Marblehead, OH

East Harbor State Park DGC

2.295(based on 19 reviews)
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10 0
DiscinOhio
Gold level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 10.8 years 200 played 191 reviews
1.00 star(s)

“I Decided to Play the Worst 18-Hole Disc Golf Course in Ohio for my 100th Review”- A story of love, loss, and hatred on the shores of Lake Erie. 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Dec 11, 2018 Played the course:once

Pros:

For milestone reviews, some disc golfers may venture out to play one of the better courses in their area, state, region, or even country. But what's the fun in that? I want my 100th review to be unique, and to do that I needed to find the worse 18 hole course in the state of Ohio and blast it to hell and back before sunset. Folks, I think I found a winner.

+ East Harbor State Park spans over 1,000 acres on the banks of Lake Erie. You never see the lake from the course, but a quick drive across the park will put you right on the water. The park isn't the most spectacular thing in the world, but it draws its share of tourism every summer.

+ The tee signs look phenomenal for their age. I believe they were installed 8 years ago and some could pass as recent installs. All concrete tees with decent baskets.

+ Good size parking lot with a restroom and practice area. Two 9 hole loops to the parking lot was the only good thing about this design.

+ Holes that I enjoyed;
* #2 is a short ace run but still a fun downhill shot with water creeping in on the left. You drive it over a ridge to a protected basket.

Cons:

Now to the part, ladies and gentleman, that you have been waiting for. So, what makes this the worst 18 hole disc golf course in the state of Ohio?

- The design is absolutely brutal. Most of the course plays through dense woods and brush. The only fairway to get through this is a narrow truck path with thorns and high crap on both sides. I've never played a course where a shot down the middle of the fairway forces you to pitch out because you can't see the basket.

- Staying with the design, many of the doglegs are literally 30' in front of the tee pad. Your first drive is a pitch just to see where you're supposed to go next.

- Tee pads are too short and the baskets are very low visibility. Tough to spot a plain basket on a cloudy day in the middle of a winter woods.

- If the brush is this bad in December, I couldn't even imagine trying to play this place during July. I'd imagine it would be very tough to find discs.

- Not much elevation, unique twists, or anything else that would make for an enjoyable disc golf course.

Other Thoughts:

Yea this course was terrible. I would give recommendations for a better course in the area but just about every place around this area sucks pretty bad. Not trying to be negative, but this stretch is a pretty rough area if you're a disc golfer living here.

100 review down, plenty more to come! While hitting the century mark at Flip City, Harmony, or Selah would be more extravagant, I wanted to make this a kind of funny (or cringy) review. So yea, don't play here even if you're camping on the first fairway. Thanks for reading!
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5 0
prerube
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 16.8 years 274 played 235 reviews
2.00 star(s)

Truck path with baskets. 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 1, 2015 Played the course:once

Pros:

Baskets are in good shape.
In a free park near the camp store and playground.
Water hazard in play with moderate risk (aka this idiot threw a disc in the pond and had to get laughed at by fisherman as he searched)

Cons:

All fairways were simple truck paths. Overgrown brush on each side and 8-12 feet of clear fairway. This was not a course designed by a disc golfer for disc golfers.
The paths selected were the first to flood. 2 holes were completely unplayable because of shin deep water on fairways that stretched over 20 feet. A course designer can not do much about flooding, but when there is a parallel path that is not flooded you begin to think that the design has flaws.
The drainage issues also made mosquitos unbearable. I reapplied every 2-3 holes. There were times where my disc was just a few feet in the brush and I debated looking for it because the bugs were so bad.
One of the holes had a broken limb hanging down in front of the tee pad making the hole unplayable. A total of 3 holes were completely unplayable, but all 3 were temporary issues.

Other Thoughts:

I want to give this course a 1.5, but if you remove the drainage issues and mosquitos the course is reasonable. Clear the underbrush and this course is a 2.5
I was camping on site and you could not pay me to play this course again during my stay.
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1 1
Billy K2
Experience: 13.8 years 34 played 27 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Not too shabby... 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Mar 30, 2015 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

East Harbor is a pretty fun course with some fun angles. The park was very clean, and it was a great atmosphere for a disc golf course. Baskets and tees were in very good condition.

