It's a short course. It's a perfect course to practice your mid-range throws if you're at least an intermediate or advanced player. It will make an easy and quick round when you're playing the course when it's not busy.

Ever since they went with all 18 baskets, we all can play true round of disc golf as opposed to having to play 9 holes twice in the past. There's good amount of variety of shot selections for a short course.

The location is perfect for casual players who are looking to hit the town after a round. Down the street from the course is several restaurants that you can get drinks or grub. There's always the famous Barton Springs Pool that you can cool off after a round if it's particularly a hot day.

The problems with this course are going to be a bit obvious to some people who have played this course before.

First of all, it can get very crowded, and it can get very tedious trying to get a round in with the casual players who may not know the basic etiquettes or have the decency to let people play through.

The second problem is that, even though there's "new" stone benches, the signage seemed to be an afterthought. They were never installed, so visitors from out of town will be confused about the navigation or about where the first hole is. The baskets are fairly old, so some of you may not enjoy that as well.

It can get boring for the most advanced players unless they're looking for ace runs. That's something to keep in mind, because the Austin area certainly have other courses that can give better challenges to the more experienced players.

I gave this course a score of three. I think it is a good course for what it is, and nothing less. It's certainly better suited for the more casual players who are learning the game of disc golf. It's the reason why it's so popular along with it's proximity to downtown and the Barton Springs Pool.

I come here a lot during the week and during early mornings on the weekend. I usually only bring mid-ranges and maybe couple of fairway drivers. I've come to enjoy this course because it really helped me improve my throwing skills with mid-range discs.

For you who are more advanced, it may be a better idea to find other courses in the area as Zilker will not give you the ultimate experience, especially with the weekend crowds.

-classic course that offers good shot variety and options
-great for beginners to learn on and great for pros to sure up and practice their game
-leagues and minis run 2x week nearly all yr
-excellent course for improving and developing your game

-removal of dead trees making course just a little easier, not really a big deal though, just a few key trees
-some conflicting tee boxes meaning you have an uphill shot and the box slants downhill or vise versa
-muddy after a rain in areas

fairly easy, but fun course, quick 18 holes mostly short but offers a few good 350+ holes, front 9 a little shorter and more open with the back being longer and offering a little tighter lines with more trees in play and a mando. awesome course for working on your game, ex. using putters and mids on the holes 250 and less with annies, hyzers, flat straight shots, etc. all good for accuracy and shot variety development=main reason i give it a 4 instead of a 3 or 3.5, really changed my game when i learned how to control putters and mids at 150-300 range at this course.

Tucked in one of the best parks in central Austin

Crowded, particularly on weekends

I know a lot of more accomplished players dismiss this course, and honestly it is for all intents the equivalent of a pitch 'n putt for stick golfers.

That said, I wish I had a course close by here in Seattle like this one. This is a great course to learn on and, for me, to simply focus on building shot consistency. It's short enough and open enough to lower the frustration level, yet enough obstacles so make you think about your shots.

The course is located in Zilker Park, the home of the Austin City Limits music festival. There are lots of other activities in the park and the people watching is good fun.

The course is not too hard for beginners, provides a decent white level challenge and is still fun for more advanced players. Most of the holes are ace-runs, so it's fun in that department.

The navigation is horrible. The tees aren't marked and the back nine, particularly, is very frustrating to play for the first time without a guide.

The baskets aren't all the same, with some double chain models and some single chain, many of which are pretty beat up. Tee pads are inconsistent with some being very nice and some horrible.

Although the park itself is quite nice, the course still has a fair amount of trash.

The rating reflects:
Average course = 2.5
Lack of challenge = -.5
Poor navigation = -.5

Be sure to print a map or play with a local. Please pick up some trash as you play.

Although the course isn't that great, a day spent enjoying Zilker Park with lunch or dinner at a nearby local restaurant is a day well spent.

