Shady Oaks is a course that is good at testing your game in almost every aspect.

The holes are laid out in such a way that there are a very good mix of shot selection. Right to left, Left to right, and a couple straight down the pipe. Even a few tees that have some interesting trees positioned in front of the tee pads to force more line shaping.

There are also a few mandos scattered around the course to force safety where some of the holes come a little close to one another. 10-11 really comes to mind. Though again these server more to shape a shot more then anything.

For the most part, Shady Oaks lives up to its name and you play through a nicely covered oak grove. The wind if any is fairly restricted though out the course except the few holes that are opened up. 1, 2, 3, 5, 12, 17, 18.

Winding throughout the course is a small creek. I've played it both with water, and with out water. It was a far more enjoyable experience with the water due to a couple of pairs of mallards that have made the course there spring/summer home.

The course dynamics change quite a bit as the weather turns as there is not a lot of grass on the fairways. So expect some crazy skips when its dry. This of course leads to bringing the water more into play. Just don't hit a duck.

The tee pads are mostly wide and have a rounded front. I find myself really liking these tee pads. The usual at my home courses are 6x3. So these textured, wide, and open lined tees are a wonderful thing. The face that I can adjust my runup to align with my shot without running off of the tee pad is just a beautiful thing.

The baskets are good old Mach 3's. The pin positions are quite a bit more interesting then some places. Whole hole dynamics can be shifted based on the pin position. With the excellent tee pads mixed in you can feel like its a natural adjustment, more then a forced change to the layout.

Each hole has a solid tee sign, with distances and a quick route to get to the pin. There is also a marker that indicates the current pin position. There is also trash cans and benches at most holes.

Not a lot of cons on the over all.
-- There is a parking lot, but there is also overflow when its needed.
-- Poison oak is on the course.
-- Lots of people.Lots. This is most likely the premiere course for Sacramento so there are a lot of bodies out here. The pace can slow down quite a lot. Backups at hole 5 are very common.
-- Typical graffiti on benches. I have no idea what a disc charger is, or why I think a piece on non conductive plastic would need a "charge". I think I am going to have to form a club of anti-disc chargers.
-- Apparently the common litter bug wanders this course as well. Not very much. Mostly just cigarette butts being left 2 feet from the trash can sort of thing.
-- Bring some dawn. If your disc does end up in duck infested waters. That puppy is going to stink. Yeah.. For reals.
-- The ducks laugh at you when you miss your putts.

I like this course quite a lot. There are design elements here I would like to see at other courses. Especially those tee pads. There is just something about having the ability to actually play any position of pin on a hole with out worrying about your footing. This place in spring is beautiful. St. Pattys Classic is held here for a reason.

The course plays in a large disc golf exclusive area, it's always nice not to have to worry about other park users. Most of the course has scattered mature trees with varying degrees of rough. Many holes make you shape a line off the tee, with a nice balance of left and right turning holes in the setup I played. About half of the holes had enough rough that you really paid for a missed line, the rest were easier to recover for par after a bad drive.

There is some nice distance variety here, with ace runs and some longer shots where I got to pull out a driver. A couple longer shots make you stay under a ceiling or follow a tunnel, making it a decision to bite off more distance or to focus on staying on the fairway. The alternate pin placements looked like they'd add even more variety if rotated regularly. The indicators on the tee signs for the current position are a great touch, and the signage in general was plenty adequate.

The tees are nice concrete pads with enough texture to provide grip even with a little sand on the tee. The course seemed like it gets a lot of work on erosion control and landscaping, nice to see that on a public course. There is a pro shop and a nice putting area by the first tee.

There are a lot of spots where holes play close to one another and it's easy to throw onto another fairway. It seems like there's a good amount of use here, so that's a bigger deal than at a course in the middle of nowhere. There are a couple spots where next tee signs would go a long way, otherwise make sure you grab a course map.

There are a handful of holes that weren't very exciting, and just felt like filler holes, that's one of the big things keeping this course from being rated higher for me. There is some poison oak off many of the fairways.

Beginners will find this course challenging but not too much so. It's got some nice technical shots, but the punishment is reasonable and shouldn't be too frustrating. More experienced players will find some good tests here, along with several straightforward birdie chances. It's not a top level course, but it's a fun layout that's worth playing if you're in the area.

