- Simple navigation after you find hole 1
- Not many trees but the few in this section were used decently
- Being that this is the DFW area there has to be a creek
- Little mounds in front of the tee pad alter the way you throw
- Anyone can play the course, very accessible to newbies
- Seems like parking is less of an issue than it used to be

- Not much of a challenge for DG veterans
- Rusted, dilapidated baskets are not long for this world
- Dirt tee pads are worn, some are slightly dug in
- Trash is a lot for a college campus, does no one take pride in their school anymore?
- A few holes are very open

Overall not a bad lunchtime course, I've certainly played much worse. However there are no shortage of options in the area with bigger, more challenging, fabulous courses less than a 30 minute drive away so I can't imagine you would choose to play here unless you're a student. If you want to turn this into your home course during off hours you'll likely have it to yourself even on weekends.

Course on campus makes for a pleasant, extra-curricular diversion.
+ links-style golf with natural grasses and mounds
+ mowed fairways/pathways are both aesthetically pleasing and functional
+ fair use of terrain and natural obstacles
+ adequate space for simple layout

It's little more than a convenient excuse to cut class.
- pitch and putt course (appropriate for intended audience)
- dirt tee "areas" are rough and not well-defined
- tall grasses off fairways can be a nuisance to play through

INFO
This short course, funded by UTD Alumni to continue the 1970's Rites of Spring disc golf tradition, plays out and back in a simple loop on grassland between Armstrong Dr. and Cottonwood Creek in the southeast corner of campus. The first hole lies across the street from the parking lot south of Naveen Jindal School of Management. A covered patio and picnic table are stationed midway through the course, and a bridge across the creek near hole #1 provides access to the adjoining neighborhood (an alternate parking option).

EVAL
Often I've found a disc golf course at a college campus is little more than another bulleted item on a list of amenities/activities promoting the school to prospective students, especially when no thought or consideration is given to its design and placement. Texas Wesleyan's former course comes to mind with baskets placed haphazardly close to buildings on holes crossing crowded lawns and busy pathways.

Sometimes disc golf courses are installed on college campuses in a suitable location with foresight and purpose. However, that purpose is not to serve the disc golf community at large. Instead, it's meant to foster social/recreational opportunities for students usually new to the sport. Thus, these types of courses are generally short, beginner-friendly and... well, dull. Here, I'm reminded of the former course at Dallas Baptist with those custom tee signs which included quotes from scripture. That course was "playable" and shaded which sums up all the positives I recall.

On rare occasions, an actual disc golfer or perhaps a course designer convinces a college to allow them to design a good course on campus. Rarer still, that campus may even have attractive land available to do so. When those two stars align then it gets the attention of area disc golfers whose definition of coursework doesn't involve textbooks or study groups. I discovered just such a course on a recent trip to Iowa at Central College in Pella. DFW could use more higher caliber campus courses like that with the two area TCC courses offering a good start.

So which type of course is UT Dallas Alumni? While this course is distinctive with its defined fairways and mounds, it's still rather forgettable since it falls into the short and dull category. Most of the holes are pitch and putts around a short loop designed to accomodate novice players. A fairway driver may be of use once or twice. The course has personality but lacks real character. Like freshman year of college, this course doesn't seem as fun once one sobers up to focus on graduating toward higher pursuits. The blind tee shot over a mound in the fairway of the second hole is my favorite feature of this course because it presents as much a mental challenge as a physical one.

NOTE
The disc golf course shares space with one of four certified Monarch Waystations on UTD campus. These unmowed areas rich with pollinator friendly plants such as milkweed and native wildflowers support monarch butterflies during their transcontinental migration throughout the year.

LAYOUT
Play begins with short, straight ahead scrambles on holes #1-2 down mowed fairways and over small mounds (guarding the green on #1 and blocking sightlines in the fairway on #2). Holes #3-4 continue in the same direction and line up one after the other near a tree-lined creek that borders the course, dodging a few trees in the fairway along the way. Then hole #5 abruptly turns to throw away from the creek and into an open field. Holes #6-7 turn to loop back with short throws past trees. Hole #8 revisits the rest area it shares with hole #4 before heading off in the opposite direction. Final hole #9 starts near the roadway and finishes beside #2's fairway.

-- Navigation. Once you find, No. 1, you follow the mowed paths from hole to hole.
-- Baskets look worn, but they catch well.
-- Not a lot to work with, but the land and the few trees were well used. The knee-high (or higher) rough makes accuracy really important. The mowed fairways and paths from hole to hole look really nice, but the fairways are RIDICULOUSLY narrow, so you will miss a lot of fairways and spend a lot of time searching in waist-high thick grass for your discs.
-- There is a cool looking pavilion with benches at hole 8.
-- It's on campus, so if you're a student, you LOVE this.

-- Tee boxes are terrible. The holes aren't very long -- only one longer than 300 -- so you don't need a lot of run-up but using the tee boxes could be dangerous.
-- Parking. Playing during the summer, there were plenty of spots in a nearby lot, so I risked just parking. I'm not sure that would work during the school year.
-- Not much shade, no restroom and no water.

-- A hidden creek on the left side of the course can come into play. You might not notice it because of the trees, but your disc can definitely find its way there.

