Vermillion Community College is the home of a nice, but average pitch'n'putt course which has a reasonable mix of holes which utilize rolling hills and stands of small to medium trees. So you are playing pretty straightforward golf for several of the opening holes and then wham! hole seven really hits you out of nowhere. Double-dogleg which plays pretty close to a par four with trouble everywhere! I'd really love to talk with the course designer to understand where the inspiration for this hole came from, because it is a really striking (and cool) contrast to the rest of the course which are fun but unmemorable pitch'n'putt holes. Perhaps not the most well-designed hole, but still serves to make players think creatively about shot-making rather than the usual drive, putt, birdie routine.

In several places, the course weaves near buildings and other school property. With misguided throws or complete shanks, it is not out of the realm of possibility to hit one of the buildings or get stuck up on a roof. As I stated above, with the exception of a few holes, this is just an average pitch'n'putt which doesn't provide much of a challenge to experienced players. With the wide-open spaces that Ely is fortunate enough to have, it is kind of a surprise that at least a few new courses (either public or private) aren't sprouting up - my guess is that Vermillion is probably not played by all that many local residents and so word about disc golf hasn't traveled very far through the town, which is a shame because Ely could definitely benefit from having more positive activities for the local youth and families.

I'd agree with the previous reviewer in saying that if you are in town, Vermillion Community College is worth a look-see but otherwise, even the most seasoned course-bagger should probably look elsewhere in the heavily course-laden state of Minnesota because this course won't stand out in memory much more than another tally on the 'played' list.

Some interesting uphill shots.

Wind can be unpredictable, and changes once you get above the trees: on hole 7, the tendency is to blow well off course to the right into some off the densest, bug-filled thicket I've ever experienced. Hole 5 and 6 are essentially impossible to make in par without divinely-guided hammers.

If you are already in Ely, it's worth checking out. Otherwise, it's probably not worth the drive north with North Hibbing and Giant's Ridge so "close". If you make the drive from Duluth, however, you will be rewarded with a fairly spectacular drive, especially if you take Hwy 61 and split off at Two Harbors or Illgen City.