For a 9 hole course it has many challenging baskets. A couple long LH fade shots and a few RH fade shots. There are also a couple of easier baskets to help get the confidence back up after taking a plus 1 or so....
There is a nice up hill shot that I feel is not seen too often. I love that this course has concrete tee pads and mulch around the baskets. The signage on the course is also pretty good.

There are a lot of sticker burr bushes and weeds if you go OB. The bugs get really bad in the summer. There is a lot of litter around the course, maybe a few more trash cans would help with that. The overall terrain could use a little up keep, there are some washed out areas on the trails.

Overall I think this to be a great course for all levels of skill. I enjoy all the holes with their different features. All the trash around the course makes me upset that people would disrespect the park and other players by littering. I dont think the park is responsible for the litter, that is our duty as player to keep the courses clean but maybe a few more trash cans would help. I think this could be a 4 star course with just a little more upkeep on the terrain.

Overall overview:
* I decided to give this course a try on my way back from work training. I heard it was a lefty friendly course, so being a lefty I had to go!

* I was expecting nothing but doglegs right, requiring just hyzers, through wide open areas with rough coming into play only if you shank one. I was wrong and glad to be!

* The course does cater to lefties for sure. Holes 3, 6, 7 and maybe 4 come to mind. Only hole 1 from the pro tee is catered to RHBH. Rest are pretty neutral.

* One thing I wish the course had was a sign. Going to the park for the first time I had no idea where to go! I only knew it was there since I saw the baskets on the way in. If you drive in you want to park in the right hand side parking lot, next to the baseball field #3. Walk past it along the path and you will see 9's basket down the left field line. On the plus side there are poles in the ground showing the hole # and if it is the Amateur or Pro tee. They are marked with an A or P. Hole 2, 5 and 6 I did not see any P tee. Though on 6 I did see a large dirt patch 10-15 ft behind the normal Tee, so might be a local tee. There were ft marks for some holes, but not all, and did not seem quite right. Even the listings on this site seem a bit too long. I can throw on flat land about 310-320 MAX but I was putting from the circle on holes labeled over 370ft. There was not much trash, but I didn't notice many trash cans if any, so I can only imagine during the busy summer how littered this place could be.

* Continuing with the A and P tees, the A tees are perfect for new players and upgrading to the P tees just add a little bit of distance. Only holes 1 and 7 really add different angles. 8 is a scary one, since it adds about 100ft, but it is 100ft of pure uphill.

* The course does flow very well. Each tee is very close to the last holes basket, so it is very difficult to get lost. I only wish there was a general map for each hole, since I had to walk up a few fairways to find the basket before throwing blind. Like on hole 3. Being a first timer there you can roughly know where to throw based on the lay of the land, but you really don't know how much of a dogleg there is on some holes.

* I was surprised how much I had to think of my shots. It wasn't just a toss it up hyzer and see how close you can get. I was thinking of the angles I needed to hit, or how low to play a skip shot, heck I even tried a roller on 9. If I were to go there again, I bet I would even try some thumbers or tomahawks. If a lefty had to think so much about it, then I feel bad for you RHBH!

* Along with making you think for a moment about how to attack the hole, your elevation game is tested on many holes. Hole 1 is straight down hill from both tees, and hole 2 is going right back up. 3 continues the trend by forcing you back down the hill. On 4 you once again go right back up a hill to street level. From here it is up to you if you want to play the last elevation change hole, which would be 8's P tee. If you want to work on how to deal with quick elevation changes as a beginner I suggest coming here. However, the elevation is a double edge sword since I can foresee that on rainy days or just after a rain, that the lower 4 holes could be almost unplayable with water.

* This course does have Ace runs! So be ready for some Oooohhh and Aaaahhhh! Heck even I threw an Ace on my first serious round on hole 5.

Summary TLDR:
* The course needs more signs, preferably with hole layouts for first timers.

* Can see the course being tough to play on days where it rained.

* Not a course for power arms

* If you want a course to practice your mid-range shots or turnover shots or dealing with elevation, then I suggest stopping here. It is overall a good course. It needs some updated signs and trash cans, but it is in a very pretty area and was a joy to walk around. Not to mention it gets your heart pumping with quite a few Ace run holes, especially from the A tees. It does cater to lefties, but can be a challenge even for us!

The directions listed on the course information tab is slightly incorrect. You take a right onto Pioneer Rd from 169, not 212. I recommend using the Google Maps provided on DCGR's website to find the best route for you.

Take a right as soon as you enter the parking lot. The 1st hole is about 100 yards to the right of the lot.

