+ Challenging wooded course
+ Good variety of:
distances and pars
wooded vs open fairways
backhand vs forehand lines
+ Multiple tee pads on every hole
+ Exceptional signage with directions to and from each pad, some distance markers among the fairways of longer holes
+ Well maintained --hard to lose a disc despite being so wooded
+ Putting practice basket near hole 1
+ Long teepads, weren't slippery at all

- no changes in elevation
- plays near a busy road but throwing into traffic is pretty low risk--more of an occasional noise distraction

Really excellent course. Fantastic use of the space, very professional.

-Two sets of awesome tee pads, one more intermediate level and one advanced
-Tee signs are clear and professional, when I played there was a huge storm, so 17's tee signs had been destroyed by a tree, but I have no doubt that there will soon be a solution for that.
-Fairways are beautiful, there is an easy trasnistion into rough, then rougher once you get farther in. This is one of those courses that is easy to walk around in the rough, but hard to throw through, which I think is a hallmark of a well thought out design.
-Trees are fantastic, if I could pick a course that I have played that uses trees the best, this one is way up there
-Excellent paths, to both tees, and between every hole.
-All paths have clear signage that makes navigation super easy.
-This course has an awesome vibe to it. It feels so private and peaceful, I saw one other person when I played the course.
-Mandos are great. I feel like Mandos are an often overlooked thing on good courses, all the Mandos out at Shelton are necessary for the hole to flow in the intended way and to protect other fairways/roads/walking paths
-The setting of this course is amazing, it is nestled into a very pretty forest that would be fun to walk through, let alone play disc golf in.
-Soooooo many different shots here, almost all drivers off the tee, but par 4s and 5s allow for midrange and putter throws too.
-Absolutely no garbage, none at all, that just adds to the profesional feel of the course
-One thing I had never even thought about before was marking distances on long holes. Most holes that start blind have a big white dot on a marker tree and little blue, white, and red poles in the ground. These let you know how to get to the basket and how far away it is.

This course is super good, it is close to a 5 star rating, but, there are a couple things that in my opinion keep this course from being a "perfect" "best of the best" disc golf sanctuary. This is an excellent course, but it isn't a 5 star all inclusive experience.
-First of all, Chainstars are not what I would call championship baskets, they are ok, and better than nothing, but a great 5 star would have better baskets
-There is no practice area
There is no pro shop. I realize this is really picky, but in my version of a perfect disc golf course that is everything you ever wanted put together, there is a pro shop.
-No elevation, although there really is none to work with
-Water is in the same category as elevation, there appears to be a seasonal swamp type thing on one of the open par 5's, but I wouldn't count that as a "water" hazard
-Long Walk from the parking lot, park along the street

This is a very nice course, definitely worth the drive on its own, even more so if you factor in the course you could play on the way here. A must hit course

Clean, holy moly clean. Did not see one beer can or bottle. I only saw one, no joke, ONE cigarette but on the ground. No beer caps pounded into anything. I used almost every disc in my bag and every shot I know of. Two tee pads and two completely different courses. Night and day difference between the two. Kudos to the designer. The tee pads are large, solid and most surrounded by a nice gravel and helps keep your bag dry.

Only one thing it absolutely needs, better signage to hole 1. After that, it's simple to navigate thanks to the signs showing where the next tee is. Biggest con for me, it's too far from my house. I wish this was my backyard course.

I recommend this course so much that I promise it's worth a road trip. Play the red tee pads first. If you have great control then play the black second. Basically black tee pad means tunnel shot, every one. Not your normal tunnel shot, like only as wide as the tee pad.

The unique feature presented is the large field under the power lines utilized in a half dozen or more holes with the clearly defined tree line used to advantage. You get a drive in all different directions in the field and no two shots are the same. The field holes are supported by immacutely maintained, layed out and clean forest holes with a minimum of undergrowth to hide wayward drives.

There is virtually no elevation change. That may be a strategic con, but it also meant my older knees could traverse the course twice using the well placed alternate tees without much complaint.

I would not have thought this flat water-basin could support the diversity of hole types found there. The designers deserve a great deal of credit and you can tell it is maintained with a love of nature and the game. As I spent nearly 2 hours on the road to get there, my personal thanks goes out to them. It was well worth it.

Very easy to navigate, great signs everywhere (detailed signs on tee-pad, markers on fairways on long blind holes, arrows at baskets pointing to next tee-pads). My first time playing I had no trouble getting around.
Great variation of holes: long, short, hyzer shots, super long bombs.
Great trails, well maintained.

