Spearfish, SD

Black Hills State University

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2.95(based on 10 reviews)
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14 0
playrecords
Silver level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 17.8 years 770 played 27 reviews
2.50 star(s)

First course in SD?

Reviewed: Played on:Sep 27, 2022 Played the course:once

Pros:

20 hole college course impeccably maintained. Sign at hole one claims it to be the original 18 hole course in SD, established in 1995 with a redesign in 2015. Beautiful grass, nice concrete teepads and neat yellow powder coated DGA baskets. Course is park like, not much shot shaping required for the most part. Navigation was mostly straightforward except for a couple spots (see below). Hole 9 with the double mando was one of my favorites. Putter shot at 160' but the gap was maybe 10' wide?

Cons:

Couple long walks between holes. 7 to 8 is not intuitive (asked my new young friends and they pointed me the right direction). 8 to 9 is a hike (worth it though for the best hole). 9 to 10 basically reverses the previous hike. Holes 10-12 are very close to the football field. There were some students out there training for something so I skipped those holes.

Other Thoughts:

Played through a sixsome of college kids who were very polite. Even called me sir. I guess my beard getting grey makes me look older? Parking by hole one is a dorm parking lot. Didn't have any hassles but all the other cars had parking passes. Overall a fun play and nice contrast to Spearfish Canyon and Pageant Hill.
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6 10
Casey 1988
Experience: 20.8 years 25 played 6 reviews
3.00 star(s)

College course 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 4, 2005 Played the course:once

Pros:

The course was well marked and used good baskets The Football team was out on practice at hole 15 so the one 505 foot hole was rendered unplayable other then that they were all playable no broken baskets or unplayable holes due to the foliage too thick.

Cons:

One hole 6 or 8 has a drainage ditch. A bunch of discs get stuck in but the normal player who is not a first time ever player will be hard pressed to get a disc stuck in that ditch.

I bet during the main school season parts of the course get hard to use due to how crowded the course gets.

Other Thoughts:

Could have been better but it is cool to know the state I lived in since 2001 has had the 1st recipient of the PDGA disc basket matching program. This was good so the course has something more then the Innova Sport or the Lighting DB-5, the two cheapest full size basket out at the time this course was made.

Not much of a challenge other then then a woods hole that was tight. made more for beginner Collage players though those who have been playing only a few years could still find it not super easy. Now I might find it a bit easy, if the wind is not blowing bad in South Dakota.

I played in August 2005 first weekend when ever that was.
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1 4
ProfessorFlavor
Experience: 5 played 2 reviews
4.00 star(s)

2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Mar 25, 2016 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Nice concrete tee pads. Really nice baskets that are powder coated yellow. Well groomed course. Soon to be a 20 hole course if not already by the time you read this. Great place to learn the game if your just starting out.

Cons:

Not a lot of challenging holes for the more advanced players. The course is used by other people do to the college so you might be waiting or skipping a hole.

Other Thoughts:

This course is on a college campus so there is a lot of eye candy walking around so if that's not enough to entice you to play here then your to cool for me.
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6 1
mndiscg
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 15.8 years 480 played 478 reviews
2.50 star(s)

Beauty of the Black Hills 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 24, 2011 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

-The course is surrounded by the BHSU campus in the beautiful Black Hills making it very scenic, and also making it have great weather!
-Nice baskets
-Good signage and tee pads, there were a few benches near the tee pads which is good because you might need to sit and wait for people
-The course is mostly open but uses a decent amount of trees and a crystal clear creek that runs through campus. The creek is fast moving but you probably won't lose a disc in there.
-The holes are generally on the shorter side so there are many longer ace runs but the holes aren't extremely short or easy.
-This course is on a college campus in a fairly wealthy town so there won't be too many chuckers out there smoking, throwing trash everywhere, vandalising, etc. This course looks nice.
-This course is good for introducing the casual college player to more serious play.
-There were multiple pin positions for most holes.
-For being in SD you might be able to play during the winter. It often reaches the 50s and 60s in the Black Hills. That would very rarely happen in eastern SD.
-You can find and should find a map at the bulletin board near hole 1. The flow is good and you shouldn't have much trouble finding the next tee box except for a few. Hole 14 is painted on the sidewalk!
-The people here are genuinely nice and will help you find your way around the course
-Some decent risk/reward shots on some of the slight inclines.

