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Kimball, MN

Willow Creek Park

2.255(based on 2 reviews)
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mndiscg
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 15.9 years 483 played 478 reviews
2.50 star(s)

Small town DIY course

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 30, 2023 Played the course:once

Pros:

+Trees! I don't usually expect many trees in these small town, park style courses. There were a good number of them on most holes and they provided lots of challenges. One hole was very short but a V shaped tree framed the basket and tempted you to go right at it. A hyzer on one side or another is probably a better line.
+Elevation- It is bumpy and helps create some blind holes and fast greens.
+Signs- Both the tee signs and next tee signs are done well and are useful. Navigation was not an issue on this course.
+Baskets- Homemade but done very well. No issues there for me.
+Tees- Rubber mats were level and grippy. Seeing how they age could be an issue down the road but all good for now.
+Fun factor- I had fun here. It was just challenging enough for harder players but accessible for newer players. Ace runs are possible but not too likely on most holes so it would be a very rewarding ace.
+Other amenities in the park include a playground, portable bathroom, Veteran's Memorial, walking paths including boardwalk, and benches.
+The course shouldn't be busy in this small town and that should help to alleviate safety issues.
+There are a good variety of holes. Some finishing right, left, or straight. Up and down. Fast greens on a few. Blind holes on a few. Some as short as 120' and a few over 300' too.

Cons:

-I'm not going to go into the same detail as the previous reviewer on safety issues but- I agree. This course is in a pretty small area. I think they could move some baskets and tees just a little bit to alleviate some of these issues. Small changes could yield big safety gains. Moving two's basket to the right, away from the playground would help. Moving baskets away from the memorial would be good. Making 9 a bit shorter and to the right would help.
-Bugs! Mosquitoes and deer flies were aggressive today.
-The course is a bit on the short side overall. Another consequence of the small plot of land. I had fun here and I think most would but it would start to get old quickly for better players.
-Some thicker rough and tall grass which will hide discs. No unreasonable rough but it's there.

Other Thoughts:

+They did a solid job with what they had to work with. It would be nice if they worked on the safety issues for a bit. It would really improve the course.
+Nice and easy to find for a course bagger. It can be a quick play if you want it to be on the way to St Cloud or Clearwater or any of the other nice disc golf destinations in central MN.
+Just off MN-15. First hole is immediately to the right when you pull into the lot. The hole straight ahead is 3.
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11 0
Money_Shot
Silver level trusted reviewer
Experience: 20 years 127 played 39 reviews
2.00 star(s)

Safety is a Factor

Reviewed: Played on:Sep 1, 2022 Played the course:once

Pros:

Signs - Quality signs that gave you everything you needed to know about the hole including general landscape map, distances and pars.

Bathrooms - There was porta potty in the parking lot area in case it was needed, but this course is short and right in town so this would be more used out of desperation.

Clean - This is a park-style course, with decently mowed lawn and rare chances of throwing anywhere beyond the nice fairways. You can wear your good shoes out here.

Playground - There is a decent park for kids to play at if you bring the family while your throw.

Garbages - I believe I only saw a garbage at the beginning, but this course is so short there really is only a need for the one garbage. Anyone dropping garbage on the course out here is just a lazy slob.

Baskets - These were home made baskets, but I felt they were very well done. Caught well, had no issues on any of my putts.

-There were holes ending right, left and straight on. Allowed you to take out different discs so helps you work on your game.

-Elevation - Although there isn't a ton, there is just enough elevation out here for it to factor in the holes in a good way.

Cons:

Safety: This is the biggest concern for sure. As mentioned above there is a playground…..located circles edge hole 2. You are basically throwing your drive right at the playground on a rhbh anheiser. If your disc doesn't turn over properly, you are certainly going to give little Johnny a scare. Terrible placement of the basket. I like the hole, but this just can't be done, this playground is essentially just off the fairway and if there are kids on it, I wouldn't even feel comfortable throwing a shot as an experienced thrower.

-Hole #4's basket is 30 feet short of 2 benches for park goers to sit on and enjoy the scenery facing away from the basket. From the tee, you cannot see the basket or benches, so you are throwing a blind drive at a basket that if you throw it 30 feet long of the hole, will pepper an unsuspecting park goer in the head. Ridiculous placement decision.

-Hole #5s basket is a straight shot back at the tee pad for hole #4 and stops just 40 feet short of it with some bushes, but no doubt an overthrow on hole 5 could hit someone on the hole 4 pad.

Holes 8 & 9 utilize basically the same fairway. You throw up the slight hill on 8 and after finishing it you go to 9 and throw back down the same fairway. Basically, there cannot be a group on both holes and if there is they risk hitting each other.

Tee pads - were made of rubber which can get slippery when wet, but I didn't have any issue with that. The issue I did have was that some of the pads were placed on uneven, even lumpy ground and it resulted in some odd footing and the rubber pad was all lumpy and odd. Hole 2 is a great example of this.

Other Thoughts:

In summary, I really wasn't expect great, but was expecting better than what I got on this course. The design flaws resulting in tons of safety concerns are peppered all throughout these 9 holes. It just doesn't make sense and is hard to look past. Hole 2 is probably my favorite hole to throw on the course, yet its one that risks hitting little children playing on a playground. I mean its not like "well you would have to have a terrible throw etc…" No this is just simply a poor basket location resulting in a fairway the could be argued floats over the top of the playground. Anyone defending this line to the basket doesn't play much, just poor. I get it, space was tight and we had to fit 9 holes in, but plain and simple, throwing at children on a playground just crosses the line. I can get over some of the other safety risks to other "aware" disc golfers on the course if multiple groups are playing, but in general I shouldn't have to get over safety risks. Putting aside what I would call hole design flaws, the holes were moderately fun to throw. The course does offer some shots the end right and left and also does give some elevation work, but not drastic. It's a good course to give the locals something to get some quick practice on, but it's a course I will likely never play again even though its on a convenient line to St. Cloud for me. The course screams beginner and unfortunately they are the ones most likely to pepper little johnny in the face as he slides down the slide. If deciding whether to travel to this course, I wouldn't go much further than 15 minutes out of your way to get here and if you would have to, I would say save the gas.
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