Pelican Park is a multi-use park with several fields , and a dog park which looks to be in use often . It also features an 18 hole disc golf course . There are signs to help direct you to the start of the course . Plenty of parking near hole #1 and there are bathrooms up near the skate park end .
THE EQUIPMENT - The tee pads are natural . They look to have been well used , which is a plus and a minus . The plus side shows you exactly where to tee off . The minus is that it can hold water . There is a kiosk with map close to hole #1 . The tee signs are good . This course features alternate pin changes from time to time . Blue is the shorter pin setting and Gold is the longer placements . There is a sign near hole #1 that will tell you which position it is in . This day , I played the Golds . There are also some good informative Next Tee signs to help with navigating this spread out course .
The baskets are older Mach 5 models , not numbered but still catch well .
THE TERRAIN - The course is almost parking-lot-flat . There are some holes with some trees to force you to pick a lane to throw through , like 3 and 10-13 , but it is set up more park-style . Open bomber holes dot the landscape . There are a couple of spots where water comes into play . a kind of runoff near hole 5 , and a drive across a couple of creek holes in the back of the course . Some good basket placements make the course more enjoyable . Some sand will greet you here and there .The grass was cut , but some outer edges of the back part of the course could use some clearing .The course isn't an eyesore , by any means , but there is also no natural beauty to it , either .
THE HIGHLIGHTS - There were no memorable holes for me , but that doesn't mean that there weren't good holes . #3 is a 609' hole that starts in the open and drags you through a series of low hanging trees . There are some open lanes to throw into , but the park is windy and combined with the trees , will make this a challenging hole . #4 ( 444' ) was wide open until the end , with a nice basket placement in the brush and up a small hill . #11 ( 432' ) is a drive through the trees with both left and right handed lanes that tighten up near the basket . Hole #16 ( 360' ) starts in the open , but the basket is protected by a fir tree line and a few random trees . The wind will make some of these come into play . #18 is a good finishing hole ( 512' ) Low hanging trees that stand in the fairway have branches that will swat a good drive down . If you can get a good drive off and away from some of the branches , you will have a look at the basket , which has a more open green .
THE TIME - It took me about 70 minutes to play the course . Foursomes grasping the course will finish in a little over 2 hours , depending on whether the pins are set in the Blue or Gold positions .
DISC RISK - Disc risk is low if you avoid the water on 5 , and some of the brush near 15-16 . A tree could hang your driver up , but that could be said with most courses .
The course gets play , so I am thinking that the parks department at least keeps up with a lot of the maintenance .

There are some concerns with the course .
#1 Safety - a lot is going on in the park , and some of the holes play long . wind + length = possible bad day for Someone . Exercise caution when playing here in prime time .
#2 EQUIPMENT - I am not a fan of worn natural pads , but I can't stand it when the pads have roots running through them . Since the course is using natural tees anyway , how about moving the ones affected by the roots backwards , forwards , or to the side .
#3 HOLE #2 . I don't know if the storms from the previous week were most of the contributing factor , but there was some deep looking water in front of and flanking the #2 basket . Add the fact the the other side has a little reservoir filled with water , and you had one strip of lengthwise dry land to shoot for . I never saw someone attempt a Driver Suicide by unleashing a throw towards this hole . I might rethink placing this hole somewhere else
#4 NAVIGATION - Even with the NEXT TEE signs , this course can be hard to follow . After finishing 3 , you can immediately see the sign for #7 , but #4 is across the road . The movement from #13 to walking across the road and over a bridge to the #14 tee will mess you up . Make sure you take a picture of the kiosk or print the online DGR map . It will save you time .
#5 LONG WALKS - There are going to be long walks during your round . 3-4 , 6-7 , 9-10 , 13-14 , and the notorious walk from the 18 basket to the parking lot . Bring water .
Wind can be a pro or a con to many . It will get windy .
It can't be helped , but the course is very flat .

This course was just what Eastern Louisiana and Mandeville needed . Course designers Josh Edwards and Mike Kernan didn't have an exclusive part of the park to feature , so they had to improvise , and make a course that winds through many of the park uses ( They did a good job ) . Will the course ever blow you away ? No , but it will give you a chance to test yourself with a course less than an hour from New Orleans . I think the park should consider either making a 2 pin per hole or a 2 tee pad per hole change . The pads would be easier and less expensive and keep everyone happy . Make sure you take a look at the NO team Facebook page along with the park page to see if your round coincides with any doubles or single league play , or a tournament .
MY RECOMMENDATION - A good play for the locals and even newbies or families , especially when in the Blue positions . Travelers and course baggers will like that it is a course just off of I-12 and US 190 , making it a good stop on the way from/to New Orleans . There are enough long holes in the Gold positions to keep it interesting enough for the intermediates , and practice for the pros . Don't go too far out of your way to play here if not a local , but it IS WORTH A TRY . !

