Veteran's Memorial Park reviews
14
0
PastorofMuppets
Silver level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience:
4.8 years
150 played
118 reviews
Course Under Construction
Reviewed:
Updated:
Played on:Mar 30, 2024
Played the course:once
Pros:
WHAT TO EXPECT: Beautiful park with a giant pond, artwork, sculptures, walking trails and plenty of things to help one enjoy some peace and quiet.
TEES/SIGNAGE/BASKETS: Tees are natural grass with no indication of which side of the tee sign to tee off from. No course sign, Holes that have tee signs have a simple ball golf style placard with hole # and distance. Oddly they list a Pro and Am distance but I didn't see alternate tee signs from long tees or alternate pin positions to indicate a long layout. Baskets are older yellow discatchers that were still in good shape.
DESIGN: Plenty of large mature hardwoods throughout the park that help shape some difficult to execute lines on this Par 3 course. Varying distances with multiple low ceiling shots and tight gaps. With the property available for disc golf use, the designer did an amazing job.
EXTRAS: Extremely well kept park. Freshly mowed, benches and trash cans throughout. For the holes still available for play, tough but fair design that varied in distance and shot shape.
TEES/SIGNAGE/BASKETS: Tees are natural grass with no indication of which side of the tee sign to tee off from. No course sign, Holes that have tee signs have a simple ball golf style placard with hole # and distance. Oddly they list a Pro and Am distance but I didn't see alternate tee signs from long tees or alternate pin positions to indicate a long layout. Baskets are older yellow discatchers that were still in good shape.
DESIGN: Plenty of large mature hardwoods throughout the park that help shape some difficult to execute lines on this Par 3 course. Varying distances with multiple low ceiling shots and tight gaps. With the property available for disc golf use, the designer did an amazing job.
EXTRAS: Extremely well kept park. Freshly mowed, benches and trash cans throughout. For the holes still available for play, tough but fair design that varied in distance and shot shape.
Cons:
COURSE UNDER CONSTRUCTION: This is a warning to anyone planning on playing here, a new Police Station was built on a portion of this property. It appears that the parking lot and building took several holes and they have not been replaced, added, or redesigned as of my playing the course. Holes #2 and #3 are completely gone with no tee pad/sign/basket. Holes #4 and #7 are missing a tee sign and tee pad location as a result as well, the baskets however are still in place but each would be a 100 foot hole if you were to tee off in the space remaining now after the police station construction.
NATURAL TEES: Minor con here as I don't mind natural tees, it would have just been nice to know by some indication which side of the tee sign the designer intended us to throw from.
UNUSED POTENTIAL: The course plays through a smaller disc golf dedication portion of the back of the park while avoiding the more picturesque pond and recreational area. While I'm sure this was intentional to avoid pedestrians as much as possible. It would have been nice (and might be possible in the future if the course gets a redesign) to have included a hole or two that features the pond.
NATURAL TEES: Minor con here as I don't mind natural tees, it would have just been nice to know by some indication which side of the tee sign the designer intended us to throw from.
UNUSED POTENTIAL: The course plays through a smaller disc golf dedication portion of the back of the park while avoiding the more picturesque pond and recreational area. While I'm sure this was intentional to avoid pedestrians as much as possible. It would have been nice (and might be possible in the future if the course gets a redesign) to have included a hole or two that features the pond.
Other Thoughts:
Really unfortunate that new construction gutted a large chunk of this course as I really would have enjoyed playing this course in its entirety. As is, the holes remaining are still fun and challenging, but in it's current state of 5 full playable holes, this course rates as passable. It would certainly rate much higher if all the original holes remained in my opinion.
11
0
Adequate Recreation Course 2+ years
Reviewed:
Played on:Sep 5, 2017
Played the course:once
Pros:
(1.256 Rating) A nice introductory course.
- BEGINNER FRIENDLY - Beginners and Rec players will like this course. No threat of losing a disc unless it gets lodged high in a tree. Fairway widths are generally wide and forgiving. Four holes are in the sub 250 foot range, so even newer players will get a look at birdie from time to time to keep things exciting.
- ACEABILITY - Several good looks aces on this course for skilled players. (1, 2, 7 and 8) are all fun light obstacle ace runs.
- QUICK PLAY - I had this one wrapped up in 30 minutes and I spent some recon time to find the next tee. Figure a group of four should play this one in about an hour.
- FORGIVENESS - Errant shots are not further punished and there is no overgrowth to be found.
- CHAINS - DISCatchers that are still looking good.
- MAINTENANCE - The grounds appear to be mowed weekly and it was very clean despite a lack of garbage cans along the layout.
- BEGINNER FRIENDLY - Beginners and Rec players will like this course. No threat of losing a disc unless it gets lodged high in a tree. Fairway widths are generally wide and forgiving. Four holes are in the sub 250 foot range, so even newer players will get a look at birdie from time to time to keep things exciting.