-very nice tee pads, and some unique tees later in the round
-holes are short and fun to play
-most holes are birdie holes
-easy to find your way around
-front 9 and back 9 are completely different therefore you get two different types of disc golf
-good mix of left and right, and straight shots

-park is extremely crowded
-hard to find a place to park
-if you can throw a putter or midrange well then you probably won't even grab a driver the whole round
-lots of people playing makes game slow sometimes
-baskets are old and need to be replaced

I would rate this course much much higher if they would mark the holes some how, there are very nice stones at every hole, however they must be marked somehow!!!

Really you get 2 separate courses with different character, one side of the street is short and the other side longer holes. Fun ,easy to play, doesn't require a lot of discs or experience. popular, easy to pick up a game. convenient location, quick rounds.

can get crowded, sometimes large groups slow up the curse, but nothing is too bad a the holes are short. course terrain is very worn down and flat, this course gets used. parking can sometimes be inconvenient, if all else fails park under the Mo- Pac bridge across the street.

I always considered this course to be like the municipal disc golf course, it gets very heavy use and is in a great location. the fun factor is defiantly there for this course, and it's a quick fun round that wont challenge you too much. Terrain wise its a dog track golf course, but defiantly get to this one as it is a great round where you'll enjoy yourself.

Zilker is a great place to bring beginners as there are very few long holes. Many birdie opportunities if you can accurately throw 250-300ft drives, especially on the front 9. The course is generally very forgiving, allowing you to recover from a bad drive with a well placed second throw. There are only a few holes where you might get stuck in the woods and they are all on the front 9.

It is also mostly flat with a few hills, so it is a great place to bring the family. I have brought my kids in the stroller along with me and have no problems getting around.

Difficult to navigate if you haven't played it before. Some of the holes are close to each other so beware of stray throws -- and try not to throw any yourself.

I love this course but work very close to it so I often play a round over my lunch break. Even with a group of 2 or 3 we can still finish in about an hour. If there are large groups in front of you, it's quite easy to skip ahead on the back 9.

Note that they charge $5 for parking on weekends, holidays, and special events (as of April 2012). You can park on the west side of Mopac (there is a little picnic area on the south side of Rollingwood Dr) and walk under the bridge if you don't want to pay. I have heard that parking under the bridge is no longer allowed and can result in getting your car towed.

One final note, this site seems to label the course as two 9 hole courses, but it was redone a few years ago and is now labeled as a full 18. So the "south" course is the front 9 and the "north" course is the back 9.

Short but sweet, Zilker Park is one of those old school courses without a lot of bells and whistles but overflowing with character and charm. Despite its lack of length, every hole seems to be tucked into just the right nook or cranny to maximize the difficulty. The challenges mostly come from trees in the fairway blocking the direct route to the basket or trees off the fairway with very low overhanging canopies. Experienced players will have lots of birdie opportunities, but they will have to carefully place their drives to do so. Novice players and even families with kids will have a blast because there aren't any hazards that will lead to frustration. The tee pads are concrete, huge, and have concrete blocks that serve as benches and concrete markers that serve as tee signs. The concrete makes navigation a snap since you can easily spot the next tee from afar, and the orientation of the blocks leave no doubt to the direction to the basket. This is a very nice touch and seems to be a staple of the Austin area courses. The terrain is mostly flat, even though the few gentle hills factor in beautifully.

There is no signage and finding the first tee pad can be tricky without a map. The crowds on the course forced my twosome to jump around to avoid long backups caused by groups of six or more. Because the layout is so tight, this was actually pretty easy to do. The tight layout did cause some stray drives to come dangerously close to us. The baskets on the north course (see below) are really showing their age and I had some trouble with them not catching well. The navigation from 4 to 5 on the south course (see below) is not marked and there are two trails--the one to the left leads to the next tee while the one to the right leads to, well, we never found out. Take the trail to the left. Other than roads that are OB, there are not a lot of hazards to increase the level of difficulty.

