Ottumwa, IA

Memorial Park

Permanent course
3.215(based on 7 reviews)
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3 0
nummy
Experience: 11.9 years 4 played 4 reviews
1.50 star(s)

Disappointing 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 20, 2013 Played the course:once

Pros:

Nice park, decent variety of terrain, good baskets.

Cons:

Navigation nightmare. Like others have said, the front 9 is decent and pretty easy to figure out. We couldn't find the tee box for 10, but ended up finding the basket after we skipped it. Even after finding the basket, it didn't make much sense. Terrible attempt at a woods hole. They should just take this basket out and relocate it for a practice basket.

Many missing signs. We eventually figured out where almost everything was supposed to be, but come on!! A sign telling you to take the sidewalk down the street to the 17th tee would have been helpful. Hole 18? or 9? seemed like an afterthought. Not sure where the tee was supposed to be for that one.

Other Thoughts:

With some signs and a map at the 1st tee, this course could be a solid 4. Put some finishing touches on it and make it a decent course!! It wouldn't take much.
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7 0
scarpfish
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 20.8 years 360 played 98 reviews
2.50 star(s)

Five nice holes followed by an orientation nightmare 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Apr 17, 2012 Played the course:once

Pros:

Nice intermediate to advanced caliber course in a well maintained park. Offers a lot of challenge with great elevation changes, tight woods, and water in play on some holes. Disccatchers provide for easy visibility (provided you're aiming for the right one, more on that later). Has good hole variety and lefty-righty balance.

Cons:

Once you get past the water shot on Hole 5, good luck finding your way around. Hole 6 is nowhere to be found. I eventually found Hole 7 back at the front of the park, but couldn't find the hole to get me back to it. Hole 9 also couldn't be found. I went into the trees and found a hole only to find out it was Hole 10. I could only find baskets, but no teepads on Holes 14 & 15. The only logical route that I could find for 14 put its path with a children's playground in the way. Hole 16 had its basket within feet of an irretrievable fence around the water tower. Again on Hole 17, no teepad. After 17, Hole 9 (or at least its basket) mysteriously reappears shooting downhill towards the pond, with Hole 18's teepad squarely in its line of fire. The metal tee signs (which disappear after Hole 8) while artistically cool, aren't of much help on showing the path of the hole as they only show the same stock image of a teepad, fairway and basket on each sign. How did a course that got off to such a nice start go so wrong?

Other Thoughts:

Design wise, I could have graded this course a full disc higher, perhaps as high as a '4' if it weren't for the major orientation problems faced once you get to the back side of the pond. The much older, but less challenging Wildwood Park across town, and the excellent nearby Indian Hills CC courses have these figured out with proper signage and maps. I could forgive these indiscretions if it was a matter of the course being raw, but some of the things I'm talking about here are mentioned in the reviews of folks who reviewed this course two years ago. Hopefully the folks in Ottumwa who are blessed to have three nice courses in town will get this corrected soon. Until I see improvements, I can't honestly grade this any higher.
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1 5
bengal4life11
Experience: 15.1 years 20 played 6 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Memorial Park 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 25, 2011 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

Challenging shots. Many of the holes take a mixture of throwing styles to obtain par. Fairly well maintained park.

Cons:

Large pond plays a part in 3-4 holes. Discs can get lossed easily. One hole plays entirely in the deep trees. Another hole requires throwing across a very large ravine-encompassed by large trees.
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1 4
ClarkFTW
Experience: 16.8 years 16 played 3 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Pretty Good Course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:May 12, 2011 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

Nice Concrete tee pads.
Nice open course you can let loose on it.
couple hard holes

Cons:

Signs only on the front 9.
Hard to follow the last nine holes
Signs are not to easy to read.
If you can't drive 300' I wouldn't play here.

Other Thoughts:

Nice course, might suggest playing the first nine the last nine are kinda hard to find.
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6 1
Berryiowa
Experience: 14 years 14 played 9 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Memorial 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Sep 20, 2010 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

* well maintained course
* Concreat Tee Pads on 18 of 19 Holes
* Starting to add Tee signs
* Great use of land scape using Elavation, Trees, Water and fencing
* you will need to use all the shots you have in your arsonal (And then wish you had a few more)
* 3 Great Risk/Reward shots ( hole 4 beside pond, Hole 9 across pond, Hole 13 across revein.)
* bathrooms near hole 16 and at Tee of 17.
* able to fill water bottle at bathrooms
* Great use of all sections of this park

Cons:

* No sign at start of course to tell players from out of town course layout.
* Signs on only 8 of the first 9 holes
* 3 Tees marked on Signs but only one tee pad.
* All course tee's are marked as par 3 (This can be fustrating for new and casual players, Advanced and pro players alredy play by 3's no need to mark on signs)
* Would like to see better signs (Hold a Turnament to raise funds for profesinal looking signs)
* long walk from 9 to 10 adding a hole in there would have helped
* No Concrete pad for 15 (Marked by orange Discraft flags that park users take making it hard to find the tee for 15
* poor layout on 18 and 19 (after making the shot down the hill for 18 you must walk back up the same hill for 19)
* Long walk from 19 to parking lot at start

Other Thoughts:

