Shot Variations
Distance changes
Water challenges
Concrete tee pads
Signs give accurate distances

Water challenges (Play it safe or be out $10)
Pedestrians
Holes 14, 15, and 16 are tough water holes with 15 being the toughest.

I didn't get a good chance to see this course in all its beauty as we played it with snow on the ground and the water frozen over. I can only imagine what hole 15 would be like with water. Ice on the lake was thick and we could get our discs that were 40 feet off the bank of hole 14. Hole 16 ice on the left bank is not sturdy. There is an air pocket of about 2 feet in between the water level and the ice. This course is gorgeous that I'm pushing my disc buddies to play again when I come up for the summer. This is a must play! Just make sure you get it during the right conditions.

Riverside is a pretty solid course that's been around for years (some of the baskets show it.) It's right in the middle of one the most popular parks in all of GR. It's mostly open with some mature trees and large bushes in the play. Almost every hole allows for different throwing techniques. Some holes can be surprisingly challenging. Well taken care of with regular mowing, trash cans, picnic tables, and large cement tee pads are on every hole.

The popularity of this park means you will have a lot of non-discers in your way; especially ever since a group of people decided to hold a cross-country meet there. The flow of the course causes you to sit behind of a lot slow groups. Lots of water hazards on many of the holes (some water hazards are more avoidable then others.) Goose poop is pretty much everywhere. The course floods a lot during rainy seasons and the defrost of winter.

Riverside is defiantly worth a visit if you are in the area. It's the closest course to downtown GR that is worth playing. It does hold a lot league and tournament play (there is a board posting everything at the parking lot.) It takes about an hour and 45 minutes to play.It is the only course on the north side of GR.

-This is a beautiful very well manicured park,
-great mix of shots, long and short, left and right fade.Good differing range of holes.
-mostly wide open fairways with minimal trees in your way.
-great DGC for all skill levels
-if you like going in the water for discs you'll have fun here, ive pulled about 100 out of the water here over the years. i found 13 in an hour last year.
-cement tee pads
-nice tee signs throughout the park
-Innova baskets
-a nice pole course is next to the regular basket course

-No elevation changes
-Can get very busy and crowded in the summer
-sometimes picnicers lacking all common sence lounge right around the basket ( ive seen this happen so much over the years).
-this is a policed, non-alchohol park.
-lots of people lose discs here to the water, but its easy to play it safe if you like to.
-several of the later holes 12-18 are prone to massive goose crap piles everywhere
-the park does flood a couple times a year, not that often

This is the best park in grandrapids, my personal favorite in GR. This was one of the first parks i ever played and it has remained challenging and fun over the years.

There is a good amount of long and short holes here. Still has some ace run holes. Water holes help with being accurate and there's lots of tables and pavilions to take breaks if your tired or if the rain starts. And probly 50% of the time there will be someone already in the water to get your disc for you if you do happen to throw it in the drink.

There are definitely some cons that come with the course as well. The back nine is were it gets nasty. Lots of water holes that have a serious chance of robbing your disc, plus there's goose poo everywhere. Usually there's some people who are just standing in the way and don't care if your discing but still get really pissed when you almost him them even though you told them to move.

This is a really fun course. I only live four miles away so it's close and there's 18 holes plus a couple alt. holes as well. (From the fire hydrant to 17, and from the shed to 18). Haven't aced one there yet but I hope to change that soon.

Nice Long drives. You can really make use out of all the various discs.
Full 18 holes. Has baskets and cement tees. Scenic course with less pedistrians.

A few vandalized holes, along with empty 40 oz cans and bottles in the baskets. Crowded course, you often have to wait to play. There are a few water holes on the back nine which make it tricky to play. Also on the holes with water there usually are people in the water trying to find their disc. You either have to wait or go around to the next hole.

You probably could make a killing by getting some waders and retrieve those lost disc on the water holes. My fiance and I often skip the water holes because golf disc are not cheap.

Great Park! All the tee's are cement now! The first few holes are nice and open and is perfect for long drives!

A few holes are water holes, which i am not a fan of. Skip holes 13,14,15,16 on windy days to save urself some money Some non-disc golfers that you need to watch out for somtimes, but its not a big deal really.