Zilker Park actually has two separate nine hole courses (north and south) that make up the entire 18 hole course. It appears the south course is intended to play as 1-9, then the north course plays as 10-18. The south course appears to be the newer of the two, although both are quite mature and have aged well. The park itself is the centerpiece of Austin recreation and is maintained meticulously. If there was even a spot of trash on the ground, I never saw it. The park is easily accessible from the Mo-Pac freeway and all downtown surface streets, and there is plenty of parking on-site and under the freeway underpasses. There are many food offerings in the surrounding neighborhoods that are off the chart. While there are other more championship caliber courses around town, I chose Zilker Park as my first Austin course and was glad I did. It is a great introduction to the Austin disc golf scene and is sure to be enjoyed by many.

a very well and maintained course. The course has a good balance of lefts and rights.

Can get a little crowded on the weekends, but if you go during the day on a weekday, it is really nice!

This is the very first course I ever played, and got me into this wonderful sport! It holds a very dear place in my heart! lol I love this place and it is not too difficult for beginners yet is very fun for more advanced and skilled players. Definitely a great place to play in the Austin area.

Nice open layout
Concrete pads and stone benches
Well maintained course
Good mix of lefts and rights and elevation chages
Fun and well layed out course, not overly difficult, but still challenging

The park can be crowded and at times you may have to pay for parking

A fun course for players of all levels, alot of long open shots with some nice technical shots mixed in. A Beautiful Park in the heart of ATX!!

Can be very busy on the weekends and theres a park fee (Saturdays and Sundays only).

Zilker Park DGC is a very fun and a moderatley challenging course that is great for all levels of player. The front 9 is shorter and somewhat technical. The back 9 is longer and shots must be thought out well to be succsecful (big trees). The best thing about Zilker for me is that it's "FUN and Short" I can play a solo round at Zilker in less than an hour if I need a quick fix. Perfect for busy people who can't get enough. Zilker is also a great confidence builder. The holes are fun, challenging, but Not Impossible. The perfect course to get your "groove back".

Very nice concrete tee boxes on all 18 holes. Easy to navigate, especially if you have a map. Fun holes, one where you throw from behind an old outdoor amphiteatre. Catchers in good shape. Easy, fun, and fast play through.

Road traffic can get annoying. Huge groups of new players everywhere get annoying fast. No tee signs at all.

You can do most of the holes with just a mid range if you wanted to. Parking is free unless you park near barton springs.

Mostly open holes making the course beginner friendly. They now have concrete tees on all holes. They also have large stone blocks at each tee for those waiting to throw to sit on. The few wooded hole didn't have tons of underbrush so very hard to lose a disc here. Friendly locals. Some of the tees where very large giving you freedom in how you tee off.

No Tee signs though one of the people I talked to who was part of the Worlds Biggest Disc Golf Weekend Event( WBDGW.com ) said tee signs would be in soon. Some of the holes are just to close for my comfort. I am not comfortable having disc shoot by with in 20 feet of me. This wasn't because I had thrown bad or the other people had it is just that some of the baskets and fairways are very close to each other. There may have been more trees in the past that helped prevent this. They are having a drought and you can see where trees have died off and they had to cut them down.

I really enjoyed attending the WBDGW event. Everyone was friendly.
This course is very beginner friendly. Easy to see most baskets from the tees. No overly long holes, no thing I have learned is beginners hate throwing 10 times on just one hole cause of how long it is. Little or no underbrush makes recovering from a bad throw easy. I will defiantly be bring my in-laws who are very much beginners to play here the next time I am in town. Layout if cart/stroller friendly. Saw people pushing baby strollers around the course. Saw a few dogs. Not sure if the park rules allow for off leash or not.

1) One of the most unique tee areas I have ever seen on a course. If it wasn't raining miserably when I played here I would have taken a picture, but you literally seem to br throwing a tee shot from the alter of an old outdoor church. Holy Lord bless this drive!

2) Beginner friendly course because it is fairly open. There is a little bit of challenge on a few of the holes, but it is still pretty simple.