Cons:

Some of the holes were just flat out boring. There were a few holes that felt like repeats. There wasn't really any variation in the length of the holes. There were some spots of "rough rough", but it wasn't as bad for me as some of the other reviewers, probably because I played in early spring.

Other Thoughts:

I had fun playing this course during my 3-day stay in the Port Clinton/Marblehead area. I'd come back to this course again if I was in the area.

Overall grade: 3/5 (Could possibly recommend)
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4 0
troberts
Experience: 13.1 years 13 played 10 reviews
2.50 star(s)

OOOHHH so much potential! 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 27, 2014 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

OOHHHH this course is so close to being WORLD CLASS! I visited marblehead this summer and was excited to play (I live in Colorado and play mostly mountain courses in Co, Wy, Ut, Nm). The course starts out looking like a really great layout with diversity and challenge. And then it all goes down hill. The location is serene and ideal if your coming with non-players. Also, wasn't busy at all the times I played. The walkways (fairways) have well manicured grass and the park is well maintained. Nice, big, clean bathrooms is a great bonus.

Cons:

Holy crap, after you turn from 10, the fairways shrink to the point where you can't make any throws. The fairways don't go any wider than 8 feet and on either side is pure jungle-caliber foliage and trees. I'm pretty experienced and a competent player, excelling in technical spaces. But, the backside of this course is unplayable. I lost a putter in the trees... A PUTTER!!! Do not play without a spotter and enough protection to venture into the trees. Also, if theres been recent rain this course can get muddy and buggy.

Other Thoughts:

This course is so close to being spectacular. Even though it doesn't have much elevation to it, the layout is brilliant. I'm willing to chip in and pay someone to go the back 9 with a chain saw and widen the fairways. If that happened, this course would be amazing and an absolute blast! Bring your bug spray, bright discs and a spotter.
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1 0
icandisc
Experience: 11.7 years 60 played 9 reviews
2.50 star(s)

A pleasant addition 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 16, 2011 Played the course:once

Pros:

Well maintained
Nice park/area
Things to do for others who don't play

Cons:

Some holes are more like walking paths
Summer = bugs (but mostly for those tight holes)

Other Thoughts:

A decent course, but several really tight holes that are seemingly just walking paths. Walk through those and keep playing; it will be more fun that way. The non walking path holes were enjoyable, with a few nice surprises.

The park itself is a great place to visit and playing a round of disc golf is a great addition to it.
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1 2
Huckfreely
Experience: 82 played 5 reviews
2.50 star(s)

2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Apr 25, 2012 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

18 cement pads
10 super tee signs
18 baskets plus a practice basket
Nobody there.
Facilites- bathroom, camping, swimming on site.

Cons:

Designed by a walker not a disc thrower.
A few really tight holes, too tight no landing areas.

Other Thoughts:

Had fun. Needed a spotter.
This course could use more TLC.
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3 0
Foofoohead
Experience: 21 played 21 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Change has begun! 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 10, 2011 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

Nice practice basket setup.
A lot of good terrain.
Plenty of trees.
Varying distances and right/left holes.
In a very nice State Park.
Very good baskets!

Cons:

No cement tee boxes.
Hole signs on only 10 holes.
No course layout map available.
Thick woods so be accurate.
Not for the wild flingers!

Other Thoughts:

They have widened many of the fairways in the woods and mowed the tall grass on the middle holes. Looks like they have been listening to these reviews. This course is still rough but you can start to see some real potential here. The woods section is very technical, you need to play the right shots. Use discs that you can control where they are going. If they keep listening to the players and make additional improvements this will be a very good course.
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5 0
Schtoups
Experience: 1 played 1 reviews
0.50 star(s)

Bulldoze this Horse Path 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 14, 2011 Played the course:once

Pros:

With a variety of approach possibilities, slight elevation changes, natural obstacles and a small tranquil pond as part of hole two, holes 1-4 offer a first time East Harbor DG Course player the promise of exhilarating discovery on another enjoyable course. These first hole introductions combined with the lack of any other players on the course could convince you that you have found a near-private little diamond in the rough.

