Greendale, WI

Root River Parkway DGC

3.065(based on 25 reviews)
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7 0
iabengalfan
Experience: 13.5 years 8 played 8 reviews
4.00 star(s)

Vary enjoyable drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 15, 2024 Played the course:once

Pros:

-Most is vary open so you can feel free and let it rip
-Holes marked vary well
-Pretty much dry even though played early in morning
-Due to openness there was a nice breeze too keep yourself cool but not enough too effect your play
-There was a good mix of basket layouts that made it fun too play and also challenging at the same time

Cons:

-A lot of water hazards but as long as you don't completely screw up your throws don't need too worry about them

Other Thoughts:

-There was a group that was there that didn't really check too make sure the hole was clear before throwing, almost took my head off with a disc, and didn't seem too care that we where still playing the hole.
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2 3
foren
Experience: 5 played 4 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Great City Park Course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Apr 9, 2022 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Long Drivers, will love this Course, Beast Mode required.

You'll also need to shoot many, many fades.

Long Course

Benches at most Tee boxes

Cons:

Long Course

Signage is not to the standard it should be

Fee
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7 0
tbonesocrul
Bronze level trusted reviewer
Experience: 197 played 22 reviews
3.50 star(s)

2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Oct 5, 2020 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

- Long tees on ~7 Holes (4,5,8,11,15,16,18)
- Concrete Tee pads
- Multiple pin placements on all holes
- A good variety of distance and shot shapes throughout the course
- Good Tee signs with pin placement indicators, directions to the next hole, and illustrates major trees/bush clumps
- Practice Basket
- A mixture of tightly wooded and more open park style holes
- Regularly cleaned port-a-potty near holes 1 & 10
- Benches and trashcans scattered throughout the course
- Potential for fun Safari Golf holes
- Course loops around on itself so you can easily skip some holes here and there to fit your time requirements
- A few of the muddier looking fairways do have rocks up the middle to use as stepping stones
- A few candidates for signature holes

Cons:

- Fairly busy road is used as OB and in play on many holes
- Have to cross the road a few times
- Long walk between hole 1 & 2 and 9 & 10, could use a sign for directions here
- Roadside Parking
- Some of the areas around the Longer Tees feel neglected/slightly overgrown
- A few tee pads feel shorter than the others, definitely would be harder if I had a longer run up

Other Thoughts:

A really enjoyable course that plays alongside a fairly busy parkway with plenty of cars and cyclists. It has a combination of tightly wooded fairways and more open park style holes. Pin locations change relatively often and help to keep some of the more open holes interesting. The rough is fairly thick, but doesn't need to be challenged that much once you get out of the woods. It seems the course design was focused on utilizing the land to maximize the potential.

My Signature Holes:
1, 14, 15 Long

Thoughts for Improvements:
- Grass starting to get worn away near tee pads leaving the typical muddy spots
- A few of the areas around the long tees and the gaps feel overgrown. Just trimming the openings to give a more manicured look would go a long way
- A few next tee/hole signs for ease of navigation
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6 0
MrFrosty
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 31.6 years 764 played 387 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Root River 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 13, 2020 Played the course:once

Pros:

