Sterling, IL

Sinnissippi Park

4.055(based on 42 reviews)
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5 0
EventHorizon
Experience: 15.1 years 118 played 4 reviews
4.50 star(s)

Great City Park Disc Course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:May 15, 2012 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Wonderful scenery. Nice big trees which gives the course challenge and might. There are a variety of placements for the pin as indicated on the signage. Signage is well done, clear, and all intact. Concrete pads are well done with being level and have good traction. Stream on a flew holes greatly adds to the course and it diversity of pin placement layout. Also seen there is some new concrete pads poured for new pins. Maybe upgrading course to 27 holes to close the gap between hole18 and 1.

Cons:

Just a few minor things not detract from this course. When you come into the park, there was no signage that I saw to indicate where to drive, to park and start the course. I ended up starting on 10 and wondering over to find hole 1 after 18. Another thing that slightly detracts is the signage and all the possible pin placements. Some holes had up to 5 possible placements which made finding some of the front 9 difficult and somewhat guess work. I like a course having 2-3 possible placements, but 4-5 placements are a bit much. I understand the idea to change up the course so it doesn't grow old, but 3 placements should be enough on a 18 holed course as spread out as this. Last thing was the quarter mile gap between 18 and 1. Once you finish with 18, there is a pretty good walk back to parking area and hole 1. This might not be an issue in the future because of the new concrete pads i seen that seem to play the way back to hole 1.

Other Thoughts:

Despite starting at hole 10 and playing through from there, I thoroughly enjoyed this course. To date I've only played 51 courses but of those, I really liked this course and would drive out of my way to play it again. You get a little bit of everything at this course. You have holes that have elevation changes, huge oak trees, big pine trees, over a stream, long pins and short. With the surrounding scenery, i think the locals are very lucky to have such a wonderful course.
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2 3
Nick from Sterling
Experience: 3 played 2 reviews
4.50 star(s)

Sinnissippi=G.O.A.T. 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Jun 12, 2011 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Holes 1-8 vary in elevation and most have foilage.
Some have Water Hazards that are very fun to play.
Each hole has cement tee boxes and a sign telling par and distance, along with direction the hole is in (very helpful going up hills.) Great baskets.
The park is very scenic, and nature is all over. Last time I went, a fox walked within 25ft of me.
Lots of animals, a great shelter, 3 softball diamonds, and a couple good playgrounds. Good parking lot.
The first 8 holes are the funnest to play, specifically hole 5. Hole 5, in my opinion, is the best hole in Illinois. That hole alone is enough to go to the course, the other 17 holes add to that.

Cons:

Holes 9-18 are rather boring, as you are just going across the flatness of Illinois.
Also, You have to make a decent walk if you want to go from 18 back to 1.
The park is often crowded.
In the front 9, its pretty easy to turn an errant throw into a missing disc, due to the poison ivy and stinging nettles, heavy wooded areas and steep, loos dirt hills.
Other than that, theres not much bad to say.

Other Thoughts:

Best home course ever? yes, yes it is.
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4 0
Jax11
Silver level trusted reviewer
Experience: 14.9 years 103 played 35 reviews
4.50 star(s)

Beautiful course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 18, 2010 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

- Great variety
- Solid elevation (mostly on front 9)
- Uses terrain brilliantly
- Great use of small bodies of water to create hazards wthout making disc swallowing monsters.
- Well manicured and planned out holes
- Beautiful Scenery
- Great risk/reward holes
- Very rewarding birdie opportunities
- Good distance variety
- Multiple pin placements
- Solid baskets
- Concrete teepads (sometimes are slick)
- Great disc golf community.

Cons:

- Some holes play near/ around the water. Most discs are retrievable, but some are gone forever.
- There is a lot of poison ivy and stinging nettles to watch out for.
- Concrete teepads get a little slick when they are wet.
- Teesigns are outdated and need to be updated for some of the new basket placements.