This course is one of the better 18 hole courses I have played in Cali so far.

Great variety on holes, some are long and open, others are short and require quite technical shots.

Great shade to protect you from the sun.

Pro shop with good disc selection.

People people people. Let me elaborate because this is the biggest Con with this course.

1) Pro shop staff. Pretty rude when asking about the course and play. I just asked the question, "It's busy out today, are there any holes that you would recommend me starting on since I'm a solo player?". I thought this was a decent question because at most courses I've been to, you can start at 2-3 different holes near the parking lot to avoid a large crowd at hole one and I am a very quick player. His response was, "If you don't want to get in a fight, start at hole 1".

2) Locals. After following the "advice" of the shop owner, went to hole one where a group of 8 locals wanted to cut in front of me to start and made a big deal about me playing. C'mon guys, 1 player vs 8? I'm not going to slow you down. Also, people take bag tags too seriously around here. They are just numbers, and this is just a game, no reason to be rude to non-locals or get so serious about something so trivial to the point of wanting to fight someone.

One of the best courses in the area, I have had a great experience there and a bad experience there, based on the crowd/people who show up.

This course has plenty of fun factor for me. It gave me enough challenges where I had to try strategize a bit about my shot selections without being too frustrated like I might have at other tougher courses.

I played this course with my dad who doesn't play that often, so the course was still enjoyable for him. The course doesn't play overly too long for many of the players like my dad.

There are definitely some ace opportunities here. I have come close to getting one on couple of holes, and that definitely drives up the fun factor for me.

There's a pro shop on location, and who wouldn't like that?

The baskets are hard to see from the tees, so it was difficult for me to ascertain which pin placement is being used.

There are few people that did not have proper etiquette when it comes to playing. There were a large group of 7 players that refused to let us play through for 6 holes before a local joined my group. I don't know if this is prevalent for this course or not, but it made for a big first impression.

I'd come back to this course if I'm passing through Sacramento. It's perfect for a casual round of disc golf with friends or even with one of the locals.

I just certainly hope that they don't put gums on my car again! What, the locals don't like out-of-staters come play at the course?

The course has good sized tees and the baskets are in great shape. Easy to find your way around. Great lefts and rights and elevation changes. Some holes have a tunnel of trees that makes play even on a hot day very pleasant. Most holes have birdie oppurtunities. Pro shop on premises has a great selection of discs and gear, Also sells drinks and snacks.

This is one of the best courses around so it gets alot of traffic. Expect to find newbs that dont know when to let faster groups play through. 10 or 15 minute waits are not uncommon on the tees. Parking is tough on the weekends.

The best time to play is in the morning. I think this is one of the best courses in CA out of the ones ive played.

-Multible pin placements on every hole that are rotated randomly every monday.
-Challenging layout requiring multible different types of shots that have you playing under and through massive oak trees, with a winding creek and several OB on or beyond locations.
-Big Teepads -Nice Signs everywhere,
-1 or 2 Benches on every hole -Garbage cans -Bathrooms
-Huge putting area with 2 baskets!
-Locals that love the course and are respectfull of the game & it's rules.
-Many good players to challenge.
Random Doubles/Acepot10:00am daily! $5.00

-This course does not have a water fountain!
-Since it's the only course around it's overcrowded daily.
-Alot of dumb Park Users generally do not think to use a leash on their dog, even when they know the dog is not trained & will not obey basic commands such as no sit or stay. Therefore if you have a little or exotic dog you should not bring it, as there could be trouble from free roaming large dogs.
-There is never any women in bikinis. NEVER!!

Unlike all other courses nearly everywhere the parks & recreation provide nearly nothing to the physical course other than to empty the trash cans and mow the grass. It is the local players who have made & continue to make this course happen. Respect is due to all the awesome locals who over this courses long history have donated their time, labor, & materials.
Also..There is a huge differance between a Park User and a dedicated Disc Golfer is there not people? On a average day Park Users outnumber the real golfers 50-1 or more at Shady Oaks. This is a public park so these degenerate people only use/abuse/litter/leave.
Much like any other public place without supervision. So meeting a few will happen.
The rule I see posted on a sign on hole 1 states.. that 6 max is the largest group that should be played. The locals follow that rule thus the sign & will generally always let a smaller group play through if asked. I like Shady Oaks and I hope you will want to try it after reading this review.