My three pros:

-I enjoy courses that have the 'fairways' mowed lower than the surrounding rough as it gives a ball golf feel and looks cool IMO. The fairways here at UTD were mowed nice and low while everything in between fairways was wildflowers and weeds from knee-high to chest high. Im not sure if the course looks this way during the winter and fall, which i assume is when the course photos were taken, but This course is unique in that it probably looks and plays pretty differently depending when the rough is so high. The rough was just high enough to make a fairway shot seem that much better and punish any errant shots with minutes of searching, providing some risk on otherwise safe holes...
-The flow of the course is intuitive and easy to follow, especially with mowed pathways between holes.
-There are decent signs, decent baskets, a buncha benches, several trashcans, and even a bridge to hole 1 from the neghborhood. There were probably more accomodations out at UTD than Ive seen at some full courses.

My three cons:

-PARKING- UGH driving through UTD brought me back to my college days of endless 'permit required' parking lots. My 1st time here I passed on the visitor pass route, didnt want to risk parking right next to the course due to permit only signs so i parked far away in a neighborhood, which also had no parking signs. Ive come back since and parked next to the course and just kept an eye on my car which is visible from most of the course and I havent had an issue yet.
-The rough is a nice feature that makes the course look cool but some areas are at disc eater level. It was easy to get overconfident, rip one a little wide and spend 5 minutes hunting. I felt lucky i didnt land in some patches of weeds b/c it would be a goner.
-As others mentioned the teepads are dirt patches that are rocky, uneven, short, slanted etc. - They're mostly not good. Concrete tees were the one thing the course was really lacking.

The other big comment that could be a pro or con is the hole length. Most holes seemed 200' or less with some trees here and there to add interest. I thought some holes seemed a little too short, but they are just right for a quick round between classes, after work or for beginners. The hole difficulty is somewhat helped or thwarted by the superduper rough, which would tear up any beginner or make the short holes a little more juicy for better players.
Overall I thought the course looked nice and was fun to play, but played a little too short, the parking is unsure and you will likey spend some time looking through the weeds.

EDIT - I bumped my score up half a star for a few reasons. The newly marked fairways are looking great. They're outlined in wildflowers that are just starting to grow in, and what you can see has been amazing. It now seems to have been groomed up nicely. The water has drained and it is playable again. Further improvements are coming very soon and I'll update with more later. Expect this course to be looking AWESOME for Fall golf 2015. That's all I'm sayin'

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I actually go to UTD so it is really awesome to have a course on campus. There's only so much complaining I can do when there's a course withing walking distance.

Short holes make for some reachable ace runs. However they keep it interesting with some good pin locations, behind or around trees to add challenge.

Just had many renovations with new signs, flowers, and few new trees.

A decent bit of variety makes for a solid practice course.

However also included in those renovations were god awful teeboxes. Even the dirt patch next to it is brutal. Whoever thought the small concrete square was good enough was wrong.

The creek and bushes can eat some discs and is pretty dense. Sometimes there are snakes and wasps to be found in there.

Very unkempt currently. Someone needs to mow hole number 5- it's pointless to play as the entire 250' field is three foot tall grass.

Decent for a course that is easy access, but actually very marginal. Teeboxes alone dock a star.

Good place to work out the "yips" or a new disc. If you have any kind of skill, 7 of the 9 holes will be "ace runs" for you. I liked the 3rd hole...it was the only challenging shot on the course. If you only have a few minutes to play, this is your course.

Tee boxes are awful. I wouldn't even use them.

Good beginner course. The design is easy to navigate and well thought. The holes are short and mostly open so advanced players will be aiming for birdie on all of them. It's pretty fun for a small beginner course.

Teeboxes are terrible. The holes aren't very long so you don't need much of a run-up but standing in the teeboxes is just awkward. I threw from behind them.

No real variety of shots. Just open looks with a few trees here and there.

This course is certainly not a DG destination but I would have been pretty happy to have a course like this when I was in college. It must be great to get a round in between classes.

Most experienced players will be bored here but it's a great place to bring new players where everyone can have a good time.

Like others, I parked in the close lot.


**Like this review? Hate it? Message me and let me know why! I want to make them better!**

This course now, uses some trees to make the holes somewhat interesting. This relatively flat location is 9 holes of "anyone can play here" expectations revealed. The use of the trees has given a couple of the holes some decent obstacles and considering the size of the area, the layout was actually thought through pretty well. Navigation here is a no brainer. The baskets are I good shape and there are some portable restrooms in the parking area. All and all, this is a good place to learn.

The parking option here is not the best. It's a long walk from the lot they give you to park in. These "tee boxes" are built like a wood enclosed sandboxes and they are not in good shape and not very long. They were supposed to have woodchips, but they are just pits now. These holes are almost too short to be enjoyable for most seasoned players.

The Fun Factor was a ho-hum. I enjoyed #3, but that was about it. There is nothing wrong with really short courses, except I would hate for first time players to think this is how tee boxes are for the sport. One more thought about the parking. The course took less than 20 minutes to play, so I figured I would be a gambling man and I just parked in the close lot.

All nine holes are birdiable which increases the fun factor, especially for new players.

The Texas sun will kill you on this course in the summer. They need to plant some trees.

The tee pads are made from landscaping timbers filled with mulch. The first problem is that they are 5' x 5' which is too short if you take steps when you throw. The second problem is that the mulch has an uncomfortable spongy feel.

Since it's on the campus of U.T. you have to check in at a gaurd-shack to get a parking pass and park where they tell you to, which is not the closest lot to tee pad #1.