- beginner friendly
- Cart friendly
- cement tee pads
- full 18 hole course
- scenic course
- Light to moderate DG course traffic
- Rentable set of discs by entrance (Innova Starter Set (Skeeter, Aviar, Leopard))
- No Pro Shop onsite, however, there are several Disc Golf retailers outlets in the City of Albert Lea (Demon Discs)
- Oak Island, another 18 hole course, is its next door neighbor
- There are several leagues that happen here, including a ladies league night.

- There's no beating around the Tall Grass bush...
The Back 9 of this course hasn't quite mustered the same magic since the recent redesign. The Albert Lea Municipal Airport expanded, wiping out the original Holes 12-15, forcing a redesign. (bittersweet because this used to be my home course)

- Tall Grass / Bancroft Park hosts HS Cross Country meets in the fall, making the course unplayable those days, however, it's cool to see the CC course intertwined within the course.

- The bright vibrant flags in older pictures are becoming worn and tattered, it would be a nice to see those replaced.

- Most, if not all, tee signs are defaced in some way or another.

- This course also lacks port-a-pottys

The redesign certainly doesn't make the course any worse, just different. It's difficult to come up with new holes when you're constrained by less space. It's still a fun 18 hole course, with some challenging birdies scattered among the course.

This course is right in Albert Lea and is set in a disc golf exclusive section of the park. The front and back nine both end and start by the parking lot. About half the holes are heavily to moderately wooded with the other half being wide open prairie style holes. There is one concrete tee pad per hole. These are plenty big enough, are level and grip well. The baskets are chainstars that are all in great shape (except 12 I believe it was). There is a pretty good amount of elevation throughput the course and the wind will be a big factor on the open holes. This course is a great warmup for Oak Island just down the road. Or a great place to redeem yourself after Oak Island for that matter. The tee signs on most holes are pretty basic but offer all you really need here. A basic hole map, hole # and the distance. A number of the pins have large flags on top of them making them easier to spot. The navigation is pretty simple here and the map On DGCR is accurate as well. Very hard to get lost or even turned around. The course was very clean with a number of benches and trash cans throughout. Free to play and wouldn't seem to be super busy for the most part.

As has been mentioned earlier, the biggest con is the rough off the fairways on the prairie holes. And actually the rough off the wooded holes is pretty nasty too. With any errant or even slightly off the fairway shots you can spend a TON of time searching for your disc. You could even be standing less than a foot away and never see it. This can become frustrating money and time wise. The areas by hole 1 and 10 through 12 seem to hold water and be potentially soggy. Hole 12, I believe it was, was missing the whole top and all the chains for the basket.

This is a very fun course honestly. Couple this with the course just down the road and you're in for a great day of disc golf. Out of the 2 this is by far the easier of the 2. Keep that in mind if you only have time to play one. But if in the area this is a really fun round. Definitely recommend this place. Really great design for the available space. Solid if unspectacular.

-Good shot variety. Mix of wooded holes and open shots with some elevation changes. Mix of short and long holes. Had to drive with almost every disc in my bag.

-difficulty. The course offered a good mix of difficulty with some difficult pars and some birdie shots. None of the holes seemed too difficult for the average player.

-Easy to navigate. Most tee pads had signs and most baskets were marked. There was a map at the beginning and I never had to wonder where the next tee was.

-Chainstar baskets.

-Fairways were well maintained.

-Course is conveniently located and easy to find.

-Expensive. The second half of the course is a death trap due to the tall grass If your disc goes off the fairway, don't bother looking for it. You could be standing on top of your disc and still not see it.

- Lots of blind shots in the first half. If it's your first time playing, you don't really know where your throwing unless you walk the fairway.

- Some signs were vandalized.

I'd love to play this course more, but I just can't afford to. If you never throw off the fairway, or you only throw cheap discs, this course would be for you. Much simpler and less intimidating then other nearby courses.

Nice teepads, benches, garbages, signage.

Hills, some trees, fairly open but still some good lines to aim for. Some far shots, some closer, overall a really nice course, fun to play and not extremely time consuming

If you want to call it cons....there are not a lot of tight wooded shots. I liked that actually. Especially since Oak Island is 10 seconds away and is quite the opposite.