This is a course built primarily on long open holes. It would be pretty hard to lose a disc.

This course is easy to find, in a friendly park with many people around.

There a few holes with some trees around that make you be a little creative, and one that goes by a dog park. Super plus.

With a few exceptions, this course is pretty easy to navigate

Gets pretty repetitive in the long position with many open holes with only a few obstacles. If you're rated 1000+ you shouldn't have a problem making par on most of these, but for us locals the average stats on each hole can speak for themselves.

Navigating this course can be pretty difficult in a couple of places, if you don't take a picture of the map with you, and reference it. There are some looong walks between holes: 6 to 7, 9 to 10, and 18 back to the starting point are the longest. Hole 13 to 14 is about a 60 yard walk across a street and over a bridge, with no sign, and it is a much shorter walk.

The teepads are worn dirt, and this park doesn't drain very well. So even if you find a dry place to throw from, you'll probably be walking through the mud on most fairways.

In the long position, there are 7 par 3's that are over 400ft long, with some woods in the way, and no clear fairway on a couple of those. (see adv stats of holes 8, 12, and 14) So not a beginner course. Try and come out when the baskets are in the blue position for some more manageable beginner holes, or some ace runs for intermediate, but still a couple challenging par 3s.

First off, I should say that this course really needs two different reviews for the blue baskets and the gold baskets. The two positions change the holes enough to make this a completely different course. This rating is based on the park and course overall. It would be really easy to rate these courses separately though.

This course is built for big arms, and needs second tee-pads to be more accessible to players without big throwing strength (400ft plus), or even another technical course in the area to compliment it. (This goes double when the baskets are in the gold position) With a few trees added in around the blue positions, and some concrete tee-pads, this course could easily be a 3.5-4 disc course.

I think just moving some of the tee pads as little as 6 ft to avoid roots, or sometimes just to line up an alley to better match the flight of a disc, would also improve the course. As it is right now, the growth of the foliage in the course, and some of the changes to the land the park has made, makes it a different course than it even was 5 years ago when some of these reviews were written (or at least, when the pictures were taken).

If you're driving by on I-12, don't expect it to be a quick stop. If you're in New Orleans, there are at least 3 better courses in the area for you to try out. And Parc des Familles is a MUST play!

EDIT 7/14/2018: This was my first review, and as I'm sure those of you who have been playing a while, as my course experience has expanded, so have my standards. After playing many more courses, and truly top-notch courses across the country, I'm changing my review from a 3 to a 2.5 not because I think it's gotten worse, but to more accurately reflect it's position calibrated on a broader experience.

The Pines DGC is located in Pelican Park which is a very, very multi purpose park. There were a lot of activities going on this Sunday afternoon. The dog park was loaded. The soccer fields were busy. There was a lacrosse practice happening. Compared to these, the disc golf course was relatively quiet.

There was a sign announcing that the gold course will be played today. I thought the wording was a little strange. There is a course rules sign. The tee signs are nice and large, giving all the usual information. The tee pads are natural and not always the best. The baskets are DGA models but don't have a number. A number would have helped me out there today. There are some signs helping to point out the next tee. They were most helpful.

From the golds, the course is intermediate long with only two holes in the 200' range, seven in the 300' range, seven in the 400' range, # 18 at 572' and # 3 at 609'. Although long, recreational players can Play this course without much fear. There is no water, no hills and little brush to deal with. It's a fairly comfortable course to drag yourself around on.

I'm going to agree with previous reviewers on two important points. There are some nice, pedestrian type holes but none that stand out as special or beautiful or fun, or even, extra challenging.

I think there is a nice mix of open, tunnels and technical holes with some tight lines through the trees.
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The course is flat.

Natural pads are filled with roots and would be slippery when wet.

A couple of open holes were average and mostly, boring.

No standout holes.

The way the course is set up, playing from the golds is long and too dependent on having a big arm. Rec players won't much enjoy a round from the golds. Having two tee pads would remedy this.

A course with sub-standard tee pads, total flatness and no "wow" holes is not close to getting a 3.5 rating from me. Those 3.5 rated courses have more going for them than length. They usually entail some elevation, beauty and some great holes to earn a lofty 3.5 rating. I enjoyed my round here but wouldn't necessarily be interested in returning. Maybe to participate in a league or tournament of some kind but doubtful to return for any casual rounds.