This is a gorgeous park. Such a scenic spot for a disc golf course.

Some holes are easy, some are hard. Overall a great variety of holes, shots and terrain. Some holes have multiple tees and/or multiple baskets to spice it up. You can choose easy or difficult routes. Once you are familiar with the layout of the place it is a very fun course, but getting to know the layout can be extemely frustrating.

water fountains availible near hole 16

last hole throws over a small lake. The fist time I played it I just missed an ace. I threw a second shot for fun and actually aced it. That actually helped turn my mood around, as my first round through this course was testing my patience big time.

For a first timer with no map, I picked a bad time to come here. I showed up around 11am and the course was empty. I couldn't figure out where the first tee was. Turns out I parked in the wrong spot.

Typically when I play a confusing new course for the first time, the trouble is locating tees and baskets. At Roland, its a little different..there are tees and baskets everywhere! The problem is figuring out what tees go with what baskets.

Eventually, more people showed up on the course and I was able to follow a group of guys and played in their footsteps.

As stated in previous reviews, many of the tees and baskets have no numbers on them and most of the ones that are numbered seem to be incorrect. Playing here for the first time by yourself with no map...its IMPOSSIBLE to figure out whats what.

Some tees are nice and well made, others arent.

I know there are a total of 21 holes but the layout I played gave me 18. That was fine with me though, I played it a couple times and it was fun,.

I hated it at first, but by the time I left I loved it. I really enjoyed playing here once I figured out the layout. Cant wait to come back and play with some Amish dudes.

I really appreciate a well balanced course. This course has a very good mix of open, wooded and partially wooded holes. The first couple of holes are very open and make great use of elevation to create some good challenges. The ten holes or so are in the woods and have some great tight fairways and risk/reward shots. It is obvious that the managers of this course have been working very hard on improvements. There are several new additional tees for many of these holes adding some much need length to this course. All the new tees are nice rubber mats.
While in the woods there are several holes that require fitting your drives through some tight windows between the trees. Then the course works its way back out into the open with some chances to really air it out. The course finishes with a nice little shot across the pond in the center of the park. For me the more holes the better so it was great to have a chance to play 21 instead of the normal 18. It will be great when the renovations are finished and the course is a full 27.
Additionally, the course is located on a great park. It has many other attractions including a playground, trails, picnic locations, tennis courts and even a sand volley ball court.

As has been mentioned by most of the reviewers, navigation is a major issue with this course. While the designers have made efforts to point the player in the right direction with little silver arrows hanging from the baskets, this is really insufficient when the next hole is more than a hundred yards away and not well marked itself. Many of the tee signs were unreadable, some were vandalized and some were missing all together. Additionally, there were no indications of distance on any of the tee signs and some had no indication where the pin was located. I never knew how dependent I was on this information until I didn't have it. Also because of the incomplete renovations some of the holes/tee signs are miss numbered or not numbered at all making navigation even more difficult.

Once the renovations are completed, the layout set and the signs in place this will easily be a 3.5 or a 4.0 course. I look forward to playing this course next summer after it is complete.

This course is a pleasant play. Mixed use course but no real issues with traffic as it utilizes some woods and the open holes don't seem to play near pedestrians.It will not break you mentally and ruin your day but will still challenge all aspects of your game.This course has a little bit of everything. Some elevation, some woods, some open fields, some water, some distance, some technical, some hard, some easy, all in all your gonna end up liking this course. I really enjoyed the mild elevation holes to start the course. #1 plays up hill and then to the left of that pin is the tee for hole #2 shooting back down. A great start. Then I also liked playing through the technical wooded holes 4-12. I love cedar groves and there are plenty of these with bright red pine needles padding the forest floor. At least your disc gets a soft landing after thwacking a tree! The open holes 13-21 counter the technical holes very well, especially with the little elevation boost involved which makes us all look like Zeus throwing thunderbolts across the field. Finally you finish with a pin guarded by the pond #20 and then a little punch over the pond #21. It's a clean pretty park that makes for an enjoyable setting for disc golf. It's close enough to DF Buchmiller DGC to make it worth the trip out there. Akron and nearby Ephrata are unique towns to explore as well.

I realize the course is going through some changes and will be 27 holes so take this criticism as it pertains to conditions as of late winter 2009. This course is a navigation nuisance. I loved most of the course and was having fun until getting lost multiple times in the woods. In disc golf, which is a psychological game, once your emotions are disrupted your game is sure to be spoiled and your good time is wrecked. Often I came across baskets and tees unmarked facing odd directions. I found mystery fairways which I did not understand the flow or direction. Threw some great drives to the wrong damn area a few times. OUCH! Once I was out in the open I was a bit miffed at how open some of the field holes did not offer too much placement challenge. A basket tucked behind a tree perhaps etc. Course needs the navigation issues to be resolved and it would be top notch. I cannot imagine it would have to cost any money at all. It would just take a little effort to help us pilgrims who come all this way to play to leave and have good things to say. My lasting memory was the time I spent lost and not some of the fun disc golf that is to be experienced there.

Seems to be a theme...everyone got lost here according to the reviews. Made me feel like I was not alone in my frustration. The pond is a fun way to finish and I understand why its just a chip shot over it and not used for multiple shots. If the park got numerous complaints of people throwing into the pond and swimming for discs I would not doubt the course would be in jeopardy. I think the course itself is a very fun play. I would love to come back. If it is ever actually 27 holes and there are real signs or a good map available I will be sure to come back and raise my score significantly. Note to first timers-make sure you pass the main park entrance and park in the little lot as close to the pond as possible. The course begins and ends at the pond. Hope that helps!