Can be tricky getting to hole one, and back to the parking lot from 18. No full course map. Honestly there's not much to dock this course for. It is a long course, several long holes, lots of walking, so it does take a little longer to play than an average course.

Amazing course, this is a destination course, worth traveling for. I've only played it once and have been itching to get back to it ever since. It's the first course I've played in a long time that had me using all my discs.

*Addendum-
I just played the course again on Aug. 11th, it absolutely lived up to my memory of how amazing this course is. Like I mentioned before it is long, my fitbit told me I had walked the length of a typical course by the time I got to hole 11. Not a bad thing, just something to plan for. It is a 6 min walk from the parking lot to hole 1, just follow the signs. Also the way to get back to the parking lot from 18 is to go back to the fenced area on hole 18 that is OB, there is a dirt service road you can walk back on to hole 1 (2 min walk) and from there take the same trail back to the parking lot.

This course is just phenomenal. If it isn't a championship level course, then I don't know what is. There's very little repetition, the grounds are taken care of, the underbrush isn't a problem (unless you griplock 18), the baskets are in great condition, I didn't see vandalism on any of the signs, the signage was ample and extremely helpful, and it's the first course I've ever played that warranted a run-on sentence in my review.

The property here is used to its full potential. You have all kinds of shots. The only thing missing from the pro tees would be more open shots off the tee. There are plenty of places on this course to air one out, but almost every tee has a narrow window right off the bat. Hole 2 would be the one exception if I remember correctly (I waited too long to review this after playing it). I guess if you're good enough to handle the monstrous holes that make up the pro course then you're good enough to bomb a drive AND hit a tight line through some trees. I'm not good enough for either of those, but I enjoyed myself anyway.

There are multiple tees one can throw from. I never did see a "gold" tee as detailed on the signs, but the red and black ones were drastically different. There were times when a good drive (for me at least) would land beside the amateur tee, but the pars would still be identical. In other words, this course will challenge you. If it doesn't, then play from a different tee.

Bud Pell is the only other course I've been able to say this about: Bring all of your discs and all of your shots, because you're going to use them. You have right turning, left turning, wooded, open, guarded pins, visible pins, and everything else you can imagine with the exception of elevation change. You can't exactly fault the course design for that though. The land is pretty flat. The lines created more than make up for this though.

The cons are few and far between. The pro course will completely steamroll an am level player. I threw one of the highest scores of my life here, but that's not a con. That's proof that I'm not good enough to handle the pro tees yet. But I did par two of the par 5 holes (and really should have birdied 18 after barely missing eagle on it), and that alone made me feel good enough to call it a good day.

I'm not going to read back through my older reviews to see, but this might be the first time that my "pros" list has been significantly longer than my "cons" list.

What else? I guess it's a haul from Seattle, but if you have the time and energy to make a day of it, then do it. It will be well worth your time. So proximity to the city? Not really a con either. It is for me because I can't play it daily, but it certainly won't lower my course rating...

I don't really know Shelton. If you don't either, I highly recommend bringing snacks and plenty of water. You're going to want to play this one more than once if you have the time, and there don't seem to be any convenience stores in the immediate vicinity.

The local disc golf club is clearly very active with this course. Everything is in great shape, the trash was minimal, and the signage was legible. I guess I've gotten too used to sign vandalism and trash everywhere. We need more clubs like this so that we can play more courses like this. Go to Shelton. You won't regret it.

Great variety of shots you will use nearly all the disks in your bag and nearly ever type of shot.
Like how the underbrush is kept down, makes finding errant discs easier.
Nice concrete teepads for both am and pro tees. Oh and they are color coded.
Generally well maintained and interesting.

Flat course.
It is messy playing in the rain; constantly cleaning the disks.
Would like to get a map to the course.

Planning on making a monthly trip to Shelton to play the course provided the weather is good. It is a good measure of where I am as a player and what I need to work on.

Course is top notch beautifully taken care of and marked. Tee pads are big. There's lots of variety.

No water hazards and not a lot of elevation but I don't think these two things take away from how majestic this course is!

This is probably the best maintain course around. It is long (red pads) and really long (black pads). Pads are cement and the colors are red or black. Great signs, great trails, beautiful old growth forest with deer. Level course...no hills. Hole #11 has a 'boxed' area that you have to throw into or you take a drop and lose a stroke. Makes this Par 3 more technical that normal.

One porta potty at parking lot. Hole #3 has 3 pads...one red, two black. The furthest back black should be called gold. No locked drop box for trying to return a disc you find on the course. However you can take it to Olympic Disc Pro shop on south hill of Shelton.

