brand new Machs in the fall prior to it being pay to play. In that time they've added the new long pad for 16B, Built new restrooms, and just recently paved the parking lot. In addition they've replanted/leveled baskets on holes 2,3,5,8,9 and 10. Seems minor but it's improvement.

Not a must play, but with the dismantling of Braem due to EAB and the extinction of Wildwood. This is now the default "must play" in the Marshfield area. Worth a play for sure. Just don't expect to be awed. Pretty park, average to slightly above DG.

Beautiful "piece of Americana" stone bridge on hole #12.
In more than 20 years of coming here; I have never found the course crowded. Don't know that I've ever seen more than five disc related cars in the lot.
I give North Park very high marks for seclusion.
Blue Heron micro brewery in town. (Closed on Sundays).
Dual tees all holes (I believe the long tees add another layer of toughness...though they are all nearly straight back from shorts. Lots of tight fairway shooting at North Wood course in general; and another 50+ foot from long tees; with an extra set of goal post trees to negotiate, indicates to me an added toughness level).
Tees are long roughed concrete. Longs marked by a short wooden post; shorts by a taller version.
Info routed into flat top of post. Basic, but effective.
Two extra holes (4b and 16b) have only one tee. 4b has creek behind pin; should you overshoot. Steep 15+ foot fall off to Yellow River.
River must be shot across on #16. Only @250 to clear, unless river is high. Water level sometimes gets near basket. Hole is still playable; just adds another 30 ft. to distance to clear.
Character of this course is a style that I find quite challenging. It's just a tad short, by modern standards...but coming in at 6,490 ft. (i.e. slightly over 6,000 for 18), is pretty strong. 2/3rds of the shots, require fairly tight lanes through trees.
Short tees still require tight style lanes; but make course much more "high scoring needed."
There are some fairly open holes as well....
Road can come into play on a few holes; we have always played this o.b. I would suggest you do the same.
There is a swimming area...an outlet of the Yellow River...that often has families swimming. It is removed from the disc course completely, but is available for other family members. (Unfortunately, at this time, end of August 2010, the swimming area is completely covered in algae and I don't think too many will want to be swimming in it!) Usually quite nice though.
Fair balance of shots.
Ring of trees surrounding a few pins; forcing straddle, or other inventive putts.
Lots of camp sites just across the river from the course. Very nice added feature.

Course is flat. (I will add that I find it to be the height of design skill, to make a fun, and challenging course with only this available.) So, it lacks a bit in the wonderful terrain department.
Home made baskets. These catch quite well; but, are a hair weak compared to main factory models.

This course was erected in 1993. Mr. Dave Tiffany created what I consider his best course in the Marshfield area. (I enjoy North Wood as much as the designs in the Stevens Point area; i.e. Standing Rocks and Yulga; both of which I like a great deal.) (Mr. Tiffany is also responsible for, at least; Wildwood Park, and Braem Park). Originally, the short tees were primarily as they are now. He has updated with the longer tee set; the extra two holes, and some pins moving deeper in recent years. #16 was the newest deep pin I saw this trip.
This course is not knock your socks off amazing, and is awfully flat. It is a good old school design though. I have come here, usually more than once yearly, for 20+ years, and at all times of year. I have enjoyed myself each and every time. (If you come in the winter; the park gate out front is closed, go down Richfield Road and you can park on the road, near hole #15, and walk in.)
North Park is not quite in the same class; but similar to Sinnissippi Park, Sterling, IL, or Rogers Lakewood in Valparaiso IN (except that Rogers has turrible schule that is not found here). Design for O'Hauser Park, Menasha, WI is also similar style. All of these are some of my favorite "old school" courses. This is probably the only one of the bunch that only gets a three rating. It's not as tough as O'Hauser (especially the upcoming 2011 design) and the homemade baskets and pure flatness, put it behind the other members of this group a little.
Regarding other courses in the area: Braem is a shorter and more wooded course. Wildwood is a course originally designed for lids; but not as easy as you would think. Both, worth one visit, Braem may bring you back again, if you like the wooded style....

The course plays through a large flat park that seemed to be mostly disc golf exclusive. The majority of the holes play through scattered trees, with defined fairways. A few holes are a little thicker, with some brushy rough, and a few holes play a little more open with only a few trees to avoid. A small creek comes into play on a couple holes for a little bit of a water hazard without any risk of losing your disc.

The fairways are pretty well defined, and force some different shots throughout the course. It felt like an ok mix of left and right turning holes, and I found myself using a few different types of shots. There are definitely some ace runs here, and one hole that is longer and lets you pull a good drive.

There are two tees on many of the holes, both with good concrete tees. The short tees have signage with hole number and distance, and the long tees have small numbered posts. The baskets are in decent shape and caught pretty well. The fairways were mowed, and there was no trash or vandalism when I played.

The idea of multiple tees is great, but unfortunately not all that well executed in this case. Nearly all of the long tees are straight back from the short tees, rarely changing the type of shot, and not adding enough distance to make a really big difference. Even from the long tees, most of this course is reachable with a putter or occasionally a midrange, with only two long tees that had me reaching for anything longer than a roc.

There is no elevation in the park, and with lots of similar distances the course starts to feel very similar after a few holes. There just isn't enough distance or variety to make the course all that interesting or difficult. The signage is old and rather worn, with several holes being pretty unreadable. Luckily the course has decent flow so the signage isn't as important, or this would be an even bigger issue.

This is a decent little course, and worth a stop for a quick round if you're passing by but not worth driving too far out of your way for. If you do stop here, pick one set of tees, or just pick the one that looks more fun on each hole, they're not different enough to warrant playing both. Beginners will find this course quite accessible, with little chance of losing discs and lots of holes that are a good length for newer players. More experienced players will get some good putter practice through the trees, but there's just not enough difficulty or variety here to make it a must play.