Ann Arbor, MI

Mary Beth Doyle Park

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2.565(based on 18 reviews)
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5 1
rickmf
Experience: 5 played 3 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Decent Short Course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 25, 2018 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Free. Variety of shots needed, birdie opportunities. Good baskets.

Cons:

short, could use a bit more maintenance, mosquitos are brutal on some holes. Can be muddy on some holes especially after rainfall.

Other Thoughts:

i live close so i consider this my 'home' course. Playing a couple times a week.

Some grass seed and a day with a chainsaw would go long way here. Clearing out some overgrowth and clearing some fallen trees. Perhaps even opening up some lanes (hole 6 kinda feels 'poke and pray' from the long tees. 16/ 17 also feel a bit overgrown.

I am willing to help if anyone/ any of the clubs want to spend a day working on the course.

Would be fun to play this course in a 9 hole long configuration. Generally there is some traffic on the course and some cases where tees/ baskets/ paths overlap but usually there is enough space to throw comfortably, but errant shots can end up near other baskets or close to other teepads.

I play here mostly for convenience, but its mostly a midranger/ putting course, that seems to focus more on accuracy and shot execution more than distance/ power. You will suffer from inaccurate shots or bad throws on most hole by ending up in some woods.
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2 1
Dube3200
Experience: 18.8 years 45 played 6 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Lil' Windy 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 14, 2015 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Good course for a quick and fun round. Easy parking. Birdie chances. Little risk of losing your disc.

Cons:

Overall, a very short course. Some interesting holes, but most are pretty plain.

Other Thoughts:

I feel like this course for some reason is better than the sum of its parts. Nothing is overly impressive, however, I always have fun playing this course. It is a good change of pace from some of the longer courses --- think of it as the equivalent of an "executive course" in ball golf. A good place to learn, to get in a quick round for practice, or to go with a group of mixed skill levels. We affectionately call it "Lil Windy" (...because it is a little course, and can get windy due to a lack of trees on much of the course).
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2 0
g0ing2f4st
Experience: 15.8 years 7 played 6 reviews
2.00 star(s)

Short and a bit hazardous 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 8, 2017 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

+ A good variety of shots
+ Lots of birdie chances
+ No cost

Cons:

- Several holes straight no obstacle under 200' shot
- Too many walking paths in play, blind shots, and directly adjacent fairways
- Highway adjacent is very noisy

Other Thoughts:

A course that's most entertaining when played on poor weather or off-season days (much better to play in late fall to spring) when there is minimal traffic. I found white tees very uncomfortable to play in summer with how many of them were blind shots to the tee with other tees/pads within very short proximity.

Course is mowed but otherwise appears to receive little maintenance, there was a lot of overgrowth and a bit of a trash problem when I played.
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7 0
Stardoggy
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 12.7 years 1002 played 214 reviews
2.50 star(s)

Fantastic beginner course 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 30, 2014 Played the course:once

Pros:

Located in a nice park at the end of an apartment development in Ann Arbor.

Solid baskets at every hole, and all caught well. One pin position per hole.

Concrete tee pads on every hole, with a few having two (white) tees. Plenty long enough (12', I believe) and nice and wide. Grippy and good...no complaints here.

Navigation was pretty simple. Tees were either visible from the basket, or had trails leading to them.

Not a lot of chance to lose a disc here, as even the rough is not a lot of undergrowth.

Cons:

Extremely short. About half the holes are under 200' and open. From the reds, the longest was 270' (and downhill), from the whites not much more, with one 350' hole that felt somewhat out of place. Even the holes that aren't open play pretty easily with a hyzer over the shule.

Some safety issues in the first few holes, as they play over, or next to, a walking path. Especially with this course catering to a beginner crowd, this could definitely cause problems. We were out on a nice Saturday afternoon, and there wasn't too much traffic, so it's possible it's not much of a problem.

The tee signs are posts with hole number and distance. It's not a huge issue, but it would still be nice to have actual signs.

Other Thoughts:

It's a nicely kept little course that's definitely catering to the beginner crowd. For the non-newb, it's a chance to run a lot of aces.

To me, what this would be is a perfect place to get in a lunch hour round. Two of us (one a total beginner) ran it in about an hour. That's not a bad thing!!

