- Nice, colorful, descriptive tee signs. Good tee pads and baskets.
- A handful of fun shots with some interesting lines and putting greens, particularly early in the course.
- Good distance variety including plenty of longer fairways for those who really like to air it out.
- Pleasant park with an interesting and somewhat unique environment for disc golf in Illinois.

- A large portion of the course consists of wide-open shots with limited line shaping.
- Easy to lose discs in the tall reeds and a few other locations.
- Fairways located in the marsh portion of the course frequently have standing water.
- Course layout results in many shots playing over or close to walking paths and near other fairways

Shady Oaks had been on my to-play-list of Chicago Suburbs courses for a long time, but the Joliet/Lockport area has such an abundance of good courses that it took me a couple of years before my desire to bag new courses reached enough critical mass for me to make the drive north. While I'm sure this is a great course to have nearby, there is not enough here for me to want to make a repeat trip.

I was interested to see what disc golf in a marsh would be like, and while the fairways bordering and crossing the tall reeds make for a very cool environment, it turns out I much prefer the layout presented in the first 4 or 5 holes. I particularly liked hole 2, with the basket perched on a tiny green just across a small creek that runs through the course, and hole 4, a great 2-shot hole that plays across that same creek on the second shot. Much of the middle portion of this course consists of wide-open holes, where the wind and OB paths create the challenge. One of the biggest issues affecting my enjoyment of this course was the standing water present in many of the fairways. Halfway through the course my feet were soaked, solely from playing lies that had landed in the fairways. This isn't only a comfort issue but makes second shot run-ups and throws difficult on the longer holes such as 10 and 15. It had rained in the week preceding my round, but not for a couple days, leading me to think this is a typical course condition. Bring your waterproof shoes to this course if you have them.

There are multiple pin positions at Shady Oaks, which is always great especially for locals. However, the tee signs, which are otherwise fantastic, do not indicate which placement is currently in use. This is especially problematic on some of the blind holes. Two of these blind holes play from one side of the mass of tall cattails to the other, something that can certainly be problematic when playing without a spotter. Discs going into the reeds have a great chance of never being found again. The walk from hole 10's pad to basket is very cool as you are flanked on either side by the towering reeds, but it is one of the only locations on the course that is not particularly cart friendly as the old path is entirely underwater, and the makeshift trail consisting of wooden pallets is not very sturdy or level.

This is a tough course for me to rate. There are a few holes I really like, and the environment is cool. However, the high chance of leaving with soaking wet shoes and socks and fewer discs dissuade me from playing a course with a lot of holes I find fairly boring. If you are in the area and don't have the time to travel further out, this is definitely a course worth playing, just come prepared for wet feet and extra safe play or skipping holes if you don't want to lose plastic.

* Design is good given the space and the marsh.
* Two holes are thrown over a marsh area with cat-tails.
* Three holes are thrown over a small creek (but not so small that you cannot lose a disc)
* One hole has an elevated tee
* One hole is over 700 ft !!
* There is a tuesday might blind draw with good attendance.
* Good amount of close parking.

* This is on a marsh so it can be challenging for a beginner (like me)
* I love to hate the course. I have lost discs (and found some), but I keep coming back.
* Bring some bug spray during summer evenings for sure
* If you have to dig around the marsh and grass areas....its not easy. The brush is thick and has stuff that makes you itch and smell swampy.
* Some of the baskets are missing. In some instances the pro baskets are missing, on others, the normal baskets are missing and only pro baskets are there but all holes have at least one basket.

I have lost discs here. I hate this course but keep coming back (prolly because I can walk to it from my house)

-It's very open
-It has alternate tees

-You lose your disc in the thick crap, It's gone for good unless you have the time to look for it.
-You can never find the alternate tees
- It gets really hot when you are out in the open cause of the sun.

This course is more for those who have a year or 2 of experince with the game. Just cuz it's open dont mean it isnt hard

Shady Oaks is a fun, challenging 18 hole course. It features a good amount of length including the 739' hole 15. This year the course was upgraded with concrete tees and new baskets. The tees are roomy and on the really long holes they are as much as 50% longer than the rest, I though that was a thoughtful touch. Almost all of the basket positions have been tweaked, sometimes slightly and sometimes dramatically so. Hole 2 is a great example: it used to be a nice downhill midrange shot with the stream behind the basket making an ace run dangerous. Now the basket has been moved to the other side of the creek, making this a difficult 3 to get as the landing area on the other side is very small. While the course is more open than wooded, a cattail marsh running through much of the course and a fairly good sized stream make you think twice about going for the gold. This course features some nice multi-shot holes, the afore mentioned hole 15 and hole 3 which is an ~350-400' drive along the right of the stream up to one of two windows in the trees on the other side where the protected green is located. Big arms could go for the basket in one but it would be very risky. While there isn't a ton of elevation change at the park, what is there has been effectively used. There are some risky greens here, with the stream or cattail marsh nearby and a couple of side hill pin placements. The recent changes put this course in the top tier of Chicago area courses. While not the equal of Highland park, it is easily top 5 now.

The tee signs were a mixed bag and following the recent basket moves almost all are inaccurate on distance. This course holds water like no other in the area. If it has rained within the past week or so, I don't even think about coming out here. There are a couple of places to get lost here, so keep an eye on the group ahead of you or better yet print out the course map.

As of 7/10/10 not all of the old baskets have been removed yet. Play to the shiny new ones (Chainstars?). The old baskets are rusty, beat up mach 3's. The new changes really toughened up an already challenging course, and long concrete tees make it much more fun to play. There are alternate tees as well here, print out the alternate map from the links/files section if you are interested. The alternates are natural though and the regular course is plenty fun. There are some very territorial redwing blackbirds residing in the marsh (especially hole 11) and I have been buzzed by them a few times.

