Indian Lake Nazarene Camp DGC is located southeast of Kalamazoo, MI. The 9-hole course plays around and near what seems to be...the camp of the same name? A residential neighborhood? An RV storage area? Maybe it was some combination of the three.

This course plays relatively long for a 9-holer. Holes 2 and 9 are pitch-and-putt throws in the 200' range, but all of the other holes are at least 300' and a few are more like 400'-450'. The closest hole to a favorite for me was #8, which is one of the 400+' ones. It plays through a field with an appreciable number of 20'-30' tall pine trees seemingly dropped at random within it. There are several different lines between the pines that you could aim for, if you know where the basket is.

The baskets are Chainstars that are in fine shape.

There are lots of potential safety issues here. I counted three holes that play across various camp roads, and two others that play near them.

Several holes are wide open with no obstacles between tee and basket. At the other extreme, #5 has you teeing off across the camp road straight at a wall of the same type of large-ish disc catching pine trees I mentioned on #8. The basket is at least 350'-400' away behind the wall of trees. Maybe this one played more like #8 when the course was installed back in 2011 - but today the only feasible options seemed to be to play your way around the trees, or maybe big arms could try to bomb it over the top.

The course is flat with no water hazards.

The tee pads are rubber mats that are relatively large, but also lumpy. The tee signs are short wood posts with only the hole number. For the couple of blind holes, it was tricky to figure out where the basket is at.

There aren't any navigational aids. Use the map available here, or UDisc for navigation. A word of advice if you park at the main lot in front of the camp office: Start at hole 2, so that you play #2-9 and then #1 last. This will save you the hassle of walking #1 two extra times.

No trash cans, benches, practice basket, or porta potty.

Holes 7 and 8 play near what seemed to be an RV camping area within, or next to, the Indian Lake Nazarene Camp itself. Apparently you can leave your RV all winter long - when I visited in late October, there were dozens of RVs claiming most of the "campsites" (some of which were still partially "set up" for camping) but zero people around. Maybe I just had Halloween on my brain, but the huge field full of abandoned - albeit presumably temporarily - RVs created an odd, spooky vibe. As I mentioned at the top, another edge of the course near the beginning of hole 1/end of hole 9 appeared to be a residential neighborhood where people live year round. I just wasn't expecting either of these things to be bordering the course, or honestly each other.

This is a private course. I emailed the camp prior to visiting and confirmed that members of the public are welcome to visit and use the course without contacting the camp prior to playing, so long as they respect the rules. From the camp staff: "ILNC is a ministry of the Michigan District Church of the Nazrene, so alcohol/smoking/vaping/tobacco/cannabis products are not permitted on the property." If you're a course bagger looking to add another one to your total, please respect these rules.

I was between a 1.0 and 1.5 here. The primary feeling I got from playing this one was just..."hmmm". That's why I went with the review title I did. It's sort of a weird course that is too long for campers, and too open to really be interesting for most other players. It's a decent spot for field work, but that's about all I can really say. Unless you're trying to hit them all, give this one a miss.

The camp is easy to find and the office sits right between hole 1 and 2. # 1 starts 300' feet from the office where all the white mailboxes are located. I don't believe you need to check in unless you're borrowing discs. I was a little disappointed in not finding any Indians or a lake. I did bump into fellow DGCR contributor Chad (Central Scrutinizer) and his friend Dave. Chad guided us through the course although it's wouldn't be difficult to navigate. But we we're able to talk a lot of disc golf history. Passed the time between our mediocre playing?

The course plays around the camp's ground. It's flat and mostly open making it a nice little course for beginners or players like myself (rec types). The tee pads are rubber mats. Some of them are starting to deteriorate. The baskets are Discraft Chainstars. The signs are just small wooden tee posts with the hole #. All the equipment works well for this course.

The course plays as mostly a slightly longer rec course. Most players playing here will be able to use their drivers on most holes. There are a few obstacles you have to avoid such as the soy beans field on # 2 (wouldn't want to get soy beans on your disc, would you?), the street on a couple of holes and clumps of trees on 3, 4, 5 and 6. You also have to negotiate around the forest on # 7. So this is not just a simple, easy little rec course. There are obstacles but they're mostly avoidable.

I don't come up with much once you accept this course for what is and who it was probably designed for. That is campers, who aren't serious disc golfers and who just want to have an enjoyable outing.

Only 9 holes.

Fairly open.

Not a whole lot of challenge.

So you have a fairly vanilla little course here. But if I lived close, I 'd be a regular, just like Chad is.

This is a nice little course to play a stress free round of golf on. I followed up by playing Vicksburg Recreation Area where every other putt near the water will surely raise your heart rate. Indian Lake Nazarene Camp didn't seem to have any Indians or a lake but I bet there's a lot Nazarenes running around and there definitely is a camp.

