(1.875 Rating) A basic reasonable park style niner.
- QUICK PLAY - I was running out of daylight when I arrived in Portland and I was wanting to bag as many courses as possible before sunset hit. I gotta say, Vance Park is an excellent course to choose when time is short. It's easy to follow, hard to get into trouble, and goes quick. I was in, out and on my way to Rockwood in 20 minutes.
- BASICS - The tees, baskets and signage makes this one a reasonable course to me. 4-foot by 10-foot concrete tees. Mach V baskets, I think, that are in good shape. The signage is bare bones being just a number, but the simple gameplay makes that aspect passable.
- BEGINNER FRIENDLY - I think the course will work great for newer players. Birdies can be carded on most holes by MA4 level players. Zero chance in having to search for one within the park boundaries. The lost disc potential is nil, unless one makes an epic grip lock error over the fence along the east park boundary.
- A SECOND COURSE NEAR BY - As noted in the review title, there is another course right down the street from here. One can literally tap out on (9) at Vance and walk over to tee (1) at Rockwood in 7-minutes. They are about a 1/3 of a mile apart.

The course comes up below average on just about every important category.
- SIMPLISTIC - I found the gameplay at Vance Park to be very lackluster. Generally a lightly wooded course with simple sub 300 foot shots. The course is also mostly flat and void of water features. Sure MA4s and perhaps MA3s may enjoy the care-free style here, but higher skilled players are going to be caught yawning.
- NATURAL BEAUTY - I found this aspect to be slightly below average. The park seems to be maintained well. It was mowed and free of excess trash and downed tree branches. Like many regional courses, there are large Douglas Firs and Western Cedars sprinkled throughout the course. It's a nice park and all, but it's nothing special.
- AMENITIES - Besides the concrete tees and baskets, there are no other course related amenities. Off the course there is a restroom and shelter, just like every small city park.
- NAVIGATION - As noted in my basics pro, the signage is just a number. Unfortunately, the number is flush with the ground. Thus if someone doesn't have an navigational app, they may end up heading to the wrong tee. However, the park is generally open. Thus no one is getting lost for an extended period of time.
- PARKING - Street parking only on 182nd. Lots of traffic on this road.

Vance Park was officially the first course I ever threw in Oregon. It shares a lot of qualities with its nearby neighbor Rockwood, and thus I have them in a near ratings tie. I asked several locals regarding their thoughts between the two and they all said the better one is dependent on who you ask. No reason for the destination pilgrim to head here. For baggers trying to tally as many courses as possible, I would say this is an ideal target since there is a second course within walking distance. I could see someone playing both in less than 45 minutes. Anyways, a solid 2.0 course to me. Besides Rockwood, it also reminds me of courses like Azalea in Tampa Bay, Ken Johnston in Huntsville Alabama, Donner Park south of Indianapolis, Calvert City Park near Paducah Kentucky, John C Poole north of Nashville, Portland Park near Chattanooga and Silver Lake Excalibur north of Seattle.

I love Vance! This was a fun one for me personally as I love Pier Park in Portland and this is just like a miniaturized version of that course. The trees were a really enjoyable obstacle and if they hadn't have been there it would of made this short course dull and boring. The designers did a really good job with the exception of hole number five which has the room to be moved back and made longer than it is. Navigation is as easy as it gets, just look for the next concrete tee pad and every basket is visible from the tee. This course has a very high fun factor even though it's not much of a challenge.

Not many cons other than not much of a challenge and really short. Like I said hole five has room to be moved back about 70 feet to make it more challenging and not such an open ace run hole but that is nit picking. No parking except for on the street and it's a bit of an ordeal finding hole one. There is still a chance of throwing over a couple of fences where you will not be able to retrieve your disc.

This was a fun experience for me and I would love to come back and play this again. Other reviewers commented on the tee pad for hole number nine, well they have moved that pad to a longer and more safe position, actually making it one of the longest holes on the course and keeping people away from climbing over and breaking a fence.

Beautiful park especially for a small city park, great big trees create a nice setting.
For a short pitch and putt course (average hole length ~250) it offers some challenging and unique shots.
Good tees and baskets.
Because it's a fairly used city park, it's kept up nicely.
because it's only 3 blocks from Rockwood, it's essentially an 18 hole course.
There's a great bi-weekly singles league on saturday mornings all through the winter.

No tee signs or course info, it can even be heard to find hole one at times, it's about 600 feet into the park.
Like most small city courses there's no real chance to air out big drives. (but for those with a serious craving they do have a large field.)
Layout is fairly simple, no blind shots, only one significant dog leg.
On nice weekends the park can get crowded with non-golfers, (expected at an urban park)

2018 Update: Unfortunately, this course underwent some design changes under safety concerns and while they may have helped in some regards, it's weakened the appeal of the course. Hole 5 was shortened considerably, as was hole 7, and the tee pad for hole 9 was made easier.

Vance is a great park, and because it's only 3 blocks from rockwood it makes a very fun 18 hole course that's a great tuneup for anyones short game. My only design complaint is that they could have thought out design a bit more and lengthened some of the holes 30 or 40 feet. I would say that if you live anywhere on the east side come and play Vance and Rockwood, if you're from out of town, you're probably better off playing some of the bigger more impressive courses like Pier or Milo or Dabney or Trojan.
Oh and if you live in Portland check out the Rockwood winter series, it's one of the rare leagues that meets in the winter, and brings out 50 or 60 people even if there's ice on the ground. There's usually a sign either at Vance or at Rockwood in the winter.

UPDATE: The shortening of hole 5 and hole 7 has forced me to drop my rating a half disc, as the course is now significantly easier.