Root River Parkway 18 Hole Disc Course is in a large sectioned park . The parking is odd . You have to park on the road , preferably close to hole #1 . You can tell hole #1 by the large kiosk near it . Port O let nearby .
The Equipment . Root River has 2 level concrete tees on most of the holes , and multiple pin positions for each , that are supposedly changed routinely . This could give you a different look every week . The baskets were in the back position when I played . The baskets were Chainstars and in good condition . The signage was adequate and also gave the position that the tee was supposed to be in . The kiosk near hole #1 had no map on it ( ? ) .Practice basket near Hole #1
The Landscape : This particular course plays very flat . There was a man made hill on #14 , but my basket position required me to throw around it and another 200' . Not much else but a couple of slight grades . There was a creek that you could put into play if throwing from the longs on a couple of the back holes . There is also woods and some tight technical fairway holes on #'s 2-6 . After popping out of the woods , it becomes a park course for the rest of the round . The park was mowed and in good shape when I played it .
The Amenities : This course has trash cans in some places and benches everywhere . Also , there are port o lets at #1 and at the #10 tee . I'm not sure why a map isn't on the #1 tee kiosk . Nice practice basket
The Highlights : With the baskets in the back positions , this course will play long . Some of the woods holes are mind racking . #2 was a tight with trees guarding the fairway and the basket tucked to the right . #4 was a low canopy tunnel shot through a narrow fairway ( 392' ) After popping back out of the woods , #11 had a cool mando through a tight window over a creek , opening to a fairway that was clear to the right but had heavy foliage all the way down on the left . #14 had a large mound with trees blocking the fairway to the basket on the other side and next to a heavily brushed treeline .#18 was a great finishing hole . 365' from the longs , through a window and across a creek to a more open fairway , with the basket flanked by a tree with a canopy .Short tees on 15 and 18 take the creek out of play .
My Signature Hole : #15 was a bending right to left shot ,( 499' ) to a basket with a large creek in front of it . .
Disc Risk : Maybe less that average . The creek on 15 and 18 ( if you clip the tree guarding the window ) are your biggest problem . Otherwise , there is some growth lining a few holes , and a ricochet in the woods might cause you to look some . Other than that , maybe a high tree shot in the fairways could cause a problem .
Time : It took me about an hour ( minus the time looking for the #2 hole ) . A group of four could play it in around 2 hours or so . The long pinned course is going to be a challenge from either tee pad .The course adds some good variety to it's holes . With the challenge and variety combined , there is still some room for fun factor here .
The ambiance of the woods was so-so , but the park was nice to look at after you came out on #7 .

Cons:

Safety . The holes are spaced well , but there is open air here , which can mean wind in some spots . You will be aware of the cars going 35 miles an hour past you since the fairway is semi close and unless you griplock a drive , you might not hit a car on the first throw . But if closer to the road , what about a 2nd throw since some of the holes are longer ? Also , there is a path and some dog walkers that might wander into a fairway . Be courteous and use good judgement .
Navigation : Tough in spots . If not careful , you can wind up on the wrong tee pad and throw at the wrong basket . Especially if in differing pin positions . The look for #2's tee pad in the woods from the #1 basket can be confusing . You have to walk over the bridge to your immediate right , cross the road and look for an opening in the woods . Next Tee signs in spots would help this a lot .
Pay to play : I think $5 for a park course is fair , but some will disagree. I understand completely .Just worth mentioning.At least the $5 ( or $40 per season ) is good for all of the county pay parks you play for the day .
Normal amenities : A kiosk with no map . No real bathrooms . and No Parking Lot ? They didn't forget to put the envelope holder for the cash near hole 1 , did they ?! . Anyway , it looks like the money is going back int the course .
Some long walks here . #1-2 , and 9-10 come to mind . The course is cut up into sections that are divided by busy streets that you will cross every so often .
I felt that there were a few filler holes on the course .Straightaway shots that were either open or with a tree between you and the basket .

Other Thoughts:

A course that has multiple pin positions and 2 tees per hole and has decent equipment Has to be at least good . The course supplies you with what it has . which is a hill hole , some woods , window shots , creek throws ,,, Mark Peterson did a good job of course design here ,and the course gets gets a lot of love from Milwaukee County Parks Disc Golf and Milwaukee Parks District . The players must be respecting the course , too .
Variety here . Some shots you just don't normally see at most courses . This course can add fun to the course . I can imagine a local throwing from the longs and parring a hole like 16 will feel pretty good about himself .

My Recommendation : With the pins and 2 tees , it is a good play for newbies ( hope it is in the easier basket positions ) , 1 disc players , locals , intermediates ams and yes , pros ( longer positions , especially ) . The traveler will like this since it is right off of I-94 and I-41 as well as the Course Collector ( grab Dretzka , Brown Deer and Estabrook if you have the time since your $5 covers all of them ) . You will find something you like here . PLAY IT !!!