Cons:

-It is on a college campus so you have to watch out for students, athletes, faculty, etc. The course winds through some pretty populated areas. 3 holes play next to the practice football field and other wind around dorms.
-It isn't overall a very challenging course.
-They fit 18 holes in a smaller part of campus and the tees are often not too far from the previous baskets or the fairways but very close together so you also have to watch out for fellow disc golfers.

Other Thoughts:

If you are making a Black Hills trip this is my order of courses to play:
1. Spearfish Canyon (Spearfish)
2. Pagent Hill (Custer)
3. Jackson Park (Rapid)
and then this one. The first two are true black hills courses and the other two are just nicer city park type courses. I think it's only a matter of time before somebody puts in a nice private course out in the Black Hills, it could be great! If you were to play this course, I think that June would be ideal but anytime in the summer would work best. You would be relatively free of pedestrians and the number of people on the course overall would be lower. I would recommend a stop here along with Spearfish Canyon.
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2 0
DarkSasquatch2
Experience: 14.9 years 5 played 3 reviews
3.50 star(s)

The Course I Discovered the Game On 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:May 19, 2012 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Great for beginners
Good variety of holes
Beautiful setting
Hitting the water hazard doesn't result in losing a disc
Clean

Cons:

Can be crowded
Pedestrians can sometimes be an issue, but most people know the course is there and behave as such

Other Thoughts:

An all around fun course. A good place to bring people who have never been exposed to the game before. If you went to high school in Spearfish, this was probably the first place you even learned that disc golf existed.
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7 0
G Bud
Bronze level trusted reviewer
Experience: 41 years 90 played 15 reviews
3.50 star(s)

No BS @ BHS 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 28, 2011 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

* Great use of terrain and available features.
* Due to location, course is clean and well maintained.
* Good course for players of various skill levels.
* Opportunity for a variety of shots.
* Mistakes are not punished.
* Course difficulty and hole length increases as you play.
* Multiple pin positions for most holes.
* Alternate holes for #13, 14, and 15 to accommodate practice fields.
* Good size concrete tees / adequate tee signs
* Mix of Mach & other older baskets - Most catch pretty well
* Good Parking / Course info Board / Benches / Trash cans
* Restrooms (Maybe in the buildings?)
* Not far from downtown amenities and interstate.
* Nice views of surrounding Black Hills.

Cons:

* Open design and format may not challenge experienced players.
* Due to location, moving targets and impedance to play may be plentiful.
* Fairways are sometimes close or cross, so keep your head on a swivel.

Other Thoughts:

I happened to play this course during late June when not many classes were in session. So I had a pleasant, fun-filled afternoon playing on a college campus. But I can imagine that once school is in session the fun level may take a bit of a hit with all the potential foot traffic and potential moving targets. The course twists and turns its way around dormitories and other campus buildings. So many footpaths crisscross throughout the course. Other than that, I could not find much wrong or annoying about this course. For where and what it is, it's a cute little joint. I bet it gets many new folks interested in the sport and there were a few people playing the afternoon I was there.
The flow was pretty easy to follow. Being on a college campus, the tee signs really stand out in the landscape. Just remember that #14 is marked on the sidewalk by the door of the building to the left of pin #13. Lucky I got some help finding that one. I really like how they have alternate holes to accommodate use on the practice fields that the course plays through. They also aid in giving you a little change up from round to round. The design is pretty open. Most of the risk is utilized around the pin placements. One of my favorite aspects is the creek that wonders its way around the course and often comes into play. There are opportunities for some ace runs but because most of the baskets are guarded by the available trees, it will have to be a sweet run. On the flipside, because the fairways are pretty open, an errant drive is not going to penalize you into a pout. Most of the holes are reachable with a mid range or fairway driver but there are a few long ones that let you try to air it out and keep you coming back. All in all I had a lot fun playing this course.
When I visit SD, my base is Rapid City. Though this might not be my first recommendation to play in the area, I would suggest it if you're looking for something new, fun and that won't beat up your game. Definitely worth the run if you're in the Sturgis / Rapid City areas.
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2 0
DaKineSurfer32
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 22.9 years 577 played 57 reviews
2.00 star(s)