- ACEABILITY - Several good looks aces on this course for skilled players. (1, 2, 7 and 8) are all fun light obstacle ace runs.
- QUICK PLAY - I had this one wrapped up in 30 minutes and I spent some recon time to find the next tee. Figure a group of four should play this one in about an hour.
- FORGIVENESS - Errant shots are not further punished and there is no overgrowth to be found.
- CHAINS - DISCatchers that are still looking good.
- MAINTENANCE - The grounds appear to be mowed weekly and it was very clean despite a lack of garbage cans along the layout.
Cons:
Veteran's Memorial Park is lacking in a lot of key areas.
- UNIQUENESS - I played 13 courses on a trip from Florida to Wisconsin and I had this course at the bottom for variety. All the holes play though undefined fairways with a spattering of trees. There is no elevation or water features to consider. Other than maybe hole (9), none of the holes are exceedingly difficult. None of the holes are doglegs or have defined pockets. All of the holes play fairly straight. There are no par 4s or 5s and the longest hole is sub 400 feet.
- LACK OF CHALLENGE - Skilled players should be able to break par with ease. I could see advanced players shooting 5 or 6 down on a routine basis. Rec players should break par from time to time. I'll also add that for the most part, shot shaping is limited.
- MISSING SIGNAGE - Four holes had missing signs, making judging the hole distance to the basket on these holes a guessing game (2), (4), (6) and (9). Hopefully they'll be back in place for the next reviewer.
- NAVIGATION - In addition to the missing signs, figuring out where to go can be confusing. I walked to the wrong post several times due to no tee sign and just a faded sharpie mark on the hole post. I threw to the wrong basket on (5) as the signage that is here, is just a number and the distance.
- TEES - Natural tees with a concrete paver defining the front of the tee. A couple tees had sizable tree root protrusions making a wonderful tripping hazard. According to the tee signs that are in place, there is suppose to be a second tee, but I never stumbled upon a tee marker indicating as such.
- MULTI USE HAZARDS - Several walking paths parallel the hole fairways. I had to wait several minutes during my round for walkers to clear. Don't you just love it when they stop to check their phone by the basket.
- CHARACTER - Basically just nice baskets and natural tees. You won't see the amenities here like that of well established courses. No seating, no course map, no practice basket and no extra basket placements. There are nice shelters with picnic tables and I'm sure there's a restroom somewhere in the park.
- NATURAL BEAUTY - Nothing exotic about this park. As stated under the uniqueness con, no water or elevation features. The backdrop views comprise of park buildings and residential houses. The tree coverage in the park is light to moderate.
- UNIQUENESS - I played 13 courses on a trip from Florida to Wisconsin and I had this course at the bottom for variety. All the holes play though undefined fairways with a spattering of trees. There is no elevation or water features to consider. Other than maybe hole (9), none of the holes are exceedingly difficult. None of the holes are doglegs or have defined pockets. All of the holes play fairly straight. There are no par 4s or 5s and the longest hole is sub 400 feet.
- LACK OF CHALLENGE - Skilled players should be able to break par with ease. I could see advanced players shooting 5 or 6 down on a routine basis. Rec players should break par from time to time. I'll also add that for the most part, shot shaping is limited.
- MISSING SIGNAGE - Four holes had missing signs, making judging the hole distance to the basket on these holes a guessing game (2), (4), (6) and (9). Hopefully they'll be back in place for the next reviewer.
- NAVIGATION - In addition to the missing signs, figuring out where to go can be confusing. I walked to the wrong post several times due to no tee sign and just a faded sharpie mark on the hole post. I threw to the wrong basket on (5) as the signage that is here, is just a number and the distance.
- TEES - Natural tees with a concrete paver defining the front of the tee. A couple tees had sizable tree root protrusions making a wonderful tripping hazard. According to the tee signs that are in place, there is suppose to be a second tee, but I never stumbled upon a tee marker indicating as such.
- MULTI USE HAZARDS - Several walking paths parallel the hole fairways. I had to wait several minutes during my round for walkers to clear. Don't you just love it when they stop to check their phone by the basket.
- CHARACTER - Basically just nice baskets and natural tees. You won't see the amenities here like that of well established courses. No seating, no course map, no practice basket and no extra basket placements. There are nice shelters with picnic tables and I'm sure there's a restroom somewhere in the park.
- NATURAL BEAUTY - Nothing exotic about this park. As stated under the uniqueness con, no water or elevation features. The backdrop views comprise of park buildings and residential houses. The tree coverage in the park is light to moderate.
Other Thoughts:
The first course I ever played in Illinois. It was a good leg stretcher after a 3 hour drive. Only a 10 minute detour off of the interstate if you're looking for a quick pit stop course. This course is perfect for beginners and recreational players or for those looking for a laid back round. Players in town that have advanced beyond the recreation level will need to start looking elsewhere though, as the challenge here is limited. This course could impede continued development for those wanting to expand their game.
