Winona, MN

The Willows

2.375(based on 15 reviews)
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1 0
mstephens627
Experience: 14.8 years 23 played 9 reviews
2.50 star(s)

A walk in the Park 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 15, 2013 Played the course:once

Pros:

- Course map by parking lot
- Nice Baskets
- Concrete Tees
- Intuitive counterclockwise layout
concrete block at each tee
- Risk/reward water shots

Cons:

- Most distance plaques missing on signs
- Sometimes difficult to find the next tee
- Not enough separation between course, walking paths and other park activities
- Tees are a bit small, but suffice
- Some redundancy in hole layout, not enough diversity from hole to hole

Other Thoughts:

This is a nice course to play if you are in Winona. I recommend playing it, but just beware of other park users before throwing and play during off peak hours to enjoy it more. When I played it the course was not busy, but I needed to keep an eye out for walkers. Many holes come within close proximity to walking paths and one crosses a playground. Hole 2 is a fun short shot over the water, but risky for RHBH because a channel threatens to gobble up discs that pull or fade too far left. When I threw a LHBH shot on #4, I intentionally through wide to avoid the water and layup my shot, but my disc was a touch high and deflected off a tree and faded about 20 to 30 feet out into the lake. The lesson here is to keep your shot low on #4 to avoid this mishap. I did manage to retrieve my disc by wading in, however. The water got to be 2 1/2 feet deep or so FYI if you find yourself in the same situation. If you play this course later in the afternoon ir early evening, beware of people shorefishing, especially near basket #2 and the channel beside it. After playing about half of this course, the holes seemed redundant and too crammed together. Overall, this course is pretty good for what it is but suffers from a crowded layout and tight strip of land it occupies, and surrounding hazards. A more diverse and challenging 9-12 hole layout would make this course a better fit for its setting.
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2 0
notapro
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 20.8 years 569 played 284 reviews
2.50 star(s)

Beginner/Intermediate 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 25, 2012 Played the course:once

Pros:

- Course is set in a busy city park, with a lot of activity by other park-goers. There is a bike/walking path by many holes, benches, swings, etc. Definitely a chance for some interference, but it shouldn't more than waiting a minute here or there.
- There are sections of the course with trees to provide obstacles and force line shaping. #17 has a pretty dense collection of trees in the fairway, there are some low lines or a big line over the top. #18 has the typical RHBH hyzer line blocked off the tee, with trees before and left of the pin. #9's basket is behind/in four large trees, easiest path is a RHBH anny/flick shot. #5 has two rows of bushes to force a straight shot, while many others have trees off the tee or guarding the basket. Most holes are designed to have some obstacle somewhere.
- Water is in play on a few holes, like water carries over #2 and #4. It is possible to play it safe by going around on the land, otherwise it is a pretty simple RHBH hyzer line. Lake is also behind #7's basket, but not super close.
- Even though there isn't any forest, or wooded areas, on the course, the trees are used well to take away a lot of lines. There are many places where a hyzer is best, others where an anny or flick shot is best, and those where a straight shot is almost necessary. Guardian trees help add challenge to the pin positions as well. Nothing too crazy, but it keeps it interesting.
- Decent variety in hole lengths, though most of the holes are under 300'. #16 is a real bomber at 597', and #18 and #7 are on the longer side as well. Otherwise, a pretty good range between 250'-300', not bad for a smaller city park.
- Good concrete pads, baskets OK. Tee signs are almost all missing, which is too bad, as they were very high quality. Map is helpful since the tee signs are gone, but it's not totally necessary.

Cons:

- Land here is pretty much dead flat, there is zero elevation change except when shooting over a busy road that is slightly elevated. Definitely not good. #16's teepad, the bomber hole, is depressed in the ground which makes for a tough runup. So, what little up and down there is here, is a con.
- Some holes are very close to each other, like #3 and #12. Definitely want to keep an eye out for other golfers out here, in a few different spots.
- Even with all the trees scattered around, there are a lot of open shots here.

Other Thoughts:

- Well, for a busy city park, the course is actually pretty good. The design made good use of the available land to make things interesting or challenging, while providing different types of holes throughout. Just have to look out for pedestrians on the bike path, other disc golfers on some holes, and car traffic when playing next to the busy road. Good for beginners, as the water is avoidable, not terrible for more experienced players.
- Pretty scenery with wooded ridges behind the lake in the distance. Whatever that's worth.
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3 0
Tall__Paul
Experience: 2 played 2 reviews
2.50 star(s)

Nice Small Town Course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 13, 2009 Played the course:once

Pros:

Layed out nicely around a lake in the park

Cool rock signs with metal pictures of holes

Water Hazards on a couple holes

Plenty of shorter holes so ace/ easy birdies to be had

Cons:

The tee pads although concrete were very narrow and not long enough

You throw across a two lane road with decent traffic so you have to wait for the right moment and go for it. (was kind of fun actually made us laugh since we never had that experince)

In certain area of the course you walk with traffic on the side of you, could easily make a bad throw and land in traffic

Flat land through the park no elevation to challenge you

The traffic is all around this park, so you don't get the fun of being off in a quite wooded area like other courses

Other Thoughts:

Friend and I were in Winona for a wedding and wanted to try a few new courses in the area. This is a nice 18 hole course but nothing amazing and alot of the holes end up being a standard tee again and again. We enjoyed this course and for a small town course they did a nice job with the layout given the park space they could use
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