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13 0
Kegelexercise
Silver level trusted reviewer
Experience: 30.5 years 56 played 25 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Backhand Power City 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 6, 2020 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Root River has got a lot going for it, especially for a course as new as it is.

1) Challenge/Variety - this course is going to appeal to a wide range of skill levels with dual tees on some holes, and 3-4 possible basket placements per hole (which get moved around periodically). The 5 hole wooded section early on in the course has 3 or 4 of the 10 most difficult holes in the area, especially if you're shooting at the long pins. Course is more forgiving and much more wide open from 7 on.

2) Tees/baskets - all concrete tees, fairly new (the course didn't even exist until around 2013) and in good condition. Baskets are all Chainstars in decent condition. Judging from MKE county having replaced baskets with color banded DisCatchers at the other County Parks, this could potentially be coming down the road?

3) Tee signs - the old wooden signs have been replaced with new, more comprehensive signage, with pin location indicators and more accurate hole distances than they used to be. Pay attention to the tee signs - this is often going to be the best indicator you get of "next tee" location.

4) Decent coverage with comfort items - benches at nearly every tee, and a practice basket at the beginning of the course.

5) Natural beauty - I love the heavily wooded section early on - this is my favorite part of the course, but once you get into the open by hole 7, it's going to mostly stay that way, but you're still shooting amongst visually pleasing terrain with a smattering of large, mature trees.

6) "Water Optional" - this, I thought, was a nice touch: Water does not really come into play at all if you don't want it to. Several long tees put water into play where you have to cross either the course's namesake river, or tributary creeks, but the short tees (save for 15, where you could still meathook it into a little creek) keep you away from the water.

Cons:

1) Hole to hole transitions - the course plays alongside a semi-busy parkway, and will force you to cross another relatively busy road (twice, in fact) that cuts perpendicular to the general shape of the course. You'll be crossing roads (much busier than you're probably used to at a DG course) here a lot, and some of the walks between holes can get quite long. Make sure you have a map - the 1-2, 9-10, and 16-17 transitions aren't readily apparent from just following the flow of the course.

2) Trash cans - I've started doing a "water bottle" test (you can call it a beer can test if you wish lol) where I down a drink early on in the course, then see how many holes it takes to find a trash can. I think I was carrying this particular empty water bottle from hole 2 or 3 until I think 8. Course could use more frequent trash receptacles.

3) The early wooded section will lead you to think you're playing an absolute meat grinder of a course through the woods where you need to deploy every shot type & disc you've got, but all of a sudden, you're out in the open after hole 7, and it's more or less wide open from then on out. The overall wooded/open variety is comprehensively decent, but eventually, the optimal strategy of just launching backhand bombs on most holes starts getting monotonous, though you can counter this somewhat by playing some of the longer tees across waterways, and occasional long pins force you into wooded pockets.

4) No parking lot - street parking only. Not the fault of the course designer, but there are parkway roads that hug both sides of the Root River at this point, and though most of the course plays on the north side of the river, holes 1/18 are the only two on the south side of the river, and thus, you'll want to park on the southern parkway road.

Other Thoughts:

Overall, this course is a solid, relatively new addition to the Milwaukee disc golf scene, that when considered as a whole course, does offer a good amount of variety and challenge. Course maintenance is generally pretty good, though I've been advised by the local DG Facebook group to expect maintenance to suffer a bit due to budget cuts related to the COVID-19 crisis.

Root River is a pay to play course, though I think you get good value - a $5 daily entitles you to play at all MKE County Parks courses for the duration of the day (includes Estabook, Brown Deer, and Dretzka), and a $40 annual pass is a damn steal to any area DG player.

