- well maintained and mowed
- tee signs are decent, though could be more detailed
- fun for beginners or ace race
- decent baskets in good repair
- course information sign explaining disc golf

- no tees at all
- very short
- ridiculously generous pars
- only first 2 tee signs have hole distance listed
- not much flow, every shot is wide open
- sometimes challenging to tell which basket is for which hole
- very limited challenge with few obstacles
- no elevation change

There's nothing inherently wrong with this course, it's just extremely boring. For absolute beginners or for messing around/doing an ace race, this is fine. Even beginners will quickly want a bit more challenge, however.

This course plays around a municipal park and it generally was well maintained. It's nice that they included disc golf, and if I was in the area I might throw around here from time to time, but it would mostly just be to make myself feel good about getting eagles on half the holes. The pars are unbelievably generous - I left with one double eagle, 4 eagles, and 4 birdies... something doesn't fit with my typical game!

The biggest gripe I have here is since it is SO wide open, and the holes are all short and a bit jumbled together, it is sometimes not completely clear which basket is for which hole. Add the fact that there are no tees to give you a sense of direction, and these holes seem too close together. While it appears this park is normally deserted, if a bunch of people were playing I think the risk of hitting someone with a shot would be high.

There are limited obstacles and no elevation change whatsoever. There are lots of ace opportunities and I came close on a couple, but still it eludes me. I won't come back since I don't live nearby, but it's serviceable if you want to get a quick round in on actual baskets.

- Great course for beginners and players with a short driving range.
- Good course for practicing approach and putting throws.
- 9 holes can be played in under 20 minutes.
- Easy to find the next tee.
- Easy to find discs after errant throws.

- No defined tee pads.
- Not much of a challenge (other than wind) due to the very open and flat course.
- fairways are crowded together.
- Several nonlabeled baskets within close proximity to each other make it difficult to determine the correct target basket.
- Current signage missing distance.

- Need more trees and terrain features to define fairways.
- Par is too generous: Par 3 at 122 feet, Par 4 at 160 feet, Par 5 at 258 feet.
- All tee signs and baskets were present and accounted for at the time of review.

No one at the park.

The signs don't match the course. Very difficult to find the baskets.

Could be fun but there's no course map and the baskets don't match the signs.

Volunteer Park is a fairly new park judging from all the recently planted trees. It's mostly flat with a few undulating areas which do provide a little chance from the normal flat terrain. The park has a skate park. The disc golf course ends of playing around the skate park.

The course has no tee pads. Just throw from the faded signs. The distances are beginner friendly, a previous reviewer stated the average length is 192'. I'll take his word for it. There are ACE runs galore with many holes around 200' and wide open.

I played earlier today with a group of three newbies who were trying their hand at The Lewis University course. They were so frustrated there looking for disc in the tall grass and woods. They drove over here to Volunteer Park and had a super time. The course was designed for their skill level. And they got excited about birdieing # 5.

Yes, this is a beginner's course.

Yes, the average hole is 192'.

Yes, for most of us, the course is boring and not challenging. So skip this course and go challenge yourself at Lewis College or Highland Park.

The pars on the signs are for beginners or elementary students. If you're too embarrassed to take a double eagle on the 270', par 5, 5th hole, then play it as a 3. Let the beginners have their fun.

Aren't we getting a little carried away with the safety issue. Are crossing fairways so terrible on a course that gets very little play. Are we really that worried that the basket on # 1 is set close to the skateboard fence. It's a 180' hole. If, on the rare chance, a skateboarder gets hit with a 180' throw from some newbie, I think there's a excellent chance, the skater survives. Have you watched the tricks they're attempting? And the falls they take? They should be wearing helmets anyway!

- Course is set in a very small park that also has a skatepark on-site. Can't imagine there would be any interference.
- The only items of interest out here are some extremely small trees and some extremely small bumps. There is the most minimal line shaping imaginable; as long as the disc doesn't go in the one spot where the small trees are, it's a good line. The most interesting features are mandos around the tiny trees, which are in place for safety concerns.
- Little bumps can make for some uphill putts, but are not a major factor.
- Nice signs and baskets, grass tees are in good shape.

