--Baskets replaced in 2022 (DD Veterans)

--Examplary large signage with map, linear cross-sectional topography, and total altitude change

--Short and long options

--Free to play

From the construction side, using a single 8' and two 10' boards probably makes a lot of sense, but I'm not a fan of the resulting 4 x 9 1/2 tee box. At Oakwood, the terrain surrounding the tee boxes allows for moving onto the concrete from the side to add a bit of width, but I noticed that in some cases this would only be an option for right-handers. It would be better if the concrete pads themselves were 5 feet wide or more.

The course starts very well with #1 being a downhill shot to a retaining wall island--all the fun of the watery version without the potential $20 de facto fine if you miss--which I did. No matter--the drop zone leaves a short uphill approach which makes for an easy bogey or the occasional throw in par. This ended up being my favorite hole of the course, but honestly, there isn't a lemon in the bunch.

#1 through #5 are played in a field dotted with guardian trees, followed by #6 through #16 in the woods, with #17 and #18 then traversing the same field you started on. The gaps narrow significantly near mid-course, and elevation remains somewhat of a factor throughout the wooded section. This is particularly true if playing from the longs, which tend to change the angle in addition to adding yardage.

I definitely recommend playing the longs, whether or not you're a slinger. Personally I'm not, but I take the approach that if par is out of reach for me, the easiest of all possible solutions is to learn to enjoy bogey more. Why not...it's just one more opportunity per hole to make the shot of the day.

Oakwood apparently underwent some improvements over the past two years, including 27 new baskets and new signage. Already set on an excellent piece of property, this course will be one I revisit, and one you should consider if you are traveling to Minnesota with a disc bag in your trunk.

Tee pads and baskets in great condition.
Great variety of long, short, open, tunnel, left, right.
Easy to navigate. I was a first timer and had no issues. Took a photo of the course map sign at the started, but even without it I think I would've done ok.
The part of the course in the forest had clearly defined fairways that gave you a true line to aim for.

Some knee high grass to deal with on a few holes, but with 4 of us we never lost a disc.
If anything this course was a little on the short side.

I had a very positive experience at this course, would recommend. Living in Utah, courses like this are few and far between. I grew up right next door but never played disc golf until I moved away. Wish I had this caliber of course close to where I live now.

Conditions were prime. 0 wind.

This course has a good mix of technical wooded areas, and nice wide open lanes in some spots. The tee pads are concrete. Gotta love those Mach V baskets.
Challenging and beautiful course.

Trail maps were a little confusing at first. Some garbage throughout the course (pack it in pack it out, people! Or at least use the garbage cans!

This is an instant favorite of mine and can't wait to return and play many more rounds.

-Easy to find
-Had a great map, both onsite and online.
-Very easy to navigate even without the map. This was a very well laid out course.
-Great mix of holes. From short birdie-able ones to longer arm testing ones. Some open holes with efficient use of elevation. And my favorite, the better portion of this course was wooded and technical. Some fantastic holes here, making perfect use of the woods and hills, along with some great pin placements.
-Seemed well balanced, lefty-righty.
-Shoveled tees!! Of the 7 courses we played on this trip through MN this was one of only 2 that had tees shoveled. As someone who shovels the tees on my home course i really appreciate this!

Not much to put in the cons part for once. (can't complain about cold in the winter) The garbage I had read about in other reviews wasn't apparent. That might be due in part to the snow but there did seem to be to be a large number of well used garbage receptacles along the course.

This review was based on 2 quick winter rounds. The second, only because the first was so fun despite the cold and wind. The wooded parts were nicely sheltered. I could see this being a great course to learn on, or improve the technical aspect of your game. I can definitely see all levels of skill enjoying this course. I will be back. I would love to see this course in summer!
**If you are looking for a nice winter disc golf fix this course is perfect!