Guys with big righty backhand power drives are going to love this course and score well - as a primarily forehand shooting player, I thought there were a lot of holes took away usable forehand (or LHBH) lines by placing tee and basket adjacent to thick woods on the left, so it really forced me to adjust my strategy...I didn't dock points for this - this is my own problem! But, if you can consistently put it 350 to 400' where you want it on an RHBH line, you'll eat this course up. Forehanders and lefties will probably like the wooded section a lot more, as there's much more use for those lines in that part of the course.

Overall, I'm going to stop short of calling Root a destination course that you need to come drive significant miles to play (I'd still put Root clearly behind Dretzka and Brown Deer in the MKE County Parks pecking order), but it's a highly recommended play if you're around the MKE metro area.
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10 0
Dire Wolfy
Experience: 9.5 years 10 played 5 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Nice course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:May 28, 2018 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Let me start with saying that this is one of the best courses I have ever played, the layout is very nice, a mix of challenging and not so challenging holes. The layout is the same in some spots but changes whenever there is leagues or tournaments at the course. There is multiple tee locations on some holes, most holes have 2 or more pin locations, it is very well kept when it comes to maintenance. Having such a different layout almost every week can be fun for someone looking for a good time.

Cons:

The walk from hole one to hole 2 can be a bit confusing for a first timer, from the bridge you need to walk left a bit, not a major drawback, just something that bugs me a bit.
When the plants are overgrown, it can be very hard to find your disc if you go OB.
Sometimes you cannot see where the pin is, but the sign says where all of the locations are, so you can assume and throw that general direction.

Other Thoughts:

The course sometimes has people who don't know that it's a disc golf course, so be careful when you are throwing, you don't want to be on the news for clocking a kid in the head with a disc. Also watch out for cars when crossing the road.
Overall if you're looking for a nice course in SE wisconsin, this is the one to play.
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14 0
wellsbranch250
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 10.8 years 694 played 682 reviews
3.00 star(s)

My Birthday Round 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Sep 7, 2017 Played the course:once

Pros:

(3.155 Rating) A nice city park course that offers moderate challenges and appears to have gotten some layout tweaking in the last year or two.
- CHARACTER - A bunch of comfort items and extras. To start, it's always great to see two practice baskets to pregame a round. Also a community board (no map) and porta-potty at tee (1). Despite no map at the community board, there are scorecards available with a map with the course fee. On the course itself, there are a bunch of holes that have a two concrete tee set-up. I think every hole had multiple baskets placement and most had 3 placements. There is tree wind shielding and shading at a majority of the tees and there are benches at many holes as well.
- NATURAL BEAUTY - I wasn't expecting this course to look as good as it did. Several large beautiful oaks flanking a few baskets. There are several fully wooded holes in the beginning of this layout as well. The back 9 brings the overall beauty back a bit with several roads in fringe play and in view, but these holes still had some appeal to them.
- CHALLENGING - I thing the back tees here will keep the local advanced player challenged as the baskets are often well guarded. I figure your average 950 rated advanced player will average a couple down give or take. Rec players will enjoy the challenge from the front tees.
- SKILL LEVEL FRIENDLY - With two sets of tees on many holes, Root River will be able to attract a wide swath of skill levels. My twin brother joined me for this one and he shot +19 from the short tees and he's played only a handful a rounds.
- QUICK PLAY - It took two of us a little over an hour to play all 18 holes and there were other groups on the course. I think its feasible that a four sum could knock this one out in well under two hours, maybe even approaching 90 minutes.
- NAVIGATION - Fairly straight forward since you'll have a scorecard with map. The hole signage is attractive and informative. I did make the mistake and jump to (17) after (9) as (17) tee is right there. My fault, I should have looked at the hole signage more closely. Please also note, there must have been some tweaking to this layout between 2015 and 2017 as the map I originally saw on DGCR did not match the layout I played. For one, once you cross the road to play (2) there is a total of 5 holes now instead of 4. (14) and (15) are combined, and it's now just (15). I went ahead and updated the map link on DGCR.
- UNIQUENESS - For a par 54, a really nice mix. Open shots, tunnel shots, duel fairways and several well defined deep pockets to the right and left. Water came into play twice on my round (7) and (15) but this could be less depending on the basket placements you get. Missing items include, elevation, par 4s, par 5s and doglegs.
- MAINTENANCE - The course was in great shape during my visit and from reading a few other reviews, it stays this way.

