+ Tee signs are illustrative and informative.
+ Tee pads are all long and wide slabs of concrete.
+ The baskets are color-coordinated for whichever layout you are playing and have more than enough 'next' signage.
+ Very friendly and considerate locals!
+ Impeccably maintained and presented grounds. The upkeep and landscaping are nice. But...

- ...Despite all of that other stuff, the disc golfing links themselves look and play disappointingly similarly to one another.
- There isn't much in the way of elevation or other noteworthy natural features, either.

In my six years of playing disc golf, I can't remember any course having such friendly locals like the folks at South Hills. It was a simultaneously refreshing and suspicious experience. It was so busy when I arrived that I thought I had stumbled into a tournament. I approached a group of five or six at link1 to ask, but before I could say anything, they insisted that I play through since I was a solitary player. Wow.
That same thing happened four or five more times during my round, and each time they would volunteer advice and/or warnings about the fairway ahead. I felt like some sort of celebrity.

The venue itself is also very nicely manicured. There isn't much in the way of undergrowth because South Hills plays in a distinctly 'park-style' format. That means that the course has plenty of trees, but the spaces between those trees are wide and accommodating-- almost to a fault. Riding mowers can make quick work of upkeep at this place. You still have to aim your throws, of course, but you can focus a little more on power if you want. Ironically, I liked the optics of link8 because it actually had tall grasses and undergrowth in between the trees on the narrow path. Honorable mention goes to link10 for its tastefully decorated fairway. Playing here is nice for the eyes...

...But it's kind of dull in my mind. Sorry, folks, not much sticks in my mind when I try to think back on it. The course looks lovely. I even chose the long layout to make it tougher on myself and take in more of the course, but there isn't much of a disc golfing challenge beyond distance and tree avoidance. I bet this course would be a nice place for power players to test out their mightiest throws. There are some good moments, to be fair. Link4 might have been my favorite to play because of its nice woodsy downhill glide. And I remember liking link2 for its uphill climb from an open area and then putting among trees. A majority of the holes, in contrast, don't have so much texture. Link17 was my least favorite because it played straight, flat and wide open. Truthfully, most of the back9 didn't do much for me.


Whatever you take away from this review, don't walk away thinking that South Hills isn't worth your time. There are quite a few better courses out there with more adventurous terrain and serious challenges. But sometimes, however, you just want that open park-style ease to let the good times flow either solo or with pals. I warmly recommend South Hills for exactly that experience.

(And there is a fair chance that you'll be warmly greeted by complete strangers, too!)

Two different colored baskets (shorts are yellow, reds are long) on every hole.
Level large enough concrete tee pads.
Great signage and easy straight forward navigation.
Elevation used as best as possible.
Perfectly manicured course.
Plenty of different lines.
Large multiuse park that stays away from the other main aspects of the park. NOTE: I saw in a previous review that there were no bathrooms, but they are attached to the large white building you can see from the disc golf parking lot and are on the side of 16's fairway.

A couple of the long holes (hole 3 comes to mind) are not really in reachable positions, but also are not long enough to be real par 4's
Sometimes the walking path gets a little close to the course, but they are very visible so just need to be respectful of other park goers.
It's still just a multiuse park.

This is a really fun spin here in a very peaceful park. Fun shots and you'll never lose a disc (or at least shouldn't). You could get some really great practice here as well and try out all your different lines.

Nice concrete tees, signs and dual Yellow and Red DisCatcher baskets on all 18 holes. Decent use of the available elevation and mix of shaping shots straight or left or right. Easy to navigate. The maintenance is top notch as there's essentially no underbrush to lose a disc in and the grass is mowed like a golf course. You can safari a lot of holes here. Benches at every hole.

The long baskets are mostly NAG(not a golf shot) easy 60-120' approach shot with a great tee shot. Hard to reach the putting circle from the tee and easy to recover for the three if you mess up the tee shot, so there's not much punishment for messing up and not much advantage to great shots. It felt a little repetitive due to that and the spacing of the trees are fairly consistent. The short baskets provide a little better variety. There's a couple spots with poison ivy. There's no seclusion on the course from other holes or other park users. Park path goes right through the middle of the course and could create some conflicts. I don't recall any bathrooms or portapotty in the park.

Overall I had a good time playing South Hills. I agree there's no real wow factor on the holes other than the nice tees and signs, but there's nothing really wrong with that. It's a fun play, but not technically all that challenging. You can air out some bombs on the long baskets and work on your shorter game with the short baskets. The local players were nice, I was teeing off the wrong direction on hole 10(I think) and the guys on the tee for that basket were very patient and knew I hadn't played the course before and gave a couple tips about playing the course. If you are looking for the most challenging courses in the area I'd recommend Roland Park and Quaker's Challenge. If you are in the area and looking for a more relaxing time playing I'd recommend here.

South Hills is a very nicely maintained park-style course filled with rolling hills and trees. The park is huge and offers many activities including volleyball, a driving range, playgrounds, pavilions, a variety of sports fields, and a walking path that weaves throughout the park. Amidst all of these activities, the course remains a top priority as the grass was freshly mowed throughout and the course was beautifully landscaped.

Tee signs are fantastic and do a great job showing you both pin positions, lengths, pars, and lines offered. The tees were in great shape and allowed for a comfortable run-up, while the baskets were also in great shape and color-coded in yellow or red.

