Sawyer Ludwig is a nice park in Marion , Ohio that has the whole front of it dedicated to an 18 hole disc golf course . Parking is close to the building , bathrooms close to long hole 1 and in the back of the park near the softball fields .
THE EQUIPMENT -- There is a nice kiosk with map near the parking lot . There is also a putting basket on that side of the building . There are 2 tees for each of the 18 holes . Both are cement , 3' X 7' . For the long tees , the signage is on a white pole with hole number and distance on it ( unsure if the distance is always correct ) . The shorter AM tees are a nice looking burnt wood with a plastic coating , showing hole number , par , distance and flight path .Very unique . The baskets are yellow banded Discatchers . I think that there may be some alternate tees , because I found a few basket holes in the ground . I don't know if they switch some of the holes up for tournaments , rotate them , or if they were just replaced holes . There are some benches at the short tees .
THE LANDSCAPE -- The course was trimmed and mowed when I played here . The course is pretty spread out . The first 7 holes deal with some slopes ( Holes 3 and 4 carry downhill ) , #2 is slightly sloped down . There is a creek that you have to carry over on #3 . After hole #8 the course goes flat . The holes go from open ( 1 , 2 , 5 , 8 ) to semi wooded ( 3 , 5 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 15 ) to wooded ( 7 , 13 , 14 , 16 , 17 , 18 ) . There is what looks like an oval woods section of this park where the last 9 holes either wrap around it , go into or come out of , or go through it . So , you get park style with a good dash of woods . This park isn't what I would call Scenic , but it looks like what a disc golf course should .
THE HIGHLIGHTS -- Lots of solid holes here . #2 ( 252' , 397' ) is a more open drive to a pyramid-stepped elevated basket . #5 ( 290, 396 ) is a slowly turning left to right fairway that slopes down midway to the basket tucked in some woods #7 is short ( 233' , 284' ) , but a woods hole that doglegs to the left on a tightening fairway . #8 is your open bomber hole ( 616 , 729' ) where you can open up your arm . #12 is a tight fairway ( 239' , 299' ) drifting left to right in a narrow tree lined fairway . #18 finishes you off with a tight woods S shot . At 291' , 367' the basket sits behind 2 mature trees guarding it . The nicest thing about the longs is that besides adding length , it changes angles and some paths altogether to the basket .
SIGNATURE HOLE -- Hole #3 . ( 194' , 290' ) , an S shaped fairway that slopes down in the middle , and over a creek . Trees define the fairway . Nice bridge crosses the creek .
THE TIME -- It took me about 75 minutes to play . A group of 4 can finish in a little over 2 hours , depending on playing the longs or shorts .
DISC RISK - Moderate to low . The course is clean .and discs that land in the creek on 3 can be retrieved . There is just a small amount of overgrowth , but since there are some blind shots , and plenty of trees to ricochet off of , there is always a chance to lose one if you don't take turns spotting .

I am assuming that the reason that the course is in good condition is because the local club or the recreation department looks after it . I'm impressed . This course is popular . There were several groups out here on the Saturday afternoon that I played here .

For the score I gave , I thought there was more to pick at , but not much .
#1 Equipment-wise . I think that the tee pads are way too small for a course that boasts 6700' + from the longs . Also , if the great signage on the short holes could be added to the longs , along with the benches , it would show marked improvement .
#2 Navigation -- The course flows well , but you can miss #7 without the map , and be confused after hole #8 , seeing baskets and tees in a couple of different spots . Use U disc , or print the online map .
It might get muddy here after a good rain because of the flatter areas ( 8-18 ) . You might want to avoid this course after a hard rain .

Most courses that I visit are graded out as overrated . After playing here , I couldn't believe that the present DGR rating was 3.20 . It either tells me that players are not over-impressed , or the course is updating and improving . I chose the latter . The design is good ( shout out to designer Ken Rollins ) , course has lots of variety , and above all , looks to inspire a lot of play . I grade harder than most , and almost felt guilty not moving the needle up to 4.0 . This would be my kind of home course if I lived within 30 miles of here . I wasn't WOW'ed here , but I had a great time and feel this course is solid .
MY RECOMMENDATION -- The short tees provide challenge for the newbie through the local . Families and intros might want to play down the road at Battle Creek . Locals will want to call this course " Home " , and intermediates and AM players will be entertained from the long tees . Even pros will be able to work on their game . The heavy peak traffic might keep travelers away that are looking for a leg stretch , unless staying or visiting in close proximity . This is not a fast play for the Course Collector , but a quality round and combining it with Ohio State -Marion , Battle creek and the 2 courses in Delaware State park will enticing . The course deserves better . if anywhere near RT-23 , or local , PLAY IT !!!

