West Lake Park reviews
13
0
Could be a ton of fun for advanced players (if the conditions are right) 2+ years
Reviewed:
Played on:Jun 17, 2018
Played the course:2-4 times
Pros:
-It's a long and difficult course. 24 holes alone would be enough to scare off most casual players, but it's also something like 2 miles of total distance. That's without counting the often times considerable distance between holes. I count this as a pro because this is the main draw of the course, and it sets the course apart from anything else I've played in this part of the country.
-Multiple tees on most holes. A few holes (like #2, more on that below) have only one tee, but generally each hole will have a pro tee that is 30-50% longer than the amateur tee but otherwise plays the exact same.
-There's a good variety of distance shots and technical shots. It's definitely not just about throwing far. Having the ability to control your disc and manage the course will get you further than pure open field distance.
-The park is beautiful, and you could have a lot of fun here even if you weren't disc golfing. That makes the long hike across the course much more enjoyable, so the length of the course doesn't really get on your nerves.
-Multiple tees on most holes. A few holes (like #2, more on that below) have only one tee, but generally each hole will have a pro tee that is 30-50% longer than the amateur tee but otherwise plays the exact same.
-There's a good variety of distance shots and technical shots. It's definitely not just about throwing far. Having the ability to control your disc and manage the course will get you further than pure open field distance.
-The park is beautiful, and you could have a lot of fun here even if you weren't disc golfing. That makes the long hike across the course much more enjoyable, so the length of the course doesn't really get on your nerves.
Cons:
-There's only one way to play most holes, and if you try to get creative then you can very easily end up in extremely thick vegetation or in deep lake water for your trouble. It would be nice if there were alternate routes on some of the holes, or if the amateur tees had different lines to hit than the pro tees. As it is there's no real reason to play through twice to play the different tees because it's pretty much the same experience.
-Speaking of the thick vegetation, the course seems to have become considerably more overgrown since it was put in. While they mow the fairways consistently, the vegetation just off the fairway seemed to have grown in since the last time I played it, and it's made a number of lines quite a bit tighter than they used to be.
-The course seems specially designed to punish right handed backhand throwers. Left handed players and forehand dominant right handed throwers will score better on this course, because a disproportionate number of the holes seem to finish right as a way to increase the difficulty of the course.
-The bugs are terrible in summer. While they seem to spray for mosquitoes, the gnats and flies were pretty bad when I played. It's more of an annoyance than anything else, but it does detract from the recreational value of the course. I highly recommend going in early spring or late fall if you want to get the most out of this course, especially because there will be less non disc golfers around at that time.
-There are a ton of people using the park for activities other than disc golf. Enjoy throwing over a volleyball field on hole #15. You better hope no one is playing volleyball when you show up to play disc golf, or else you can't play the best hole on the course.
-The water hazards make this course extremely unfriendly to rec level players. Hole #2 has NO AMATEUR TEE, and your only choice is to throw across the corner of the lake into a window cut in the trees. If you miss the window, you lose your disc. Simple as that. I tried going in and grabbing my disc that fell less than 10 feet away from the shoreline after clipping a branch, but the water gets deep fast, and the stones that the parks department puts on the shoreline make it virtually impossible to wade in more than a couple feet to get a disc.
-Speaking of water hazards, there are also a number of holes where the basket is placed on a slope next to the water, and any throw that lands on edge near the basket could easily filter down to the water. If you want to score well you have to be willing to risk your discs, otherwise you're just going to be laying up on all these holes to avoid the possibility of your disc rolling straight into the drink.
-Speaking of the thick vegetation, the course seems to have become considerably more overgrown since it was put in. While they mow the fairways consistently, the vegetation just off the fairway seemed to have grown in since the last time I played it, and it's made a number of lines quite a bit tighter than they used to be.
-The course seems specially designed to punish right handed backhand throwers. Left handed players and forehand dominant right handed throwers will score better on this course, because a disproportionate number of the holes seem to finish right as a way to increase the difficulty of the course.
-The bugs are terrible in summer. While they seem to spray for mosquitoes, the gnats and flies were pretty bad when I played. It's more of an annoyance than anything else, but it does detract from the recreational value of the course. I highly recommend going in early spring or late fall if you want to get the most out of this course, especially because there will be less non disc golfers around at that time.
