Ellis, KS

SKY VU DGC

3.445(based on 8 reviews)
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5 1
ldtrainman
Experience: 13.8 years 11 played 10 reviews
1.50 star(s)

Has Potential, Not for short throwers. 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 25, 2013 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

Interesting course with some variety. Not crowded. #12 has an interesting "L" shaped T-pad to accommodate two entirely different routes to the basket. Pretty setting.

Cons:

Signage was poor. After completing #2, my wife and I looked in all directions for #3 T. Couldn't see any indication of where it was located. Fortunately a local came along and pointed us in the correct direction. He was the only other person we saw on the course. (That's really a pro.) Although we completed all 18 holes it was often a chore finding the next T after holing out and then finding the basket after finding the T. Even though there was variety, there were several wide open long bombers, several across the river shots, several wide fairways with a few trees lining the sides, and several technical, in the woods shots. Only a couple of the holes had noticeably unique features.

At least one of the concrete T-pads was tilted sideways about 20 degrees. I don't understand that at all.

#15 is listed as 394 ft. but the only T-Box we found was about 120 ft. away and involved an impossibly sharp right turn. Moving the basket to the edge of the gap in the trees would make it aceable. As it is a shot through the gap in the trees is required and then turn around and shoot back at the basket,

#16 is definitely not for those who do not throw long. It is a fair distance to the leading edge of the river. If one tries to lay up, there is a road that is OB. The space between the road and the river is fairly narrow. If one lays up short of the road it is still a pretty long shot across the river.

Other Thoughts:

Fortunately when we played the river was dry. Otherwise we would have skipped several holes. Even the dry riverbed was a challenge to find disks since it was overgrown with thick, chest high weeds. We were fortunate to be able to walk across the dry riverbed. If the river had been near full, it was often a long walk, out of the way, to get to other side. This could easily cause someone to lose there reference point as to where there disc landed.

I'm not a fan of water hazards. It is one thing to have an errant shot that costs you a couple of strokes. It is quite another to have one that costs you a disc.

Nothing is more frustrating to me than trying to figure out where to go next. It wouldn't take but about 10-15 man hours to bring signage up to par.

More people would be attracted to the sport if courses were more playable by those throwing less than 200 ft.

This course could be greatly improved with better signage and by paralleling the river on both sides rather than crossing it several times.
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0 0
templink
Experience: 20.7 years 124 played 27 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Hidden gem 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 23, 2013 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

- Course design is excellent - challenging and varied. No repeat holes.
- optional holes after #13 in the woods - Scott Rogers, Grandpa, Urban - are short but very challenging.
- Multiple basket locations
- Great use of water hazards (when the creek isn't dried up)

Cons:

- baskets are not moved very often.
- first time navigation can be difficult, as some signs are damaged and/or missing.
- probably too difficult for beginners to enjoy

Other Thoughts:

Sky Vu is an underrated course mostly because it is in a small town. However, it is a hidden gem. It gets much less traffic than Frontier Park in Hays. Play the extra holes between #13 and #14 - they are in the woods and full of trees and mandos.
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4 0
bazillion
Silver level trusted reviewer
Experience: 23.5 years 55 played 37 reviews
3.50 star(s)

A Course with Character 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Sep 16, 2012 Played the course:once

Pros:

Extremely convenient to I-70. Design includes a wide variety of holes - long bombs, insanely technical woods holes, pins in devilish positions (like #8, IIRC, where you drive across the creek and the pin is tucked directly behind a tree on the far side).

For a course that has no elevation to speak of, the fun factor is really quite high. I found myself anticipating each new hole with strong interest despite the fact that my feet were wet and cold, normally an instant joy-killer.

Cons:

Baskets were old DGA models, some single-chain, all looking pretty tired.

The main con, though, is what some of the other reviewers have noted - navigation. Tee signs are OK but some are missing. I got pretty turned around after #13 and found myself winding my way through the woods, playing extremely short, technical holes labeled "Scott Rogers", "Grandpa", "Urban", etc. Don't know if these were part of the course - Grandpa was about 100 feet long and involved a 6x6-foot triple mando ...

I actually gave up after that point because I could not find the next tee. A map would add half a disc to my rating, no joke.

Other Thoughts:

I played this course solo, early in the morning with temps in the low 50s and lots of dew on the grass. Because of the drought, there was no water in the creeks and so forth (probably just as well).

My general impression was that whoever put this course there devoted more than five minutes' thought as to interesting design - more like five hours, I'd say, with more time spent yet on certain holes.

Still, it's evidently been a while since this course first opened up and the years have taken their toll. All in all, this course is good enough to mandate some attention - with a little TLC, it could be a destination, not just a place to play when you're in transit.
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3 0
C-Van
Bronze level trusted reviewer
Experience: 15.3 years 118 played 14 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Great course off of the highway 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 10, 2012 Played the course:once

Pros:

One of the obvious pros is that this course is just a few blocks away from the highway. I was able to stop and play a round here in a little over an hour while driving from Denver to Oklahoma City. The course has a lot of different type of holes, ranging from short forest shots to long wide open 450 footers. It was definitely a very challenging course that made you practice all facets of your game. My favorite thing about this course, is that no two holes were the same. Often when you have small town courses like this you see the same hole repeated about 2-3 times, but they managed to legitimately get 18 unique holes here at Sky Vu.