Play this park 4-5 times a week, and love it! Also an old pole course there, some of the poles and tee sighns are missing but, overall its fun to play with some friends!

Logically flowing course around the whole park.

Open, yet a bit more than a mere pitch and putt.

Generally not too crowded.

A great place to bring beginners, especially on the front nine. Experienced players can score well below the course par.

Water hazards require risk-reward assessment and good throw selection.

Holes are fun and satisfying.

Open front nine (I'm thinking 3-5 especially.) are a good place to try out new throws and discs.

Water hazards. Unless you're very conservative with your throws, you're likely to lose a disc at some point.

Goose poop on 12-16. Bring a towel.

If it has rained in the past few days (and in GR it most likely has), some holes will be downright unplayable, especially 15, 16.

My go-to course in GR. Always worth playing. Have always found a friendly crowd while playing there. Don't bother to play in the spring unless it has been uncommonly dry or you don't mind skipping holes in the back nine.

The tee pads are nice, along with the baskets

Water, i hate loosing my discs

Ive been playn here since i was like 6 years old, but ive been wondering, anyone know why the teepad for 18 dosent face the hole?

edit: they made a new tee behind it like last week

Love the concrete tee pads and baskets. Course is quite open, but there are some tree challenges here and there. The water holes can be frightening when the wind is against you.

Not many negatives I can say about this course, other than once you play 16 it's not easy to find where 17 and 18 are. These holes have been moved more than once, and you run into the wooden sign for the old (late 70s or early 80s) pole course that works its way to the south in the park.

13 is at the end of a point of land jutting out into the lagoon. High water in the spring makes this even more challenging. I played the course on May 31, 2009 and we skipped 13, the water was within 10 feet of the base of the basket.

Probably the best course in the Grand Rapids area. Very challenging water. Nice wide open frost 9. Very nice park. worth the drive downtown in the summer. Don't be scared to jump in after your discs, it's pretty clean, comparably.

Can flood easily, as it is directly on the banks of the grand river. Due to damaged/ broken signs, it can be a little difficult to traverse.

Also an old post course of site

This course will have you walking a great amount. Very beautiful looking scenery in a very wonderfully clean park. Holes are long at times, and not too technical. Played on a Sat., at 8 a.m.. Lots of very nice people in the park at this time. I would recommend playing this course.

Lots of water in the Spring aparently. My god, this park was flooded when I played. Lost a disc in the river. Decent signage, but not the best. An announcement at the park that was posted claimed that the leagues were cancelled, and moved to "Brewer", but no other info. was posted. Was I supposed to go back to my hotel and find out where the hell "Brewer" was?

While on vacation, I found this to be minutes from my hotel, so I decided to play. Park by the baseball diamond, and continue to walk South for a while until you find the 1st tee pad. I had to skip about 4 holes due to the flooding, and then it started raining pretty good as well, so in fairness, I had to skip the last 4 holes or so, too.

Nice long course, easily navigable. Course encircles the park, and a group can spend a whole day playing this course twice.

Flooded for most of the year. Beginners often throw in the water, require a "brave soul" to retrieve. WAY too much goose crap on hole 15.

Not too many people besides golfers occupy the course. Sometimes people fish near the basket or picnic near holes 13 and 14.

great set up, with a variety of easy birdies to some that you hope to get a par on. testing water holes on back nine. nice grass and mostly open.

no cement pads in back nine.

sometimes people don't understand that it is a disc golf course and think it is ok to have picnics in the middle of the fairway. there is a guy who gets all the discs out of the water and sells them for cheap. sometimes he has some really nice disc.

- Port-a-potty in parking lot, drinking fountain on the back nine.
- Lots of risk/reward water holes on the back nine that offer a challenge not found on most other GR courses.
- Goose poop point (hole #15) is a rewarding hole that will test your mettle.
- Just a pretty course and a great location in general.

- Quite a few missing/vandalized/inaccurate signs.
- Front nine is mostly wide open. Drive, approach, and putt... if it isn't windy, there's simply not much challenge involved.
- No elevation changes at all.
- The normal drawbacks of playing at a popular all-purpose park.
- Flooding and overcrowding are a big problem.