Great course with a great mix of holes and shots. There are several holes out in the open and several that will test your accuracy and technical shots in the woods. There are a variety of lines that can be taken on the holes out in the open, but it is also important to avoid the trees in order to have a low score. Water also comes into play on holes 8 and 18, although they were quite dry this past summer from the lack of rain, but it is something to watch out for when you're playing there. I really like the layout of this course in the way that the holes at the beginning and the holes at the end of the course are in the open, while the holes in the middle (6-13) of the course lay in the woods. Every hole in the woods has quite narrow fairways to hit and requires you to have some accurate shots. There are also several pin location that are tucked back in the woods on the more open holes, like holes 5 and 14. There is also some quality elevation change, which makes the course more interesting. Considering that it is not pay to play, the tee pads, signs, and baskets are in good shape as well.

If you have not played it before, it can be slightly tough to navigate. Several holes in the woods could also use some brush cleanup and benches. Many of the lanes are very tight, which is fine, but if you miss the fairway, the rough/brush gets quite thick and difficult to deal with. Some wood chips around the baskets to knock down the dust would also be a great improvement.

Overall, this course is awesome and provides an excellent variety of holes and pin locations. The shots in the open really allow you to rip some shots, while the holes in the woods are much more technical. The holes in the woods are challenging, but fair and really test your accuracy, which is great. The course reminds me of a shorter version of C.P. Adams, but requires some more technical shots and more accuracy while playing in the woods. If this course was pay to play in order to improve the conditioning and maintenance of the course, I would definitely rate it a 4.0 or 4.5.

- Course is set in a large park that has lots of woods available to disc golf. There is a baseball field by a few holes, and a pavilion at the start, but there shouldn't be much interference with the discing.
- The first and last holes of the course are in a more open area, with larger mature trees and a decent sized hillside. #1, for instance, is a decent downhill shot with trees on the right size, #3 is a big hyzer up the hill/over the trees, #4 is a very long, gently downhill bomber with a huge tree to go around, and #18 is the longest hole that finishes uphill amongst larger trees. These holes allow for a variety of lines, but it is still important to miss the big trees.
- A couple more holes play from the open area to the woods, with well protected baskets behind gaps in the treeline. #5 is a straight shot, slightly uphill, where it is important to stay in line between the basket and the teepad to get a decent putt. #14 is wide open to a RHBH hyzer, but the basket is almost blind behind a thick patch of woods/forest. Both are generous off the tee, but tricky near the pin.
- The rest of the holes are set in the woods, with ample fairways carved out of the tall trees. There are some shorter ones, like a downhill RHBH hyzer on #6 and #9, an uphill flick shot on #10, and a tricky uphill shot under or over a horizontal branch on #15. Also a few tricky medium length ones; #7 is a wooded RHFH shot that has a nasty pool of water on the right side or the fairway, and in front of the pin. #12 is a slight uphill shot through a skinny gap on top of a hump, one of the tighter holes on the course.
- Lastly, there are many holes that are much longer, with wider fairways that allow for more ambitious shots off the tee. #8 is a straight valley shot over a swamp, with trees blocking the approach to the pin, that checks in at 435'. #11 is an uphill valley shot, that hooks right and ends up a little downhill by some trees, 360' from the longs. #13 is a cool elevated shot, through a gap and straight downhill, at 390'. #16 is another elevated/slightly humped teepad that shoots downhill, with a valley sloping down on the right to watch out for.
- There are definitely hazardous spots here, to make up for some generous lines. Water is in play on #7 and #8, for sure, and it can definitely get swampy to the left of #18. Map shows another low/wet spot by #10 and #11, which I didn't notice, but it's something to look out for.
- Teepads are great, and grippy even when wet. Baskets in good shape, signs are nice but a few are missing. Map can be helpful, like after #7 and #11.