- Very, very, short hole lengths here. Average of 192'; putter shots for everyone except the most inexperienced beginners.
- Holes are crammed together in the very small area. I can't imagine you would ever encounter anyone else out here, but if you did, heads up! Also kinda close to the skate park in a few spots, though it would take a horribly poor shot to go over the fence.

- Yup, this is a course for ultra-beginners only.

Volunteer Park is a nice, well-maintained multi-use park that includes a disc golf course playing around a skate park. You heard that right...all nine holes play on three sides of an average-sized skate park. The course features nice baskets and accurate tee signs. All of the shots are short and beginner friendly. A few of the baskets sit up on top of small mounds to give the course some variety. Most holes have a solitary sapling in the middle of the fairway and the tee signs seem to suggest the saplings are mandos, which would make sense since the holes are very close together and the mandos might help keep people in the right fairway.

The course plays too close to the skate park and the holes play too close together. The only thing minimizing that safety hazard is that you should be tossing a putter on these short shots.

Most of the course is dead flat, and the shots all look the same minus the few that incorporate the small mounds. Add in the fact that there are almost no obstacles and all the tee shots are glorified approach shots and the course gets boring fast.

Even with good signs, I found the course hard to navigate. There were so many tees and baskets visible that it was had to know which tee was next or which basket you should be throwing to.

The tees were grass and the turf was bumpy and uneven. I tripped a couple of times just trying to walk on the turf.

The design ends up just looking like baskets scattered in a field, and the experience ended up feeling like something other than playing disc golf. In the end I felt like I had to rate this course as a "0" since it really didn't end up meeting my basic criteria of actually being a disc golf course. There were baskets and we threw discs at them, but it was more of a goof experience than anything else.

Volunteer Park is very much a niche course design, and that niche would be small children, beginners and senior. I feel there is a need for courses that are friendly to these populations, but the execution of Volunteer Park is very bad. The shot design has no imagination and the amount of land is too small. After being introduced to disc golf at a course like Volunteer Park, I'm afraid no one would have had enough fun to stick with the sport.

In the end, all you need to know about Volunteer Park you can tell from the tees. The course was installed in 2006, but it looks like it might have gone in the ground last week. There was absolutely no wear patterns around the tees, just green grass. In six years the course has not received enough play to wear out the grass on the tees. If you miss this one, you won't be the only one.

- Volunteer Park sports a skate park, soccer fields, and a disc golf course. The DGC is nestled around the fenced-in skate park, and plays alarmingly close to the fence in a couple places. Most holes have at least one obstacle, often in the form of a single sapling. Other holes have small berms of grassy earth with which to contend.
- Beginner friendly to the max, very few holes stretch past 200', if that. Several are laughably short, and are basically long putts from the "tee pad." No need for the drivers at this course. Ace runs galore for more experienced players, and really just about anybody who can kinda throw straight.
- Nice signage clearly details each hole. On each of the holes with a solitary sapling as the only hazard, the maps seem to specify these trees as mandos, with the fairway going to one side. This is necessary because of the close proximity of adjacent fairways.

- #1 plays ridiculously close to the skate park fence. I can imagine this routinely results in dangerous situations. Adding to the absurdity, several fairways basically overlap each other. Baskets are awkwardly close to each other, and other tees. Considering this is a beginners' course, safety should be pretty high on the list of necessities, but it's sorely lacking in this layout.
- The lack of distance, significant elevation, and mature trees make this course one dimensional to say the least.
- Natural grass for pads. Lumpy grass might not provide very good footing in adverse conditions.

- Beginner courses like Volunteer Park fill a valuable niche in the disc golf world; however, Volunteer Park does a particularly bad job of executing a safe course design. It was fun enough as a quick ace-race distraction during empty course conditions, but nothing I'd ever want to play again.
- Unless you're super desperate for some discin', hit up some of the nearby courses instead.

-Good course for beginners
-Ace Runs galore
-Good if you live in the residential area
-Excellent for learning how a new disc flies for you
-Abundant parking

-Very few obstacles
-Not at all challenging
-Small children frequent this park and often will move your shot or attempt to steal discs
-Very very short
-Holes 1 and 5 run up next to skate park and the chain link fence damages discs
-Don't take the time to drive to this park.
-Course is

This course was very close to my house and I often went here with friends to play just real quick games before school or before work. It's alright if you've just bought a new disc and would like to learn how it flies without the fear of banging it against trees. Overall course isn't great, but if you're just starting out then maybe give this course a thought.