Cement Tees for Long and Short. Some holes have an alternate tee that is used for Tournament and/or league play. These are cement as well.

The long tees are well marked with a long white post at each one.

There are a few holes with multiple pin placements

Good mix of shot type and hole design.

The "basket on a pyramid" on hole 2 that is not currently pictured in the hole images is a very nice addition to an otherwise wide open hole.

All of these cons are livable. I am just pointing out a few items that I noticed

The distances on the white posts for the long tees are not always accurate. This is likely because a pin is moved in a different position or the hole was restructured but the signage not updated. Hard to say really. The baskets were easy enough to find, though.

If playing the longs, at times the short tee sign had to be referenced for where the basket was since there is no hole map at the long tees.

There are a few areas of the course that can get slippery when wet because these areas are low and retain water after rainfall.

For nearly every hole, the land was used well. There are a few wide open holes that I think could have been done better but all in all, I don't see any issues otherwise. The paths in the woods are well defined.

The course is mostly fair aside from two holes where there are trees peppered in the fairway with no extremely obvious line.

The long tees were challenging and fun.

When I started out on the Sawyer Ludgwig course, I was worried that they'd be only using the fairly open park land, with its mature trees and only slightly rolling elevations, but I got a little excited to find out that hole 7 hinted at the woods lines to be found from holes 9 through 18. And there really is some variety here, depending on whether you choose the long tees (averaging 371') or the short (281'). The course has DisCatcher baskets and tremendous signage at the short tees (basic post signage at the longs). There are next tee arrows under the baskets where needed. Really well done, large, level, flush concrete tees are in place on almost all of the 36 locations (only a couple yet to be installed).

Feature holes for me were the wooded 'S' shaped fairway (from the long, fade from the short) in the woods on 7, the massive difference in variety on hole 13 (long sweeps through the open air left to right, over a field of rough and into a wooded gap finish, while short plays very tight and technical within the woods), and the two distinctly different lines of attack (long/short) on holes 17 AND 18. I like variety for challenge and replay factor.

The course flow is logical, and the map really depicts things pretty well (exceptions at 9 & 15, see below). There is plenty of parking just a few hundred feet from the limited spaces just between the 1st & 10th tees. There's an exceptionally well done course kiosk sign at short 1 (happenings, projects, contact info, etc.: one of the nicest I've seen), and benches & trash receptacles here and there as you play. In all, the course has all the amenities and variety to host good sanctioned tournaments, with reasonable challenges for all skill levels.

The lack of elevation in the region definitely means Sawyer Ludwig won't make you work on that element of your game, but they have done the best they could with what they had. As mentioned above, the map needs updating on a couple of holes: 9 long plays pretty much behind the short tee, and 15 starts much closer to the 14th basket, and through a short tunnel they've created to angle into the woods. I wouldn't want to play the long tee out around the wood line to the left, as it plays over an impenetrable fenced rectangle that looks a little like a dog run. Finally, it's a little difficult to find the long 17 tee: walk back quite a ways to the left from 16.

Reviewer Background as of this writing: 4.5 yrs experience at age 54, not a big gun, and not an impressive rating (Rec to Int skills), but enjoy having played over 250 courses and hopefully shared helpful info about those experiences.

-nice mix of open vs. wooded, long bombs vs. short skilled shots.
-duel concete tees.
-trash cans.
-unless it has rained a bunch, the fairways are in good condition

-needs benches.
-people need to quit stealing the signs!!!

first course i played. play it a couple times a week. first time i played i was cursing #13 and #17. now these are my favorite holes. the lines ARE there to get birdies, u just have to hit them. like brianmtown20 said "thats disc golf"!! unless its your first time playing the sport, it has nothing to do with luck. see the line, know your discs and hit it.

A tale of two courses here: the front nine is mostly wide open and the back nine is tight and reasonably wooded. This gives a nice balance of technical vs. bomber holes. The front nine also loops back to the parking area so you can restock if necessary. Dual concrete tees here give advanced and rec players skill appropriate tee pads. Quality baskets still in good shape. Not a lot of elevation, but the open fields challenge the wind. Ample parking and restrooms available.

Posted distance on hole #9 is about 100' short of what it really is. Hole #17 is a ping-pong hole that needs some trees cleared out to make a legit fairway; as it is now that hole is more luck than skill. The tee pads here are just a bit short, I had to compact my x-step or I was falling off the front of the boxes.

Hole #15 could use a Mando through the gap, otherwise the alternate route around the left side makes the hole completely different and easier. Sawyer is a solid Intermediate level course, as you get to the Advanced and up levels I suspect the better players will be bored with the repetitive holes.