- Layout is a little odd at some parts; #18's basket can easily be mistaken for #3's basket, you have to backtrack a little to get to #8's teepad, which is in danger of stray hyzers from #7. Nothing too major.
- Terrain is pretty uniform from start to finish, there are the holes out of the woods, and the holes in the woods, which all look pretty similar. Not much of a con, but the holes can blend together a little bit.

- Well, I must say, I really liked this course. Fun factor for me was very high, especially with the wooded holes. The lines are fair, but still tough, some fun downhill shots in and out of the woods, a good mix of open and forested shots, and a variety of lines. A few places make you choose whether to lay up or go for the glory, due to hazards or landing zones on the longer holes. I would recommend this place to almost everyone, even though some spots might be too tough for beginners.

Easy hole locations and also easy for a first timer to navigate. Has a nice mixture of short and open holes and also long wooded holes.

Fairways are almost right on top of each other beware fo flying discs. Rough paths on the sides of hills.

-Fantastic variety of shots required
-Holes vary from 160' to 550' so there is something for everyone
-Good use of the woods as about half the course winds through the woods
-Decent enough signs at each hole (except #9 was missing)
-Nice long tee off boxes that were in decent shape
-Porta potty on site (as well as a picnic area)
-Park is more or less solely for disc golf and it's big

-Litter is a big problem here, I came across broken glass on nearly every hole
-The sign was missing from hole 9
-Navigation between holes was somewhat confusing between 3 & 4, 8 & 9, and 11 & 12. At least an arrow pointing which way to go would be helpful.

I really would like to give this course an even better rating as the layout, difficulty, and variance of the holes was atypical; especially for a free course. The thing that is holding me to a 3.5 for Oakwood is that it is in need of some upkeep rather badly. There is a terrible litter problem everywhere, which is even more boggling when you consider that there are numerous garbage receptacles throughout the course. Also, the grass was very long in the open section of the course making finding a disc a challenge sometimes even if it was thrown down the middle of the hole. The holes that wind through the woods require just about every kind of shot you can throw. You must have good technical skills and be able to hit your spots or you will post awful scores on a few of the holes. It is evident that the course is well worn and older in the woods sections as there isn't all that much underbrush; but this is good as there is enough of it in the open sections to make up for it. The baskets are in need of some help sooner or later as well, the labels are worn off on some of them and some of them have rims that are a little bent up. With some TLC regarding the baskets, litter, signage, and mowing in the open areas this course would be a 4.5 in my book. If you don't care if a course is well kept when you play it and you just want a good layout with some challenge, this is a perfect course for you as I'd give it a 4.5. If you care about all the other things I mentioned, consider it a 3.5. All this said, I will come back when I'm in the mood for more of a challenge.

EDIT 11/18/12: I don't know when they were put in, but there are huge numbered signs attached to each basket now and next tee arrows as well. These two things are extremely helpful. These are a couple of big upgrades which are enough for me to up my rating to 4.0.

Oak Grove is a great example of a city park course. It is an older course that shows some wear and tear but a fun play none the less. It has everything a good course should have and is very well balanced. The course will challenge beginners and it offers some interesting holes to more experienced players. This course winds through rolling hills and an old growth oak forest. Get ready to shape some lines and unleash some big drives.

1.Nice grippy tee pads. With some of the holes offering short pads for beginners.

2.Adequate signage with hole #, distance and shot shape.

3.Great variety in length, with holes in the upper 100's and a few over 500'

4.The elevation of the park is used to the utmost. Lots of ups and downs with some cross hill shots and baskets placed on hillsides.

5.The designers knew what they were doing here there is every kind of shot you can think of. Tightly wooded tunnel shots and wide open bombers with left and right doglegs evenly dispersed around the course.

6.This park is well kept and has garbage cans and porta potties available, as well as a few benches/tree stumps to sit on.

7.The course flows very naturally and is easy to navigate even the first time you play it. It does a big loop and 18 ends at the parking lot which is really nice.