Other Thoughts:

Sinnissippi Park is a beautiful park that has challenging and fun disc golf holes. All holes play through large mature trees, with very minimal chance to lose a disc. The front 9 plays through some rolling hills where the most challenging aspect is managing the elevation . Miscalculations can leave your disc skidding or rolling 30 feet down a hill. This provides awesome risk reward instances. The back 9 does not have as much elevation, so it does not punish bad shots as severely, but it is still more beautiful and more challenging then the average course. The course has various pin positions which keeps it fresh and heightens the replay value. During the Sinnissippi open this year, the locals moved the pins to other positions for the second round which made for a great touch on an already great tournament. My one gripe with the pin positions is that the tee signs are not up to date and do not list all the current pin positions. Furthermore, it would be helpful to have some sort of indicator to show what the current pin position is on the tee sign. Besides the tee signs, more slip resistant concrete and trimming of the poison ivy and stinging nettles are the only things needed to push this course to a 5/5. I thoroughly believe this is a destination course and if you have not played it I highly recommend it.
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6 0
Dwiggy444
Experience: 17.1 years 90 played 14 reviews
4.50 star(s)

A Hidden Gem 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 18, 2010 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

An excellent, well-manicured park course with elevation, lots of large, mature trees and OB creeks and walking paths throughout the course. There are at least two pin placements for each hole which give each hole at least two unique looks. There is also some unused land that borders the river at the edge of the course which is used to create some fabulous temp holes for tournaments and special events. Some of my favorite holes:

#1 - A straight, slightly downhill 400-footer to two pins with rough and a waking path close behind. A great opening hole.
#2 - Both pin positions are on the edge of a huge drop-off that ends at a creek. If you leave your drive short, that 30 foot putt is a great risk/reward opportunity.
#3 - A big downhill shot through a huge clump of trees to a pin on the edge of a creek or tucked around a corner next to another part of the creek.
#5 - Another big downhill shot, this time with a more defined fairway with trees on both sides and a manicured green bordered by a creek on 2 sides and thick rough on the back side. A two here feels like an eagle.
#7 - The biggest downhill shot: over 470 feet through a tree-lined fairway to two excellent pin positions.
#16 - A 400-500 foot slightly downhill hole through a narrow window on the right or left. Choose your poison - a big anhyzer through a small gap with a low ceiling, or a slow hyzer through a smaller gap with a very low ceiling.
#18 - Another 400+ foot hole with an OB road all along the right side of the fairway and huge trees all along the right side of the fairway. Throw too far right or turn it over and you are OB. Throw it too far left to avoid the OB and you are fighting through trees to get to the pin.

The park has two decent pavilions on the two sections of the course if you need to take a bathroom break and there are benches and trash cans throughout the course.

Cons:

A couple holes on the back nine (hole 9 and 12) are not of the same caliber as the other holes on the course. Hole 9 is basically a wide open field shot, between 322 and 398 feet (depending on pin position) with some OB lurking on the right, and hole 12 is mostly wide open with a couple large trees guarding the pin. Some of the land used for temporary holes might be a good place to put permanent holes to replace one or both of these to make the course even more extraordinary.

The walk between hole 18's basket and the parking lot is a little long. But there is ample shade, which is very helpful in the summer months.

The park is not solely dedicated to disc golf, with baseball fields, picnic benches and playgrounds dotted throughout the course, so on weekends you may have to be careful of where you throw.

Other Thoughts:

This course is a little "off the beaten path" in northwest Illinois (about 1 hour from the Quad Cities and 2 hours from Chicago off of Interstate 88), but it is well worth the trip. It's a beautiful park, with lots of well-designed holes and lots of challenges, even for the most experienced players. If you want to score well here, you'll need to throw a wide variety of shots, drive over 300' with accuracy and make your putts when you have the chance. A score of 54 is good for an amateur level player, while more experienced professional players would probably be pleased with a 48 or 49.
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3 1
sunnyd503
Experience: 23.9 years 26 played 1 reviews
4.50 star(s)

Still probably my favorite course 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Mar 15, 2010 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

This is still one of my favorite courses and I've played many in several states. I am probably biased since this is where I learned how to play. It's probably the best manicured course and also one of the most beautiful.

Love the rolling hills on the front nine. The back nine is flat, but still provides plenty of technical challenges. In fact, I find the back nine harder than the front.

Indeed, hole number 5 is an interesting hole. I also like hole 7, quite long in some arrangements but you can let it fly.

Cons:

I was really bummed when they put that walking path in. Great for walkers, bad for disc golfers, bad for the scenic views.

Other Thoughts:

I would skip Nims Park. This course is too good to waste your time there.
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14 1
#19325
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 22.9 years 351 played 178 reviews
4.50 star(s)

Sinnissippi is the Shizznit! 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Jul 17, 2009 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Sinnissippi has a wide variety with multiple pin positions and concrete tees. The first 8 holes vary drastically compared to the last 10.

UPDATE: New tee signs added summer of 2011. Very descriptive featuring all 4 pins on each hole.
UPDATE: 6 new holes have been added summer of 2012.