Volunteer Park sits on a 48-acre plot of land between a subdivision, a community college, and farm fields. The park is visible from Weber Rd., but you will have to go through the subdivision to access the park, either from 135th St. or Taylor Road. Volunteer is just under 10 minutes from either I-55 or Rt. 53, though Weber Rd. can get pretty congested between the park and the highway.

In addition to disc golf, this park gets a lot of usage by youth sports thanks to its 3 baseball/softball fields and ~10 soccer fields. At the end of the parking lot, you will find a playground, "splash zone", and a concession stand and bathrooms that are open during games. The park also hosts a skatepark that the disc golf course circles around. Volunteer also sees a lot of usage from walkers and bikers, as it connects to a larger network of trails between Weber Rd. and Rt. 53. As a whole, this park gets a lot of love from the community, and can fill up on gamedays.

The Volunteer Disc Golf course uses the extra land between the skatepark and softball field that isn't dedicated to other park uses. The course start is right next to the skatepark, with hole 1's tee sign being between the skatepark gate and the covered seating area. Each tee area has a sign that has the hole number, a par, and a graphic showing the layout of the hole. The baskets are Mach 3's, and are still holding up well. While there are no actual tees, the grass in the park gets mowed regularly.

Most of the holes on this course sit between 180 and 220 feet. Hole 5 is the bomber on the course at 270 feet, with hole 6 being the shortest at 130 feet. All of the descriptions in the photos on this site by EspressoParonum include distances that are accurate; it seems that most of the signage no longer has these distances. Holes 6 through 9 have some trees that can result in a tough putt if you drive long or too far to a particular side of the fairway. Holes 1 through 5 each had a tree or 2 planted when the course went in to provide an obstacle to throw around, but overall, the course is very open.

Volunteer Park provides a great layout for novice players to learn disc golf on. While more experienced players will find the course to be easy, I think this course is a nice training ground of sorts. For instance, holes 6 and 8 can make for good tests with hitting a landing zone. any shot that doesn't land next to hole 6 will go down the berm that the basket is sat on. The first 5 holes can also provide opportunities to practice shot angles with the trees, where players can practice throwing around either side of the tree to the basket. Novice players in the area can definitely use this course as a good practice course as they work their skills up to be able to handle the 18-holes nearby.

The land this course sits on is relatively small for a 9 hole, so some folks may notice safety issues pretty quickly. I think the most valid one would be the fairway of hole 1 and its proximity to the skatepark. The tee sign suggests going around the left of the tree to stay away from the fence line, but most players will likely prefer the RHBH route between the tree and the fence. It wasn't uncommon for me or my friends to land a disc inside the fence, and I'm sure it's the same case for others. The skatepark also gets some decent use by local skaters and bikers, so take a moment before throwing to see if anyone is in that part of the skatepark, and throw accordingly. The fence will also likely leave black marks on your disc if you hit it.

As for the rest of the course, a lot of the holes do play pretty close to one another. There may be a couple of places where you wonder what basket you should throw to; the answer is likely the closest one. All of the signs face the basket for that hole, so the only place I could see being confusing is hole 2, singe hole 4's basket can be seen in the background.

Since a lot of the holes play close to each other, the fairways almost overlap in some spots. In addition, some tees are right behind the previous basket. On a lot of courses, this would be more of an issue. The nice thing about the openness of this course is that you will be able to easily spot other disc golfers, and will be able to react accordingly to players that are near where you are throwing or vise-versa. This course also does not get a lot of traffic, so it's likely you will have the course to yourself.

The course is a field with next to no shade, so if it's a hot day, you won't have much shade. Luckily, this course is a quick play and can be done in under a half hour, but there is not much protection from the sun if it's a scorcher when you come here.

The tees are all natural, so throw next to the tee sign. Keep in mind that the ground this course is on is seeming to get lumpier with time, so watch your step before you run up.

Some spots in the park can get soggy or have some standing water after a storm. If it rains before your round, be wary of the areas by hole 4 and the basket of hole 6.

