Generally, I look at ball golf conversions and shared spaces with some degree of skepticism. Might be my limited arm. Might be the feeling we sometimes get that 'those guys' look at us as interlopers. But Sunset Hills had an amazing vibe at this year's Ledgestone Open. Tweaked a little bit since the pictures I see on DGCR were taken, this course now has beautifully landscaped tees made of either concrete or grippy rubber mat material. Obviously, compared to most disc golf courses, the grounds are pristine. With the longer hole distances (even from the short tees), I found myself wishing I'd learned to throw an accurate roller before coming to this event.

Played with tourney OB's (paths, bordered woods edges, sand traps, greens and ball golf tees, as well as ponds), I expected some difficulty staying under control on these holes, especially on a slightly breezy day. Even when you pay to play here, it poses the best challenge if you follow the tourney OB guidelines (and you absolutely never want to spike a disc anywhere near their greens anyway).

The DisCatcher baskets were mostly very visible (12 is hidden by the crest of the slope and the prairie grasses that define its island green, 13 is nicely guarded under a trio of trees, in the shade, and of course, 14 is far around the back of the mando/OB thicket), and the tournament signage was excellent. The only thing needed may be better 'next tee' signage for first timers, but if you're coming to enjoy this for a casual round, I'd suggest going big time and renting a golf cart. My buddy and his wife did, and they had a blast. If they weren't sure of a hole, they drove forward to scout it out before they threw!

But what makes the course design so good is that they've set up such a truly challenging and variety laden disc golf course out here. Big arms will like airing it out on the first hole, as well as working for the dream second to the green on hole 6 (over the pond). Precision upshot guys will enjoy hole 3's pin placement between three sand traps (after deciding the best line around the trees off the tee), and they'll especially like the approach and green on hole 17: it has nasty rollaway potential in a breeze-funneling bend after the open fairway. I liked the downhill pond-clearing chance on hole 4: depending on conditions, do you really go for it, or risk a duck splash?

Overall, this was a fun course, even for a mediocre arm like mine. Intermediate players and above will really have blast here

The course is pretty large, and without a cart, constitutes a considerable walk. In the heat of a humid summer, you'll need to pack some fluids in your bag. The ponds are kind of murky (even a little smelly down by 4 & 5). As mentioned before, I'm not sure if the traditional golf community is really ready yet to share space with disc golfers, but we'll have to see how that evolves (especially if groups of both sports are sharing the space at the same time - for the Ledgestone, they had to play a limited set of holes we weren't using, so there were no issues...for us).

This course is a great addition to a really nice area for disc golf courses. Peoria has done itself proud.

Reviewer Background as of this writing: played 281 courses and written 265 reviews, with skills hovering around a 900 rating, I started playing at 50 and am now 55. I don't throw far (300 footers feel like success), but am addicted to DG, and have played with folks ranging from age 7 to 87, so I try to write reviews helpful to all.