While it won't challenge experienced players, it's a great place for a family of new players to get introduced to the game! Take an hour, and drop in and check it out!
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3 1
timbur3
Experience: 16.8 years 101 played 50 reviews
2.50 star(s)

Beginner 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 6, 2013 Played the course:once

Pros:

- Very beginner friendly
- Most holes are around the 200-250 foot length and relatively straight.
- Does not take very long to play
- Great signs and course map at the start

Cons:

- Some blind shots
- Some woods holes need to have a fairway
- No longer holes
- Have to wait for walkers sometimes
- The brush off the fairways can be very thick

Other Thoughts:

A little difficult to find but decently nice once you do. I would not make a special trip for it but if you live in the area it is definitely worth playing from time to time to mix it up.
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2 1
Sstetson21
Experience: 12.8 years 5 played 5 reviews
2.50 star(s)

Starting Up 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Jul 12, 2012 Played the course:once

Pros:

It would be a good course for beginners and newly starters. Not to difficult averaging about 200 feet per hole.

Cons:

If it is your first time playing, it is hard to find the next holes, hard to spot markers/next tee boxes. There is alot of trash! laying around and also no designated trash cans.

Other Thoughts:

It is a nice local course for people who live around. Actually joined a player on the course to walk us through the ways of the course.
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2 0
PerfectPair
Experience: 8 played 8 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Easy to flow 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 30, 2012 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

Well laid out and easy to follow the flow of direction to the next hole.
Some nice variations of open shots, use of elevation, and trees that look like they were strategically placed ;)
trash Receptacle by most holes.
tees well marked
Friendly locals

Cons:

the failure of many people to not use trash Receptacle (really...how hard is it to do??)
a couple of the tees/pins sit close to other tees/pins which can lead to an occasional unxpected disc entering your game.

Other Thoughts:

For the most part I love this course and this area...my biggest complaint seems to always fall back to the slobs that toss their trash around, especially when you have a trash Receptacle near by. you carried whatever you were using in...whats so hard about carrying it back out??
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4 0
BogeyNoMore
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 19.8 years 479 played 183 reviews
2.50 star(s)

Fun for mids and putters alike 2+ years

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Oct 30, 2011 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

Short course makes good use of trees, brush and woods to emphasize placement over distance.
• Dual pads on about ½ the holes add plenty of length for some holes, while giving only a slightly different look on others.
• Quite a bit of variety for a course that doesn't really offer any long holes.
• Enough elevation to make things interesting on several holes. Has you throwing, up/down hill, over dips and to a few sloped greens that could add some strokes.
• Suitable for beginners, and not bad for intermediate players looking to work on their short game for a quick, friendly round.
• Great for working on your finesse game; features some well-guarded baskets that will take a good tee shot to drop your 2nd shot.
• Many holes have a pretty obvious line to take, but also offer alternative routes going up and over brushy obstacles, or wide turnovers to take a back door approach to the putting circle.
• Excellent baskets, decent concrete pads, simple, effective, color coded tee posts with distance.
• Free to play and no park entry fee.

Cons:

Tee posts for 1 & 2 face wrong direction.
• Lacks any real distance, and hence, doesn't offer a "complete" game.
• Paths to next tee occasionally cross another fairway. Some holes were definitely jammed in among others (understandable, but congested, nonetheless).
• Thick brush on blind holes can = lost discs, take turns spotting each other on some holes.
• Traffic noise from I-94 does nothing for ambience wooded section.

Other Thoughts:

Travellers: hit this place only after you've played Rolling Hills, Hudson Mills, Independence Lake, etc, or if you're looking for a pitch'n'putt to fit in around those. Miss one of those to play this and you'll be disappointed.

Mary Beth Doyle is a fun, decent course for the short game, and anything but a "complete" discing experience: only need drivers from the long tees on a couple of holes. That being said, it adds a refreshing change of pace to the local DG scene.

MBD can be a birdie-fest; grip and rip here and you'll spray discs all over the place. Short holes can easily be overdriven (even with a mid). Good choice for an Ace Race or other one disc challenge (like a Roc v Buzzz grudge match).
• Course actually flows pretty well once you get the hang of it, but navigation can be tricky for first timers.
• Plays quite a bit easier in the fall when foliage isn't dense (less chance of disc loss as well).
• Doesn't seem like the best neighborhood, but course has been clean when I've played and I haven't heard of any trouble here.
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3 1
HYPNO-TOAD
Experience: 17.9 years 80 played 5 reviews
2.50 star(s)

ALL GLORY TO THE HYPNO-TOAD 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jan 7, 2011 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

great beginner course, shorts averaging 200 ft over varied terrain - longs averaging 250.
This course is in the middle of ann arbor but feels somewhat secluded - much of course views an open area over a wetland, 4 holes in the woods, interesting safari shots (tee2-pin3, tee2-pin12, tee10short-pratice pin, tee14-pin18, tee11short-practice, etc)

