The Simonmetsa disc golf course is located in a small subdivision of houses (or college dorms, I'm not sure which!) which create a well protected island of park space. The feel of this area is quite peaceful and makes for a nice place to take a walk with the dog through the woods, play soccer in the fields, or of course play some disc golf. The course itself is relatively flat and mostly open but utilizes low tree ceilings and some available cover on the early holes to make for reasonably punishing rough and defined fairway. Right off the bat, hole number two strikes the golfer as pretty impressive. At around 450-500' (thats 140 to 150 meters), its not quite a par four but the fairway gradually, but faithfully tightens as you approach the pin. Off the tee, players will need to choose to go for the very unlikely two or to throw a controlled fairway drive for an easy up-and-down three. The rest of the course fails to live up to the early burst of challenge. The next few holes average around 260-310' each and utilize low hanging branches to create tricky lines off the tee. On most of these, players have the choice to throw low-ceiling pokes or high-power turnover and hyzer shots. None of these holes are particularly difficult, but at the same time, none are in-the-bag birdies either. Hole five is another worth mentioning, not for its challenge but because it throws directly up and over a huge exposed rock amidst a small pine forest. From the tee, you are looking at a hyzer which must pass up and over the rock and then dump back left reaching level ground and navigating a few small pines. The basket, at nearly 0 net elevation from the tee, is protected by a few pines and shots that end up too short will be likely throwing an odd long bending putt for birdie. Players who turnover too far may overshoot the rock and end up in a blind playground on the other side so be careful!

While there are a couple of holes which offer challenging shots, the mostly flat and open nature makes for easy par saves when a drive is duffed. The major exception is hole two which has non-trivial shule lining both sides of the fairway. This and hole five are the main breaks between field holes and offer the only real variety on the course. The layout is not really intuitive and requires a bit of back and forth to find ones way around. The small dirt and wood plank teeing areas don't really help the situation as there isn't any obvious landmark besides worn patches when hunting for the next tee.

I played this course during an early, early morning layover between Rome and Manchester, UK. If you have a couple of hours to burn, this course is just the ticket and is well worth the trip, if only for the walk there. During the summer, remember that the sun is rising and shining at around 3am (I played the course at 3:30am)

To walk there from the airport: First leave the airport from the lower level and Eastern-most door (BTW - it will help to bring a compass with to ensure you are headed the right way!). From the exit head straight across the access road to the parking garage and walk around the perimeter of the parking garage on the gravel pathway. From here you will follow the road south as it passes underneath Ilmakeha - take the obvious walking/biking trail that parallels Ilmakeha under a major road and then take the first left onto Meiramitie/Mejramgranden. You'll pass through an industrial area and then past some residential plots and a large school on your right. After the school, take a right onto Koisotie/Kvesvedsvagen. This is a very rural road and you'll be passing through farmfields with tons of really cool birds. After a short way, you'll dead-end onto Osmankaamintie where you will take a left. Keep walking north on Osmankaamintie and you'll see a forest on your right side, take the trail for a shortcut directly to the course!

If you walk quickly (and don't get lost!), you'll likely be able to make it in an hour or slightly less. Make sure to budget some time to check back in with the Finish airport security if you are from out of the country and enjoy your flight back with a smile on your face