-There are a ton of people using the park for activities other than disc golf. Enjoy throwing over a volleyball field on hole #15. You better hope no one is playing volleyball when you show up to play disc golf, or else you can't play the best hole on the course.
-The water hazards make this course extremely unfriendly to rec level players. Hole #2 has NO AMATEUR TEE, and your only choice is to throw across the corner of the lake into a window cut in the trees. If you miss the window, you lose your disc. Simple as that. I tried going in and grabbing my disc that fell less than 10 feet away from the shoreline after clipping a branch, but the water gets deep fast, and the stones that the parks department puts on the shoreline make it virtually impossible to wade in more than a couple feet to get a disc.
-Speaking of water hazards, there are also a number of holes where the basket is placed on a slope next to the water, and any throw that lands on edge near the basket could easily filter down to the water. If you want to score well you have to be willing to risk your discs, otherwise you're just going to be laying up on all these holes to avoid the possibility of your disc rolling straight into the drink.
Other Thoughts:
If you think all the other courses around Davenport are too easy, then this course might satisfy you. Just don't bring your girlfriend, kids, parents, etc. along with you to play this course, because new players will NOT enjoy this course. This is a course for serious disc golfers who want to be challenged, and for that purpose it definitely succeeds. It's just a shame that it's so hard to enjoy this course most of the time because of the water hazards being so aggressive, the rough being so thick, and the park being so crowded. At the right time of year, for the right player, this could be the best course in several hundred miles. For everyone else, this course is just a little too much to chew.
6
2
porchmike
Experience:
21.2 years
34 played
19 reviews
rrrrough! 2+ years
Reviewed:
Updated:
Played on:Jul 22, 2012
Played the course:once
Pros:
great, difficult shots- lots of variety and serious risk/reward- go for long hero drives on many of these holes at great peril of losing your disc!
scenic views in the park on the summer evening i was there.
scenic views in the park on the summer evening i was there.
Cons:
the tee signs are beautiful, but given the odd layout of the course, i'm very surprised that they don't point towards the next tees.
course plays near picnic tables on several holes, and since some of the pins are blind, you need to walk ahead and check for pedestrians to avoid hitting people- i had a sick drive on 2 that landed 10 ft from the pin, and also 10 ft from a couple making out on the lakeshore. woops
the rough was too rough for me to really enjoy myself- i was able to keep my disc out of the water, which i was very happy about, but on all the holes near the woods, the forest/prairie grass was so thick that shots which went in there were nearly impossible to find. losing discs or having to spend unreasonably long amounts of time to find them sucks all the fun out of the game for me, especially when it's not my fault: 10 feet off the fairway should not be an hour of searching or a lost disc... also, just in general, the course is super difficult, but not really in a fun way. It's more like difficult in a punishing way with way too many unnecessary opportunities to lose a disc in the water, like baskets on slopes mere feet from the water and things like that. I would say for a casual solo round, it's basically no fun at all.
course plays near picnic tables on several holes, and since some of the pins are blind, you need to walk ahead and check for pedestrians to avoid hitting people- i had a sick drive on 2 that landed 10 ft from the pin, and also 10 ft from a couple making out on the lakeshore. woops
the rough was too rough for me to really enjoy myself- i was able to keep my disc out of the water, which i was very happy about, but on all the holes near the woods, the forest/prairie grass was so thick that shots which went in there were nearly impossible to find. losing discs or having to spend unreasonably long amounts of time to find them sucks all the fun out of the game for me, especially when it's not my fault: 10 feet off the fairway should not be an hour of searching or a lost disc... also, just in general, the course is super difficult, but not really in a fun way. It's more like difficult in a punishing way with way too many unnecessary opportunities to lose a disc in the water, like baskets on slopes mere feet from the water and things like that. I would say for a casual solo round, it's basically no fun at all.
Other Thoughts:
this is a nice, well maintained park that i imagine has the resources to do some clearing of the woods to make this course more user- friendly- the course is way challenging enough without the disc-eating rough. for now, i imagine late winter/early spring being the best time to play here.