1) Combination of holes in the woods (3,4,5,17); holes with trees to navigate (1,2,12,15,16,18); and mostly wide open holes (6,7,8,9,10,11,13,14)
2) My favorite holes: #3 is a RHBH hyzer up a fairly steep tunnel of trees; #5 is a short wooded tunnel with a slight incline that really makes me think because the basket is slightly on the right side of the tunnel (requires an ever so slight left to right (RHBH) shot); #17 starts off like #5 but then opens up down hill -- I can count the number of times on my left hand that I've actually nailed that hole. (My right hand has a disc in it.)
3) Concrete tee pads. Chainstar baskets. (I'll still have nicks in my discs from the old baskets that used to be there.)
4) Benches and trash cans throughout the course; it's a clean venue that is used primarily for dog walking and disc golf.
5) Some courses navigate a pile of park amenities and people taking advantage of those amenities; not the case at Tall Grass.
6) Generally, this is a very fun, playable course. I've played here hundreds of times and will probably play a few hundred times more.
7) Friendly disc golf community and club (Flying Lea Disc Golf Club).
8) Oak Island DGC (18 holes) is right up the road. Nice to have 36 quality holes within such a small geographical area.
9) Practice basket between 9 and 10.

1) Two or three too many wide open holes (see list of wide open holes in the "pros" section).
2) Needs one two more holes that take advantage of the woods and reward technical ability over power throwing.
3) Parking lot is gravel, with lots of pot holes, but once you're there playing disc golf who cares.
4) No restrooms or water, but there are both at Oak Island DGC.

Tall Grass DGC serves as a very nice contrast to Oak Island DGC (again, right up the road). I've had better success at Oak Island DGC because it doesn't reward power throwers as much as Tall Grass does. That said, if I just want to get out and throw my arm off, I head to Tall Grass. On other days when there is a pile of wind and I don't feel like fighting it, I head to Oak Island. At the moment I feel the Tall Grass DGC rating is a little low because it started off baskets that would destroy your discs. Now that those baskets have been replaced and the course has matured nicely, (being kept up by a few dedicated league members), I'd recommend it to anyone.

1) Nice variety of holes out here. It relies heavily on the prairie but there are some prairie, some prairire with key trees, some wooded tunnels and a few moderately wooded holes with clean airways. Overall a nice mix of features on this course.
2) Nice chainstar baskets with flags on top for visibility and testing the wind.
3) Signs have Hole #, Distance, a map and sponsors . . . all the information you would need to play a hole.
4) This is a beautifully natural setting. It feels like it is well maintained but also because it is just naturally beautiful.
5) Nice benches on the course along with garbage pails and a place to set your bag on a few occasions.
6) The turf out here is very healthy. The prairie areas look healthy and with minimal weeds, and the mowed fairways between the prairie grasses are also in good condition. There seem to be just minor areas of compaction around the teepads and I have seen much worse on other courses.
7) Nice large concrete tees on this course . . . always appreciated.
8) Basket areas have some mulch which is a good idea and seems to be keeping the impact of the traffic down. If the area never gets compacted, it will not erode and mulch will diminish the compaction and also keep the bare area from forming. The mulch will cover the soil and prevent erosion so it is all around a good idea.
9) There is a practice basket available for warming up before the round.
10) Wind will always be a factor here on over half of the holes. This is a good thing and I love it when this is something that affects how a course is played.
11) Distance variation on this course is outstanding with lots of two shot holes as well as some shorter holes that are very reachable. There are some in the 200's, 300's, and even 400's. I love coming to a course and needing all my discs and many different shots. This design feature helps accomplish this for sure.

1) A little too reliant on the prairies in my opinion. I know it is what this course offers but there were more woods that would have made a stellar addition to this course layout. Maybe they were not allowed to use the woods, but that would have made the course better in my eyes. I know this is somewhat of a preference, but it would have afforded the course to have better balance.
2) There are a lot of holes that do not dictate any specific shot. I like to see a mix here and have some holes that dictate a line and others that have options, there are simply too many that you can do whatever you prefer in my mind.
3) There should really be a directional at #5 basket and also #6 basket to help point people in the right direction. Those would be the easiest places to get confused. I actually started to walk down the path to the left of #5 before deciding that was the wrong way. I guess I was hopeful I was going back into the woods for more holes!!!
4) There are a couple areas where an errant shot could get close to another tee or fairway . . . especially when out in the prairie. The design did spread things out but when you are out in the prairie and the wind is howling you could easily throw one completely sideway or even backwards if it elevates into the wind. Trust me I have seen it done before (no I did not throw the one that went backwards, but I saw it first hand).