Cons:

A solid course with only one major drawback and a few ticky-tack things
- SAFETY HAZARDS - Roads and sidewalks in play on several holes, mostly on the back 9. These types of issues typically make minimal impact on my enjoyment and rating of a course unless its epic bad, and I don't think Root River reaches that level. As stated earlier in this review, my brother, a beginning player, threw this course with me and he never threw it into the road. It's still very much possible though. Even I grip lock one 50 feet right from time to time, and that's all it takes on this course to put one in the road on a few holes.
- TIME WAITING - Why take a chance. I played during the evening rush hour and it seemed like there was a car zipping down the road every 30 seconds. I had to wait on numerous tees to throw so all the cars could clear. In addition there are a few sidewalks that run along the layout as well. So having to wait for pedestrians is possible as well.
- PAY TO PLAY - Five dollar to play per person or you can get a yearly pass for all the county courses for forty bucks. Well worth the five dollars in my opinion but there are definitely better free courses within an hour's drive.
- ELEVATION - Maybe one hole had 10 to 15 feet of elevation to it. Hole (14) had the basket perched on top of a large mound.
- LAYOUT FLOW - A couple odd and longer transitions on this layout. The transition between (1) and (2) is around 300 feet. The transition between (9) and (10) is about the same. You'll have to cross a semi-busy road 5 times as well. Also, it would have been nice to have had some basket placement indicators as I had to run up several fairways to check the basket placement.
- PARKING - Street parking only.
- SPACING - OK, but less than ideal. the closeness of the road is far from optimal. The hole (8), (9) and (17) are all packed together. My brother accidently threw to (17) from tee (8).

Other Thoughts:

Root River is not going to win any major awards but this is a solid course all around. A good course for rec thru advanced level players. Probably not the best course for beginners but its manageable. The course finds the perfect balance between too easy and too hard. I will definitely look forward to coming back to this general area as there are just so many courses like this one to explore and try out.
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2 6
ChilliWilli.1er
Experience: 12.7 years 1 played 1 reviews
3.50 star(s)

2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Dec 7, 2016 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Arguably within the top 3 best courses in the Milwaukee County System. Can't wait to see what the future holds for Root.River.Course, has only gotten better with each passing season.

Cons:

Could use a few more garbage cans. Ash bore has forced removal of a few trees, hopefully they will be replaced with new trees.
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4 0
JLHJLH
Experience: 7.4 years 13 played 13 reviews
3.50 star(s)

A walk in the Park 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Sep 3, 2016 Played the course:once

Pros:

Beautiful park, the middle of Whitnall park area which is an extremely well maintained area.
First few holes are challenging enough as they take you through some heavily wooded area, but with enough room to make reasonable shots. I don't think anyone can play the first 9 unscathed (by trees). These are the shortest holes on the course.
#2 is hard to find if you have never been there but now that the paths between holes are well worn the rest of the course is easy to follow.
Multiple tees (hey, I'm old I play from the short tees, mostly for "3's" which make even the short holes difficult. Once out of the forest the holes are pretty much wide open, and very long (the longest, from the farthest tee, is 543 feet).
Hole maps are easy to follow (multiple possible pin placements).

Cons:

It's a little difficult to find as the Park doesn't really have signs pointing to the course. Some nights there are leagues so the course is not available all the time (this is not inherently a bad thing unless you don't have the time. I hear the leagues are well enough attended).

