Roscommon, MI

Kirtland Community College

2.955(based on 11 reviews)
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1 0
nemdisc7
Experience: 19.9 years 50 played 12 reviews
3.00 star(s)

A winter wonderland 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Dec 30, 2016 Played the course:once

Pros:

It does a great job of using the campus and getting in 18 holes.

The baskets are all in good shape and caught the disc well. Had no bounce outs.

Tee signs while basic, were helpful and the distances seemed accurate.

Trash cans were well placed.

A good course to play in the winter.

I think this is the perfect course for a community college where you're sure to attract a lot of beginners that aren't able to throw long holes- yet it is still long enough that it won't be a waste of time either.

I know it was winter break so no one was around but I felt like I was in my own winter wonder disc golf land. It was beautiful.

Cons:

Navigation- There were no maps so it was up to me to find my way from hole to hole. Had to search for a couple holes. A couple more next hole signs with an arrow pointing would help greatly.

No benches or anything else along the way. Perhaps they are put away in the winter.

Not really any risk vs reward. They did what they could with the land they had but it was a little too open aside from a couple holes.

Tee boxes- Yes, there was snow on the ground but I had a hard time of understanding where a couple were even supposed to be.

Other Thoughts:

I really loved my winter round here and can't wait to go back on a beautiful, warm and sunny day.

I wonder what options they have for teepads? Of course we'd love cement ones, but maybe the school will not allow that since the course is right through campus.
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3 0
ColeBarnhart
Experience: 8 played 1 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Great Beginner Course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Apr 1, 2016 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

-Short holes
Many of the holes are under 300 feet, and this makes it very easy for a new player to grasp the concept.

-Good chains
The baskets are all good quality, and are some of the nicer chains I have seen in terms of disc catching ability.

-Not busy
During the school year, there are not many DGers on the course. During the summer months, there may be one or two groups other than mine.


Cons:

-Not challenging
Many of the holes are very short, and there is not much change in elevation.

-Location
Although this website says it is located in Roscommon, Kirtland is a 15 minute drive from the center of town. If you do not have directions to the course it will be extremely hard to find.

Other Thoughts:

The par 4 holes are frequently birdied, and would likely be par 3s at other courses. However, these are good opportunities to lower your score and improve your confidence.

The start of the course is to the left of the student center, which is the building that has the pond in front of it. The far left end parking lot on the left closest to the student center is where the course starts.
Hole 2 requires you to slightly backtrack down the fairway of Hole 1, which could be a hazard if there was more traffic here.

This is the first course I played, and I have grown to love the sport playing here. If you live in the area it is a great place to go.

If you do not live in the area, I would not recommend a long trip to come here. There are other courses within a 30 mile radius that would warrant a trip much more than Kirtland, such as the PDGA course at Hanson Hills or the Ogemaw Hills DGC.

Overall, this is a course to have fun with and not be seen as a challenge. It is a great place to work on your forehand drives, because many of the holes fade off to the right.
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2 0
Brent E
Experience: 2 played 2 reviews
2.00 star(s)

needs help and some TLC 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 20, 2015 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

quiet/peaceful and holes around and on the actual campus portion of the course very scenic.
hole signs are nice but a little difficult to understand. Nice to have scorecards and pencils available at the starting tee.

Cons:

the portion of the course across the road is not challenging and very poor layout. playing around buildings and fences and the field is overgrown needs to be mowed the weeds are 2ft high and no fairways.
the tee's are non-existent and most have now become just a hole in the ground. better to not even use most tee's and throw somewhere behind hole signs.

Other Thoughts:

could be a very nice course with a few changes and some tee's in place.
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1 2
doods9
Experience: 16 played 4 reviews
2.50 star(s)

Great beginner course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Sep 29, 2014 Played the course:once

Pros:

Lots of wide-open and mostly shorter holes, great for beginners whose throws may be a little wild. Mostly well-marked. Also out in the middle of nowhere--we were the only ones playing on the day we went.