Riverside Park, as the name implies, sits on the banks of the Grand River. It's a pretty park, but the river makes the course quite unpredictable. I'll break down the conditions into four categories:

1. Winter = Snow. And lots of it. This may or may not make the course unplayable, depending on how hardcore you are.

2. More than half of the holes are completely underwater about 25% of the time. Ice jams and frequent spring rain are to blame. The basket at hole #1 usually shows the high-water mark for the season.

3. Another 25% of the time the water level will have diminished enough to make only some combination of 13, 14, 15, and 16 unplayable. Hole 15 is usually the first hole to go underwater and the last to dry out. The pole course nearby (Riverside South) is often helpful in these cases since you can make up missed holes there.

4. 25% of the time, the weather will be perfect and the ground will be dry. Everyone knows when these times are, and this is when everybody is at Riverside Park. You'll have groups of 7 players, 4 disc throwing toddlers, and 3 dogs clogging up holes for hours at a time. Runners, joggers, walkers, and bikers create constant traffic on the path that winds through the course. High school cross country teams practice on the front nine. Medieval reenactors (both the geeky high school types and the 35 year old men whose costumes are waaay too elaborate) often conduct battles around hole 13 and 14. You'll frequently have people fishing in the fairways of holes 15 and 16. Concerts are held in the open area at the 17th and 18th holes. Are you starting to get the picture? This is by far the busiest park in the city when the weather is nice.

If you don't mind waiting and observing all the pedestrians doing pedestrian things, then you'll have a good Saturday afternoon here. Otherwise you're best off coming when the snow is on the ground or when a couple of the holes are underwater.

UPDATE 10/2009: The parking lot has been repaved and there are now teepads on all 18 holes. Teeing off on an even surface makes a big difference; I'm extremely happy that this situation was remedied. I've increased my rating from a 3.0 to a 3.5.

I played this course with some friends who said that it would be really fun. I enjoyed playing it but there wasnt much variation in the layout.

Muddy
two holes were flooded
not the best course ive played

Great use of water holes. If you're afraid of loosing a disc in the water, then don't play. Very nice park and has a nice up keep. The front 9 are never crowded and there isn't much chance of hitting anybody. Don't have to worry about loosing your frisbee in deep rough or leaves.

People galore in the back 9. Sometimes have to skip hole 13,14,15 because, of playground and non discers. IT can be frustrating. Hole 15 is always covered in goose poop and therefore named "goose poop island". Can't play all 18 holes early in the season since baskets 1, 8,9,10,11,15 and 16 are underwater and, launch pad for hole 2 can be underwater. Not to mention in the heat of summer, that pond can stink something fierce.

IT's a fun course to play with some interesting shots and some questions you have to ask yourself. To throw or, not throw over the pond? A little bit long for beginners but, deffinately able to play without too much frustration. Not many people like it because, of the water holes but, I think that they give the park it's characteristic.

Good layout for an open course
Obstacles provide a challenge, but let you rip it once in awhile
Beautiful park when snow-covered
Not too windy
Plays quickly, which is a plus in the cold

Not an incredible variety of shots, mostly hyzers
Probably not nearly as much fun in the summer

The main objections I see to the course (crowded with non-DGers, water on course, goose poop, etc.) are all neutralized during the winter. Plus, once the river freezes, it lets you screw around with a few shots you might not try otherwise

fun course and very easy to navigate. nice wide open shots. some large trees and water come into play to up the difficult a little bit. very nice park with beautiful scenery.

a little on the easy side. only played it twice and the first time i shot a 53 and the second time i shot a 48, but it was still worth the play and i plan on playing it again. also, when i played there were geese and geese droppings everywhere. didn't bug me but might bug others.

nice course in the norther grand rapids area and very easy to get to, just off of US131. good place to take a beginner (also stated in another review).

this course is great for the one just starting with the wide open holes.

half of the holes were underwater due to the river over flowing. The park is nice but there are some people that may come into play.

Fun, can be quick to play, nicely shaded.

- Cement Tee pads

-Most signs

-Good amount of shots.

some holes were marked with pars but i think they were off. A par three was labeled a par 5

-Floods a lot and has a lot of slushy fairways sometimes

-Multi Use Park

Fun, nice, easy to find your way. If you bring someone who hasn't played there is a good amount of space to do some practice throws before you get to the first tee.