Great disc shop south hill of Shelton in Carpet Store. This shop has a great selection of disc's at great prices!

- Two different large concrete tee pads (Red/Black) make this play like two different courses
- Extremely well designed course
- Concrete tee signs with distances and lines
- large log benches at each tee pad
- Amazing scenery in the woods
- Great use of field to create tough cross wind shots

- Long walk from parking lot. But you can now park on street
- That's it, tough to find anything wrong here

Easily the nicest course I have played in Washington. You have to play this course once, put it on your wish list!

Tees 5.0
36 5x12 Dyed launch pads surrounded by crushed rock.

Tee Signs 5.0
36 300lb Dyed plinths w/plexiglass covered full color 9"x11" vinyl.

Holes 4.5
Two unique layouts offering great variation. The Red course is fun with 6 par 4s. The Black course will make you a better player. No elevation to speak of but no real "throw away" holes almost balance that out.

Environment 4.5
Single use park with lots of space, you can be on the course and feel like the only one their even with 6-7 groups on the course. For being inside the city limits this course can make you feel like your much father out of town.

Amenities 3.5
Parking lot is a small hike, no bathrooms on the course itself only one in the parking lot. Nice metal trash can place around. Has some benches with more on the way.

Maintenance 5.0
Grass is always mowed, garbage picked up, logs and branches cuts and removed. This course is very playable and looks good all year.

If I was grading on a curve with other courses in Washington I would be temped to give a 5 because I believe that compared to the other 15-16 courses in the state in the same category (18 baskets and concrete tees) It is the best. But as this website is global I have to compare Springs to courses in Oregon or Texas I have played, it's still a great course but more like a 4.5 if Milo is a top 10 5.0 rated course.

This is my home course and I feel lucky to play such a fun and beautiful place. The local disc golf club is always making improvements. Ive played quit a few courses and this is by far one of the most well rounded.

Well marked,nice t-pads,great variety, and organized play direction.

No big elevation change.

Very nice course. Heavy woods and a good test of skills. Hole number 18 is a beast.

It was hard to find my way around the first time played.

If you are out there play it if you can. You won't be disappointed.

Fantastic, really good job MCDG. I played it yesterday for the first time. Too long for me, but a good challenge, something to shoot for.
Now that Yauger park doesn't have baskets, Shelton is the closest place to play.

Signage a problem. I talked to an MCDG guy who was cleaning and he said that signs have been vandalized and ripped down, so that explains why there is less signage than we'd like.

Maybe we can think of some non-vandalizable forms of signage to help them out?

Beautiful tee pads are done on all black and red tees. Concrete tee signs are in with actual signs and distances coming soon on them, only temp signs on them for the moment. Plans are in the works to add alternate hole locations in addition to the two sets of tees. The MCDG group works very hard to keep this course in great shape and are trying to get it to be a premier location for disc golf in the state. I personally think it's already there. It is my favorite course I've played anywhere.

Just need to finish their plans to advance the course, but it's great as is too.

If you haven't played this course, find time to do so, it is a great experience and the true advancement of disc golf in this country. Par 4s and 5s need to start showing up more in courses to make this sport continue to grow. This course has this and great par 3s and great distance. Come play SS!

Located in the city of Shelton across from the local High School/Jr. High, Shelton Springs DGC is one of the premier courses in the state of Washington and eventually perhaps the entire northwest! With ample parking near the entrance thanks to the local park and ride, the course can be accessed through the Huff n' Puff Trail, just stay to the right. As players make their way toward hole one there will be wooden tee signs in black and red indicating where the next tee is located. Just look up as they are nailed in to the trees about 15 feet high. There are also white arrows indicating where the bends in the fairways are that are essential to players reaching the pin.

As other reviewers have stated, a lot of time and effort went in to the design and development of this course in order to make it a champion level course. Originally, the MCDG crew installed wooden posts as targets rather than permanently installing baskets at first so that they could get feedback from local pro's, course developers, and fellow disc golfers to ensure that everything was done right! Duel tee pads were installed on every hole (red/Am and black/Pro) to offer variety and difficulty, as well as another unique look from the tee. None of the Am tee pads are the same as the Pro tee's which is a rare feat, and allows for two completely different rounds. A year installing the targets, and after many work parties and fundraising tournaments, Shelton Springs DGC fianally installed 18 brand new Chainstar baskets and officially put this course on the map!