Cons:

Some holes are a little repetitive if you're not a beginner.
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3 2
Innovadude
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 25.8 years 235 played 180 reviews
2.50 star(s)

Nothing fancy, more of a locals course 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Sep 20, 2014 Played the course:once

Pros:

- Had scorecard/maps
- Well manicured/mowed and clean
- Variety of lengths
- Did pretty well for what they had to work with to fit in a safe course on a busy campus area
- Has a few fairly unique yet not really challenging shots, such as between a shed and a fence and along the curve of a fence

Cons:

- Spread apart requiring a walk across a 55mph road
- Open, not very technical
- The baskets can't catch a cold
- Tricky to find the course at first on widespread campus address brought me in wrong parking lot

Other Thoughts:

Hole #14 thought to designer-
there seems to be a path in the woods just left of the tee that would make a great hole, not sure if it's intentional or not, but removing #14 as is and replacing it with a hole up that hill to the left down that path would make for a better hole and tie in to hole #15 with less walking making the course flow faster. Hopefully that will happen!
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2 1
apdrvya
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 13.9 years 350 played 293 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Clean campus course 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Apr 23, 2014 Played the course:once

Pros:

Aesthetic-- plays across a teeny tiny community college in the middle of absolutely nowhere. about 2/3 of the course plays across the "front yard" and the other six holes are across the road near a shooting range. There is always a danger of hitting stuff here.

Teesigns-- decent. shows a basic layout of the hole. there are some issues though. there are so many baskets in some areas, you don't really know which basket is the one you're throwing at. this is most prominent when you have to cross the main entrance but the basket is to the left before the entrance road.

Routing and nav- with the map, it's a breeze. without, I can see it being a nightmare.

baskets-- in excellent condition, nice and grabby and visible on the woodier holes.

Cons:

challenge and variety-- not really a challenging or varietous course. most holes are straight forward and short. the holes that incorporate the "pond" are even short with no chance of water logging.

having to cross the road-- straight wonky.

Lack of teepads-- any sort of teepads would be helpful. the grass pads aren't thoroughly worn yet but they will be.

Other Thoughts:

This course is in the middle of the sticks, literally. if you didn't know it was there, you would never find it...seriously
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3 0
Dylan Peiffer
Experience: 27.8 years 1 played 1 reviews
4.00 star(s)

A Slice of Serenity 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Sep 2, 2011 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

-User Friendly
-Ace able holes
-PDGA approved baskets
-Course layout (2 holes will change in 2012)
-Good variety of terrain and obstacles
-Great atmosphere and wildlife
-24 hr security
-Bathrooms
-Signs are nice and accurate
-Scenery

Cons:

-Due to budget, holes 7-12 were not being mowed (In 2012 the field will continue not to be mowed, however 7-12s fairways in the field will be mowed)
-A couple of holes have more than average distance between them. (This will change in 2012 when we move a couple of holes)
-Holes 7-12 are very open
-Can't fetch disc from the pond
-Kirtland is in the middle of nowhere

Other Thoughts:

I may be bias because I designed and built this course, however I think it is an above average course. I was working with a collage president and staff that had never heard of disc golf before. It was very challenging to come to a consensus. I had to change the layout 5 times before it was finalized (and holes 13 and 14 will be changed again in 2012). When it is all said and done Kirtland isnt to challanging but it can give you a run for your money!
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4 1
Grip_N'_Rip
Experience: 18.9 years 5 played 5 reviews
3.00 star(s)

A hidden gem 2+ years drive by

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

Pros:

What a nice surprise. This is a course that offers some well-laid out short holes and medium-length holes in and around the college campus creatively.
It presents some different challenges especially with the longer holes across the road which are laid out in a wide open field and really lets you cut loose.

Cons:

The hole layout for the back nine get wonky with a couple tee boxes a bit out of the way, leaving you searching for them. The holes in the open field are cool, but it's almost so wide-open, the tee placement isn't as obvious as you'd think, and layout for a few of the holes is weird.

Other Thoughts:

Hot co-eds make for good scenery, but the difficulty level goes up when they sun themselves by laying near the pins. When I was there, holes 15 and 17 had babe terrain to throw around.

The course is a little hard to find, with most of the campus surrounded by trees. The key is to get to the main school entrance and turn left. The first few holes you start at, are next to the parking lot.
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3 1
deBebbler
Silver level trusted reviewer
Experience: 28.8 years 75 played 34 reviews
2.00 star(s)

They did the best with what they had. 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 1, 2010 Played the course:once

Pros:

Excellent tee signage. Trash bins available on many holes, and plenty of benches are around.