8.The course has two very memorable holes. #8 is a long wooded shot that starts throwing over some seasonal water into a tight tree lines fairway with a well-protected pin. #16 is a long side hill anhyzer through the woods that is very challenging and fun to play.

9.Risk reward is present on many holes with water on some holes and thick woods on about half of the course. This forces you to pick a line and hit it or you will be punished.

10.The park has other activates available like basketball, baseball and some grills. This is a great place to bring the family for a full day of fun.

This course defiantly shows signs of its age. The ground is beat up and there are some issues with erosions. None of the cons make really take anything away from how it plays however, most of them are ascetic and do not take away from how the course plays.

1.There is a decent amount of vandalism in this park. There is graffiti all over the benches and signs.

2.Even though there are IMO enough garbage cans there was a lot of litter in the woods when I played. The open holes were clean and well mowed but the woods didn't seem to get the same attention.

3.The signs could be better but they do give all the information you need to play.

4.It would be nice to see some erosion protection of some kind because of all the elevation the problem is not going to get any better. Wood chips around some of the pins would go a long way to help with the ground being compacted.

5.Some of the wooded holes provide a good hide out for trouble making teens but I had no problems when I played.

6.The baskets are old but they still catch disc just fine and that is all that matters to me.

7.Other reviewers said that it can be had to find your disc's if you go in the rough. I had no problems but thought I might as well mention it.

Overall a really enjoy playing this course. I will go out of my way to play it again. The variety of this course is the best part and you will not feel like you are playing the same hole over and over again. I used every shot I know how to throw and used almost all the disc's in my bag at least once. I really like course that are able to do this. In my opinion this is one of the top 15 course's in Minnesota and a must play for anyone in the area.

Oakwood is a great course with a ton of variation which makes the course really exciting and challenging.
-The course utilizes the elevation that the park has with great results. The holes with elevation have great variety, from relatively short and easy downhills (#1,#9) to more difficult wooded uphills (#15-16).
- The length and difficulty of the holes has great variety. For my game, there are as many deuce holes as there are bogey holes. Unfortunately for me, I tend to trend towards the bogeys.
-The baskets are in good conditions and most holes have nice tee pads.

-Park maintenance is not very good. There is often litter throughout the course, there are only a few trash cans in the woods.
-Signage could be improved. It's pretty easy to skip holes 12 and 11 if you don't know where you're going. A few baskets are close and it would be helpful for signs.

Play this course while you can. I can't really tell what the future holds for this course. In the past 4-5 years a lot of development has been going on around the course and it seems to be ever encroaching. I don't really think the city of Cottage Grove cares much about the park as they've thinned out a lot of the trees. Hopefully, it sticks around cause this course is great.

- Dual Cement Teepads
- Multiple Pin Placements
- Set in a large valley with a large mature forest surrounding a open area.
- FUN and chalenging
- Elevation change plays a large part through the entire course.
- A good mix of short and long holes.
- An easy course to follow.
- Good flight control required for good scores.
- Several opportunities from the longs to really rip one out there.
- Wind plays a huge factor
- Dangerous greens, especially in the woods, watch for roll-a-ways.

- The park could definitely use some good tee signs.
- Hole 14's basket could be raised up and repaired.
- More trash cans and benches
- The predomiant shot here is straight. You do need to keep your lines tight and hit certain gaps but the overall flight is very straight on almost every hole. Its own challenge in-itself I guess. I dont hold this against the course that much.
- Last few times I was there garbage was an issue.