Cons:

Any promise in the course quickly disintegrates as one unfortunately battles to find that this excuse for a course is simply unplayable diamond-less rough. This is why no one else is there. Any hope, excitement, or enjoyment is quickly stolen and beaten from of a players soul with the one two punch of hole 6 and 7 which sadly confirm that meandering narrow walking paths will serve as "fairways" in over grown jungle brush for the duration of how much more you can tolerate. The course lacks composition. Only the baskets themselves are testimony that someone there might actually know what disc golf consists of. The baskets are in fact decoys to lure in disc golfers and ruin their day; job well done.

Other Thoughts:

East State Harbor Park itself is a wonderful lakeside place to camp! Camper hosts Sonny and Angel are awesome welcoming warm hearted people that are happy to chat with travelers and who insist on making your experience enjoyable and comfortable. The disc golf course has potential as it does have near 18 baskets (11 appeared to be absent). I imagine a person might actually navigate the pins with discs in March or April. Would someone please re-vamp or bulldoze this horse path of a course?
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5 0
Petercules
Experience: 20.8 years 35 played 12 reviews
1.00 star(s)

Listen to the tee sign 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 4, 2011 Played the course:once

Pros:

This course had a balance of long and short distances with the holes.
High difficulty of shots that separate the Advanced and Intermediate players.
The front 9 has good tee signs that help in finding the baskets.

Cons:

If you get off the 5 foot wide fairway it is very difficult to find your disc which makes this course unpleasant to play.
The back 9 does not have maps on the tee signs which makes it extremely difficult to find the baskets. Ended up throwing from tee 11ish to basket 18.
Allot of bugs and poison ivy which is expected with most courses but worth complaining about on this one.

Other Thoughts:

There is a message on the back of the first tee sign suggesting that you turn back and don't waste your time playing this course. I wish we would have listened to this advice.
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3 0
JoseCafe704
Experience: 22.9 years 33 played 15 reviews
2.00 star(s)

Course In the Making??? 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 14, 2010 Played the course:once

Pros:

East Harbor is a very nice state park, as far as state parks go, so the setting of the course is nice as well. This course would bode well for beginners in ONE aspect...That almost all of the Par 4s should be Par 3s, and there should be absolutely no Par 5s on this course (there's 3). So, as a pro, and not a con, if you're a beginner or want a nice pick me up as a seasoned player, this course will offer you a nice score. This is the sole reason I gave this course a 2.0, and not a 1.5 or 1.0

Cons:

Like I said above, almost all of the Par 4s should be Par 3s, and there should be absolutely no Par 5s (I finished the day with 9 pars, 7 birdies, and two eagles...And I'm not that good by a long shot). The lack of distinguished tees left me to rely on the tee sign for an idea of where it might be. After Hole 10, the tee signs become very simple with just a white number on a green sign with some of holes after 10 having a Par number written on them, as well as a crude drawing of the fairway, all done with what looks like a Sharpie. The fairways do become narrow and slightly irrelevant to the location of the cage on occasion, often with poison ivy awaiting any errant throw to the left or right. I fancy myself a decent recovery player who can play out of the rough, but the swarms of newly airborne mosquitoes made it tough to concentrate on the shot, so staying in the fairway is paramount! Also...There's a pond near the first two holes that isn't put into play whatsoever...Make one of the cages require players to throw over it!

Other Thoughts:

It seems like this course isn't quite finished, what with the poorly marked tees after hole 10, and the lack of tee pads. If it is finished, and no more work is in the foreseeable future, this course will forever be deemed a 2.0 in my mind. With a bit more work and creativity though, this course could be pretty decent. Oh, and those par ratings definitely need to be adjusted.
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4 0
cali
Experience: 21.9 years 67 played 4 reviews
1.50 star(s)

Needs a LOT of work. 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:May 28, 2010 Played the course:once

Pros:

The practice basket has stones layed out with distances marked on them, I thought that was pretty clever. Holes 1-5 are really fun and give the impression the course is very playable and open with some fairly wooded shots that still leave potential for multiple lines to try.