The fountain in the pond was a surprise, and turned a murky pond into a pleasing sight, even if it wasn't a very effective hazzard.

Baskets wisely placed to increase challenge on most holes.

Marginal elevation changes used effectively.

Nice flow to the course. Holes placed in pairs and triplets to accomodate existing campus layout, and avoid most highly traveled areas of campus. This gave me the feeling of "hiding in plain sight" as I never interfered with other campus activities.

Holes 7-12 are across the main road, allowing players to easily create a 12 hole alternative layout for limited time available.

Cons:

Holes 7-12 flow counter-clockwise around a rectangular field. These holes, in addition to being some of the most bland holes I've ever played, completely fail to challenge a LHBH thrower, or anyone who can effectively throw moderately straight. I played them almost exclusively with my putter. They are best skipped in a round altogether.

Holes are VERY short, with only 6 holes cresting the 300' mark, but three of those just barely hit the mark, and three off them are on the awful Lefty Loop. There are only a handful of tunnels, and the rest of the fairways are, for the most part, unobstructed. The only thing over 400' was the next tee to 14.

Posted course par is rather humorous, with some 300' holes getting par 4, and one even gets par 5.

Natural grass and gravel tees. They lacked a uniform feel.

Terrible next tee signage. Aside from the Lefty Loop sign and the vague signage to hole 14 (players can easily be directed toward hole 16), there is no next tee signage at all. Hole 2 requires you to backtrack hole 1 fairway.

It is on the inner edge of nowhere.

Other Thoughts:

From the standpoint of a course that is located directly on a college campus, this is a very well designed course. Compared to Northwestern Michigan College, for example, which is cramped and frankly, dangerous, KCC is nicely spaced and enjoyable.

I would very much call this a beginner's course, and an aesthetically pleasing one at that. With that in mind, it fits in well with the job of a community college, which is to expose students to new experiences before they move on to greater challenges.

Without cement tees, any significant elevation, nor somewhat challenging distances, I am unable to give out more than a 2 disc rating. Even with cement tees, because of the highly unmemorable holes 7-12, I would be hard pressed to give more than a 2.5.

If I return, it will be the warm-up round to other courses to be played in the day (like Hanson Hills). I will play 1-6 & 13-18 only, and play them twice.
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4 1
fleeulrich
Experience: 15.7 years 53 played 29 reviews
4.00 star(s)

2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 13, 2010 Played the course:once

Pros:

This course was really easy to navigate, even without ever playing it before. The signs at each pad were some of the best signs I have ever seen, each having distance, par, and general hole layout. Most holes were wide open. There were some unique hole layouts, one of my favorites was hole #8 which had a narrow fairway to go through between a garage and a fenced in basketball court.

Cons:

There wasn't a lot that I really didn't like. There are a few holes that have the risk of losing a disc in the thick foilage that grows near the fairway. Hole 7 has some thick foilage to the right, as does hole 11, a spotter is recommended on those holes. There are two holes that have water hazards hole 5, and hole 13, but is wasn't to hard to keep it away from the water.

Other Thoughts:

All in all this is a fun course and I recommend playing it. With the location of the course I think they did a great job with hole layout and hole placement, they even got a couple holes that have a little change in elevation.
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2 3
Gonnagal
Experience: 15.7 years 86 played 2 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Nicely done 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:May 30, 2010 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

-Nicely layout out hole description stating par, distance and location of the pin.

-Easily navigated the course without knowing the layout.

-Variety in shot selection.

-Open fairways

Cons:

-No signs directing you to some holes, there are 2 signs telling you where the general area to the next tee is.

-Bugs can be a problem, it was cured by using off.

-Permanent tee pads would be a plus.

Other Thoughts:

Overall the course is a very nice open course. Since it is placed on the College the baskets are placed in very nice places. You could go there and never be tested in shot selection. Being a RHBH, I tired sidearm due to the Forrest and other obstacles in the way. In terms of challenging it's medium of the road. The best holes are across the road into an open field, where home plate is a basket. I also enjoyed throwing around the outfield fence of the baseball field. If your in the are and would like a course to try, give it a go. It's probably 30-40 minute drive from West Branch.
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