There simply are not a lot of negatives here but this course is not suited towards what I like about disc golf. I can acknowledge the wonderful design and the conditioning of the course but realize prairie courses are just not my favorite. I don't mind a little of the prairie holes, but this course is too reliant on the prairie. A little more balance and this course could easily be a 4 disc course or better, depending on the addition of the wooded holes.
This course is beautiful and certainly feels natural and is a specimen for maintenance because it is in wonderful condition. It has a lot of nice variety and the challenge and shot shaping is pretty fun. I enjoyed the course but look for more balance. I would revisit anytime in the future for sure, especially with the other course right next door.

-A good mix of hole types. There is many in the woods and many open ones. A few that turn left and a few that turn right. Some are straight some are short, some are long.
-The holes are all nearly aceable with a great shot but most are still fairly challenging.
-Some elevation
-Good baskets, the disc eating baskets reported in earlier reviews are now at Riverland CC.
-Nice concrete tees on every hole
-Good and helpful signage. Some holes are blind and these holes helped with those holes.
-A board with a course map, league times, league scores, tourney dates, etc
-Can be combined with Bancroft 1 to make 27 holes, it is just down the road.
-There are plenty of garbage cans at the start which you come back to during the round. This course is well maintained and clean.
-This park is pretty much only for disc golf, you shouldn't come across too many other park users
-The Flying Lea is a fairly active and competitive disc golfing club.
-With three (soon to be 4) courses in the area, you likely won't be too crowded at this course. It is also very secluded in the woods.
-This course has a good flow and you never really spend much time looking for the next tee box.

-The open holes can be both windy and repetitive
-The wooded holes can make you lose a disc if you're not careful, especially on some of those blind shots
-Can be buggy
-The land is used fairly well but I wish they would have used the lake a little more. It barely comes into play at all on the first two holes.

This course is good and is probably the best in the area. I like Bancroft #1 as well. Bancroft Gold is supposed to open sometime this year and it is going to be a championship course. This will add to the 45 holes already here. I would stop and play Bancroft 1 and 2 and if you still have time play Riverland but that is definitely third on the list.

Good solid course a lot of fun short holes. Wipe open holes could have a little more obsticles. Maybe have made them a little longer. Wooded holes are nicely put together. Love hole 18. Very fun hole. Solid elevation changes. Not to hilly. Your not winded when you get to the next tee.

Kind of short. Wind can be an annoying factor on most of the holes. Hole 3 is pretty annoying.

A recommended course for southern minnesota. Pretty easy to find. Stand by for new 18 hole gold course down the road. Should be pretty sick

A nice course not far off the freeway for a relatively fun 18 holes with 27 more holes of solid golf very nearby.

Update: Amenities. Benches on every hole. Trash cans on most holes. Wood chips everywhere, course is being maintained very well by the locals.

Tees. A single set of concrete tees are all level and in good shape. Every tee has a sign with inaccurate hole information.

Navigation. Rather straightforward though can get slightly confusing in a couple spots. Hole 7 tee is into the open field from 6 basket, take note of this location because hole 17 tee is located here, up the hill from hole 16 basket. Both 9 hole loops begin at the parking lot.

Baskets. All brand new Discraft Chainstar baskets are in great shape.

Variety. I was on the fence on placing this in the 'con' section as 9 of the holes (1-6 and 16-18) offer some fun technical challenges with fairly dense woods providing for a good variety in shots. I always finish hole 6 with a slightly heavier heart as I stretch out my throwing arm knowing that I have 9 open holes from 300-450 feet that vary enough with elevation and a few strategically placed trees to keep things interesting

Length. Good variety of distances, from ace runs to big arm holes

Elevation. Several of the holes play up or down hill, a good use of elevation here.

Well Kept. The park has always been clean and well manicured. Mowed fairways and a notable lack of litter.

Scenery. The wooded holes have a secluded feel and offer some nice views of the lake, the open holes offer views of the airport and residential area, take it as you will.

Ace/Birdie opportunities. Most of the holes are reachable in one, though most will require an accurate line and some will require a big arm.