Other Thoughts:

A wonderful park to bike/gofl in, with limited traffic. Near the botanical gardens (very nice). The day we chose to play there were very few others out (Saturday at 11:00 a.m.). No real amenities or water that we could find (at leat none we would actually go into).
I'd go back. This is what Estabrook SHOULD be . . .
I still don't like the fee, hence the 3.5 and not a 4.0
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7 1
tangerinewarehouse
Experience: 10.3 years 98 played 34 reviews
3.00 star(s)

We NEED more courses like this!!! 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Sep 21, 2015 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

-has about 6 of the coolest holes in the whole of the Milwaukee county parks department
-a testament to DG course design ingenuity
-wooded shots, open shots, tight gaps little bit elevation its got a little taste of everything really
-great neighborhood
-coolest tree ever
-coolest bomb over a river
-awesome risk/reward
-engaging and fun for all levels
-super high fun factor

Cons:

really the only con is the limitations of the park itself, there's lots of open areas that must be utilized but i can't think of a better layout
before the redesign it was really boring bomb after boring bomb but now with the alternate tees and new layout the only thing boring is waiting for cars to pass so you can cross the street
-the only shame is that we can't get a few more courses like this one along the milwuakee county parkways i mean really, there are numerous places in wawautosa, west allis, milwuakee northwestside that could easily be turned into world class DG parks

Other Thoughts:

when i played this course in the spring, i believe it had been just after all the work had been done and all the spring flowers where in bloom and the course was totally fresh and un-trampled. It was honestly one of the most beautiful disc golf experiences playing those tucked away holes 2-6 and a couple others that are tucked away. i really couldn't believe the improvement of this course from last year. i only played this course once last year because there was no reason to come back, it was totally blah other than the first few. after my initial round this spring with all its beauty and freshness i probably would have rated this course like four discs or four and a half discs. i was pretty stoked but after playing it a few times i realize, and appreciate the drastic improvement that was made but it kind of is what it is. if every hole was as cool as 1-6 this course would be fantastic! then it would be a four and a half rating. really i have fun on all the holes every time i go. it shouldn't be rated as high as browndeer or dretzka but it's ALMOST just as fun.
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9 1
Horsman
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 18.2 years 222 played 100 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Hard Work Pays Off 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:May 26, 2015 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

- First off, Todd Farnham has done some kick butt work here to get this course from a "meh" course to an absolute delight to play.

- Long and short tees on several holes making the course harder or easier to your likings.

- Mulitiple Pin placements on every hole makes it so that you might not see the same course too often.

- A lot of very tight wooded long fairways makes for even easy holes to be challenging.

- A very good mix of Long and Short.

- Concrete Tee Pads

Cons:

- Tee Signs for now. The parks department is installing new tee signs so this will be fixed this summer.

- If you have never played the course before then getting to some of the holes may be a bit tricky since you have to cross a few roads and walk a little.

- Still has that just cut, fresh new course feel to it at times so some holes need a bit of time to be walked through before they start to open up

- Needs a parking lot

- Can be RHBH friendly at times. You are playing adjacent to a parkway and a majority of the time the road is on your right so the righty hyzer is favorable a lot of the time, but its gotten a lot better over the years.

Other Thoughts:

- This course has really changed over the last two years and it is for the better. It is now a lot of fun to play and not just "another course"
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3 2
CConnors3
Experience: 20.5 years 197 played 17 reviews
4.00 star(s)

Root River Remixed 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:May 24, 2015 Played the course:once

Pros:

New long tee pads, fresh cut fairways that will still be very challenging when everything settles down from foot traffic, new hole designs/layouts, better usage of the acreage available, P2P MKE County Parks Department

Cons:

Course needs a parking lot.

