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Janesville, WI

Riverside Park

3.225(based on 9 reviews)
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7 0
MidwestZest
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 23.9 years 103 played 73 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Riverside 3.7 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:May 31, 2020 Played the course:once

Pros:

- A well designed, mostly wooded course that has a lot of different hole types with varying elevation. Front and back 9 loop nicely to the same starting point.
- Really thoughtful hole design in general for this course, in my opinion. Kudos to Luke and any others. Open tees to wooded pins, flex-line wooded holes, a pin guarded by water, an island green across a little drainage creek, uphill cross-faced hole with rollaway potential, and plenty of skinny gaps right off the tee.
- With the map here on DGCR, no huge issues with navigation. The sticky spots were mostly just when needing to cross the road for the next portion. When in the woods itself, the beaten down paths led the way.
- Also quite a few holes that really require a L-R shot, whether you RHFH flick or throw a RHBH anny. A couple holes gave some other options, but holes like 6 & 10 come to mind as ones where you're pretty well forced into the intended shot.
- #3 - Really liked this hole, even though it ought to be a pretty simple 270 ft spike hyzer. But with water just 15 ft behind, it's a tester to us recreational players.
- #7 - Just liked the look and feel of this hole, even though it might not seem overly special. A very intentional, longer wooded hole with a specific flex line available to get all the way to the basket. Maybe even a tight RHBH hyzer all the way out and around...if you hit it.
- #9 - Long 150 ft wooded fairway that immediately opens up and goes downhill to a wide open pin. Hard, but nice design.
- #15 - Probably the most picturesque green on the course - and island of sorts across a small drainage creek.
- #17 - Longer L-R, more open curving hole on top of a hill that probably drops 15 feet down to the pin in the last 60 ft. Cool.
- Generally not overly punished for hitting trees - meaning there's a way out and usually it will just take an extra shot. Sometimes there were good saves to be made, but generally it wasn't so thick that we were having to hack our way out.
- I'll list my last Pro as 'potential.' Meaning, if the interest/money/help/support is there, this really could grow to a top notch course. It has the room and elevation to continue to develop holes. That's a bonus not all courses have.

Cons:

- In regards to my last Pro, that of course means that it's lacking in a few places. At least, lacking things that could easily jump it up to a 4.0 in my book.
- The large rubber tee pads work pretty well, although a few were still squishy underneath from rain 3-4 days prior our play. We just played to the side on those. Concrete would be a big bonus.
- Nice professionally installed signage at each hole, but like Lustig Park, just the Park District basics. Hole and distance. Something with shot line and basket placement would be nice - especially on the handful of blind holes where we had to run all the way up to see the placement (2, 6, 10, 13, 15, 16, 17). Not an issue if you've played the course a few times, I'm sure.
- In regards to blind holes though, taller umbrella plants in the rough can hide a disc if you're not following where a tree kick took you. Our group took turns spotting on some of the blind holes, and for helping to follow errant shots. We had to stay attentive in that way in order to keep from spending too long looking for discs. Again, not thick underbrush or anything, but big plant leaves and fronds can obscure a disc lying on the ground here.
- Having alternate tees or baskets would really set this already great course up another notch.
- Generally felt a little bit short in some places, although some of that is necessary with the tight wooded fairways. Definitely some potential for adding secondary pins and tees though, to get some of the holes out to 300+ feet.
- Some potentially unfair fairways in my eyes - but as always I find myself questioning if it's just because of my lack of ability. However, I think that the mando on #8 is probably not hit very often or consistently - and when it is, are players actually reaching the pin? Probably a 4 or 5 ft wide tree gap 50 ft in front of the tee. Similarly, while I love nearly all of the #12 fairway, the host of 5 or 6 smaller trees right in front of the green means there is probably no purposeful line to the basket for deuce. Instead, just get down there, hit whichever tree you like, and then go for the 40-60 ft jump putt. Again though, maybe there is and I couldn't see it because it's just not in my arsenal.
- #18 is right next to the park road, definitely in play for a wayward or skipping R-L RHBH shot. Cars beware.

Other Thoughts:

- Some bathrooms and other amenities nearby if needed, but not right on the course or anything. Also just street parking in this old park, without a real noticeable congregation point. Didn't matter much to me, but notable enough to list here I think.
- My group did a fair amount of plodding along through this course, and it was frustrating at times. I generally wouldn't blame that on hole design though. I find it to be a fair wooded course, where accurate midrange throws are rewarded.
- I liked this course a lot. Nearby Lustig Park was maybe more fun and leisurely for a group of rec players, but this was some serious disc golf with good hole design and a host of shots required. Review ratings from early in this course's development are going to hold it's overall rating down for now, but it's not a 3.2 course anymore. I'm rounding down a 3.7...but 4.0 isn't very far away for this course in my eyes. Would love to play again if in the area.
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5 0
ElementZ
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 15 years 212 played 200 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Fun round in the woods! 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Sep 25, 2019 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

This was my favorite course of my road trip.