Fairly wide open, difficult to lose a disc
No one else was there
Holes 5, 6, 7, and 8 had some character

Several holes are just open and grassy, nothing too challenging.
Very flat

Nice little course. I would start new people in the greater Kalamazoo area on this course as losing a disk is nearly impossible, it is forgiving if your accuracy is off, and none of the holes are insanely long. The first few holes were pretty simple, 5-8 were fairly interesting with a few tight lines created by pine trees.

It's worth a visit if you are local and relatively new to the sport. I'm already planning to take a few people new to the sport here first.

I usually play the Vicksburg Rec Area. I'm glad I wandered the few miles from there to try this place.

- I'm not exactly sure what the deal is with Indian Lake Nazarene Camp (ILNC). The property seems like some strange chimera of private neighborhood, trailer park, summer camp, and public park. Smack in the middle is a beginner-level nine-hole disc golf course. The course plays over a mostly open, grassy, lawn-like flat surface with a few small pines scattered about.
- Each tee has a bed of rocks covered with a rubber mat. The mats provide a decent enough surface, but the rocks underneath make things a bit lumpy and uneven. Signs designate each hole number but do not provide any other information.
- A few small pines come into play. Used to decent effect on #'s 4, 5 and 8. Some larger deciduous trees pop up on #3, but are mostly absent from the course.
- # 6's comparative length keeps this from completely being pitch and putt.

- Flat. Mostly open. Mostly mindless, easy disc golf. Even beginners won't find much challenge or excitement.
- #'s 4 and 5 throw over a road, albeit one that seems to have little traffic.
- Not much in the way of parking by #1's tee. I ended up parking by #2's tee and walked to #1.
- There are many wooden posts placed at intervals in the open space that comprises #'s 1 and 2's fairways. I don't know if these are RV/camper hookups or what, but if anything ever parks by them then you can forget playing the first and last hole of ILNC.

- I got a weird vibe from the surrounding area. It seems like a strange area to have a disc golf course, and it definitely puts off a private camp course vibe. I kept expecting someone to come out and yell at me that the course was closed or that I didn't pay or I had to join their cult or something.
- Yeah, unless you're course bagging or into really bland golf just go to Vicksburg Rec instead. Really, just about any of the surrounding area courses beat this.

Aesthetic- Plays on the shores of Indian Lake (well, close to it, you can see it) on a nazarene camp. I played it in November and had the entire property to myself. I'm expecting that during busy times, it may be an issue to squeeze out a round here.

Pads-- for rubber mats, these are huge and nice.. with a couple little puddles on them after the recent rains, they were super grippy and I never had an issue with footing.

Signage-- nice to have signs here. the routing would be harder if there weren't.

Baskets-- Oh chainstars! nice, newer and grippy!! great condition.

Variety--there's nice variety here. though most of the holes are relatively open, the basket placement is awesome for what they're working with.

Routing- I posted a map. it may make this a little easier. it's a little hinky in places though.

no other real cons other than it's a 9-hole course

this is a gem of a course and I think the only 9 hole that I've given 3 discs. Would recommend HIGHLY if you're going to the vicksburg rec area as it's only like 3 miles away!

Friendly ladies greet you in the office. They have a course map if you desire it.

Nice new rubber tee mats and good Chainstar baskets.

Most holes have at least some purpose. The obstacles may be few, but they're well placed.

During off-times (in terms of the campgrounds), you will probably have this place all to yourself. I played it in December and was the only person on the premises other than the staff in the office.

If you're seeking a clean course devoid of drunks and smokers, no alcohol or tobacco is allowed here.

According to the ladies, it's free and available to the public at all times (aside from when activities are planned with large groups of camp children in the summer).

If you're looking for a course with many obstacles to challenge advanced players, this isn't it.

I imagine there will be conflicts with other campground activities when it's in season.

If you're thirsty for a beer or craving a smoke, they're not allowed here.

For what little the designer had to work with, he did a phenomenal job etching 9 holes, 7 of which I deem purposeful for playing Disc Golf. The 2.5 rating can't do it justice because it isn't intended for competition.

It's a nice walk with your Discs, worthy of your time if you're in the area and in need of a quick and carefree round of 9 holes. You'll get to throw your driver, too.

Two of the holes are reachable with a putter. Three of them are reachable with a drive, and four of them are a drive and an approach (for me, at least, a mediocre Am-1 player).

A few holes have young evergreens that will be good Disc Golf obstacles in ten years or so. I imagine the designer had this foresight based on their placement.

A few of the holes also have a small, non-busy cement road that could act as O.B., which adds a welcomed challenge.

This is a religious campground, meaning absolutely no drinking or smoking. PLEASE respect their wishes in this regard!