Other Thoughts:

Thank you to all the hard work and dedication from the GLDGC, MAD, Milwaukee Count Parks Department, Todd Farnham and all the other volunteers who work their butts off to transform this course into one of the most challenging courses in Southeastern Wisconsin.
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2 3
wilbs1999
Experience: 2 played 2 reviews
4.50 star(s)

root river 5/24/2015 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:May 23, 2015 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Regular and pro ties, mulch has taken care of any muddy spots, multi hole positions, and multiple water holes/elevation changes make it a really REALLY fun course

Cons:

Needs a few directional signs for pro pads

Other Thoughts:

Love this course! With the recent changes it's become Milwaukee's premier course. Great job guys!
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5 4
wisconnyjohnny
Experience: 24.5 years 21 played 3 reviews
4.00 star(s)

The Beauty and The Beast 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Oct 12, 2014 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

"The Root" as I affectionately call it has come a long way since its ground breaking in the spring of 2013.
Great concrete tee pads, awesome Baskets.
#1 Is The Beauty, several large trees to avoid while hitting a hole shot in the woods, to a Basket placement that utilizes a raised base of a willow tree.
Rad Placement very creative, course takes on some more woods after this an opens up at #6 again. On #9 you are tempted to hyzer another hole shot into the woods. 10 has a woods placement and then you are at "The Beast" which requires just a 220 ft hyzer into woods and a lil annhyzer of 200 ft down a very very narrow fairway, #11 comes in at 423 ft, awesome tough hole that will challenge anyone. #13 is the signature hole up a large mound, beware the rolling disc as you can get stuck with a double bogey or worse here.

course is clean and well maintained, light disc traffic unless you are hitting it at peak times. The Root is known for its ever present deer meandering the grounds and eating deer things like grass and popcorn.
this course utilizes the woods 50% of the time as nine of the holes are in woods.great course thats only getting better with two other new placements coming real soon utilizing the root river, with dare I say an Island green?

Play it now while its still a sleepy course

Cons:

some people are too lazy to pack it in and pack it out so it could use an extra trash can or two.

The signage isnt the best, and no map up. It can be very wet after large amounts of rain but not too muddy

Other Thoughts:

Great challenging course, thats both fun for the rec discer and pro types alike, natural beauty
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7 4
Stardoggy
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 13.3 years 1038 played 214 reviews
2.50 star(s)

So very bland... 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Sep 14, 2014 Played the course:once

Pros:

18 hole course that plays up and down the side of the Root River Parkway.

Concrete tee pads on every hole. Grippy and in good repair, put could be a touch wider.

Nice Chainstar baskets, in good repair and caught well. No problems here. Most holes had 2 pin positions.

A few decent wooded holes at the beginning, and a few holes with good distance to let you open up a bit.

Cons:

After the first few holes, this course becomes pretty darn bland. Everything is pretty much wide open, with very little in the way of obstacles. There are some roots, but the actual river doesn't come into play.

Most holes run right next to a somewhat busy road...which probably isn't ideal, especially for those without a lot of control. I get that they used the land available...but maybe it's not the best spot for a course.

Very little elevation....everything is pretty much flat.

Other Thoughts:

This course is about as dull as it gets. The changes in distance, and the few wooded holes at the beginning, are the only saving grace. It IS an 18 hole course, so there are worse things in the world, I suppose.

I wouldn't go out of my way to play this course again, especially with courses like Dretzka and Brown Deer in town. Baggable, but really not much replay factor here.
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3 4
rocthecourse
Experience: 17.7 years 106 played 17 reviews
1.50 star(s)

Lots of walking 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Sep 19, 2014 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

18 holes of disc golf in a nice city park. There are a couple fun shots in the woods, though they are short. Grass was pretty short and the rough wasn't too bad on most of the holes. Cement tee pads. Benches on most of the holes. Good course to bring new players to.

Cons:

Course has boring wide open shot after boring wide open shot. Lots of long walks between holes, some might be necessary because of the land but others are because of poor design, like the walk from 15 to 16. Lots of interaction with the roads that run though the park.

Other Thoughts:

I wasn't expecting much having read other reviews. What I didn't realize was how little fun the course would be. At points it feels like you are spending more time walking to the next tee then disc golfing. The land here isn't that bad but the course design just isn't that good.

I don't plan to play this course again.

Also, the distances listed on the hole info page on here aren't accurate.