3) I am sure this place is crowded which I actually consider a positive . . . not because I want a crowd, but because I want this course to absorb a lot of people so the other courses in Austin are less crowded. DISCLAIMER: This does not mean this is a good course or one I would return to offten!

4) Teepads on the other nine are nice. They are kindof hexagonal and really allow you to take any angle of approach you want on each hole.

5) The technical holes on this course are fun. There are some shots you need to bring to the table which is always nice.

1) One of the nines the tees are dirt and mud not even grass and dirt. These are some of the worst tees I have ever encountered.

2) There is nothing that indicates where the tees are or what tee you are standing on. This is a really old course so I assume this is because they do not expect outsiders coming to their course. Little did they know one of the top 25 traveled DGCR users was staying 4 miles away! You gotta be prepared.

3) Lots of picnic tables set in the middle of the course. This could be a positive for those picnicking but a negative for those trying to play their disc golf rounds as I am sure there would be kids running around.

4) Old discatcher baskets have rusty chains and definitely have seen better days.

5) The turf out here is really in rough shape. This is fo rsure one of the holdest most played courses in town. It probably is played a lot even in its current condition because of its central location to Austin. This would simply mean it would be near impossible to ever make turf repairs or upgrades to the course.

6) No signs available on this course which definitely helps the traveling disc golfer find where they are going.

7) Dangerous in a few spots where the next tees are too close to the previous baskets.

8) Not enough variety from hole to hole in terms of distance. They all seem to be very similar. I would rather play a 150' hole and a 300' hole than two 225' holes and all seem to be in that range of 225'-275'.

Overall this course only suffers in my rating because it is missing some of those things that courses typically need to keep me excited about coming back. One set of tees are horrendous the others are awesome. The baskets are old and rundown and could use an upgrade. The turf on a lot of this course are All of the issues are certainly fixable, I'm just not sure that there is a plan to improve the maintenance. The course really is two different nines and I almost feel like I should be able to give two ratings here. The older more technical shorter course would get about a 1.5 the other more parklike with the large older trees would get about a 2.5-3.0, but I need to decrease the course because it just feels like two courses.

*Tees on North course are nice large concrete hexagons
*There are some nice trees in places
*The map online at DGCR is basic, but essential. DO NOT go there without it!
*Convenient to get to, even on the bus.

-Tee signs: There are no tee signs so navigation would be a nightmare without the course map. Make sure to get a map online and bring it with you!
-No hole lengths available because no signs.
-Road noise: On the North course several holes are way too close to the loud and busy Mo-Pac Road. The road is only 80 ft from hole 2, tee 4 is only 10 ft from the road, and tee 9 is only 15 from the road! The noise, road, and cars seriously detracted from my enjoyment of nature.
-Lack of fairway shape variety. There are too many straight holes and only 1 left to right, so it feels repetitive. On the South course every hole is straight. As a combined 18: 13 St/ 4 Left/ 1 Right
-Elevation variety is very limited. The South 9 are all flat. The elevation changes on the North course are minimal with the greatest elev. change only 8 ft. As a combined 18: 11 Flat/ 3 Up/ 4 Down.
-There's very little length variety. All 18 holes are rather short and very similar in length, so this gets repetitive.
-Terrain: I thought the terrain was OK, but below average. I thought the Texas type trees were nice, but other than that there wasn't much about the course beauty that stood out to me. There's not that much terrain variety with all 18 holes of grass mixed with scattered trees; this repetitiveness numbed my enjoyment.
-Tees on South course are only dirt and not very well marked.
-Lacking most amenities: No restrooms, no score cards, no warm up basket, no message board.

Course Level = Probably White (most suited for Intermediate players rated 875-925) but maybe Red (most suited for Juniors and Intermediate players rated 825-875). Without hole lengths I can't be more definitive.

~Since there are 18 holes why don't they renumber the course from 1-18? It doesn't make sense to me to keep it numbered as two nine hole courses.
~Baskets: most are only single chain Discatchers but there are some double chains. Many are old, though, and some are rusty.