The design was very well done given the lack of extreme elevation changes or any water. This course is more than meets the eye and I enjoyed the variety of shots that it required given the rather straight-forward land that it plays on. There is a nice distribution of FH and BH lines, and combining with the constant rolling hills adds to a nice variety of looks, especially on the front 9. Elevation is a constant variable, as minor as it may be. Whether it's making a putt on top of a hill, playing through a fairway littered with rolling hills, or throwing on one of the constantly sloping down or uphill holes, the elevation added to the fun factor for me.

One of the main reasons I enjoyed this course is that it often offered numerous lines from the tee. The many line options made it interesting and add to the course's replay factor. I am a player that likes to have different options to be creative from the tee, rather than simply throwing through a very specific alley. This course is great in that regard.

Contrary to other reviews, I actually thought that the different pin positions added to the course's replay ability. It's awesome that they permanently keep both baskets in, and the reds did a fine job of changing the scoring for a player at my mid 800's level. There were a few times where one basket offered a FH line and the other offered a BH line, drastically changing the hole's look. The pin positions for holes 4, 10, 12, 14, and 15 do the best job of offering different looks and lengths.

This is one of the best maintained courses that I have played on. Because of the limited rough, I feel that this is a great course to bring a new player to.

The course is very easy to navigate and there are numerous signs pointing you to the next tee and to the respective pin position.

-While the course offers a solid variety of shots from hole to hole, its biggest drawback is that it has a similar feel from start to finish. There aren't too many distinctly memorable holes here and many left me with describing them simply as "solid". You can never shake off the feeling of playing in a park here, if that is something that bothers you. Because of this, I agree with other reviewers that the course does start to get repetitive on the back 9. I do appreciate the effort to offer a variety in hole lengths, but the longer holes don't add much to the shorter ones.
-There is a path that plays close to many holes, especially on the back 9. You even throw over it on hole 13. This park seems to get a lot of traffic, so be attentive to that.
-There is some backtracking to the next tee from the red baskets and it seems that navigation is more geared around the yellow baskets.
-The course is incredibly well maintained for the most part, but the rough is thick near holes 3-6.
-The last three holes are a definite drop-off from the rest of the course and seem to have been designed solely in order to take you back to the parking lot.

This is definitely one of my favorite park-style courses that I have played. As a disclaimer, I should mention that I really enjoy this kind of course when I want to play a casual round, playing through constantly rolling hills and having multiple lines on many holes, limited chances of losing discs, and the ever-present two pin positions. I feel that I would enjoy playing here often because it fits my taste, but I could see this course getting old for people that have played a wealth of other courses and do not find park-style all that interesting.

When this course came out, I was very curious to see if it deserved its high rating among PA courses. While it initially seemed to be overrated, I think its rating is now starting to better fit the bill. The extreme east and west parts of the state still remain the best areas to play, but South Hills offers a fun, light-hearted experience for the center of the state.

-Beautifully maintained fairways with very little rough or disc-eating material.
-Enough trees to challenge new and recreational players, but enough space to allow for scoring and par shots.
-This is a great place to practice or introduce others to the sport.
-The path that runs through the course has little or no effect on playing - at least on the Saturday I was there. I waited on one tee for pedestrians to pass, and that's only because I'm poor enough of a player to mis-throw.
-Yellow and Red Pins are easily identifiable, and in most cases make a true difference in scoring.

-I have no complaints - I loved this course!
-For Pros or Expert amateurs, I can see some of the complaints in the previous reviews being accurate - the lines are open enough to allow great players to score every hole and not challenge them enough. However, there is enough space to set up some killer holes for tournament purposes.
-Bathrooms are on the far side of the course (at the N. Lincoln entrance). Bring your own water.
-There is no 'signature' hole or water or epic-ness.

This is course is probably over-rated due to it's newness and playable nature. For PA residents, this is NOT Nocki or Tyler - it's far more open and relaxed. But it's beautiful and a pleasure to play. If you're a Pro or can shape accurate long shots, then you probably won't like this course.

Fantastic setting in a beautiful park with well-maintained grass and mature trees. Great tee pads, signage, and baskets. Some interesting holes with lanes through the trees and minor elevation changes. A few precariously placed yellow baskets to make for exciting greens. Hardly any underbrush. Holes 1 is 400' down a ridge with multiple lanes through trees. Hole 13 is a long downhill Par 5 with an opportunity to launch a drive and approach shot and watch them weave through trees down towards the basket.

The course could benefit from more diversity in terms of hole length. I don't think the two basket system works well here, as choosing red baskets or yellow baskets means that you play 18 long holes or 18 short holes rather than a fun mix of short and long.

Many of the long baskets are effectively around ~400'-450' long and lightly wooded, which means that it's very tough to put your drive in the circle, but there's also not a lot that can go wrong off the tee. So, you're left with a relatively easy drive and an easy ~50-100' up-and-down for a par 3. For example, holes 15-18 are like this, as it's hard to imagine advanced players and many pros getting anything other than a 3. I could play ten rounds and I don't think my worst score would be more than 3-4 throws worse than my best score.

In terms of park courses, I prefer a course like Buchmiller where the hole length varies from 200' to 500' so that there is more diversity off the tee. South Hills starts out strong but loses momentum as the holes start blending together. There are lots of fun chances to throw drivers off tees and try to hit a nice lane through big trees, but the course does not demand the strategic play commonly required by other courses in Pennsylvania.