This could be come a great course with the adition of sighns on all holes and adjust course pars for beginers. ( Advanced players know to play by 3's). This is by far the most challanging course in Ottumwa, but it is very slow in being completely finished. With all the pros and cons this course is still a must play for any advanced player and well worth travling to and by playing other Ottumwa courses can make a great day of Disc Golf.
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15 0
RussMB
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 19.4 years 131 played 110 reviews
4.00 star(s)

Memorial Park: Now has Teepads & Signs on all the fairways! 2+ years

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Feb 4, 2017 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

-Very nice & Scenic park, nestled between 2 hills.
-Concrete Tee's, Alt Pins, Tee signs with distance.
-Strong Challenge here, Beginners could be intimidated. (Not a negative, since there are beginner friendly courses in Ottumwa)
-Excellent Pin Placements.
-Requires accuracy and control at long distances.
-The front 9 has a rolling hill layout, where if you fall short of the basket, you'll find yourself playing up a steep hill. The slopes and hills make their own risk/reward. The Back 9, has you playing along side a fairly daunting and steep treeline.
-The park is very well maintained!
-Great use of terrain. The rolling hills increase the level of difficulty here. A good shot with a bad landing, can cost strokes quickly
-19 is a cool down hill "Let'r Fly" shot
-Multiple Risk/Reward shots.
-Multiple tee's (They'll use other tee's to make a longer shot (i.e. #6 Tee doubles as the "Extreme tee" for #1)
-Plays in,around and over the woods. (Be mindful of Poison Ivy, Sumac, Oak, etc...)
-The Penn & Jeff HyVee Drug and the BP, just down the street, Both sell Discs. As well as food and drinks (Less than a mile from the course)
-Multiple Starting locations at various points in the park. (Jefferson St entrance for #1&#6, Tennis Courts for #'s 11-13, Water Tower for #14, Cabin park for #17,)

FWIW
-Playground near the water tower
-Mountain Bike Trail in the Park

Cons:

-Plays around a playground (but it's spaced out enough where interactions shouldn't be a problem, but never the less... Look before you drive)
-(Nit pick con) On some holes, it would be nice if they listed the pin position. Some baskets are hard to see if you don't know where they are.
-A Busy Road comes into play 3 times on the front 9 and once on the back.
-Avoid going into the rough near 7,8, and 9. The trees are just far enough apart to let it go in, and the brush inside the tree lin is tall enough to hide a disc.
-Could use a Course Map at hole 1, (However, it's easier to navigate the back 9 with the addition of more teepads and signs)
-Long walk Back to up a steep hill to the Parking lot from 19's basket.
-Once you finish 17, you walk back up the hill towards the cabin, then throw down the hill to 18's basket near the bank of the pond, walk back up the hill again, to 19 teepad (Near 17 basket, and throw down the hill to 19's pin placement requires you to walk down a steep hill, then walk back up the hill in order to play 19.
-Mountain Bike course has been installed. They claim it won't interfere, but the paths do cross a few times
-Deer Hunting is allowed in this park, so it might behoove one to invest in that Hunter Safety Orange vest. ...I'm just sayin! ; )


Other Thoughts:

It's great to see a park from my childhood install a great Disc Golf course. I enjoy this course, and it's always a blast to traverse my old stomping grounds. Bring your energy, because you will be playing up, down, and along the sides of hills. You WILL get a work out! For the most part, this course is in a "less populated" part of the park, so interactions should be minimal. (Exception: The 3 holes that play around the outer perimeter of the playground.14-16) Whether you are throwing across the pond, or driving up an angled hill, you will be challenged. Every hole at Memorial park comes with its own challenge. Memorial Park challenges players of all abilities. You will need a strategy from drive to approach for each hole.

It's a physically demanding course, that will have you trekking up and down steep hill sides. You will want your stamina! The Pond, 2 Busy Roads, and a tree line that hides some steep ravines, are all factors that will require accuracy at long distances. One bad lie could drastically affect your score! This is a constant throughout the whole course. Don't get cocky, because your luck could change over the course of one hole here.

I enjoy this course, but she can frustrate the crap out of you at the same time. There are a lot of places for a disc to hide here. This is a must play course in Ottumwa. Now that all tees and signs are in, this course is worth a stop!

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11 0
Gflap
Silver level trusted reviewer
Experience: 20.7 years 423 played 33 reviews
4.00 star(s)

2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Oct 12, 2009 Played the course:once

Pros:

Excellent use of mature trees as obstacles with holes of varying lengths. Large concrete tee pads. Elevation change throughout. Small pond in play on 3 holes. #9 is a 260 foot hole you must drive 220 to clear water even then your disc can roll back as the green is slanted toward the pond. Diverse shots needed throughout for drives and approaches. No termites (casuals) when I played on a beautiful fall day.

Cons:

No tee signs yet. No concrete tee pads on 10 and 15. Could not find 14s tee pad. Odd place for hole 18 as you have to backtrack to tee 19. Holes 14 thru 16 are close to playground area.

Other Thoughts:

Fun course in that for the most part every hole is different. Fairly nice flow even without tee signs. Enjoyed hole # 11 with blind basket behind hill and trees. #13 with water tower in back drop is very cool. Beware of deer hunters on course as there is a sign upon entering park that warns park goers of this. With this course in town, Ottumwa is becoming a great disc golf destination.
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