With how short this course plays, most players will find a round here to be bland and unchallenging. Anyone that is above a novice level will likely find minimal enjoyment from this course. There are some berms that come into play on some holes, but the berms and the trees do little to increase to the difficulty or replay value of the course.

Volunteer sits in between a number of decent to great disc golf courses in the southwest suburbs of Chicago. You have Knoch Knolls and Eagle Ridge, both decent 18s, to the North and Northwest. You have the excellent Highland Park and classic West Park down in Joliet. You have two old school courses in Community Park and Shorewood Park down I-55. And now you have The Canyons just 5 miles from Volunteer Park, a newer course that seems to be recognized as one of the two best courses in all of the Chicago area. All of these courses are much better options than Volunteer if you are in the area, and many of these courses are great options for newer players who are working on their skillset.

That being said, there should be a place in the disc golf community for courses like Volunteer. Courses like this one are a great place to learn the game and play your first rounds on. As someone who called Romeoville their home for 15 years, my friends and I found this course to be a great place to learn the game, and overtime realize that my Panther or Aviar can reach the pin instead of the Star TeeRex I thought I needed. Courses that are short and have minimal obstacles or water hazards are boring for most, but make for a learning environment that keeps a new player's moral up.

The course may not have intentionally been designed for young or new players, but it clearly serves them more than anyone else. That being said, I am not someone who is above what the tee signs say. I'm proud of my -16 rounds from high school at Volunteer, and I will keep on being proud of them.

As for the rest of you all who are not novice players, there are plenty of other courses you should hit first in the area. if course bagging is important to you, you likely won't want to play this course more than once, but it at least is a quick round that can be paired with other nearby courses for a full day or weekend of golf.

Volunteer - you're a boring course with little to no difficulty. You provide no shade during Chicago Summers. And there's thousands of other courses that are better than you. But gosh darn it, I'll always have a place in my heart for you.

Thanks for everything, you dull 9-hole.

-Nice baskets (those that are still there)
-Good laughs to be had from tee signs (sub 200' par 4)
-Constant wind provides some challenge (not really)

-Totally wide open
-Holes are really, really short with no obstacles
-Grass tees
-Apparently 3 baskets are missing
-0 challenge
-0 line shaping required

Don't waste your time, unless you are trying to play every course skip this sorry excuse for one. Lewis University has a great 9 hole course nearby, go there instead. I like how some of the baskets are on small, grassy mounds, but that alone can't save these abysmal holes.

- Good confidence builder for new players
- Never anybody there
- You can play through this course in like 15 minutes for a warm up round if you're going to Lewis or one of the Joliet courses.
- Signs at every tee
- Easily navigable

**Update: Three of the baskets have been stolen (6,8 and 9). This is now a 6-hole course.
- Not challenging at all... by far the easiest course I've ever seen.
- No tee boxes, just grass
- In the middle of a field, so it's very boring from a scenery standpoint
- Wind is usually a factor (because it's in the middle of a field)
- Skate park can come into play on 1st and 5th holes if you miss badly.
- Hilariously easy pars (like Par 5 on a 260ft straight shot)

I live just down the street from this course and use it to practice my putting. If you're not from the area skip this one, there are too many other good courses in the area to waste time with this one.

The course plays through a flat multi-use park with small man made hills on many of the fairways and at many of the baskets. The park is very nicely taken care of, with excellent grass and no trash around. There are nice accurate signs at every tee giving hole layout and distance. 7 of the baskets look pretty new and are in good shape.

This course is basically 8 baskets thrown randomly in an open field, with some tees placed randomly around them. There is absolutely no challenge here, with many of the holes <200' and none over 300'. The last basket is missing, and the 6th basket that you can play to instead is leaning and coming out of the ground. There is exactly one small tree on nearly all the fairways, and it usually doesn't take away an easy hyzer route for left or right handed players.

Many of the holes play on top of one another, and nearly every tee shot is almost directly at the next tee. This course is clearly designed for beginners, but if there was more than one here at a time it seems inevitable someone would get hit. The tees are just whatever spot of grass you pick in the vicinity of the tee sign, and many have bumpy clumps of grass mixed in with dirt spots that make for poor footing at times. Luckily a jump putt is about the longest throw you'll need here.