This course is expanding to 27 holes very soon.

Scenic area in a small town near Amish
country.

A good mixture of wooded then very open shots. #18 tees off over a heart shaped lake.

Good elevation changes throughout the course. Cement tees.

Very clean city park, no litter.

With the new holes being built in early March '09 adding to the old front 9, it was
confusing to follow with the lack of correct tee signs.

I'll bump this course up to 3.5 stars when they finish the addition holes and update the tee signs after hole 4.

Some baskets have a white arrow pointing you to the next tee, some don't.

A few holes had an alternate basket in the open back 9 but it was confusing which hole they were for at times.

I've hadn't played in Arkon in over 5 years, it was always good and now see it getting better very soon. Buchmiller Pk in nearby
Lancaster and Roland Pk in Arkon makes a nice day trip for this area.

Beautiful mountain scenery. When you drive into the park out of a small town neighborhood it's amazing that this piece of property is just sitting there... calling you to play a round. What a great idea to put a course here! And 21 holes. That's nice.

There are bathroom facilities on site. And there are also other things to do... like a playground, tennis, picnicking and volleyball.

The course iteself does have a nice variety of open and wooded holes along with a shot over the pretty pond too. The open holes will let a lot of us just grip and rip it... although you big guns won't get to really let it fly at 100%. The longest holes are #15, a somewhat downhill 450' shot and #20 a somewhat downill 471' shot. The wooded holes are somewhat technical, but not overly tough. Most of the wooded holes have multiple paths to the pins requiring you to select which shot suits you best. I really like this about the wooded holes as you don't always have to play the same shot to score well. I can play a hyzer or anhyzer route on several holes with equal chance of success. I like that.

This course plays nicely for an experienced player and would suit a newcomer to the sport very well also.

The signage needs serious work. Although some of the handpainted signs are pretty... that doesn't make up for the lack of clarity. Not only is it difficult to know which direction the next hole is in sometimes, but it's even hard to figure out where the pin is that you're shooting for sometimes. Playing this course with a local would be a great way to play it for the first time (or 2nd & 3rd too).

Some holes had concrete pads that were a little small for a good runup. And some of the tees were made out of a piece of carpet layed on the ground. Improved tees would also help almost as much as improved signage.

And although it's fun to just rip a drive without having to put much thought into it sometimes, too many of the open holes are made up of just a tee, a bunch of grass, and a pin. That's it. A little creativity in re-designing the open holes could really help.

The bathroom wasn't opened at 8:00 when I got there... ouch!

Generally, this was a really fun round. And I wish that I had gotten to go around again but I ran out of time. If so much time hadn't been devoted to course navigation I'd have at least played another nine.

Don't get your expectations up too high and you shouldn't be disappointed. And if any upgrades have been made since I played there that would be great.

Highlights for me...

#6) A tunnel shot with hyzer and anhyzer routes.

#9) A totally blind tee over a hill (more fun with a spotter).

#12) Way downhill, across a path and through a narrowish opening with serious rough to either side.

#15) What the heck... for me, a normal 300-325' max distance guy, ripping one down hill over 400' is a blast!

And if you head just down the road to Lancaster there's D. F. Buchmiller Park with a really nice, and different, 18.

Great use of topography. Descent mix of open and wooded holes. Some holes will test your skills and shots in your bag! This would be a great course to introduce a new player to the game (with the exception of the #18 water hole, where there's no alternate route around the water.)

POOR SIGNAGE!!! See the review by nosajeel99. Most of my criticisms would just be reiterating what's already been stated. My biggest beefs are the miniature tee pads, and, did I mention, the POOR SIGNAGE!!

I've played this course numerous times since the late 90's, even when it was still just an 18-hole course. When the additional 3 holes were added, the numbering became confusing for the occasional - or first time - visitor.
The arrows on the bottom of the basket, pointing to the next tee, are helpful - for the most part. However, I thought I was following the proper hole progression, only to be later confused when the tee sign said I was on hole 7, but my scorecard said I was on 10!! There seem to be some newer permanent baskets for alternate pins on a few holes. But, the plates at the top of the baskets are facing odd directions, leaving you to wonder if they're for the hole you're playing, or another hole completely. Also, IMHO, something should be done with the "wide open" holes to make them a bit more challenging.
This is more of a "finesse" course, rather than a "big arm" course, but don't let that keep you from visiting/playing it! It has the potential to be a challenging, above average course. If the club could team up with the municipality to raise a few thousand $, they could renumber ALL the holes (including which one is actually hole #1!) and put up tee signs that were actually informative and accurately directional!

Lots of good challenging disc golf with about half the holes open and half in the woods. Good mix of short and long holes. Several newer baskets are in play on many of the holes. The course favors a right handed on a majority of the wooden holes but it's not a complete right-handed bias. Greens are quite fast in the woods. The infamous Lake hole, which claimed my (one-time) best driver, is always a nice finisher.

NOTICE: I'm not trying to rip the course a new one here. There is a lot of work going on here, and the signage is poor for now, the basket layouts are still somewhat confusing, and some of them are in bad shape. With the winter here, it'll probably be at least March before work can conclude around here.

It is best that I reserve final judgment for Roland until the new 27 hole layout is completed. Many of the newer holes show a lot of promise here at Akron. If you're thinking about coming out and this is your first time, find a local and partner up for a round. Until then, pardon the mess and enjoy the open holes.