This course provides challenge because you will be utilizing every shot in your bag.

practice hole
Lots of shade
Pro shop (water, discs, bathrooms)
garbage cans on course
course was very clean

Didn't see many

Some holes are difficult to see from the tee area and we needed to go up and spot it first. This really isn't a con It just wasn't a plus for us as first timers

I shot a +15 for my first time out and wasn't totally disappointed. I am not a true beginner and I really putted poorly. I would figure many other good intermediate golfers would play this course regularly and score single digits

Very senic. Muti pins per hole for verity. Some really wicked water hazards. Disc golf shop on sight

very crowded on weekends. Small parking area. Poison oak at times

go early on a sunday morning, the course is very empty at around 7:30am in the summer before it get to hot.

Produces very challenging shots, and has a lot of changes in elevation. Plenty of good players to play with. Great pro shop.

Many of the baskets and fairways are hidden, making it difficult to track a disc after tee or approach. Two sections of the course are pretty much in a swamp in the early summer. Tons of mosquitoes.

Best course in Sacramento by far. A little bit of a trek for some, but worth it.

Concrete Tee's. Benches at every hole. Lots of shade. Stretegic course, lots of long range, mid range, open, short and difficult closed fairway shots.

Too many people. Not enough parking. People drink WAYY too much and can be very annoying. Lots of trash. You can smell burned pot (marijuana) at every hole some days. The drunk people take 5-10 minutes to tee off with no one in front of them sometimes.

I love the course. Charge to get in ($2.00 per group or person) for course upkeep. Ban drinking and smoking pot. At least the drunks...need to go.

lots of technical shots, lots of hallway shots, lots of trees. Really nice disc golf shop with great selection of discs right next to the course. I got an ace on 17 when I played there. I was pretty stoked.

lots of people in really big groups with beginners so I had to wait on a lot of holes, when I played there it was hot as hell.

Great challenging course with a huge variety of left hand, right hand, open, tight, long and short shots. Just when you think you are getting the course nailed down it seems like they are always adding another pin placement. Because of 2 or 3 pin placements and the fact they change them up frequently, it's hard to get boared playing this course. Ever since the pro shop has been on site, the course has been much cleaner and better kept.

Lot's of underbrush and dead trees make this less atractive than many other courses. Also because of the lack of courses in the area and the growing popularity of the sport, the course is very busy and also looks well used. Most of the time you will have a to wait to tee off and sometimes you can get a large group ahead of you that can move pretty slow. As long as you expect this and try and plan for it, you will still enjoy your round. If you go on a weekend, you might have a problem parking.

Overall, it's nice to see that this course continues to improve. The pro shop is great with a HUGE selection of disc at a reasonable price. I got a great portable basket there that is perfect to take out back or to a friend house to putt at.

Excellent Pro Shop. Practice Baskets/Horseshoe set up next to pro shop.

Poison Oak on the sides of some fairways. Flooding in the spring. Dusty course, don't wear sandals.

This course is designed amid mature oak trees and other deciduous growth. It is a well established course with the only changes ive seen in 15 years is that some of the fairways are more well-defined with constant maintenance and upkeep. Hole length varies from short to long with lots of trees to avoid on the shorter holes, depending on where the basket placement is for that particular week, the course can play long or short, or a combination of both, which is usually the case. The Tee pads are ample, some with rounded fronts and some just the regular rectangle configuration, all are more than big enough for any kind of drives. Tee signs show multiple pin placements, so if you don't know the current layout you may have to walk up the fairways to see which pin placement the hole is in. Almost all the holes have benches at the tee areas, well away from the teepads, kudos to the course designers for that. Directional signs would help between holes 4 and 5, 9 and 10, and 13 and 14, if you are new to the course which way to go on those holes is a bit confusing. Go to the pro shop and get a course map, that will help.
The course itself has no grass to speak of, DX plastic will take abuse, laying up to the basket will need adjustment to account for potential slide/skip aways, aggressive approach shots may leave you furthur away from the hard packed dirt around the baskets. It should take any where from 1 to 2 hours to play the course, depending on the time spent looking for errant shots in the brush off of the fairways, look out for poison oak! If you are visiting the area this is one of the must play courses, if only to go to the pro shop there to stock up on your favorite discs, they have a great selection. The locals will treat you well, they are considerate and helpful.