Beginner Friendly. Besides the possibility of losing a disc in the long grass, this would be an ok place to learn the game.

Other User Areas. Besides the random dog walker (or skier in the winter) this is primarily a disc golf course park, typically there are no users to worry about (still stay aware as there are walking paths near and around the course).

Leagues/Tournaments.

Water. The lake doesn't come into play, and the wetland near holes 1 and 2 is only mildly intimidating, no real water threat here.

Rough. If there's one thing I hate, it's taking a 30 minute break in the middle of the round to swear repeatedly while wading through waist high grass.

Not maintained in winter. *I don't let this detract from the rating but am now going to start mentioning it in my reviews as it has become more important to me as I play more and more in the snow and hope that others will find it important* Every time I've played in the snow, I've had to break my own trail.

A worthwhile stop if in the area, especially paired up with Riverland and Bancroft #1, makes a great day of disc golfing.

This is a fun challenging course.

It is a very easy course to follow with nice signs. It has a nice variety of short and long holes. It has some nicely groomed paths which make it easy to get to and from each baskeds.

Bugs, homemade baskets These are the two biggest problems at this course. Bring Bug spray!!! As for the home made baskets none of my disc were cut up like a previous reviewer said. I do think the baskets are a touch small and not every shot will stick.

I really enjoyed this course. It has tight tunnel shots in the woods and open holes in the field. You play on a few hills but mostly it is flat. The designer did a nice job incoorperating the use of trees in almost every hole.

Nice, new trapezoidal tees.
Good signage with correct footage displayed.
Large yellow number plates on top of bucket allow for easy spotting and hole discernment.
Course nicely secluded with walks between holes in wooded areas; making you feel the course was created just for you.
A little water in play on two holes.
Original nine hole course just up the gravel road (gate was closed when we went; but the walk was not that far; and I assume park will unlock gate in the very near future, for season opening play). Effectively makes this a 27 hole course (though one basket missing on original nine).
Decent use of elevation.
Course flows easily.
Right and left handed shots seemed balanced.

Hole #1 has access to bucket from one side only (directly in front). Otherwise, you can be within a few feet of basket; but, due to wooded area around green; unable to putt. I am a supporter of protected greens; and I somewhat understand attempting to follow ball golf in forcing players to play to a certain area to have an actual shot at deuce; but in this case, this hole seems like there's just more cutting work to be done; rather than an intentional, forced lay up.
Baskets....homemade; and you gotta give the local person responsible; props....homemades are the norm in the area and have all been designed by the same fellow (except for perhaps the buckets at Bancroft #1). I noted the large, yellow number plates in the pros section....however, the number plates and the baskets themselves, are disc SLICERS!!!
ALL of the metal on these buckets is sharp! Instead of rounded metal; these baskets are made using sections that come to a sharp point. If you hit the front of the baskets, if you hit the top or bottom nubs , if you hit the sharp edged number plate; even if you make a perfect putt that bounces off the center pole and hits the basket on the inside, before coming to rest; you will putt a slice or ding in your disc.
I will say again, that the effort of the basket maker is to be applauded; but, why would anyone make baskets that slice discs? If you played here regularly, I would assume you would need to have a bag of discs just for this course; expecting them to get deformed more each time you played.
In addition to this; discs fall out the side of baskets here; as the spacing between support rods is too wide. Two of us played and each had one fall out the side of the basket. Unacceptable....this needs to be addressed.
Course is rather plain; and had it not been extremely windy the day we played; I would see many of these holes playing as fairly wide open deuce holes.

Was nice to visit the area; and see the work put in by the local crew. This park has nice scenery as far as visuals goes. From the old course, it's obvious that there is a group who has been playing here for some time. They are attempting to enlarge their local scene, and are doing o.k. with this. However, I liked the original course, Bancroft #1, the best of the three courses in area. I would not come back to play this one again; though, I may stop in for the original if in the area; which, would ,of course, lead to playing this 18 as well.

After hole Three the course become sort of wooded and hilly which i'd say is a plus for me.

Alot of the middle holes of this course, expecially during the summer, can offer a challege in that will leave you looking for your discs in the tall grass, not alot of trees on middle part of the course

Overall I would suggest if you don't like this course, are if you do, you should make sure you throw the old nine within walking distance going down the road into the park.