This course was obviously intended for beginners, and it would be fine for completely inexperienced players. Once they have played a couple rounds, even new players will find the course easy and boring. More experienced players might have fun playing a safari round here, otherwise the course doesn't have much going for it.

Don't play this course unless you're bringing someone for their first round and you don't think they'll be able to throw over 50'. Otherwise, there are lots of courses around that are better to learn on, and a whole lot more fun to play.

if you barely know how to play this is the place to come. wide open and a par 5 for holes less than 300

boring, short, way to easy, open, and i think the hole 9 got taken away

by far the worst course i have played

What I personally like and how this course stacks up in my list of 9-hole courses:

1) Holes with good risk/reward. Fair, but harsh punishment for bad decisions or execution. == D (Wide open and very short 200' or so max)

2) Holes that have rewarding birdie opportunities for me. I throw 300' accurately, 360' max. == D (No obstacles and very short)

3) More wooded than open - lots of variety of shots required caused by hole shape and topography == D (Wide open and short and flat.)

4) Natural beauty (Appalachian beauty preferred) and seclusion. == C- (Clean and green, but no seclusion whatsoever)

5) Bonus points for multi-shot holes with defined landing zones, good risk/reward and multiple options to play them. == N/A

It's all about feeding the addiction, so I ranked this course subjectively based on my own "personal addiction factor". The grades above tell how well the course will draw me back to itself again and again and again. Since I have played a decent number of courses (125 18-hole, 64 9-hole as of mid 2009), my hope is that players/explorers who have similar addiction tastes will find my ratings list helpful as they choose courses to play and explore.

I fully expect others with different tastes/philosophies to disagree with me....that's the fun of things here. See my profile for my rating philosophy.

Quick Course
Good for aimed shots
Each basket leaves you right at the tee for the next hole
Concession stand nearby

Skateboard Park
Baseball games nearby so you have straglers that can get in the way

Basket for 9 is missing so we play to the basket for 6. The pars are very generous, most are 4s even with distances at 200 ft.

REGARDING BEGINNERS:
*Located in the middle of a nice subdivision exposing the sport/activity of disc golf to young kids. Due to its location, I'm pretty sure it was designed this way for children who live in this subdivision.
* Quality baskets
* Well maintained grounds
* Minimal obstacles not to damper spirts of young kids trying out disc golf for the first time

REGARDING BEGINNERS:
* No actual tee pads
* Holes play too close to each other and the skate park
* NOT ENOUGH obstacles
* Some of the tee signs are missing the distance measurements

This course was installed when I first started playing. I remember playing it a couple times and it was a nice place to work on form with a putter and have an actual target to throw at in the midst of an open field.

This is NOT a destination course! DO NOT drive out of your way to come here. I hadn't been here since it was installed and just happened to be driving down Weber Rd and wanted to jog the memory bank. I literally pulled in and walked the course and practiced putting for 15 minutes and left.

However, I'm happy courses in the middle of subdivisions exist. There was a mother daughter combo throwing it while I was there. The daughter had to be 8 or 9 and they seem to be enjoying themselves. I think it's cool that kids who live in this neighborhood have this spot to expose them to disc golf. I teach 4th grade in the Braidwood area and they have a beginner style course similar to this in a park located in the middle of a neighborhood as well. I gave all the kids a putter at the end of school year and encouraged them to try it out during the summer. I told them if they enjoy it they can encourage their parents to drive them to a more challenging course in the surrounding area. It'd be cool if they had a map of local courses on the first tee pole here informing the residents of this neighborhood that more challenging courses exist if they enjoy throwing here and are ready for the next step.

Some raised tees. Good signage. There was nobody else out there the 2 times I played there. Great ego builder!
It's fine for practice and a great beginner course.

Very, very short. 2 holes are 130' and 150'. There are virtually no obstacles and the few trees there were no more than 10-12' high.

The couse is next to a skateboard park, which can come into play on 3 holes. There are grass tees, but they are in great shape. In fact, the course is all grass but it is thick and in perfect shape. Final note: The course must not be too easy since dgcoursereview member HITMETAL had 2 bogies!

Great begginers course or for kids. Very short, wide open, all grass, only obsticle is a few young trees and the skateboard park.

Short, simple, no tee boxes but great signs.