Chances of losing a disc are pretty low, there are a few holes with thick rough and some bushes that could hide your disc. 15 is probably the only place you get near water.
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2 16
CHAIN-UP
Experience: 1 played 1 reviews
0.00 star(s)

Abysmal 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Sep 7, 2014 Played the course:once

Pros:

holes 2,3, and 4 in the woods. Enjoy them because the rest of the course is wide open, down one side of the road and back the other.

Cons:

-Limited hole variation.
-No trash cans (on the DG course. maybe in the park but I didn't see any)
-no elevation change
-the worst layout ever... you go down one side of the road and come back on the other.
-too short for a decent thrower.
-75% of the time you are next to the road.
-the river NEVER comes into play
-bugs
-every hole on the back 9 is identical

Other Thoughts:

This course is a joke. Worst layout I have ever played, no hole or shot variation.
I could have just as much fun throwing in my backyard as I did at this course. No way this course deserves a 2.8 rating (9/9/14)
There is a river along one side of the road but it never comes into play.
If you are looking for a real course in the Milwaukee area go to Browndeer or Dretzka, this coarse certainly doesn't qualify.
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4 1
Mackt78
Experience: 1 played 1 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Promising Future 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 4, 2014 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Fun course with varied shot types and hole layouts.
Usually not crowded.
A lot of brush has been cleared away allowing easier navigating and locating of discs that missed their mark.

Cons:

Only 2 pin positions per hole and they don't get changed very often.
Some holes on the back 9 get a little repetitive.
Need more garbage cans. (This shouldn't be a problem but some people are litter bugs.)
Cars/bikers/joggers can get distracting while teeing off on a few holes.

Other Thoughts:

This course has come a long way since its inaugural year in 2013. I have high hopes it will continue to evolve and become one of the better courses in the area.
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3 1
Dr Derek
Experience: 19.5 years 153 played 7 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Better after re-design 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 16, 2014 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

A nice addition to Milwaukee disc golf. Concrete tees, nice baskets, benches, decent shot variety. Short wooded holes and longer open holes give plenty of birdie opportunities with more distance than it's neighbor Valley View. The road has been mostly taken out of play with the new course layout, and I personally think the new layout is a great improvement (my only real complaint with the old layout was the road being in play on multiple long holes).

Cons:

The course gets muddy after a rain,
some people litter here (despite garbage cans)
some people don't yield to bicycles/joggers

Other Thoughts:

Since the last review for this course was before the re-design, I think that the old 2.58 rating did not reflect the course as it is today. My rating would have been a solid 3, so a 3.5 is not much of a stretch.
Looks like there's room for alternate pin placements and alternate tees after the re-design, hope the course will continue to evolve for the better.
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9 2
wolfhaley
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 20.5 years 1175 played 759 reviews
2.00 star(s)

Disjointed course along the road. 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 24, 2013 Played the course:once

Pros:

The first 5 holes play shorter and more wooded than the rest of the course. These add a bit more of a shot shaping aspect compared to the rest of the course. All five of these had black rubber mats for tee pads. The chainstar baskets were all in great shape and caught well. With how disjointed this course is it could be confusing the first time but it's always busy so there's almost always someone to ask or follow. That or follow the trampled down grass that leads to the next hole. They had a few garbages and benches throughout the course. There is a decent mix in different distances here too. Hole 18 actually ends near hole 1.

Cons:

The number one problem in my opinion here is how close it plays along the road for probably half the holes. I accidently landed on the road twice and had my disc ran over 3 times. This is really not a safe design whatsoever. They had signs up saying the course is already in danger of being pulled. That's not a good sign with how new the course is. All the holes along the road seem pretty much the same. The last 2 holes may be harder to find for new players. Either the group of 2 in front of us and the group of 3 behind us didn't know about them or they just skipped them. It was dry when we went in late august but having grown up along the root river I imagine it'd be very swampy for most of the spring and into early summer. Also I could see the mosquitoes getting nasty at times too.

Other Thoughts:

It's another course but it seems like they just kinda slapped some baskets down. Milwaukee needs some more quality courses and while this is a start it needs lots of work if it has any chance of remaining there.
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