- Well manicured park, beautiful landscape
- Baskets were aged but all kept in good condition(didnt notice any unattached chains or bent baskets)
-Tee pads were aged but all worked perfectly fine
-Tee signs were very nice
-Multiple pin placements, this is awesome if you frequent this course regularly.
- Course design forces you to use many different shots.
-Short and long technical holes but also has plenty opportunity to launch some drives on more open fairways.
-Fair amount of garbage cans
-Fair amount of benches/picnic tables

-walkpaths cutting through fairways on some holes
-no tape on baskets or anything to direct you to the next hole AFTER you finish a hole.(there were arrows on the tee signs but i suffer from severe short term memory loss so by the time i'm finishing up a hole i can barely remember what par it is)
-mulitple pin placements were confusing at times and made the round take a bit longer than expected. some sort of indicator on the tee signs and this is definitely a 4/5 course

We had a great time playing this course and will definitely be back. If you're playing this course from out of town as we were, definitely check out Air Play Sports in downtown Sterling. Very nice selection of discs and accessories.

Sinnissippi seems to be one of the area's more popular courses, and I made sure to stop by on my way home from Iowa this past weekend. Here's what I liked about the course:

*Decent golf, particularly toward the beginning of the round. Hole one was a blast.

*24 holes! If you are looking at this review then you probably like disc golf, which means that more disc golf is viewed as a good thing

*Nice mix of shots demanded. There are short holes and long, hyzers and anhyzers. Everything that a good disc golf course should have without the intensity of a super wooded course.

*Beginner friendly... as mentioned above, this is not a super wooded course where a beginner can lose their discs or get thorns in their leg etc. If you are the type of person who is considering taking a girl disc golfing on a date, then this may be the course for you!

*Signs and teepads seemed to be in good condition.

*Scenic views of the Rock River surround the course, so make sure to take some time to walk around the park and enjoy the view before or after your round.

I had heard quite a lot about this course prior to my round here and everything I heard gave me reason to have high hopes. I'd even heard golfers proclaim that this course was among the best in Illinois.

Unfortunately, this course did not live up to the hype, and I would NOT consider it to be in the top 15 courses in IL. Here's what led to my disillusionment:

*Safety... This is a very dangerous course that interacts heavily with park traffic. The best golf holes on the course are holes 1-5, but these holes cross walking paths, go near pavilions, and in general make no attempt to isolate themselves from the rest of the park. Many pins are either next to streets or in line of fire from other holes.

*None of the holes here blew my mind. They were slightly above average for a public community park but after the first few holes there was no elevation change, and most holes are fairly open with just a few trees separating the tee pad from the pin. I would consider the golf slightly above average

*There is no indication at the teepad of which pin position the basket is in... This caused some frustration as most of the holes have between three and five drastically different pin placements!

It may not be worth a special trip on its own, but be sure to hit up Sinnissippi on your way to or from the Quad Cities.

Sinnissippi Park is a large park on the Rock River offering a great place to host a disc golf course. There are two baseball diamonds, two shelters with bathrooms, and a playground. However, the bathrooms close for the winter season.

The park is light to moderately wooded by mature trees; in the fall and spring time, the fallen leaves can densely blanket the ground. Be prepared to watch your disc disappear. Signs at every hole show the different basket placements, tree locations, and next tee box. I really appreciated the signs, as it made it easy to navigate, even for my first time. The different basket locations offer a wide variety of shots. The tee pads are long and narrow, but big enough to complete a full X-step on. On the original front nine, there is good use of elevation change, but the remaining are relatively flat. The fairways use the large trees, and there is a degree of difficulty to each hole.

There is a bike/walk path, and some holes play near to the path. During the winter months, there is a large hill that sledders utilize, and one or two hole(s) use the same hill. If playing during a Ice Bowl (or winter months), this could cause some delays. One hole plays down into a small creek area surrounding the basket, creating a island so to speak, and is a joy to play. A footbridge paves the way for dry access to the basket.

There is a great view of the Rock River and the new addition of holes 20 - 24 play along bank's edge. If you're not too careless, there isn't a big risk of losing any discs on this course. The worst spots being by the cemetery, and by the river. The cemetery has a large chain link fence surrounding it, but would require a big arm, and a bad line to end up on the wrong side of the fence. Along the new holes, a rolling disc could end up in the river. The new holes have different baskets from the rest of the course, but are great baskets as well. Holes 20-24 have only one basket placement.

-Bathrooms close
-Minor inconvenience of pathways
-Leaves hid my disc a few times.

I drove from the Quad Cities, and feel that the hour drive it took to get there was worth it.

Sinnissippi is a very good course that features some solid variety and challenge for intermediate level players.

The front 8 here are 4.5 star caliber holes, #5 is a long downhill shot through a tree lined fairway, with the creek forming a water hazard around the basket... one the coolest holes I've ever played. #3 and #7 are also phenomenal downhill shots.

The challenge is consistent throughout the course with either trees, distance, elevation, or tricky angles to contend with on pretty much every hole. I loved the amount of distance here, and most players will need a driver off the tee on almost every hole.