The 1st 8 holes play in the southeast corner of the park. There are some nice elevation changes and semi wooded holes. Hole #2 has a nasty drop off to the right of the pin. There are some fun downhill and uphill throws.

Hole #5 has my vote as THE SIGNATURE HOLE in all of Illinois. There is a nice gap to throw thru to a pin that sits on an island green and is surrounded by water most of the year. The hole plays downhill. Most discs are pretty easy to retrieve in the water. This hole is AWESOME!

The last 10 holes are long with scattered obstacles. There are several holes where a roller is very useful. Players that often play this course are very good at rollers. All of these holes take quality shots to get 2's. Holes 16 & #18 are tough par 4's depending on where the pin is located.

I would absolutely love this course as a home course. It's really fun to play and you won't have to worry about looking for too many discs. It's a nice stroll thru the park and is very popular. It is a challenging course and you will learn how to play disc golf playing here.

Cons:

After playing the first 8 holes the last 10 are very flat. This is a semi let down as the front is so fun. They are still good holes but not as interesting as the beginning of the course.

There is some erosion around the tee areas.

Other Thoughts:

If you get a chance to play the tournament here in the summer and the 6 temporary holes are added do so. They add another aspect to the course. They are sweet!

Fadegear Bags are located in Sterling.
http://www.fadegear.com /

Check out my Illinois Top 10 list.
http://discontinuum.org/index...1486.msg68704#msg68704
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7 4
Smitty113
Experience: 20 years 102 played 3 reviews
4.50 star(s)

Excellent! 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Sep 7, 2008 Played the course:once

Pros:

The front 9 is completely shaded from a tall canopy. One or two holes feature a blind shot from the tee, but the only obstacles are tree trunks. Steep dropoffs on the first 3 holes go into the Rock River. A creek adds dimension to a few holes as well, especially on #5(beautiful).
The back 9 is more open and longer. Smaller/low hanging trees come into play here.

Cons:

Large picnic area at beginning that was being used for a family reunion, and all the kids were running around through several holes.
A bad drive on the back 9 could be in danger of hitting cars driving in/out of the park.

Other Thoughts:

One of the best courses in Illinois!!
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20 0
Tripod2
Bronze level trusted reviewer
Experience: 21.9 years 17 played 17 reviews
4.50 star(s)

Sinnissippi Park 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Oct 31, 2008 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Bring your A game! This one is not for the casual disc golfer. This is hardcore, man!

I am not used to elevation changes as dramatic as the front 9 of this course provides, so this was rather challenging.

Special props go out whenever the groundscrew is dedicated and vigilant like this one to not only mow the holes like they do but also to alternate the pin placements on a timely manner.

Hole 2 is usually a very, very cautionary hole because it's placed close to a steep cliff. Yet another example of elevation change at work!

Hole 5 is an island. If you par this (par = 3 shots) you should be in good shape the rest of the course. If you bogey this hole, then you are in contention....

Good mix of holes. The front and back halves differ dramatically! If you have a rough front nine, you can make up ground on the back nine.

There are multitudes of lost discs to be found here.....you just need to know where to look.

There are a few blinds drives that, if you've never played this course, you'd need to take a look-see.

Cons:

You can lose a disc on the front 9 VERY quickly. For example, on Hole 1, a few years ago I launched my red 170 g Quarter K and it sailed straight....past the basket.....past the shrubs....and right into the drink. Water hazards are paramount on the first few holes.

If you get behind on this course, you might not be able to make up ground. There are only a select few holes that allow you to birdie sans a magnificent shot.

There is a walk/jog path that goes thru the front 9. Beware the old ladies who will come across your throw on holes 3 - 7.

Other Thoughts:

Nims Park is not far away. That place will make you feel good about yourself ( you can play that park with your putter because each hole is a par 3 150 - 200 ft course). If you are in the general area, then stop by! This course will test you!

The Marathon station down the road sells discs. There's also a decent selection of fast foods near the course.
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6 7
brooklyn12
Experience: 15.9 years 1 played 1 reviews
4.50 star(s)

Sinnissippi Review 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 7, 2007 Played the course:never

Pros:

Great course with all types of shots. Concrete tee pads, signs, 3 pin placements, and the course was in great condition! This course rocked!

Cons:

The bathrooms were nasty...

Other Thoughts:

Best course I've played! Number 5 is an island hole, one of the best holes in the state!
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