Due to selective cutting over the years, Shelton Springs has beautiful natural fairways with massive Douglas Firs separating the holes. Although there are some open areas, the course is mainly heavily wooded. However, every fairway is fair and requires a great deal of accuracy off the tee and then again near the pin. The course offers three Par 4's and three Par 5's on the Black course and six Par 4's on the Red course, paving the way in the state of Washington as to where disc golf is headed in the future. Accuracy and placement are heavily rewarded, where raw strength and luck can be brutally punished. There are some opportunities to let you disc rip, but for the most part your mids and fairways drivers will be getting the most use on the course. Holes on the course range anywhere from 215 feet (Red) to 965 feet (Black), with little elevation but lots of variety.

For being such a new course, MCDG has done a tremendous job with the installation and upkeep. However, in order to truly be a championship caliber course they need to make a few minor improvements to help solidify itself as one of the best in the state.

First, accurate tee signs that offer distance, par, pin placement, and any major obstacles players might face. Something like Horning's Hideout would be amazing!

Second, a kiosk near hole one or at the park entrance that tells players about upcoming work parties, local vendors, PDGA tournaments, weeklies, and includes an aerial map showing the layout of the course so that players can get a sense of where they are and where they are going during their round.

Third, the continual development of fairways and greens. Those issues will be addressed as the course is played more.

All in all, this course has made tremendous progress including the recent addition of cement tee pads!

The Mason County Disc Golf Club, since first being created in 2009, has come a long way in the short amount of time they have been together. They have done a lot for the city of Shelton and our state, and feel very fortunate to have had a chance to play in their city. Although I live 2 hours north, I have had the privilege of playing with this club in the Cedar Arms tournament they hold each year as well as team disc golf at Lake Isabella. I am so pleased to see that they finally have Shelton Springs DGC, and feel that the club continues to be wonderful advocates for this sport. Steady Ed would be quite proud of these guys as they truly represent what the spirit of this game is all about. Thank you.

I've decided that my Rating for this Course will change as the Course changes, as it should be. I am confident that, with the additions Mason County Disc Golf (MCDG) intends to put into this Course, Shelton Springs DGC is destined to be a true "Destination Course".

***UPDATED 5/22/12***

Shelton Springs DGC is the culmination of the partnership of MCDG, the City of Shelton (namely Parks and Rec Director, Mark Ziegler) and the greater Puget Sound Disc Golf community. The Course is located on City of Shelton owned property, near both The Huff and Puff trail systems and the local High School/Jr High. The Huff and Puff trail systems are currently used by the neighboring schools for cross-county meets. This situation creates a unique ability for MCDG to introduce Disc Golf to the local school as possible curriculum/after-school activity. This is a long term goal MCDG intends to pursue, further bringing the local community closer to Disc Golf.

Over a year has passed since the Shelton Springs had baskets permanently installed. A great deal of time and effort was put into creating a uniquely challenging course. MCDG began their design and development process by first designing the Course, and then adding wooden posts as targets. The wooden posts served as an opportunity to fine tune the Course before adding permanent baskets. MCDG also used the input of the Disc Golf community by hosting a series of fundraising tournaments, complete with portable baskets, while picking the brains of the participants. This unique method of Course design and development is directly responsible for the current Course design. In my experience, this Course design is of high quality.

The Course is located on a 50+ acre plot, which meanders through classic Douglas Fir forest and an open spaced area underneath power lines. About 20+ years ago, the City of Shelton practiced selective foresting methods throughout the area. What was left behind are seemingly natural, moss covered fairways under the canopy. There are two tee boxes per hole, a Red/AM and a Black/Pro (Red and Black being the school colors of the neighboring H.S.). MCDG has decided to break the mold of "everything's a par 3" and create a par appropriate Course. The Red/AM Course plays to a par 60, boasting six par 4 holes, and is suitable for the casual player or a "quick" round. The Black/Pro Course plays to a challenging par 63 (totaling nearly 8000 ft!), complete with three par 4 and three par 5 holes. Although there are two tee boxes per hole, each tee box offers unique experiences and challenges. Throughout the Course, off the tee, there is a blend of straight, hyzer, forehand and flex shots. A little something for everyone.

MCDG put a great deal of work into creating sustainable fairway conditions. In the year since permanent baskets were installed, Shelton Spring's fairways are well defined and free of debris and underbrush where needed. These fairways are intentionally large and narrow where needed, and each dogleg is well marked with large white arrows approximately 15 feet high at the turn. As mentioned, this is a heavily wooded Course, but often when faced with throws from the "rough/schule" one can find themselves with options on how to get out. That's not to say that one could throw anywhere and still expect to get par, a player needs to play "smart golf" to score well at Shelton Springs. Given the new baskets, and the reputation Shelton Springs is receiving, the influx of players to the Course will help to shape the fairways and the outlying areas. With the set pars being what they are, each hole should/could be birdied. It's a great feet to be able to string those birdies together, especially while staying bogey free. It's in that spirit, the spirit of "Man, I could play that Course better next time!", that Shelton Springs DGC will keep you coming back for more. And, that's what a great Course should do. Right?