Cons:

bit too easy, wacky layout - muddy in the spring, lots of noise from nearby I-94

Other Thoughts:

lots of small jets flying overhead due to nearby ann arbor airport
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1 2
jayseiler
Experience: 19.6 years 14 played 5 reviews
2.50 star(s)

Nice short Course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Sep 4, 2010 Played the course:once

Pros:

This course is nicely maintained and for the most part is easy to negotiate. It is a techincal course where acurracy is favored over a big arm. The baskets are fairly new and in good shape and thier are concrete tabs for every hole.

Cons:

the course is packed in a really small area therefore there is only so much variety, if not careful it can be easy to lose a disc if your not sure on the hole placement.

Other Thoughts:

I would be careful if playing alone. The day I played I had two friends with me. An individual walked buy use to return 10 min later and asked to use a cell phone to call 911, he was just mugged a gun point on the walking trail.
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3 0
o01shadow
Experience: 15.9 years 42 played 8 reviews
2.50 star(s)

Solid But Predictable 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 20, 2010 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

This is a very clean course, both in upkeep and in design, with at least one concrete tee per hole and well maintained pins.

Several holes have more than one tee placement, but most do not offer any significant difference in hole play.

All holes are marked and a nice new map of the whole course is available right next to hole one. In addition, the holes tend to flow easily from one to the next, so with a few exceptions, the course is easy to follow.

Given what is available, the holes make good use of vegetation and elevation change.

Cons:

Simplicity has its place, but preferably not on a disc golf course, and this course has too much of it.

Even with the constrained space, the holes tend to be unimaginative and predictable, and unless you mess up you will never need to make a creative shot. Accurate throws will land you an easy birdie almost every time.

This course is extremely short, as would be expected from lack of space, and I never had to use anything higher than a speed 6 (Innova) for anything.

Several of the tees are next to each other, which can be slightly confusing if you forget which hole you are on, but this is not a terrible problem.

The park needs to invest in trashcans on several holes, as the plethora of cans and bottles will show you.

Other Thoughts:

This is a solid course for beginners. I took my friend who is relatively new to disc golf and he shot under par, with little difficulty.

Lost discs should not be a problem, unless you really don't have good throws, because most of the scrub is light and easily navigable.

In addition, this park is free, and easy to get to with directions.

Overall: good-but-not-great course for people wanting to be rewarded for good throws and general accuracy.
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2 0
apdrvya
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 13.9 years 350 played 293 reviews
2.50 star(s)

2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 18, 2010 Played the course:once

Pros:

Length--Short course. Demands more accuracy than strength. Good for a quick play.

Signage--realatively easy to follow the flow of the course.

Baskets--good condition. Gotta love chainstars.

Variety-- I'm going to put this as a pro. There is a lot of variety here for such a short course. the longest hole is a 350' blind drive over a hill where losing discs in the rough is almost mandatory, put someone at the top of the hill for spotting.

Cons:

Signage--oddly enough, a lot of the sign posts face the fairways. It was difficult to find where the tee for one was because of this.

First tee--not only the above, but the first tee does not start at the parking lot, but rather, you walk down a park pathway and drive down the same path you just walked down. Very confusing and wonky.

Trash--LOTS of garbage everywhere, I don't even think that garbage cans would help this.

Wooded holes--dark, damp, dirty, and difficult to follow. We were thoroughly glad to get out of the woods.

Rough-- is REALLY rough and thick. a spotter is almost mando.

"back" 9-- seems a bit thrown together in a field. I completely understand that this park had some planning difficulties due to the wetlands that are in the park, but the field holes are awkward and a bit dangerous to play, with all the crossfire.

Other Thoughts:

I'm hearing that this is one of the nicer parks in Ann Arbor (proper). so, that's good.
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1 1
Scrubgolfer
Experience: 4 played 4 reviews
1.00 star(s)

Painful 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 24, 2010 Played the course:once

Pros:

Close to where I work. Short holes. Good baskets. Cement tees. Close parking.

Cons:

Way too much under brush. Too much time spent looking for lost discs, not just ours but other golfers on the course too.

Do not play this course without a spotter. Many of the holes you cannot see where your disc entered the brush from the tee.

Layout was hard to follow for the first time.

Other Thoughts:

If you like short precise throwing then this is the course for you.

