It wasn't busy

-Very overgrown. No real fairway to tell where to throw and my legs came out very itchy.
- No map to start and a few of the tee boxes (poles in the ground) and baskets I was never able to find. I'm pretty sure some of the tee box poles were missing.

Overall, I spent more time searching for Tee Boxes and Baskets than playing.

Paw Paw High School is located west of Kalamazoo, MI. One edge of the school grounds plays host to nine holes of disc golf.

This course has a decent mix of holes. The first two holes are wide open throws, with #2's basket hiding behind a grass berm (there's a flag on the top of the basket but it's comically small - no chance of seeing it from the tee). The course then moves into the woods for holes 3-5, with all of these holes having 200'ish tight and straight fairways. Then it's back into the open for holes 6-9. The last three holes have some mild elevation changes as well. #7 plays across a valley and stretches the distance out to 430'. The finishing hole was my favorite. It's a wide open 225' throw downhill, but with a large tree right behind the basket to complicate things if you overthrow your tee shot or approach.

The baskets are Chainstars. They are in fine shape, and I appreciated that they were numbered.

Hole 8 was also fun, but unsafe. You're throwing 250' downhill at a basket in a grassy square that is maybe 20' across, and surrounded by cement on all four sides. The cement behind the basket is the lot where you parked. You should assume that this course is closed during school hours, and when you do visit keep in mind that this basket is part of the course and not a practice basket! Park well away from it.

The tee pads are natural. The tee signs are only small wooden posts with mailbox numbers nailed to them. Even these were missing for holes 1, 3, and 6 as of my visit. There aren't any navigational aids either, so you'll need UDisc or the map uploaded here to navigate the course and figure out where to tee off from when the posts are missing.

The course was overgrown when I visited. The weeds weren't too thick and weren't too thorny, but I could tell that course maintenance has been zero for some time. I have played worse courses in this regard, but you'll definitely want to keep an eye on your throws.

About half of the holes are wide open with no obstacles in play. And on the flip side of that, holes 4 and 5 honestly might be too tight. I'd also like to see left and right turning fairways in the wooded area - all three of these holes were basically straight. Other than hole 7, all of the holes are more or less within the 200'-300' range so there isn't much variety in terms of distance. That kind of distance is decent for recreational players, but maybe a little long for your average high schooler.

No kiosk, practice basket, porta potty, trash cans, or benches.

The I-94 freeway marks the back of the school property. It's nowhere close to being in play, but you'll hear the road noise throughout your time here.

This was the first of five Kalamazoo area school 9ers that I bagged in a single afternoon. I was originally thinking of giving this one a 1.0 rating, but after experiencing some of the other courses I'm bumping this one up to a 1.5.

In what I can only assume is a staggering coincidence, I ran into a guy in the parking lot after the last hole who claimed to be the father of the person who originally spearheaded the project of putting a course here. He said that with the way the sport has grown regionally and in general over the past few years, they were considering upgrading the course here. I would welcome that news, as there is definitely potential for a decent/average course here. I'm not sure where the property line falls, but there seemed to be room to add a couple more holes in the wooded area - or at least make the existing ones more interesting. As is, I'm feeling generous giving this one the 1.5. It's not worth playing in its current state, unless you're a bagger planning to enroll in Kalamazoo Area School 9 Hole Disc Golf Courses 101. Enrolling in said course allows you to spend a full day bagging all - count 'em - EIGHT 9-hole school courses in the greater Kalamazoo area.

-Paw Paw High School DGC plays (roughly) counterclockwise around and over a sort of unused cul-de-sac at the far back of the school grounds. A bit of rolling elevation, some scrubby prairie, and the edge of a patch of woods all come into play; the road, cul-de-sac, and parking lot complete the course geography. Right off the bat, the designers use the small grassy hill for an uphill shot; pin #2 is located in a small depression (look for the white flag); #8 throws downhill across the road to an small island green surrounded by the parking lot's pavement; #9 is a downhill ace run to finish the round. The scrubby prairie area and wooded area sort of blend together, with several pines dotting the landscape. These are used on hole #'s 3-5 to create tunnel shots of varying degrees. These are tighter, slightly overgrown lines that demand precise shots but lack sufficient length or off-fairway punishment to prevent easily scrambling for par. After hole #6 plays along the edge of the woods, head back to the roadway for #7's tee. Hole #7 throws across a small grassy bowl, past the far lip of that bowl, and slightly downhill to a basket underneath a single large tree. #8's a downhill ace run; however, the small artificial island green (surrounded by pavement) totally changes the complexion and difficulty of this hole. #9 is likewise a downhill ace run, this time nothing but a medium-sized shrubbery behind the basket to stop from gunning it completely.
- The course's walkways and fairways were pretty well mowed/trimmed, and aid greatly in figuring out where to go.
- Amenities here are scant: they barely provide you with a sharpied 2' x 4' stuck in the ground. Tee pads are natural, although the sidewalk could be used for #1's tee, too. #9 could use the road.
- Only course I've ever played that has a practice dummy from one of the nearby football sleds lurking in the rough (#5). Maybe he'd rather disc?

- #2's green was pretty overgrown, unlike the majority of the course. A small bush had mostly filled the basket.
- #3's tee sign was on the ground.
- A lot of pavement (roads and parking lots) in play here: #2 throws over the cul-de-sac, while #8 throws over the road into the parking lot, basically.