Cons:

Holes 6, 7, and all of the back 9 are absolute garbage. If you go off the fairway more than 20 feet, forget about it. The vegetation is so thick that you'd be lucky to find any kind of a path to your disc. The fairways look like a stupid 10 foot wide zigzag line on 350+ holes that have NO possible line to the basket from the tee area. I managed to hunt down all of my bad shots but it actually took me 3 separate trips with a machete and a gardening hoe to recover my Augusta Wraith from hole 7.

Other Thoughts:

Bring a stack of discs you don't care about, wear jeans, plan on having the worst back 9 experience of your life.
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5 0
Mando
Bronze level trusted reviewer
Experience: 17.3 years 120 played 27 reviews
1.00 star(s)

2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Apr 26, 2010 Played the course:once

Pros:

A really nice state park for camping near Cedar Point. The baskets were top-notch.
A couple of the holes were interesting.

Cons:

The course appeared to be installed for the most part by a park employee riding around on a.tractor with a bushog in back. Let's see, two passes with the bushog ought to be about right.

Other Thoughts:

Very over-rated at 3 discs. Needs to be re-designed. Could be much,much better with some thought.
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3 2
M2 Michalak
Experience: 1 played 1 reviews
4.00 star(s)

Technical fair course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Mar 20, 2010 Played the course:once

Pros:

Course uses, water, elevation changes, trees, and brush as obstacles to play the course accurately. Not a chuck and putt course like many courses have changed to. But a real course where some thought and patience is needed. Plays like a ball golf course rather than a ball driving range where placement of shots is more important than how far you can throw.

Cons:

I love the somewhat narrow fairways but the brush could use some thinning out so bad shots just hurt your game and not your legs

Other Thoughts:

Good, fun course that you need various shot selections to navigate.
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6 0
tistoude
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 15.8 years 198 played 60 reviews
2.00 star(s)

Needs some design help 2+ years

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Mar 21, 2010 Played the course:once

Pros:

This course is in a really nice secluded park with plenty of ameneties in the park and in the nearby town. The surrounding area has plenty to do for the whole family; there's even an african safari just a mile or two from the course. The course seems to get very little traffic and it would be easy to imagine having the entire course to yourself for the day.
There are not alot of pro's about the course itself, but there is some nice terrain that the course plays over and every hole has a very nice new Mach V basket. The front nine has very nice colorful tee signs. The course over all offers a wide variety.of shots and will require you to really think through your shots

Cons:

The over all design of the course is poor. There are a few holes that really just need a complete re-design. Hole 7 offers you absolutely no way to get to the hole except a couple short throws up the fairway or throwing a large anahyzer and lucking through some branches. It is important to know that if you do not stay in the fairway it can take alot of throws just to make it back on. A fairly high rated player in my group landed 20 feet off the fairway and it took 5 strokes for him to get clear of the brush. When I played hole 16 not a single player in my group considered using the fairway since it was so off track. If no one even thinks about using the fairway there must be something wrong with the line. There are quite a few holes where just putting your way along the fairway is probably the best option, there are no real gaps or alternate lines available. On Hole 18 the only option to get a duece is trying to muscle up a drive to punch through fairly thick brush.Once again no one considered using the fairway at all.
Many of the tees just need moved 5 feet one way or another especially before they pour concrete.
Hole 17's tee backs up against a tree preventing a run up.
Hole 15's tee lines right up so you are aiming directly at Hole 16's tee (one of the routes is over 16's tee and is only 150 feet away).
If Hole 14's tee was moved forward 5 feet it would offer multiple lines to the pin but where it is now, a very sharp annhyzer is the only option.
Hole 8 if moved to the right just a few feet would also provide a line to the basket but where it sits now provides only a poke and hope.
The Shule! Holy crap the under brush is wicked. I played this course in March before the undergrowth had even started to come in and it was still amazingly difficult to play at all off the fairway. I think when summer was in full swing it would be just shy of impossible to play this course without losing some discs and alot of skin to the thorns.