Cons:

This course could use some sign renovation. The next tee boxes were well marked on each tee sign, but about 7-8 holes were missing their tee signs. Also, someone put up two extra holes right after hole 13. This is cool in theory, but as someone who had never played this course before, I ended up getting lost and around some random train tracks. The layout of the course can be very confusing at times, so renovation of the signs at this course is very much in need. The course also could use a good mow in several spots.

Other Thoughts:

Overall this was a great course right off of the highway. They genuinely managed to include the small town aspect into the makings of their course, a very unique feature of Sky Vu. While it may not be the most pretty course I've played, you could tell that the town of Ellis worked with what they had to offer and churned out an above average course. If you are travelling along I70 and pass by Ellis, definitely stop and play this course.
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5 0
The Bard
Experience: 18.6 years 23 played 2 reviews
4.00 star(s)

Gem in the middle of Kansas 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 29, 2011 Played the course:once

Pros:

-Great hole length variety (150-450 ft when I played)
-Some very memorable holes (especially 8/9(most)/12/18)
-Easy to navigate w/out a map (means great for first timers on a road trip through KS)
-Excellent use of the water
-Lots of line varieties: semi-wide open, tight tree and woods shots
-Lots of technical shots
-No two holes felt the same
-Well mowed fairways
-Nice baskets
-Great finishing hole
-In a great spot to stretch your legs while on a road trip
-Very short driving from I-70
-I couldn't imagine with the location it being very busy.

Cons:

-Half of the back 9 tee signs were missing (spent 5 min on one hole figuring out where the hole was at (no pictures were up on DGCR up at the time to help))
-A couple of tee signs were broken
-Would be easy to lose a disc if you have a bad shot on the water holes
-Backtracking necessary on some of the water holes
-#10 felt like a weak woods hole
-Nearly no elevation change (personally these types of courses don't bother me)
-Some car traffic can cause you to hesitate/wait on your shots
-Hole 3 could be dangerous as it throws right near a playground and a park bench (no people there for me, I was there mid-day weekday)
-Some holes you might risk throwing near parked cars
-Probably wouldn't recommend for taking someone brand new or beginners (distance and water hazards)
-Not near where I live..... ;)

Other Thoughts:

[Context helps for reading any review: Ability: experienced intermediate player, Avg drive as of writing: 300', #times played this course: 1, #courses played as of review: 17]

This course really seems to have a great "personality" if you can say a course can have one. It is such a varied and memorable course. I can honestly say I haven't played a course like it. The missing and broken tee signs kind of took a little bit of the feel away when I got to the back 9, but not much. This course is too unique to take away much. If they fixed this I may upgrade my rating half a disc, though 4.5's are reserved for truly special courses. Maybe I'd consider after playing more courses to get comparisons. Even playing in 107 degree heat I still very much enjoyed playing here. I wonder how many people in Ellis realize the treasure they have here. If it was the only course in my town I'd feel blessed. This is a course I want to make efforts to play again when I get the chance. I haven't played Frontier Park in Hays yet, but I can definitely say that Sky VU is worth stopping by if you are driving through Kansas on I-70.
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2 0
mgcarney
Experience: 14.9 years 94 played 55 reviews
4.50 star(s)

Wow 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Mar 24, 2011 Played the course:once

Pros:

This course begins rather bland. Holes 1-4 are mild, but 5 introduces water. From there on, you are constantly around the beautiful water hazards of the course. The course is very well maintained, and the path is easy to follow.

Cons:

The course had a building right by a basket. This was frustrating. Additionally, there seems to be some parking right in the way of hole 3.

Other Thoughts:

Before today, I wouldn't have even know of Ellis Kansas. After seeing this course, I will never forget it. It has some of the most stunning and challenging holes I have ever played.
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2 0
drummerjh
Experience: 32.6 years 49 played 3 reviews
4.00 star(s)

Sweet Course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Feb 13, 2010 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Utilizes the entire park with several pins being placed near Big Creek. A good variety of both open, long shots and short, narrow, wooded shots. Overall, a VERY good course for beginners and pros alike. Some of these holes will make you think before you just let it go.

Cons:

Not too many cons that I can think of. I guess one would be that some vandalism has occured in the past few years with the baskets and tee-signs in the wooded areas. Apparently the local drunken idiots have nothing better to do with their time.
I also think that the course could be better maintained by the parks & recreation department, but lets face it, in a town that small, staffing is going to be minimal.

Other Thoughts:

I really enjoy playing this course and it is a MUST play if you are travelling through Kansas along I-70. Frontier Park in Hays, a MUST play, then 13 miles West, Sky-Vu in Ellis Kansas.
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0 2
sportfan187
Experience: 20.9 years 25 played 3 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Worth the stop to play 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 8, 2009 Played the course:once

Pros:

easy to navigate, uses wide open shots, tunnel shots, and water in play on a few holes.

Cons:

some of the holes on the back nine require walking back and forth around the entire creek to get to your next hole then again after you drive.

Other Thoughts:

really liked this course and probably would have went with 3 1/2 or maybe even 4 stars if the course was set up more in succession.
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