It's hard to find many things wrong with this course -Shelton Springs DGC has a very creative and demanding course layout. It's a young course, which will see some major maturing given the epic 'must play' potential for this course.

***UPDATED 5/22/12***

Problem 1- Tee Pads
Nope. Not anymore. Permanent tee pads were installed on all 36 tees, including a tee pad for drop zone on Hole 3(Black/Pro layout). PLUS, all the tee pads are dyed and COLOR COORDINATED! So, when you are standing on the Red/AM tee box, you are literally standing on a RED tee box!

Problem 2- Signage
Again, nope. Not anymore. All tee pads have accompanying 3ft high concrete "plinths" with hole information; including hole length, hole shape/design, obstacles, and landmarks where needed. Oh, and all the tee signs are COLOR COORDINATED too!


The only other problems I could come up with are: lack of restroom on the course itself (there is one at the parking lot) and no water fountain. These problems are easy fixes, and the others can be alleviated by the player being prepared.

BUT, none of these problems detract from the overall enjoyment, beauty, a scope of Shelton Springs Disc Golf Course.

Though Shelton Springs Disc Golf Course is a great course, I believe that the best thing to come from Shelton Springs is the great people of Mason County Disc Golf. True 'doers'. The entire Disc Golf community is fortunate to have a group like this as advocates.

Mason County Disc Golf, since it's inception in '09, has diligently worked to bring a unique Disc Golf experience to it's local area. The group has worked with nearby Disc Golf Clubs to pave a new direction for Disc Golf. There are great things on the horizon for Disc Golf in this area. Look for announcements of events that will take full advantage of this great Course and MCDG's relations with other local Clubs.

***The bottom line is that you should make plans to play Shelton Springs Disc Golf Course. There are few courses that can compare.***

The Mason County Disc Golf Club has been working on this course for more than a year, doing work parties and taking suggestions from players about the course including Discraft sponsored player Scott Papa. Finally the baskets are in for good and the hard working members of the club are seeing their hard work paying off. Shelton Springs is located in town and once you park you must follow the Huff N' Puff trail until you see the tee pad(s) for hole number one. First thing you will notice are the two tee pads of the course that are very different and make an almost new course compared to the other, we aren't talking about tee pads that just add length we talking pads that add another landing area and different avenues for the flight of your disc. The Red tee pads are a little shorter and a little more straight forward, maybe a little more appropriate for less than skilled golfers while the Black tee pads are the more challenging tee pads that are the equivalent of PDGA Gold level pads. Navigation is fairly easy because of the color coordinated signage that tells you where to go no matter which of the tee pads you are playing. The course has very little elevation to it, I'm not sure if this is a bad thing or not because it lets you play multiple rounds out here in one day and not feel too tired.

This course is very wooded and makes players shape their shots very well and also makes players play smart. If you don't learn where and when to go for a birdie instead of going for the basket on every shot like most disc golf courses have trained us to do you are going to be punished. This course also teaches you how to pick landing zones in the fairway to shoot for instead of just throwing it as hard as you can towards the basket with reckless abandon. If you can't throw it far and accurate Shelton Springs is going to have its way with you. You may find yourself at times throwing forehand rollers and trick shots to get you out of trouble or even swallowing your pride and throwing it thirty feet into the fairway. Still There are holes where long players are going to have a big advantage like holes 3, 7 and 8 as these are the open fairway drives where distance plays a larger part or the only part of the drive.

The main con that I found while playing here are the natural tee pads dug out of the earth. There are some roots still in the tee pads that aren't too bad to navigate around and some rocks and sticks but again not too hard to avoid. My main concern is that when this course gets some age and more play is that those tee pads are going to have holes all over. If you have ever played Lake Stevens DGC then you know what I am talking about. I also wonder how muddy they get when it rains hard. Not too many other cons, very solid all around course.

The Mason County Disc Golf Club really has their stuff together in knowing how to build courses. Like I said they have been working on this course for a very long time having many fund raising tournaments and even more work parties to prepare the course and now they have one of the best courses in the entire state of Washington. I played one of these fundraisers last year and the club was very instrumental in getting feedback from all of the players who played, this is a rare thing with a Club, especially a Disc Golf Club.