With the lack of signs and the ensuing problems navigation problems, combined with the lackluster design, the repetitive holes, and the loud traffic noise on the North course my desire to play again at Zilker is not that much greater than zilch. (OK, that's a little harsh, but I was looking for a way to use that word here.) To put it another way-- with so many courses to choose from in Austin Zilker's enjoyment factor is near the bottom of my list, so if I had limited time I'd play elsewhere.

<span class="underline">A note about my rating:</span> My rating is a subjective measure of my <span class="italic">enjoyment</span> of the course, on the day I played it, and it is NOT intended to be a measure of the <span class="italic">quality</span> of the course. My Enjoyment Ratings are given "on the curve" in relation to all other courses I've played.

Look in the "Links/Files" section for my files with Hole-by-hole ratings and a more detailed Overall review. You can also read more of my review philosophy and rating notes at Disc Golf Course Reviews

Centrally located in Austin. Good for beginners/noobs. Nice old trees in park.

Nothing to write home about - Basic DG here. Can get crowded and parking is bad on weekends

So many better courses in Austin - I would play Peace in a heartbeat but not sure I would play Zilker again

With holes no longer than 250' it's a great course to introduce friends to DG
On the hottest of days you have Barton Springs close by
If course isn't crowded you can play a round in close to an hour
Can.t really lose discs on this course

Hard to find some of the tees on the south nine
Not very challenging for more experienced players
More of a pitch and putt course, No drives over 250'

You can park under the mopac bridge to advoid the parking fees on the weekends

This course is a fun course that takes a little more finesse to do really well. The course is a great outdoor course to play with good shade as you go along.

They are getting ready to do some demolition on majority of the course due to the Spanish Moss getting a little out of control. It is going to make the course in certain areas a lot easier.

This is a great course in the heart of down town Austin. Go out there on a weekend, play a round of disc golf and cool off in the springs. What more could you ask for from a course.

-fun layout
-fairly easy to navigate
-well placed trees
-concrete pads on the north 9
-easy to play a quick round if it's not too crowded (which isn't often)
-in town
-other park amenities nearby

-very repetitive, very little variety
-nearly always very crowded
-no concrete pads on the south 9
-finding the parking lots can be an issue
-lots of beginners and families means slow play and people who don't know etiquette
-difficult to navigate if you don't know the course

It is clear that this course has been around for awhile as the design is a bit dated, ie there are no long holes. The north 9 is a little bit longer than the south 9 but I don't think there is anything over 350-375'. This is a major ace-run/birdie-fest. Beginners will love that they can score well here and more experienced players will play well below par.

Since it is in town and beginner-friendly, this course is always packed. I've had to wait on just about every hole every time I've played here.

There isn't much variety in shots as most of the baskets are straight ahead. Some well-placed trees will make you shape a line or give you a low ceiling but for the most part you can just go at the basket.

A great course to work on your short game or play a round with just a putter or mid. Or bring the family. If you're looking for a more challenging experience then go to Roy G or the Metcenter.


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Can be super fast to play if there aren't a lot of other people out. Straight-forward, with no super-long holes if you've got shorter arms. Great course to work on mid to long range putting/approach shots for the more experienced players, in addition to the multiple opportunities to go for the gusto with ace shots. As most other people have said, great course for beginners due to its ease and location...

...However, due to its location and the relative ease of the course, it is almost always crowded. The worst part of the crowds that are out here are 1) lots of beginners who take a long time to complete a hole, 2) lots of experienced players who feel that it's okay to come out in a group of 6+ and each launch 2-3 discs per shot. Coupled with this is the slight confusion of the course layout and the lack of adequate markers/signs; many people shooting at the wrong pin or playing the course out of order. The North half has concrete tees, but the South half doesn't, and so those tee boxes get brutalized by the amount of traffic and inclement weather.

Not sure where people park that they're being charged. Two parking lots right by the North & South side are free every time I've parked. Maybe they charge on the weekends in the Summer? Or if you're parking by the Barton Springs swimming area?