Fair Haven, MI

Ira Park DGC

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2.435(based on 7 reviews)
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Owannabeawinner
Experience: 12.8 years 39 played 2 reviews
2.50 star(s)

2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Oct 11, 2014 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Short and long tees for every hole. They've installed inner chains so your disc is less likely to spit out. Nice mix of woods and open areas. Easy to navigate. Very clean with plenty of trash cans.

Cons:

Most of the holes are very short so not much of a chance to use your drivers. It's missing the long tee box on the 4th hole.

Other Thoughts:

A great place to practice your short game. I was really happy they installed the inner chains on all the baskets, I had a lot of good looking shots hit off the middle post of the basket and spit out in the past.
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2 1
apdrvya
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 13.9 years 350 played 293 reviews
2.00 star(s)

Loudest Toads Ever... 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Apr 8, 2014 Played the course:once

Pros:

Aesthetic-- plays through the "backyard" of a municipal park. Very little chance of non-discers (Until 7-9 as they criss-cross walking paths).

Routing/nav-- easy, follow the paths. Easy to see both long and short tees are you play through.

Teesigns-- insanely good. shows both pad positions and are very descriptive. Best of the day by far...

Cons:

Baskets-- sorry, I did not like them. the basket is shallow and the chains are single. Far too many spit-outs for me. the "medallions" were cool though.

teeboxes-- I did not care for the high kick strips in the front of these boxes. Also, the woodchips were pretty mucky.

Challenge-- not much. hole 3 is the hardest 100' hole ever... just sayin'. the holes in the field are straight forward, 7-9 are very short.

Variety-- pretty vanilla in this dept. the first two are straight forward, three is cool, four is straight. 5 and 6 are in the field and 7-9 are very short.

Other Thoughts:

the tree frogs/toads at the end of 5 were insanely loud... insane.
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1 1
Duff-Dyed
Experience: 21 played 5 reviews
4.00 star(s)

a gem no one knows about 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 21, 2013 Played the course:once

Pros:

mowed, clear fairways

some of the best tee markers and very discriptive hole lay outs w aireal maps and lines, distances and pars

every hole had a new oportunity w multiple ways to shoot.

this course can be a good play for seasoned vets, and it also was a blast for my 12 year old nephew who played his first game ever, w me, there today.

absolutely pristine as far as litter goes. no litter what so ever, and just an absolute clean and beautiful little course.

Cons:

not much in the cons department.

too short? could put another 9 holes in no problem

needs legit, proper length tee pads.

a bit of heavy sumac on 9

Other Thoughts:

it appears this course has gotten some bad reviews as of last season. ive been playing for about 6 or 7 years and i was elated to find a course close to home. there was almost nothing wrong w this little course and i loved it. i will be back for sure. do not hesitate to go and play there, but do not ruin it! pick up after your selves.
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1 0
SleazyDeezie
Experience: 12.8 years 33 played 1 reviews
2.50 star(s)

Needs Work 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Aug 25, 2012 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

-Detailed signage
-Great homemade baskets
-No traffic on the course
-Only course in this area

Cons:

-Treacherous rough. Lots of poison ivy, pickers and thorns
-Wood chip tee pads
-Navigation of the course may be tricky on the first playthrough

Other Thoughts:

***UPDATE***

The course has improved greatly, and is way more playable than it was upon my first visit. While the rough is still VERY rough, this can be expected of a brand new course. However, the grass has been cut, the fairways cleaned up, and everything is in much better shape. Holes 7-9 were quite nice compared to the front 6, and seemed to have much less overgrowth as well. Not too difficult if you can stay on the fairway...Though there are a few challenging/technical shots from the alternate tees. Seems like this course will get better with age. I would play here again the next time I'm in the area.
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1 2
Brinker085
Experience: 12.8 years 27 played 2 reviews
0.50 star(s)

It's New, and Still Needs Some Work Done 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Jul 2, 2012 Played the course:once

Pros:

There are only a couple good things I can say about this course, and unfortunately, they're somewhat minor details.

-The course has decent sings marking both tee positions and basket locations.

-The hand crafted baskets are functional, and good quality.

Cons:

Where to begin? This course is far from being in good shape. It may have the potential to one day become a decent little course, but it needs a lot of work!

I don't know what the condition of the property was before the disc course was put in, but it is still in very rough shape. There aren't really any fairways to speak of. Most of the grass, weeds, and other plant life are at least knee high and not cleared out well at all. The course needs some heavy duty mowing and cutting work. The areas outside of the very narrow "fairways" are brutal. Thick brush, reeds, thorns, and poison ivy await anyone searching for an errant shot. I spent more time looking for discs than I did playing the course which quickly became frustrating and tiring.

The course features dual tees. The longer of the two tees are simply natural terrain marked with a post. The short tees are wood chip filled boxes. I've played other courses with wood chip tees before and they don't work well. The wood chips don't provide very solid/even footing as they move around very easily.

In its current state, I can't recommend traveling very far to play it. If you're close to the area and want to give it a shot, go for it. Otherwise, save yourself the drive.

Don't make the mistake I did and come unprepared. Shorts and short sleeved shirts don't make digging through the brush to find your plastic very enjoyable.

Other Thoughts:

The area the course is in doesn't have any other disc golf courses to play outside of a 20 to 30 minute drive, so it is good to finally have a course in the area. Given the current conditions of the course however, I feel it will make a very bad impression on any first time or newer players that may come out to give it a try. Compared to the courses located within 20 miles or so around it, this one has a long way to go.