Staring Lake Park has a lot of other things going on other than disc golf. There were a few ball fields, nice horseshoe pit and an open air amphitheater.

*The tee pads for all of the holes were more than adequate for each hole, dual pads on many of them. The back pads usually did a good job of adding a little more challenge for the beginner/intermediate player.

*Nice chain baskets which did not need any sort of maintenance.

*A good mix of elevation and distance, some open some wooded. Most holes were either ~200 feet or 350 feet and the longer holes predominantly catered to a left handed player or a forehand thrower.

*Even with Bryant nearby there are plenty of reasons to go to this course. It is much more beginner friendly, as long as the park isn't packed your round will be completed much shorter and it is free.

*A few benches and picnic tables to sit down while waiting or for just enjoying the weather.

*There is a good chance you'll see an airplane land or take off at Flying Cloud Airport just across the street.

The biggest con would be the litter. There was a lack of any garbage or recycling cans on most holes. Putting some at hole 1, 4 and 7 would be optimal.

There was quite a bit of erosion on a lot of the holes. The lack of rain in the past few months have made the course incredibly dusty. Hole 8 has added woodchips and a staircase for the back tee which was needed although most groups seemed to skip that tee.

Two holes have you throwing very close to the street, which is a very busy road.

It is overall a very fun course. A decent place to play a quick round when you are sick of Bryant or are nearby. It has a decent variety of shots and made good use of the small amount of land allotted for disc golf.

Everything about this course is kind of an enigma to me. There were signs and then there weren't signs. There were tiny little concrete pads and then "Boom", there were large championship caliber pads that even Dave Feldberg himself, couldn't find anything about them to complain about. You start out playing # 1 and 2 which are little pitch & putt holes and then you run into #'s 3 and 4, both 300' plus holes and challenging. Then you play #'s 5 and 6, two more little pitch and putts. I liked this course a lot, I'm just not sure what the designer(s) were attempting to accomplish. The woodchips are used well here to cover some bare ground and hopefully prevent erosion. Baskets are in decent shape.

There was too much litter here. A few more garbage cans would help. I can see the course getting mega crowded but that's what we get when we have a popular course.

I can call this "The Bagless Player Course." I've never been on a course before with so many players playing and carrying their extra discs or two in their hands. I think I was the only guy on the course with a bag. I think they were looking at me and laughing at the old guy with all the extra disc. That's the way I look at the player who has the cart with the cooler, the umbrella, the stool, the boom box, 100 discs, three different kinds of retreivers, refrig, and the all the other bells and whistles.
Nice fun little course for a quick round. As with many of the course in the area, it looks as though some improvements are taking place.

There are both righty and lefty holes. Some of the holes are shorter but there are a few longer onestoo. Plus the shorter ones always give you hope of a hole in one.

The only threats are trees. There is little if any tall grass and no water.

There is a good amount of liter. This would probably be stopped if they would put more trash cans on the course. Also I wish there were signs with distance and par.

-Easy enough for beginners
-Holes 3, 4 and 7 are a challenge
-Quick 9 hole course
-Convenient location
-2 Tees on most holes

-Litter
-Short holes for the most part

I've played this course many times during my lunch hour with a couple of friends - it's easy to get a round done in about a half hour, even with 3 people.

Holes 3 and 4 are very challenging to par, but even an average player could par this course after a few rounds.

They recently made hole #6 a bit more difficult by moving the basket, but the distance is about the same. It's a perfect course for a game on your lunch hour - it's usually not too busy around 11:30 - 12.

-Course being updated by Eden Prairie Parks Dept.
including sand around baskets, wood chips, new tee pads to replace ones taken out, and new trees along the road to help cut down wind.

-Good Casual course, not the most difficult, but does it have to be to get a good rating?
-Dual Cement Tee Pads, nicely sized
-Good condition Mach 3 baskets
-Many ace runs
-Great use of space, small course, yet makes use of what there is
-Great use of elevation
-Holes 3 and 4 (and 8's long tee) offer a good challenge to those that would say that this course is too easy
-Will test both hyzer and anhyzer shots
-Beginner friendly
-Easy to navigate
-Flows nicely, looping back to start
-Plenty of parking
-Trash cans on some holes (PLEASE USE THEM)
-Course is pretty....too bad many people litter
-Restrooms back towards parking lot

-Lots of litter (need more trash cans badly)
-Crowds (come early if you want a casual round)
-Destroyed signs
-Vandalism on some benches and wooden bridge
-Only one real chance to bomb it
-Hole 8's long tee is just silly, I don't think I've ever seen anyone else play it. It is a drive straight up a steep hill where you disc will likely land right by the short tee which is much more fun to throw from anyways.
-Erosion on hills from lots of use (maybe get erosion control mats like Bryant lake?)