+ A couple adjectives I'd use to describe this course would be challenging, fun, fair, balanced, and technical.

+ There's a nice mix of landscape. There are some nice elevation changes that you'll see on the very first few holes. Some tighter holes, some open holes. Left, right, and straight shots. In general, the holes are pretty memorable and enjoyable.

+ Flow was pretty logical. I forgot my map at home and only got lost two or three times. The paths from the basket to the next tee are pretty worn down, which makes it easy to intuit where to go next.

+ With the exception of maybe four holes, the area is exclusively for disc golf, which is always a plus.

Cons:

I currently think this course is a 3.5, but with a few improvements could sneak into 4.0.

- The tees are currently just rugs. I understand that this is a step up from just having white bricks, but cement tees would go a long way here. I'd also like to see tee signs that are a little bit more elegant.

- I'd love to have a dedicated parking lot within walking distance of the first tee. Currently it's just roadside parking.

- Trash cans were overflowing, mostly with beer cans.

- Some of the holes play way to close to the street. That's no good. Also #4 plays a little close to the playground.

- I'd imagine that the rough can get pretty gross in the summer. I played in Fall and it was maintained pretty well. No lost discs!

Other Thoughts:

I'm surprised at the courses current rating. I think it's slightly under valued, especially since Lustig (3.47) is rated higher and I don't think it should be. Riverside is a more enjoyable round with a more fun & challenging course, at least in my opinion.
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1 0
rocthecourse
Experience: 17.2 years 106 played 17 reviews
3.50 star(s)

This is a fun course. 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Oct 4, 2017 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

This course is located in a very nice park with most of the holes in the woods and away from other activities. The layout is pretty easy to figure out but I would recommend looking at the map before you go(even better would be to print it out) because it is a little tricky to find tees for 3 and 4. Also, it can be easy to mess up when going from 15-16.

I like that most of the course is in the woods and they did their best to use the hills that they have. Most of the holes are on the shorter side but you have to hit a line to score well.

Cons:

This course still feels pretty rough. It doesn't take too much away from the fun but I do think the course would be much better with concrete tees, or at least some rubber pads. When I was there some of the tees weren't clearly marked. Some of the fairways could use a little clearing. Some of the rough could also use a little clearing out. Ideally they would run all the dead branches through a wood chipper and then cover the fairways with wood chips.

Other Thoughts:

I arrived at the course planning on playing two rounds. After finishing my second round I felt like I had left some strokes out on the course. I knew I couldn't leave without taking the course on again. On my third round I threw my best round on the day with only one big mistake. For me one of the best things a course can do is make you want to play another round to get a lower score and this course did that.

This might not be a "championship caliber" course but it is fun course, at least in my opinion. For now I am giving this course a 3.5 because even though it is fun it could use some work. With concrete tees I would put this course at ~3.75.

I am already planning on visiting this course again next year.


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2 0
VictorB
Experience: 18.7 years 95 played 14 reviews
3.50 star(s)

lots of potential 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Feb 26, 2017 Played the course:once

Pros:

The course has a good mix of elevation, tight woods, open holes, dangerous greens/approach, and very pretty scenery.

Plays pretty fair even through the woods, none of the tighter holes felt like they were unfair, if you execute the intended shot you're rewarded for it.

Discatcher baskets are properly installed, and yellow bands make it easy to see them in the woods.

Cons:

The course is really new, and has a few issues that hopefully will work themselves out as it's developed more.

No teepads, and teeing areas - especially in the woods - are really difficult to find. Just 2 small white blocks in the ground to indicate some tees (and why white in Wisconsin? Blaze orange would have stood out better with the minimal snow that was on the ground still!)

There are guideposts at some of the more open holes but if you didn't know they were there, you probably wouldn't recognize them as teeing area indicators. Course doesn't flow really well in some spots, and I'd say is virtually impossible to navigate without a map. We had a map and still had tough times finding some of the holes and where they started.

There are a few hills that need stairs or something to help with ascent/descent - some really steep areas that were really tough to get up and down without slipping, since the ground was a bit squishy. Definitely need something to limit falls and erosion at some point.

The greens are a bit too crowded on some of the holes, where you can have a great drive and still not have a look due to bushes or low hanging tree limbs. Not sure if this is intended but some of the spots could use a little clearing on the green to reward good shots.

Other Thoughts:

Course has a ton of potential. If it had permanent teepads of concrete or astroturf I'd probably bump it to a 4. I think all of my gripes with it as of right now will be solved eventually, and this course makes a great, more challenging compliment to Lustig Park.

Good tee markings with concrete tee pads, 'next tee' signs on the baskets to help with navigation, and a few safety improvements will take this course from good to great in my opinion.
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