Rum Village is a pleasant walk through tall oaks over some lush green rolling hills. It is quite an impressive sprawl of land that would be ideal for a picnic with your sweetie and it also has the added benefit of being a satisfying disc golf course. This course seemed very clean and well maintained and has cement tee pads and fully intact baskets. There are a few lengthy holes here that utilize the land quite well. Several blind basket placements add to the challenge. Forehand and backhand shots are equally catered to if you can find the lines.

The layout seemed like it may have been confusing at times. Luckily I had an experienced guide who was familiar with the course. This likely saved me a fair amount of bumbling and trudging over hills in the wrong direction. The variety here is accomplished via stalwart sentinel trees that could arguably demand a fair amount of luck at times. I imagine that with repeated playing, lanes that cannot readily be perceived from the tees can be discovered through trial and error but for the uninitiated it has the possibility of being like throwing into a brick wall in some spots. Be prepared to smack some bark along the way.

Play this course if you are passing through this area of the world. It is easy on the eyes. For a free park there was very little traffic, even on a Saturday afternoon, and no hoodlum factor on the course which was a huge plus. Not bad overall. The hills beam with charm and make it quite a worthwhile stroll.

Maybe I had low expectations going in (I had read the reviews here before going to Rum Village) but I thought this course was great. It exceeded my expectations. I think the designers did the most with what they had here.

Let's start with the property.
Rolling grassy hills with old oak trees provide constant shade and no undergrowth. Elevation plays a part on pretty much every hole. Some erosion around the tees and baskets but not too bad. Wood chips around the baskets would really help and make this course much nicer, maybe even raise the avg review. The people / players seemed OK, it wasn't too busy on a weekday evening. I didn't see any shady characters.

The course design: After 8 holes I was thinking "is this it?" then I step up to 9 and wowowowow!! what a sweet hole. long downhill bomb through trees. The remainder of the back 9 keeps things interesting. Good job, I will be back.

Decent length and difficulty for amateurs and pros, Basic bomb and putt course. Wind sometimes makes putting interesting on front 9. Hard to lose disc after first 3 holes. Decent parking space. Usually no backups on holes.

Very suspicious area, however it has gotten better in the past 3 years. City and local disc golf group are atleast making an effort to clean it up. Vandalized signs and baskets are not uncommon. Not alot of tables or places to sit and relax. Unfriendly patrons and tons of foot traffic on course can lead to problems. No scorecards on site which can make navigating course time consuming.

Place this course in a different area and it quickly goes up to a rating of around 4

Some really good use of elevation.
Large oak trees define the fairways well.
There is shade provided almost year round by the large oaks.
Definately a begginer friendly course. Not very difficult and not very long.
The tee pads are in good shape on holes except #7 has a cracked corner (short hole and wont really affect your drive).

Acorns as previously mentioned cannot only be dangerous to walk on downhill, but falling from 3-4 stories doesnt make them any safer.
If you cant navigate the course there are plenty of suspicious looking "gentleman" (and I use that term VERY loosely) that Im sure would be more than happy to assist you to find the next "hole". I know this has almost nothing to do with the course and should not be held against it but it is creepy if you are male and play solo rounds.
Navigation (I guess I didnt quite address it in my last point). The tee signs dont point you towards the next hole many times. Several are missing, others are vandalized.

DIRECTIONS- regardless of which entrance you come in drive until you see the playground equipment. The next right turn will be for DG parking. Walk through the shelter to find tee pad 1. After hole 9 proceed up the hill, across the street and tee off facing right.
If you need a course to beat a disc in look no further. The oaks provide all the tuning you'll need and then some.

-Located in a very beautiful, well-groomed park with huge oak trees providing shade. The widely-spaced yet ever-present trees provide some excellent line-shaping opportunities.
-Long, level, grippy tee pads all in great shape except for #7, which has one corner broken.
-Free to park/play.
-Great use of available elevation.
-Extremely difficult to lose a disc.
-Good variation between shorter holes and longer, more challenging holes.
-Open holes good for beginners yet still a challenge for more experienced players.
-Park department does a great job cleaning up the leaves. One really neat aspect to this course is that they mow "fairways" into the course after the leaves have fallen.
-Park is family friendly with playgrounds, grills, shelters.
-Overall a fun place to play with a few lovely views.

-Damaged/vandalized/unclear signs make navigation, finding out pars difficult.
-No trash cans.
-Some holes near park road, one near city road.
-No restrooms.
-Hole #2 floods a bit near the basket after harder rains.

