My wife is originally from Lima, so this course has been on my radar for a while. So I drop her off at her sister's house for a visit and this course is five minutes away. My brother drives over from Columbus to meet me for a round. Perfect right?

The course has two elements to it. A shorter more woodsy front nine with some quirky looks, and a more open and longer back nine with a smidge of elevation change and one decent water carry. The course has decent concrete tees (x2) and most holes seemed to have two pin placements. I would describe the course as short but also fun and interesting. There is a solid challenge here for rec throwers and INT to advanced will appreciate the added distance and challenge from the longer set of tees. The park is scenic and wildlife abounds. The park is very well maintained and exudes a nice serene vibe, except for areas that border other park activities and roads. There is a great course map.

The biggest con here is going to be the brutal 3' tall grass rough that borders a lot of the fairways of several holes during the spring/summertime. I strongly encourage spotting on any of these holes or you will lose your discs.

Most of the holes had two pin placements but the tee signs only showed one, so some of the locations and distances may be off. Also, one tee sign was missing and one was damaged.

There will be mosquitos and such in the warmer months.

This is a nice course for the area but I would caution new/rec throwers from playing in the summer months. There were some youngsters out on the course while we were there and they were spending a lot of time in the rough looking for lost discs. They also tossed one into the water hazard. Someone needs to teach them spotting and playing it safe lol.

So we have here a decent course that might actually play better in the fall/winter months when the rough thins out. It is set in a real nice Metro Park though that has a nice camping area and lots of other activities for your non-throwers to do while you get a round in.

this is my home course and i live a mile down the road so i am happy about that...nice course overall front 9 loops thru the woods lots of tunnel shots ...not long...pro tees change shots alot...back all open to let loose with all you got....nice pads...signs and layout.

no cons for me ...just a nice place to play discgolf.....walking trails looping thru park may have to wait a minute on some shots.

this course is pretty well laid out.....nice metro park....use all your shots here.

With an entirely different feel between the front and back nines, and dual concrete tees for every hole, Ottawa Metro Park @ Lima (not to be confused with Ottawa park a little further north) is just about a mile off interstate 75, making it a great 'layover' for the traveling disc golfer wanting to stretch their legs, and take a break from the seemingly eternal road construction in the area. If you like relatively shorter and technical woods lanes, you could just hit the first nine from the short tees, which average around 210 feet. If you really want to bomb a few before getting back to your trip, you could hit the much more open and even 'hilly' second nine from the long tees, which average over 430 feet per hole.

When you pull up to the course, the first thing you'll notice is the cool totem pole, then the course sign/map and practice basket, then a small shelter (with an explanation of the tranquil memorial grove of white pines to your left) which has boxes for score cards (still cool, even if it's not filled). About half the time, the long and short tees created a different line of flight and challenge, and with most of the baskets on the front nine tucked just around a tree or an obstacle, you'll be hard pressed to deuce a ton of these from the longs. In contrast, the short tees give you three or four absolute ace runs. An interesting contrast. On the open 'back' nine, there aren't a lot of challenging greens, but there is some big D to be had.

The DGA baskets are competition standard and almost always seemed to catch well (with a sad exception: I blew up the chains on the blind short hole 4, but had cut through...been a while since I aced, so I was a little frustrated, but know that it was a fluke either way!).

But for the most part, there's a little something here for everyone: in competition, you'll be tending toward the long tees, where it will take Intermediate or better technical skills to score well on the front, and Advanced and above distance off the tee to score well from the longs on the 'back'. The regionally prevailing winds and prairie grasses will challenge players from holes 9 through 18. And even though two holes teed from atop the mound for long bomb shots, hole twelve has to be the signature hole on the course. Over 600 feet from the longs and 300 from the short tee, the direct line of approach angles across the length of the pond, with a piney green deterring the big rhbh hyzer approach. Do you lay out safely to the left, approach and putt, or do you have to go for it, trailing by a stroke? You'd better know your game for this one.

Do bring a map for your first visit, or there will be a few puzzling spots, like the first long tee which seems to angle a little toward the nearby ninth basket. Though the 36 tee signs do indicate next tee direction, I didn't always study those, and kept feeling like the course needed some more next tee signage, especially beginning after the 9th hole. And if anything, the maps often underestimate the tight finishing bends, such as the actual S shaped approach you'll be shooting on hole 7, and the fact that hole 17 doesn't just arc around the mound: the basket is fully 80 degrees to your left as you stand on the short tee.

There's a tendency to be marshy and muddy in the woods, especially in the spring, and the tall grasses lining the 18th fairway will be hiding a thousand thorny plants as you get closer to the green, so be prepared for that. The second half of the course entails some real hikes, with only one bench evident up on the mound.

My overall impression of the course was that I really thought there were some fun and challenging holes, and then there was a stretch where I was just playing heave, heave, approach and putt (I don't have a big arm off the tee). But trying the course from both the long and short tees showed off its flexible appeal for a casual round. I wouldn't want to play two tournament rounds out here in the middle of the summer, but there are likely to be some young guns around who could really tear up the competition in an event like that!

Easy flow
Great directions
Pretty surroundings
Easy to get to

Front 9 was like a swamp from rain.
Most of the course was water logged, but it rained for about a week straight until the day before I played. Still worth it though.

Challenging holes.
Very fun.
Never a crowd.
Can always find a disc or two.

Very easy to lose a disc.
Bugs can get really annoying.
Can be overgrown at times.

I love this course, even though its only a 9 hole, the holes are very challenging, shooting through trees, and around some pretty tough corners. All the holes are marked and it's easy to find your way around. Never even seen another group of people while out playing. It is very easy to lose a disc, because of how heavily wooded the area is that your playing in, but that's also a bonus because you can find multiple discs on one outing. It's always a staple that my brother and I go and play this course every time I come home.