- When I saw hole #'s 2 and 8, I laughed and instantly understood why this course is closed while school is in session. Otherwise, the area is deserted so not a huge safety hazard. #8's green is small enough to be fairly tricky.
- Despite really trying with the elevation, the island green, and the pseudo tunnel-esque shots on #'s 3-5 this course just kinda comes up a bit "meh." Still, I'd have been beyond thrilled to have any sort of disc golf course at my high school. Do the kids get to play it during gym/phys. ed.? That would be rad. Rad? I don't think the kids on the streets say "rad" anymore. YEET!

I appreciated this course much more than two new friends (apdrvya and Dave the rocket man) did. The course starts out behind the high school playing across a field then moves into the woods for holes 3-4-5. Then # 6 & 7 play along the edge of the woods. Then 8 & 9 are open shots to complete the loop. The terrain for the open holes are nice, gently rolling lawns.

There are no tee pads. You just tee off next to the sign. The signs are simple 2" x 4" with a metal house number on them. The baskets show up pretty well.

# 1 is a straight, boring 300' shot to a basket just short of the cul-de-sac.
# 2 is 246' over the cul-de-sac to a basket set down in a hole. I found this to be a little to over the top for a high school course.
# 3 is a straight 225' shot where you have to clear a row of bushes about halfway down the fairway. It's a perfect hole for an overhand. The basket is guarded by a grabby evergreen tree.
# 4 is acute little 182' throw with the basket sitting there between two grabby evergreens.
# 5 is only 198' but was kind of an uncomfortable S curve throw for me.
# 6 was 285' straight with the basket set close to the woods.
# 7 is a big air throw of 432' throwing across bowel. The basket is then set under some trees.
# 8 is 250' easy downhill throw to a basket set on a square island 36' x 36'. This becomes an extremely cool hole when you play it as island meaning any concrete Is OB. Sticking your drive on the island for a birdie is not easy. You could play safe and boring and lay up but that's no fun.
# 9 is a fun little Ace Run, 225' to the basket sitting by the only bush within sight.

I'm not all that keen on clever little hole names but these last two holes are begging to be called something. # 8 could be named "Tahiti" or any other clever island name you could dream up and # 9 would be "Lone Bush".

IMO the course is just a bit too challenging for high school kids. I would shorten holes 2 and 6. I would take the number two basket out of the hole making it visible off the tee. I think the course plays at a recreational level. That's OK for us rec players.

No tee pads although I didn't find it to be that big of an issue.

Navigation issues. Two little fixes would help. First, with your trusty Sharpie neatly write the distances on the wooden poles. Second, write the basket number on the inner ring.

Today, I played the high school foursome of Paw Paw HS, Mattawan HS, Lawton HS and Kalamazoo Central HS. My opinion is the first three are a step above Kalamazoo Central for a variety of reasons and are so very close together. I could probably change my opinion each time I played one. My ranking based on my own personal fun factor would be:

1. Lawton HS
2. Paw Paw HS
3. Lawton HS
4. Kalamazoo Central.

The bad news is I just missed qualifying for the high school Girl's District Tournament by 9 strokes. I probably need to work on my game.

There's a map and there are baskets on each hole.

Ugh, where to begin. First, hole 1 is not that bad (if you can find it). I kind of liked hole 2 even though you throw across the turnaround into the bunker. This basket is SO LOW to the ground and surrounded by all sorts of picky things and tick infested grasses I was a bit scared.

Hole 3, 4 & 5 play on some of the narrowest, most guarded fairways that I have ever seen. You would have to be the perfect dg'er to keep it relevant here. 6 isn't bad, 7 was bad, 8 wasn't bad except you throw across the road to the island green in the parking lot. 9 throws into the water retaining bowl.

Well, they tried...
they failed, but they tried.
Course bagged
/bitching

- There are baskets.
- If you play here when school is out like you're supposed to, there will be NO ONE else on the course unless you happen to run across the random lost and confused course bagger like myself.

TLR version: DON'T BOTHER

- Grass is knee high and un - mowed. Forget playing here unless you have a sadomasochistic desire to loose a lot of plastic.
- There are tees....HAHAHAHA no there aren't. I suppose just tee off next to the wood markers in the knee high grass?
- The tee markers are also interesting in that it's pretty freaking impossible to determine where the basket is supposed to be in relation to the tee. So standing at the tee...Do I throw north? South? East? West? Who knows....
- Navigation? LOL NOPE. Once I can determine where the heck #1 is I'll let you know.

This course is the biggest POS course I have ever visited. It's a dang shame too because I think I know the fella that designed and installed it and from what I know he's a VERY good designer. To me this is purely a maintenance issue and absolutely not a design issue. Apparently, the Paw Paw school district saw fit to purchase 9 baskets and install them and do absolutely nothing else. Not bother putting in tee pads, no useful signage...NOTHING. Maybe this is meant for just the PE classes at the school? This course would be useless for even that because of the rather serious lack of maintenance.

Look, feel free to mark this review as "not helpful" because I am never ever wasting any more time on this course until someone can provide a map or at least an accurate GPS of hole #1 (the GPS location off this site isn't right) and the school decides to mow. If I were a tax payer in this school system I would be seriously peeved at this colossal waste of money.