I always have alot of fun playing this course. Its a challenging course although kind of one dimensional. A straight line shot dominates the woods. Only a few holes really force a different shot. The course makes up for it though with its dangerous greens. Almost every basket is on some kind of slope. In the woods roll-a-ways were a common nuisance. Because of this not only do you have to keep your disc straight but also control how it lands. So although the lines are somewhat repetitive the landings are not.
This course is best suited for INT players. REC players will enjoy the course and it will help to improve their game. INT players are going to easily handle the shorts and find their challenge on the longs. Confident putting is a big key.
ADV and Pro players will most likely rip this course up. Maybe not first time through but a couple of rounds and they might get bored easily. Although some of the holes are long they are still not difficult to get a 3 with a good approach game.
This course is definitely worth playing. Its a very quick drive from Kaposia as well. If you are going to do that then I would suggest Oakwood first. It will prep you for good scores at Kaposia.
There is alot of nearby dining and shopping. So if your with the family you can drop them off while you enjoy yourself.

1) Extremely nice variety in the density of trees and foliage.The first 4 holes are fairly open with well placed trees and baskets. Then the course tightens up and you play about 11 holes in the woods. All are heavly wooded but most with very defined fairways. You still have to execute the shot, and the wooded peripherals are not very forgiving. Then you finish back out in the open on the last couple holes, with only a few obstacles in your way. They made wonderful use of this property and from what I can tell is this is a redesign as there is another website that shows holes very different from the ones I played.

2) The use of elevation on the first 4 holes and the finishing hole are wonderful. #1 downhill, #2 uphill/sidehill to basket on sidehill, #3 uphill/sidehill to basket on top of hill, #4 long open downhiller with one very large sprawling mature tree to avoid about 300' out. Then you head into the woods and you still have to deal with moderate elevation changes. This makes the course a very well designed course and a great property for disc golf. I can't think of very many holes on this course with minimal elevation change. Then once out of the woods the finishing hole also ends up back on the top of the hill you played around on the first 3 baskets.

3) Nice big grippy concrete tees AND they were nicely shovelled. They were in perfect condtion except for the fact I was the first person there the day I played and we had gotten 1/4 inch of snow overnight. Its always nice to be able to take full advantage of the concrete pads in the winter!

4) Tee posts indicating where each tee is are helpful for the first timer, but no real good details. Just Par, Distance, and generaly shot shape, no details of specific trees or obstacles. I guess you just have to look ahead of you!

5) Course is pretty long and it also has a nice variety in distances. Holes as short as 160' up to 550' That is awesome, and the best part is it isn't just wide open distance. There are some tough long wooded holes too!

6) There are some benches by some of the teeboxes, (they may be made with 2x4's and tree stumps and logs, but at least there is somewhere to sit down throughout the course.

7) There was a biffy located in the parking lot. I would rather have sen it in the middle of the course but I understand they need access to clean it.

8) I finished when a group of regulars appeared to be arriving to play. They were very friendly and even struck up a conversation with me (an outsider with a Wisconsin license plate). I would have stayed to play as their 8th person (the 7 were flipping for random partners) but I had a long drive ahead of me and the NEED (disc golf course whoring) to play 4 more new courses on that day on my way home to Milwaukee.

1) Some of the pars were just not right on the teesigns. #5 a Par 2 at 180 shorts and 240 longs. Even a wide open 180-240 isn't a par 2, but this basket is tucked into the woods for the last 25-35'.

2) Garbage baskets were a little spotty. It was almost that they thought people only would throw stuff away in the woods when there was almost a basket at every tee. Better than nothing, but could be improved upon.

3) Many of the densely wooded holes could use some maintenance. There are brush and fallen branch piles. This may have occurred int he late fall and then gotten snow early, but it didn't look like they were fresh piles. It makes it very difficult to look for discs with piles of branches especially when there is snow surrounding them.

4) From what I can tell there also will be a lot of erosion and compaction issues on those wooded holes because of the slopes. People just do not tread lightly, and often times they may end up on sideslopes creating a difficult situation for maintaining ground coverage of either turf or even just mulch (or old leaf material).

5) Apparently vandalism/theft is a problem here as other have said. I cannot comment from first hand knowledge but I wanted to indicate what others have also said in their reviews. The tee signs were all there except for #9, but there may be a lot of tomfoolery (yeah I used that word) in those wooded holes. It is nicely isolated from mom and dads eyes, but close enough they cant really get in trouble unless they are caught doing something stupid.