As of right now, with all the summer heat and dry weather, the ground was dried out. It is easy to see however that this place would be a swampy mess in the spring or in any wet weather.

I know this course just opened, and is in it's first season. I'm hopeful that it will get the attention and cleanup that it needs as time goes on and will develop into a nice little course.

Update: 9/24/2012 I have not able to make it out to this course since my initial review. Since that time I've heard from several sources that the course is in much better condition. Please see some of the other reviews. I plan to update this review the next time I'm able to make it out for a round at Ira park.
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4 0
ZdybelT
Experience: 12.9 years 55 played 16 reviews
2.50 star(s)

interesting new course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Jun 30, 2012 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

-great baskets.
-course was empty when I played.
-great signage, easy to find your way to the next hole.
-challenging.
-variety of long/short holes.

Cons:

-alittle too narrow for my liking.
-tall grass in the fairway on some holes.
-no garbage cans.
-long range tee pads are just wood posts.

Other Thoughts:

First time playing here it was alittle hard to find. When we got there it looked nice but realized we were basically throwing into a narrow trail that wasnt maintained. It could just be that it is a new course but hopefully the issue will be fixed soon. Just make sure your shots are accurate or you will be going threw thick bushes and maybe end up with a tree thorn through your putter like I did somehow. Honestly this course has alot of potential with a few changes that can be made. Overall I did enjoy playing here and the trip was worth it.

**UPDATE**
played the course again and it has improved alot. The grass is now cut alot better and is nice and clear. It looks like the edges have been groomed alittle bit more as well. I am excited to see what the course will look like in the future and will be excited to play it yet again.

Also the number one rule for this course...STAY ON THE FAIRWAY AND OUT OF THE ROUGH!
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Designer response by donnyv
Nice update on your review. In your first visit the course was in but not quite ready when it opened. Thanks to these reviews, problems were addressed and solved.

THE TRAILS
The trails were pretty narrow because their brush-hog broke and they didn't want to risk damaging their mowers going thru the thick stuff. I bit the bullet and trailblazed with my smaller 50" zero-turn and luckily just dulled the blades and flattened one tire going thru the thick. The grass is nice and good till spring. Still rough off the wider fairways though and worth mentioning for sure.

GARBAGE CANS
Still looking for donations for sturdy garbage cans and volunteers for course upkeep. Good obsevation

LONG TEE PADS
Long teepads are natural. We'll see how the course fairs traffic-wise. Concrete tees can still be put in for the long tees but there is no mixer-truck access to those areas so it would have to be dropped off by ATV and mixed at the tee areas. Maybe it could be a fundraising event next year.

Thanks again for coming back and updating your review on the course. It has been very useful to many.
4 0
donnyv
Experience: 26.8 years 45 played 14 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Finally! 2+ years

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Jun 15, 2012 Played the course:once

Pros:

UPDATE: Grass was cut late July. 100% better shape now.

Located just a 1/2 mile from Lake St. Clair. The course is a great example of how a disc golf course can be built almost anywhere.

10 custom-made baskets will bring back the old-school disc golf memories.

9 holes with duel tees will give everyone a chance to try their best shots, regardless of skill level.

Not real easy or super difficult but you'll likely learn your lesson if you go off the fairways and into some thorns, poison ivy, and dense brush.

Practice area coming soon with basket to get warmed up.

Plenty of signage with direction, distance, and maps.

If you are a county resident, the library down the street will let you borrow a disc with your library card. They'll have extra scorecards too.

Cons:

Only 9 holes
A pro and a con. It will keep the crowds down for the locals but many players will only travel far for courses with at least 18 holes. Duel tees will at least help make it worth the drive.

Natural and Woodchip Tees
Not trying to be picky but concrete tees are the standard these days (yeah, we've been spoiled by other courses in the area)
but the course was planned to have that rustic / vintage look anyways. The boxed-in woodchip tees (SHORTS) for the beginners and natural tees (LONGS) keep it that way.

THORNS
Seriously, just keep your discs on the fairways. I helped build this course and the thorns we had to deal with on holes 3-5 almost drove me insane so keep your eyes peeled for the hidden dangers in the rough. Most of the thorns have been removed and used for a protective barrier near the park's property line.

Water near Out of Bounds
Technically the course doesn't play over or around a creek or lake but half the course is on heavy clay land so be cautious during the wet seasons. Course design was tweaked this spring to avoid most issues on fairways/tees/greens.

You do throw over some small creeks to keep it interesting. A larger creek flows nearby on the hiking trails. The water-tower in the middle of the park is also somewhat drained periodically.

Other Thoughts:

This course looks a lot easier on paper than it really is. Even though the course is short, baskets are not always visible from the tee areas. Being able to perform anny's and hyzers to go around the blind corners will be a great benefit and will lead to a score under-par.

Not too bad of a course, still a little rough from being brand new, just stay on the fairways and you'll be alright.

I brought my mower and cut the grass for the course on July 14th. Course is 100x better now and I'll try to keep an eye on the maintainence issues. Let me know of any problems so I can inform the parks dept.

If you seen this place before the course was put in, you'd be amazed of how THICK it was with thorns and such. We ended up with a ton of extra work but the area really needed a course. Hope you all can give it a try sometime.

Please give it play (while the grass is under control) and review if you can. I know the course is not championship caliber but it will be good for this area. Many don't even know what disc golf is.

I'm building a 9-hole course down the road at the East China Twp Park too. I'm dealing with similar issues but it'll be a real nice course with potential for 18 holes if we can impress the parks dept with the front 9.

Thanks for your time and have fun,

donnyv
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