Course flow is nice, tee pads are roomy, and the baskets and signs are in good shape. There are rotating pins, but the current pin placements are not listed on the signs. In all but one or two instance you can see the pin from the tee, so this isn't an issue. The park is located just off the river, so there is some great scenery here.

This course comes up short of a 4-star because of the final 10 holes. They're fairly challenging, but they aren't particularly interesting and remind me of a standard multi-use park course. This area is pretty much completely flat and there is less distance than the first section of the course. #18 is a decent hole (long bomb, with huge OB area to the right), but nothing else from #9-#17 was memorable.

Small beef, but #18 ends like 300 yards away from the parking lot.

Sinnissippi is one of the better 18ers I've played in Illinois. It's worth the drive from Chicago if you're a serious player or looking to rack up your course count.

1) The mature Oak trees make this course what it is. They force certain shot shaping on many of the holes, but at the same time you can pick your favorite line.

2) Nice views of a river on a few of the holes. This would be even more evident in the fall or early spring because the leaves will block some of the views.

3) Tee signs have Hole #, distance, par, and a decent layout of the hole. I like this especially because I play so many different courses.

4) Many of the baskets are risk/reward because of the potential for some rollaways, trees located close to the basket which force a certain type of shot on your drive if you want to park it.

5) For you WI people this is like Miniwaukan on steroids . . . it has a little elevation change, some more risky basket locations, more distance, more variety, but the end all is that is has so many mature oak trees. These trees make this course what it is.

6) Benches and garbage are available along with restrooms located by the shelter near #1.

7) The challenge on this course comes from the Oak trees. Every hole ha some trees to think about and avoid and that is what make the course what it is. If those mature trees weren't there it wouldn't be a great course at all.

8) Distance variation on this course ranging from 196 to 481. This variety helped make this course what it is because it forces you to think about multiple types of shots and even the variety of forcing approach shots on some of the longer holes.

1) Some of these holes get repetetive although the trees force specific shots on certain holes so at least they are not just wide open.

2) Long walks between some of the holes get a little old but they are necessary to avoid other areas used by other people.

3) There really isn't any water brought into play on this course. Sure there are a few baskets near a creek, but the only way the water is brought into play is an overshot drive.

4) The tree density on this course is about the same on every hole. I would have liked this even more if there were some tighter wooded holes.

I wish I could have seen the alternate pin positions as it might have added to the allure of this course. I had no idea where they were except the positions they were in.

Perhaps this course had less of an impression on me because I had just come from the Quad Cities where they have a little bit of everything on every course. I did enjoy the course, but it didn't live up the above 4 rating people seemed to give it. This by no means this is a bad course, it just didn't seem to have enough for me to give it that high of a rating. I think I could understand why the locals love it, but at the same time It is by no means a phenomonal course compared to the other courses I have played in so many states. But for Illinois it is by far the best I have played. SO you local fans of this course, enjoy it! If you are from another area with awesome disc golf this course will underwhelm you. With all of this said I have to give it a 3.5, it is close to being a low end 4 disc course but it is not currently. The repetition and lack of wow really hurts this course because of the back 9. The first few holes are great but then it just becomes an average park-like course. Perhaps the temporary tournament holes make this course better when in play.

- Course is set within a multi-use park, and makes good use of the land. There are some softball fields, public shelters, and a walking path, but they are not a big factor.
- This course is pretty much divided into two parts - the front 8 are set in a hilly, moderately wooded area that has water in play. The last 10 are set in a moderately wooded, flat field. It is almost like two different 9-holers combined to make an 18-holer. I have heard the back 9 were designed to be wheelchair accessible, which makes sense due to the flat terrain.
- The front 9 makes great use of elevation changes on almost every hole. A good mix of downshots and upshots, some of which are pretty significant. A small cliff to the right of #2's basket is a huge risk as well.
- There is a little water in play on the front 9, especially on #5 which has an island green (more or less). The creek is in a perfect spot to suck in discs that fall a bit short, a true choice of whether to lay up or go for it is needed off the tee. Solid bridge to cross over.
- While the back 9 is flat, there are plenty of trees to make it interesting. There is usually more than one way to get to the basket, but a "recommended" path is pretty obvious. Personally, I felt like the designer made great use of the trees to have both pretty clear fairway shots and tricky back doors.
- All types of shots are useful at this course. While the holes are pretty much open enough where any shot is serviceable, having a good forehand or anhyzer can really help to score well.
- Large mix of hole lengths, from very short to pretty long.
- Good signs and pads, decent baskets. Tons of alternate pin placements are an added bonus.

- A lot of roads and walking paths to avoid on this course. Seclusion is not a factor on most holes.
- While the back 9 is enjoyable, it is really just tacked on to an existing course. Not many unique features or exciting holes, just flat land with various types of trees.

- An all around solid course. I really enjoy playing the front, and don't mind the back. There are a good mix of technical shorter holes, due to elevation and tight windows, and longer holes that still require good accuracy. The scenery is also nice, always good to see the train rolling down the river.
- A more experienced player might find the course a little short or easy, everyone else should fit right in.

Awesome course. I like it because there isn't much "mud"...it is basically all grass, even in the wooded areas. I really enjoyed the park as well.

Confusing at first as to where holes are, but there is a map up near hole 1.