6) Course is not beginner friendly because of how long the open holes are, how tight the wooded holes are, and the fact that the elevation that is used makes the course harded than if it were flat. It would however be a good place for someone who has been playing for a little while to come and really try and improve their game from recreational to intermediate!

I enjoyed this course, and while I think the locals maybe rated it higher than it should be it is a solid 3.75 course. I cannot put it in the ranks of all my other 3.5 disc courses so I have to go along with the consensus with the 4 rating. Again for my Milwaukee readers the closest thing I can compare this course to is Brown Deer. There is a nice mix of wooded, to open, to slightly open with moderate tree coverage. It has more elevation than Brown Deer so it could also be compared to Valley View on crack (meaning adding an average of 100' to each hole!) Overall the course is very fun, very challenging, nicely varied and I highly recommend playing it if yo are in the area.

WARNING: Some of the opinions and observations here are assumptions based on the fact that the course was played in winter. I cannot truthfully account for the conditioning of the ground and turf because it was under 10" of snow. I also cannot comment on the fairness of trees and foliage because there simply were just sticks (being winter and how trees tend to lose their leaves in the fall). Keep that in mind and if there is an issue with anything I have said please contact me and I can edit the review if necessary.

-Open Holes
-Wooded Holes
-Water
-Variations in Distance
-Variations in Elevation
-Longs
-Shorts
-Concrete tee pads

This course is one of my favorites in the area. I love to be able to go to a course, and get everything thrown at me, from open, to wooded, to water hazards.

Even though the day I played this course, there were 30+ mph gusts of wind, I really liked it. The first few holes are all in the open, making great use of elevation and what obstacles are out there. After the first few holes are a bunch of wooded ones, where the course really becomes more about accuracy rather than distance. Also very good use of elevation in the wooded areas. For the back few holes the course takes a nice loop and leads you back to the last few open holes and right back to the parking lot.

-Crossing fairways/walkways
-Signage could be better

Those are the only things I found could be changed on this course. There are a few holes where you have to walk through other fairways to get to a hole, or fairways play dangerously close to one another. Keep your eyes peeled for discs.

Concrete Tees, Good Fairway Condition, 18 Holes, Varied landcape from long and open to short and narrow holes. Easy to Navigate. Parking by first tee.

Not a con for me, but course may be very intimaditing for a begginer, long drives and accuracy are needed on many holes. Trash Cans at only some holes, alot of litter at holes that dont have trash cans. Some of the hole signs are missing or vandalized so you cant read distance or par. Long grass in the some of the fairways can make looking for a disc difficult.

Overall a very good fun course, alot of challenges and landsape changes. If you have a few hours, are up for a challenge or just want to air out some long drives this is a great course for you

Dual tees on most holes, with concrete pads at long tees.

Nice mixture of distance. Some long holes where you can just reach back and throw, as well as some shorter holes to test your accuracy.

Good mix of open and wooded holes. Very tight fairways in the woods which will challenge you (which could also be a con)

Lots of brush in the woods. If you throw off the fairway, you might have to look for a while to find your disc.

Not enough trash cans at the course, some litter, especially in the woods.

Lack of signs on the back 9.

I used most of the discs in my bag when I played this course.
The course has been kept up pretty well by the city. Very nice city course.

Picnic shelter and ball field on park grounds as well.

i really do like this course it has a good variety of landscapes open holes to very crowded holes. the holes have all types of different shooting too from up hill to downhill hyzers to anhyzers. the course is pretty well kept by the city they lay down new wood chips every couple of months. also a very easy to find the next tees. the reason that i like it is beacuse its got it all, well to my standards.

not too many cons except sometimes the information posts at the tees are sometimes ripped out or missing because of kids taking them or damaging them but are usually replaced fairly quick. needs a good disc supplier near by.