The front nine is fairly straight-forward and easy. The back nine is where this course shines, in my opinion. Starting on hole 9, the holes really start having a unique feel with many possible/interesting lines to take.
- New trees have been planted throughout the course. Currently they don't change much, but a few years down the line will add to the difficulty of the course. They seem to be placed in very strategic spots.
- Seriously, watch out for the acorns in autumn or you'll kill yourself going down hills. I play this course for it's long open fairways whenever I get a new driver.
- Course changes as of 9/13/10: #4 has been removed due to hazardous play/ erosion issues. #7 basket is now short right of the old position. The old #13 (#12 in the new layout) now has the basket to the far left near the road. A new hole was added between the old #13 and #14. Also, the local club is working on reinforcing the teepads where erosion might be an issue, which fixes any issues before they occur. With the new, safer layout I have raised my ranking by a half-disc.
Course Update: 6/8/2019 - Redesigned course layout deletes several holes (including the two longest, most challenging holes) in order to homogenize hole lengths by adding several shorter holes. The course is now 24 holes, but lost arguably the best two holes. The rest of the redesign slightly tweaks tee and pin positions of the old layout, adding a few dual pins on a couple of holes (e.g., #2). With the old layout, a wide variety in hole length and difficulty helped separate Rum Village slightly from other standard park-style affairs. While there are more holes now, they feel largely like the rest of the course and don't make up for the loss of the two long bomber holes.

ok, prob not a 4.5 course, but its free and one of my favorites i've ever played
i love the course, beautiful large mature trees, no brush, has the most holes around over 350ft, everyfairway gives you options, yet you still have to be accurate to some degree, great ace run type holes, but only a hanful, throws in a nice blend of blind shots, but its only nice now cause i know where they're at
designers used what elevation they have to give mild degree of up and down hill shots

dont ever remember seeing restroom
po po always lurking mostly they're just eating lunch and taking breaks in there, but they park within danger zones of bad drives...
navigation is poor, but not impossible
"in the circle" lots of baskets have had enough traffic to make it solid dirt so layups slide/skip/roll easy (specially on the ace run holes)

for a day at the park, its free, very nice condition, one of the best ones we got in the area
i'd like to see better, but it is what it is

The course plays through a park filled with mature trees, and almost no underbrush. Nearly all holes play through the trees, so there are nice defined lines on most, with none that seemed completely wide open. There is some elevation, and it is used well throughout the course, including a couple hillside pins that add some roll-away danger to long putts. There are a couple bigger holes that shoot downhill through the trees, and these were a lot of fun, combining a downhill bomb with still having to hit a line through the trees.

Much of the course was pretty short, with plenty of ace run holes, and a few longer holes that allow you to throw a real drive. Most holes have multiple possible paths, but if you take the most obvious/open lines, you'll use a variety of different shots here.

There are nice concrete pads for all the tees, and they seemed large enough for the most part. There are signs, though they weren't in very good shape. Other than a couple weird spots, the course had good flow and wasn't too bad to follow. The park is very nicely maintained, and makes for a very nice round in the park.

There are a couple places here where navigation gets a bit dicey, and it's frustrating to have to wander around to find the right tee to throw from. Many of the signs were not readable, and this added to the confusion in these spots, along with some number plates missing or damaged.

The course played too close to the park road, and a main road too much for my taste. There were just too many easy places to end up on or across a road. Though this course seems meant for newer players, I would have liked a few more holes with some length, and a few less straight ace runs.

There isn't anything terribly wrong with this course, it's a nice park setting and it does a good job with the space, there just isn't a whole lot of wow factor to set this course apart.

Beginners will have a lot of fun at this course, with lots of possible lines, and not too much length, though there are some places where it's difficult to navigate at first. More experienced players will have a fun time here, but don't expect anything too challenging or unique.

This course is worth the stop if you're in the area, but it isn't the best course in town if you've only got time to play one. This is, however, a great place to bring newer players for a challenge, while having a good time yourself.

Nice open course with beautiful oaks to play through. Great elevation changes, great views, awesome course to play. Course has nice cement tee pads, and is well marked. Rum Village requires you to use a variety of shots and discs. Close proximity to other great courses.

Could be a little hard to navigate your first time. Parking lots and pedestrians can come into play on some holes.

I live in Michigan and love traveling to South Bend to play here and George Wilson DGC. Rum Village is spread out over a great piece of land and uses the elevation and trees just perfect. Anyone who lives close to this course should feel lucky.

Concrete Teeboxes, Hard to lose a disc, always mowed, Challenging, Not crowded, Hilly, nice area, free to play

Very dusty around baskets, mostly par 3 holes, not many real tough holes

Needs new Teebox signs, Needs trash cans, great all around course, well placed baskets

Good balance between shorter open fairways and long fairways with many trees as obstacles. Great park-like setting under large oak trees.

Some out of bounds areas are behind barb-wire fence.

This was my high-school stomping grounds. It still to this day is a fun course to play, especially on a hot day with all the shade. Those oak trees can be surprsingly tough to play around.

It's free!
Cement tees (I didn't realize how much of a plus cement tees were until I played a few courses with natural tees)

Offers a variety of holes. Short and long, uphill and down. Around and through the trees.

Mature oak trees provide shade and scenery. There is a great view of the downtown South Bend skyline from one of the hilltop holes.

The course is not well marked. Some signs are wrong, missing, or damaged. I've played here a lot and I still get lost. I often get to the end and realize I've only shot 17 holes.
No scorecards or maps are available. I have no idea what par actually is on this course.