Other Thoughts:

I really didn't hate this course but with the available land it could have been significantly better. It seems like a bit of an amateur design which could benefit from some experienced guidance. Everyone that I played with had the same feelings about the course. Remove the undergrowth, clear some new lines and adjust the tees. Please also keep in mind that this is not a beginner friendly course at all.
This is a course with potential in a great location that just comes up short.
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2 0
hoyle7780
Experience: 32.1 years 16 played 15 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Challenging But Fun Course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Sep 23, 2009 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

Course is Located around a great harbour town with lot's of stuff to do for the whole family.
Never Very Crowded, Located in an Excellent state park with a beach, camping, hiking, ect. available.
Very well maintained course.

Cons:

#1 Con - Briars, Prickers, Ivy of all kinds.
#2 Con - Not a Beginner friendly course. Most fairways after hole # 5 are VERY tightly wooded & errant shots are punished with cuts & scrapes on your legs & arms. Bugs are an issue in the summer months.

Other Thoughts:

Many Holes seemed to have a "throw & hope" type feel to them. VERY narrow fairways (sometimes not even a fairway just brush in your view)
Overall if you aren't afraid of a challenging course then you definately want to stop out to play this course. Bring a friend to spot for you.
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3 1
ejvogie
Premium Member
Experience: 15.6 years 305 played 14 reviews
3.00 star(s)

2+ years

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Sep 5, 2009 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

Recently updated from 10 to 18 holes (some time between Memorial and Labor Day). Only course within 25 mile area. Practice basket has concrete markers in 5' increments from 10' to 50'. DGA baskets catch discs well. Great tee signs for holes 1-10.

Cons:

Holes 1-5 and 10 &11 are ok, but the rest of the holes seemed unfair. You either needed a perfect s-shot down the 10' (or less) wide fairway, or multiple short putter shots to navigate the turns. Concrete pads would be nice, but since this is a state park, I'm not sure if that's in the plans.(Update - concrete IS in the planning stages) Since adding the new holes, the map needs updated and tee signs for 11-18 could be better. You will either lose discs, or be eaten alive by brambles, or in my case, both :(.

Other Thoughts:

I play 2 or 3 times a year because I'm camping there. Not the worst course I've played, but nowhere near the best.
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6 0
danhyzer
Gold level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 36 years 2296 played 124 reviews
2.50 star(s)

2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Dec 27, 2008 Played the course:once

Pros:

Most holes are easy par type holes, which bodes well with this size of property being used and most likely the type of players that will be playing it.

I LOVE the practice basket area and how # 3 was laid out with it following the contour of the bend (hyzer shot for a RHBT) of the rocky hillside.

# 5 had the poigent smell of fresh pine all along the fairway.

Cons:

# 7 was the only real hole that your just going to bogey, no matter how you throw it. Very narrow fairway and it's " S" shaped at the front portion of the hole.

I thought that hole # 1's basket should be on top of the hill, instead of on the right side. and by doing this you would have to find another area for # 2 to be played.

Other Thoughts:

Alternatively a GREAT place to retreat for the night after a day of spoiling yourself with all the different activities in the area. Cedar Point (home of some of best roller coasters in the World, voted by rollercoaster magizine). Sandusky Bay (boats, jet skiing, swimming) Wine country.

Like to see more holes at this State Park.

Keep up the good job.
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2 1
spenlee3
Experience: 28 years 125 played 7 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Peaceful, Easy Feeling 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Nov 8, 2008 Played the course:once

Pros:

Great place to camp and play some disc golf. Course not too far from very nice campground. Couldn't find the tee for #11 and 12, but they looked like recent installs. No super long holes, but plenty of challenge to be had. Hopefully this course will have more holes next time!

Cons:

Heavy brush along several fairways to punish errant throws.

Other Thoughts:

Didn't see any others playing the whole weekend. Nice course to have to yourself.
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4 1
mbarth
Experience: 17.7 years 5 played 2 reviews
3.00 star(s)

East Harbor State Park 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 15, 2008 Played the course:never

Pros:

A good challenge, variety of open and wooded holes. Natural tee pads, nice signs, easy to navigate, baskets in good condition.

Cons:

A couple holes are VERY technical with very dense woods. Moderately high chance of losing a disc if you throw into the woods here. Not much elevation change.

Other Thoughts:

A decent practice course, not very long but can be very technical at times. Good course to get a round in but not tournament grade.
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