This and Bryant Lake are my home courses. I like to alternate between the two. Bryant offers a full 18 and many open long drives, while Staring offers a quick 9 and shorter holes. If I'm in the mood for a casual round or I'm short on time, I'll choose Staring. If I'm looking for a place to spend the afternoon or more of a challenge I'll go to Bryant.

The two worst things at this park are crowds and litter. This course is located extremely close to a college, come here after class lets out and it'll be packed. With the college kids comes the litter. I don't know why they can't hold onto their bottles and chip bags until they get to the holes that have trash cans....but it can get pretty bad.

This course sees lots and of use and it needs some loving care. Luckily I've seen the Eden Prairie Parks Dept working on sprucing up the place. I like knowing that this course isn't getting neglected, hopefully they will be adding more trash cans to combat the rampant litter problem.

1) Course has nice concrete tees (although #7 teepads and #9 long tees are missing because of construction).

2) Woodchips are used well to cover bare soil on most of the course.

3) Nice elevation changes on many of the holes (1, 2, 3, 4, and #8 long tee). Side slopes are used for a few baskets creating some possible rollaways and tougher putts.

4) Good variety of fairly open holes (5, 6, 8, 9) with a smattering of trees to avoid, balanced with the tight and technical holes of #3 (have fun trying to hit that opening for a chance at birdie), and #4 (Good luck missing all of those trees in the woods) and then the fairly open elevation holes of 1, 2. Uses the property very well, but it does look like they could stand to have some alt pins or move a few holes.

5) Baskets are in good shape

6) Disc golf is seperated from all the other amenities in this park. It looks like there are a lot of other things to do in the park it even has horseshoes!

7) Beginner friendly because it is pretty short. The short tees are easy enough, but the longs will challenge the beginner.

1) Tee signs are very minimalist and two of them are missing right now.

2) 2 concrete pads missing on #7 and #9 because of construction. This is only a temporary negative.

3) Erosion is a problem in a few spots. Some timbers or more mulch or some other sort of retention would be helpful in a few spots.

4) Trash is evident in many spots probably made worse by the construction and the opening up of the woods.

5) #8 and #9 are simplistic and boring, I hate to end on a bad note. I could see another hole using the ravine more down in the woods

This course will remain with me because it took me like 20 minutes of searching to find it and I had to be at Bryant Lake by 7:00 to play with a friend. I almost gave up and just went to Bryant but I am glad I ended up finding it. I step up without practice putting or anything throw my Spider (at 6:15 and barely any light yet) and bang into the chains for my second ace. My rating may be slightly influenced by the fact I got my second ace here and I will consider it, but I really do like the holes here. It is short but it has everything except water. It has some open holes, it has some technical tight holes, it has some great elevation changes.

Better than "decent typical" so I vote a 3. Nice elavation change. Mature trees. Couple quirky shots that make you throw something out of the ordinary.
Nice tees and baskets. Cool watching planes fly in and out.

Crowded, trash/ litter rampent often. Eroison in many places.

Decent course to play when Bryant is too crowded, but then again it too is crowded most nice days. Another good date course.

- Very convenient play most times
- Short course with enough challenge to be interesting, but still very beatable to an average player
- Fairways are well-mowed
- It is difficult to lose a disc here (in fact I have never seen it done in hundreds of rounds)

While an 18 hole course is always nice, I rather enjoy playing this course's 9. It's not very draining to play through and it allows a player to play several rounds and try different approaches to a certain hole. This is a GREAT course to learn on.

- Much vandalism and litter
- VERY crowded on nice days, expect to wait several minutes on a few holes.

Hole 3 is a long dogleg right into some woods - it's very gratifying if you can make it through the clearing.

Hole 4 can be a VERY frustrating hole.

ALSO: As of spring 2009 the course is under a lot of work. The city removed all of the trees along the south side (where the back holes come back along Pioneer Trail) which has removed a lot of shelter from the wind. They have also torn up a LOT of the land and removed the men's tees from holes 7 and 9. I am not sure what they are doing, but hopefully they are expanding as the course could VERY MUCH use more space.

Great opportunity to use a variety of shots, decent elevation changes.

Big arms will be disappointed as course lacks holes with any considerable length. This course has a lot of litter and vandalism apparent on man made structures.

This course would be far more appealing if they were to incorporate more holes around the lake itself.