There are a couple of holes where you may find yourself in the street (not the park road, but the actual street with very real traffic)

Watch out for the acorns on the hillsides in the fall - dangerous in a "Home Alone" kind of way.

I like this course, I think my biggest problem with it is the sign confusion. If they just updated and replaced the signs this would be a great course and I would give it a higher rating.

Since being extended a few years ago, this course is not the pitch and putt it once was (in the '96 Worlds) which now makes it much better. Old holes 5 & 6 are now combined into one. Hole 8 is now about 600' down hill twice and between large trees.

Great elevation changes (the pix here don't reveal this) along with mature oak trees. Not a tight course, considering it is in the woods. Mach 3 baskets and cement tees. The back 9 is a lot longer than the front 9.

Newly planted oak trees since 9/2008 will make this course even harder in the years to come.

Note the red tape on top of each basket, it points you in the right direction for the next tee.

Was poorly marked for years. The tee signs now at least have the correct hole # on them with the distance listed. Some were vandalized or #13 missing. You cross a park road twice, between 8 and 9 plus for 3 holes (12/13/14) and then cross back.

Being a native from SB as a kid I used to take train rides through this park, now I play DG on these grounds at least once a year, amazing!

Rum Village in SB on Ewing Av and Wilson Pk in Mishawaka on Dragoon Trail are 2 courses located on the same road yet in different cities. They are less than 15 minutes apart and both a very worthy play.

The number plates are painted green. I'm not sure this helps you seeing the basket or not.

Great beginner course, lots of trees but somewhat open fairways. Has a playground for kids and nature hikes around the course, also has mountain bike trails across the street. I recently met the guy who helped design this course way back when and they held the '96 worlds there! Take your beginner friends here and they will appreciate the game much more! Has a few blind shots and some challenging holes!

Feb 13, 2009--hole #3 is still missing its basket and alot of the signs are vandalized. Course can be confusing becuase the holes are kind of spread out...gets very muddy when it rains and hole #2 floods.

If you are in the area, I would drive down to wilson park for a very open back 9 and make it up to bertrand in niles michigan another great course if you liked rum village you will LOVE these courses.

This is a classic beginner friendly kind of course. Occupying a park with well established mature trees, and easy rolling hills, it's a nice walk, generally well kept, and easy to navigate.
Most holes are reachable (i.e. under or around 300') even for beginning players. Not terribly taxing for top pros (Geoff Lissaman shot a 37 there in the '96 Worlds), but it doesn't strike me as having meant to be a championship course.

There are other more difficult courses near by, so saying that this is a short course isn't exactly a fair CON.

This is the kind of course you could take your family out to to introduce them to DG. If I remember correctly, there are picnic areas nearby, so its a fairly family friendly kind of place. Fun to play, decent, but not remarkable.

Awesome course and free. Long and short holes through lots of trees which means most of the course is rather shaded. Friendly locals and never very crowded when I have been there. Each hole has alternate basket locations. Doesn't really seem to favor left or right handed players but definitely DOES NOT favor those that hit trees.

The holes are spread out. First timers will have a tough time finding their way from hole to hole. There is a lot of graffiti and vandalism on the course signs which is a shame because someone went through a lot of time and effort to make them.

Hole #10 is up the hill and across the road from the #9 basket. #13 and #14 are on the opposite side of the road from #12. #15 through #18 are back on the same side of the road as #12.

It is free to play! There is a good mix of distance between holes. The park is kept in pretty good shape with the exception of the signs of the holes. There are trees but not an overwhelming amount so losing a disc would be difficult.

There was no map or scorecard for this course. When I first arrived I was very confused as to where to go. On some holes there is a great deal of distance between them and finding the next tee can be very challenging. I had to ask other players on the course where to go next several times. Also, the signs near the tees are hard to read and some don't have anything on them which makes it even harder to know where to throw it. There are a few holes that are near the road. You have to cross the park roads several times to get to the next tee.

Overall I think this course is fun and challenging. There are only two par 4's and the rest are par 3's. One of the par 4 holes is over 600 feet. I will be checking this course out more since it is free to play. I'm sure once I get used to the course layout, it will be better.

This course has a nice mixture of challenging short holes (front nine) and challenging long to longer holes (back nine). The park is generally kept up very well, and with no admission price that's saying something.

There are a couple holes that are blind long shots that may set your disc rolling while out of site, so keep that in mind mainly on hole 3 of the front nine.

I play this course the most of any, not only because I live right nearby, but because it is a challenging nice course.

Basically if you're only looking for short quick holes, play the front, but if you want to play long, then do the full course.

There are a couple holes that are blind and long. While that isn't such a big deal to me, for someone that doesn't know the layout of the course, that can mean problems.

Also, there are a couple holes that may easily send you out into traffic, or across the street for OB, or "sticky situations" with traffic

Overall, this is one of my favorite courses because of all it has to offer; elevation shots, hill shots, wood shots, doglegs, bunny hops....you name it.

If you're coming through or near South Bend, shoot off the bypass and come check it out, you won't be disappointed!