2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 27, 2009 Played the course:once

Pros:

- short, fun holes that lead to ace opportunities
- very nice, new tee signs that are descriptive
- creative layout considering it is on campus
- nearly empty if you play in the morning, otherwise expects to contend with students/faculty

Cons:

- some holes, like #3, are a little bit gimmicky
- most holes are straight throws
- many pins very close to other tees
- very busy during the school year

Other Thoughts:

I actually found this course somewhat hard to follow, despite the nice tee signs. They don't tell you where the next tee is, there are no numbers on the baskets to identify which hole they belong to, and are few tees signs are missing on tees that are close together. This made guessing if I was playing the right hole pretty frustrating. Otherwise, this course is short and fun, but overall pretty easy because there aren't too many obstacles in your way. Good course for beginners and for BHSU students.
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3 0
jcdillon28
Experience: 23 years 15 played 4 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Fun for all 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 28, 2009 Played the course:once

Pros:

This course is layed out very well and very easy to play. There are excellent signs by each tee. It was pretty easy to spot each basket and the next tee.

The course has an excellent mix of obstacles and wide open shots. The use of the creek and trees for the course add some nice skill shots.

Cons:

Due to the fact it is on campus there are people wandering around. This makes for the greatest obstacle.

Our group had to stop and wait for peole a few times.

The course was pretty busy with both players and people doing other things, but this should be expected for a collage campus.

A majority of the holes are all the same length so the challenge is more in the up close obstacles.

Other Thoughts:

This is the first time i have played this course. It was really cool that a local was there acting like an attendent. He was extremely polite in showing us the course.

Every player we bumped into was very polite and really made a day of golf a great experance.

I want to back when school is in session to play the alternate holes.

Ohh and hole 15 is a hoot. This is one of the funnest drives i have yet to throw.
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3 0
dosahl
Experience: 16.1 years 45 played 16 reviews
2.50 star(s)

campus course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 14, 2009 Played the course:once

Pros:

course is a fun play. There are holes with streams, trees and just about everything you would expect on a South Dakota camups.

Cons:

Course lacks hole variety. Holes seem to be a consistant length with no real challenging holes (except maybe the basket behind the ROTC training wall)

Other Thoughts:

overall a nice playable course. Map at the beginning is helpful. Course was played in the summer when no courses were offered so there were no real random interferences. Course is fun play.
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8 0
Greg Layton
Silver level trusted reviewer
Experience: 16.1 years 143 played 27 reviews
2.00 star(s)

Watch for pedestrians 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Sep 4, 2008 Played the course:once

Pros:

- Above average signs and teepads with a few benches thrown in for good measure.
- Good variety... a lot of open holes, but some incorporate trees and a creek that runs through campus.
- Maps available from bulletin board at beginning of course.
- Nice scenery, and I'm not necessarily talking about the Black Hills...
- A good all-around beginner course.

Cons:

- You're playing on a college campus for a majority of the holes so you'll spend a lot of time waiting for clueless folks to get out of your way.
- Even with the map, sometimes finding the next hole can be challenging.
- A few holes play along a football practice field adjacent to the campus. The course would be unplayable during football practice.

Other Thoughts:

- Be prepared for anything. While we were playing a deer came out of nowhere and jogged up the practice field as if it were running for a touchdown. After it reached the endzone it looked around to see if anyone was watching and then walked away.
- In conclusion, it's a nice relatively short recreational course for beginners (college students, obviously) who are just getting into the game. Not a serious challenge for intermediate to advanced players.
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