Someone below said this would be a good beginner course but I think that is wrong. The tight play and all the time spent looking for lost discs would drive people away if this was their first time.
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1 5
sbgolfer06
Experience: 3 played 3 reviews
4.50 star(s)

New place 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 11, 2010 Played the course:once

Pros:

Nice place nice short holes at first and then get longer as it goes on, and its free

Cons:

There are some stupid holes like 5,6, 7 that are in the woods, with too many trees

Other Thoughts:

Bug spray, and just have fun, good for beginners, and short game
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4 0
jaydee
Experience: 22.8 years 6 played 6 reviews
2.00 star(s)

2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Oct 29, 2009 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

In the City of Ann Arbor, can be played fairly quickly, some nice holes (4-7, 9,10,15,16,18), good workout for the short game, working on wind management, good course for newbies, some technical shots.

Cons:

No challenging longer drives, too many holes crammed onto the available land, some of the holes are just too easy, only need 2 discs to shoot 7-10 down.

Other Thoughts:

It's the course where I started playing -- I prefer the old layout but it's great to have a disc golf course back in at this park. Originally, we were to get the land around the wetland and the course was going to be much more interesting with challenging long pads and user-friendly short pads. If it were me, I would have gone with less holes, taking quality over quantity. Nonetheless, it's a great gang golf course, there are some good shots, and your short game will get lots of exercise. It is often windy at this park so that can make things interesting. I give it 2 stars which is designated as "Reasonable". Lastly, the course does allow for some safari shots which can make it more challenging for folks that want to pump some drivers.
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1 0
bygwyllay
Silver level trusted reviewer
Experience: 16.9 years 93 played 77 reviews
2.50 star(s)

change of pace 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Oct 20, 2009 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

cement tees, marked baskets, tight layout. a very technical course. the beauty exists in holes 4 though 8, back in the woods by the freeway. very challenging, if not lengthy. was fairly crowded when i played but things moved well - always a good sign. the majourity of holes play to sidearm/leftys, which makes you pull out every disc in your bag

Cons:

the first three holes are cramped along a trail, so watch out for people strolling/running. don't throw into the wetland area by these baskets, i don't think you'll be able to get your disc back. you have to backtrack a bit and the back nine is all contained in one big field, cramped again. in reading innovadude's post, i guess they had the course designed to go around the wetland/lake, but they had to change it. a shame, because that would have set up some nice holes.

Other Thoughts:

a breath of fresh air in the ann arbor area. a quick jog off of I-94 and quick and tight throws throughout. when you need a break from rolling hills, the ponds, or bandemer, hit up doyle for sure. Should be nice to play in the fall/winter as well.
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6 0
Innovadude
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 25.8 years 235 played 180 reviews
3.00 star(s)

BROWN PAAAARK 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Oct 23, 2009 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Dual cement tee pads on half the holes. Tee signs coming soon. Well maintained, mowed.
Larger parking lot than before. Beginner friendly layout has enough technical shots to learn from and challenge a pro on occasion, especially in the relentless wind (most of the course is on top of a small hill). Mix of open and woods. Glow golf is allowed as park closes at 10.
BROWN PARK HAS RETURNED!

Cons:

City forced designer to literally re-design the course the day the cement trucks showed up. We lost #1-5, which went around the pond and had some good length, and had to shorten other holes and cram them in too tight. Factor that in when you play it and realize it was not the intention.
A few tees are too close to each other (due to last second changes).
A few backtracks up fairways are required.
Short, pros will not need a driver (for distance shots) on any hole. The land was never suitable for an epic course, it consists mostly of scrub brush, olive bushes, etc.

Other Thoughts:

Counting times played former layout, 1,000's.
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6 4
esdubya
Experience: 28.8 years 106 played 23 reviews
2.00 star(s)

Brown Park 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Oct 20, 2009 Played the course:once

Other Thoughts:

Mob Golf Talking Trash, Dirty Dollaz. Glow. Ace Races. Quick rounds after work. Beers with buddies. STALL shots. The return of a home course.

Could it use a few tweaks? sure what course couldn't. I don't think the city should have planted all of those young trees in the line of fire, even if the line of fire consists mainly of putters. That one blind hole has drives coming in near another pad or something. Come out here expecting to throw a putter, gun for aces and talk trash when your buddy takes a 4. It's challenging in the sense that you want to deuce every hole.

I like the first three holes. Get warmed up. Don't go OB. Gold course hole 1 tees from parking lot.

The Brown Park 'gold' course is just dieing to be designed.

Abomination? definitely not. Brown Park? Oh yes. Welcome back old friend.
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