Large park and quite challenging. A good variety of holes. Has potential to be a player favorite in the area.

Can get pretty swampy after heavy rain. Tees and basket locations not marked well at all and can get confusing. Can easily lose discs in tall grass/cattails. Course would do well with a restoration.

Map is available at the community center but not very helpful as course is not well marked. I've only played there twice and would have probably had a better time playing with someone who has played it more to show me around.

Well laid out course. Some good long holes mixed with some shorter technical shots makes for varied play. Minor elevation changes keep things interesting.

Very confusing for someone playing there for the first time. Very easy to play towards the wrong basket on several holes, as you don't know where you are supposed to be throwing towards. All the yards in the area seem to drain into the park, so any significant rainfall will flood the lower areas of the course.

Bring a spotter. Several holes play along, through, or over tall grass in swampy areas. You'd best be covered in bug spray, old shoes, and long pants if you are going to venture into there to look for your disc. Overall a decent course that is much more entertaining once you have struggled through your first round and know what you're aiming at.

Decent layout. I believe this course used to be nine holes only, and they've expanded to 18 in the last 5-10 years. Good amount of parking for this larger course. Decent obstacles, though not on every hole. Fair layout, providing a number of different challenges with tall grass and trees.

Please disregard where the course description says this course is "easy to navigate." While there may be markers at the tee area, they are very unclear as to where you will be shooting. No concrete tees is disappointing, and the first tee is pretty tough to find. The parking lot closest to the road has a sign saying "disc golf course", but the first tee is quite a ways from there. The baskets are terribly rusty and need updating in the worst way. Very murky/swampy, and not fun to navigate through in some points. Little change in elevation.

I was disappointed with this course. I might enjoy it if I play through again with someone to spot my discs (thankfully I didn't lose any), but I was just not pleased with this. '744 is totally excessive for a single hole, but I guess that's a personal preference. I wouldn't play this course alone again...very, very easy to lose a disc in the brush. I was thankfully able to find one after an errant throw on hole 9. Bottom line, not a great course to play. It was somewhat busy, but not the worst I've seen. Very friendly people at this course, but the course itself left a lot to be desired.

The area around Shady Oaks is dominated by 9 hole pitch and putt courses. Shady Oaks is 18 holes and has some decent distances, making it a favorite for the more serious players in the area. The majority of the area the park encompasses is a swampy area that is a detention basin for run off from the surrounding neighborhoods. It has some nice space, and one of the big selling points to disc golf is we can use "wasted" land that isn't good for anything else. This would be a classic example, as the land is really not appropriate for anything other than a walking path. Holes #1, #2 and #13 use a little elevation, otherwise the course is basically flat. Most of the holes are open (holes #1, #2 & # 13 are moderately wooded) but they offer a bit of distance. There are several shots in the 350'-400' range. The tee for # 1 is in an odd spot (the tee for # 2 is the easiest to find) but once you locate the first tee the course is relatively easy to follow.

The tees are dirt and in poor condition. Given the swampy nature of most of the course, the tees are often muddy and footing is treacherous, making those longer holes even more difficult. The swamp does come into play in a few spots, so waterproof socks are a good idea here. The swamp is also home to a healthy bunch of mosquitoes, so bug spray is highly recommended. There are few trees and not a lot of elevation, so the holes start to get monotonous. Hole #15 is 700'+, but it is a classic example of "long for long's sake." The baskets are old and mostly have the shallow basket attachments. The basket on hole #14 is badly bent. A new set of baskets would be an definite improvement. The beat-up rusty baskets are in keeping with the overall look of the park; lots of garbage and broken glass laying around, battered tee signs, broken-up slat bridges and the overgrown look of the swamp make this park less than attractive. The baskets for # 3 and # 18 are pretty close together, and there has been a general confusion over which basket was for which hole when I have been there. One basket has no number and the other has the number torn off the front of the number plate. There is an "18" on the back of the number plate, but it looks like a "3" filled in with sharpie to read "18." At any rate, if that was the basket for #18 you have to walk in front of it to get from the # 3 basket to the # 4 tee.

Because it is a detention basin for storm water run off, it floods pretty quickly in a hard rain. If you are there and it starts to rain heavily, you should run for the hills.

The Chicago area has very little in the way of good courses. Because of that, some lackluster courses are regarded very highly locally because they are the best that the area has. Shady Oaks would be one of those courses. Rated against the other nearby courses, Shady Oaks would have to be considered one of the best. Rated just on its own merits, it is far too flat and open to really be anything special. Add in the bad tees and bad baskets and it is a pretty disappointing course.

***UPDATE: It appears that concrete tees and new baskets have been installed since I last played the course.***

***Update Two - When I went back to Shady Oaks I was expecting to bump up my rating. I was under the impression that improved baskets and tees would make a big difference. In reality, it was more like lipstick on a pig. The course was still flat, open and swampy set in an ugly Water Reclamation District site masquerading as a park. There is a dedicated group that have done a lot of work on the course, and their efforts are appreciated and applauded. By raising the pins on #6 and #8, they are making an attempt to do something about the boring so-so golf this course has to offer. In the end, it's still boring so-so golf. It is still one of the best courses in the area, but that says more about how bad the courses in the area are.

When this was the closest course to my house I played it a lot. Probably 1/2 of the time I was so bored by the golf that I skipped #16-#17. It was just two more boring open shots, and you can just walk over to #18 from #15 and get out of there. Even now with concrete tees and new baskets, I had to force myself to pay #16-#17. Good courses make me wish I had time to play another round. This course makes me try to figure out how quickly I can get the Hell out of there. Even with the improvements, I can't raise my rating.***