Emporia, KS

Peter Pan Park - Optimist DGC

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3.795(based on 19 reviews)
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Peter Pan Park - Optimist DGC reviews

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Surge5
Gold level trusted reviewer
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Experience: 9.8 years 167 played 167 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Dude, Where's My Line? 2+ years

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Dec 3, 2021 Played the course:once

Pros:

Peter Pan Park packs a plethora of perks.  Plenty of parking, prime play, and pristine preservation.  A playthrough should be present in your plans when you prepare for an Emporia pilgrimage.

All the amenities are in great condition being in Dynamic Discs' backyard.  Tee signs are as descriptive as any, concrete tees are in great condition (5, 11, 13, and 16 all have two tees and hole 8 has three), and all the baskets are in top shape.  Multiple pin spots on most every hole will keep every playthrough fresh. Along with this, the park upkeep was absolutely top-notch.

As for the holes, there are some very challenging looks.  Hole 2 has inconveniently placed trees no matter which line you take, 7 is a nice long toss that has to stop quickly before it finds the pond behind the basket, and getting a putt made can be highly difficult due to the basket being in a tiny space between three big trees, 8 is a fun shot into Monkey Island, 9 thru 12 are all nice tight lines and besides 9 they're all made tougher by the looming pond, 14 is a hallway with big trees on the right and evergreens on the left that is just thin enough to make a flex line very difficult, and hole 16 is a long drive off the tee with a smattering of small trees to fight through to get to the green.

The best hole on the course is hole 4.  Pinching off the big s-curve forehand with a big shrub about 100ft off the tee on the right, it's another 50-75ft to the mouth of the tunnel.  Pushing down the middle of the tunnel is the key to a birdie as both sides are full of shrubs/trees to grab your disc and leave you with almost no recovery chance.  The long pin is down about 350ft of tunnel, and is on a tough green as going too long or too far to either side will likely end with you in the brush again.  Overall this is a tough, but fair hole.

The first tee and 18th basket are right next to the parking lot.  The course also does a good job of staying put of the way of any other park activity besides maybe one walking path on hole 8.

The pond is used to perfection.  Having to stop short on holes 7 and 11, going directly over it if you're on the short tee of 13, and the iconic peninsula green on hole 12 which is probably the toughest hole to gain strokes on.

Cons:

The biggest flaw I notice with Pan is that it is full of righty forehand friendly holes.  The holes that finish to the right are 1, 4, 5, 6, 11, 15, 16, and 17, while the backhand line is nearly non-existent due to the trees on 9, 12, and 13.  So there are only 7 holes that will welcome a righty backhand player.  It makes this course a great challenge for those players, but gives a major advantage to anyone with a strong forehand.

Multiple rough navigation spots. Having to go all the way back down the fairway of 5 to get to the tee of 6, the long walk from 7 to 8, and the path from 17 to 18 crossing the fairway of 4.  It's not that there's a lot of issues, it's that the issues present so much potential danger.

The course neither starts nor ends well.  Hole 1 is a standard "wrap around the back of the baseball field" hole, and 17 is easy to skip an otherwise perfect forehand into the brush due to that green not having grass, while 18 is a short, straight, easy birdie.  There are great holes on this course, but they can be lost in the middle of the humdrum that comes with them.

The only other "bad" hole out here is 15.  It's a wide open downhill with the pin right behind an evergreen. Bland.

Other Thoughts:

There isn't a lot of elevation here, so the trees are the main challenge.  And a tough challenge at that.

Overall, Peter Pan is definitely worth playing.  It's not the best course in town, but it certainly isn't the worst.  The lack of distance is made up for by some very difficult lines to hit, and some holes that require some great control.  Your game will be challenged by a round here.  Learn from it.
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