Geyserville, CA

Lake Sonoma

Permanent course
3.115(based on 9 reviews)
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5 0
Skirby000
Experience: 11.8 years 7 played 5 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Afternoon Delight 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 31, 2016 Played the course:once

Pros:

Nice landscaped park
Good length for some big drives
Also has enough trees for plenty of low ceiling and window shots to work on the finesse game.
There's a nice big field to use for a driving range and a practice basket that's under some trees and nicely shaded.
Bathrooms on site and plenty of BBQ spots.
Also a playground for the munchkins that are too small to play.

Cons:

Hole 9 tee is now on private property so it is unusable.
My son lost two discs on hole 3.
5$ to park

Other Thoughts:

I really like this course. My son's a beginner and I was really able to take my time with him and work on his machanics (especially after loosing two discs).
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4 1
bobmcnelly
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 12.9 years 324 played 189 reviews
3.00 star(s)

2+ years

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:May 24, 2014 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

-concrete tee pads
-newer baskets
-easy access
-some trees come into play for a couple of technical holes
- nice variety of a few shorter shots and a few longer shots

Cons:

-could use some signage for easier navigation
-really thick rough along the edge of the course making an errant shot really easy to lose
- a bit of a walk between holes 7 and 8 with no real signage to show you the way
- tee signs only tell you the hole number

Other Thoughts:

Fun warm up course, but lacks the wow factor that most other courses in the area have.
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Designer response by Peterb
I am baffled by the assertion that this course is mostly open. It is far from open. Holes 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, and 8 are technical shots. With more than half the course technical, how can anyone consider it 'open'?
1 7
bykergus
Experience: 10.9 years 13 played 11 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Playing on a Wet Day 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Mar 28, 2014 Played the course:once

Pros:

Nice course layout midst the picnic grounds. Groomed grassy course with trees and other obstructions. Can be technical. Bar-b-ques and picnic areas available. Concrete pads for first 9 and hole 17. Not sure where the par 4 was, but, must have been on 5.

Cons:

In the winter, not able to always cut the grass so can be VERY wet.
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6 0
The Valkyrie Kid
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 45.9 years 1563 played 1507 reviews
2.50 star(s)

Pretty Green State Park Course Lacks Wow! 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 18, 2013 Played the course:once

Pros:

Lake Sonoma State Park is a nice, large sprawling expanse of lush green lawns. The disc golf course plays mostly around the perimeter of the park. The course starts next to the picnic shelter and features a practice basket there. There are brand new Discatcher baskets and nice sized concrete tee pads. The tee signs are basic giving only the hole # and an arrow pointing towards the basket.

# 1 was the most interesting hole on the course. It's a very pretty hole and is also the only hole featuring any elevation at all.

# 8 by the Sheriff''s office was a fun hole to throw a roller on. In fact, the whole course is a great place to practice your rollers.

Navigation was fairly simple and the course starts and ends at the same parking lot.

Cons:

The lack of elevation and relative openness of the course left me a little less than wowed. Granted, it's a nice walk/throw in lush green grass but after playing the three wonderfully hilly courses up in Ukiah, I was a little underwhelmed the lack of variety here.

Agreeing with a previous reviewer, the grass was quite soggy and wet and combined with how thick and lush it is, I felt like I was trudging along at times.

Other Thoughts:

Good solid recreational/intermediate course. Won't challenge advanced players but is a pretty good course to bring newbies due to it's lack of any underbrush and open terrain.

The course was quite busy with a couple of other groups playing and more arriving as I was leaving.

This is another course where the designers did a commendable job with the area/terrain they were given to work with. You can't create a epic Delaveaga type of disc course on a flat grassy park area. You just try to design a course where players can be challenged and enjoy their round. I feel the designers accomplished that here at the Lake Sonoma Disc Golf Course.

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Designer response by Peterb
Thanks for the review...we're hoping to open an additional 9 up the road a bit that will be in a wild area with plenty of elevation changes. If we get to do this there'll be two almost opposite 9 holes giving us the balance and wow factor we currently lack at the grassy park.
6 0
lanningmorgen
Experience: 27.6 years 45 played 7 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Lake Sonoma Getting Better and Better! 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:May 10, 2013 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

-Very nice green manicured park.
-Wineries in the area.
-General Store (deli sandwiches) and cool Bar on Dry Creek Rd. on the way to or from the course. Worth the stop.
-Huge parking lot.
-Practice basket next to Tee #1 and picnic shelter.
-Lots of other activities: playground, picnic areas, grills, horseshoe pits, fishing at the lake. There are many different shots you'll need: long straight left, right, low ceilings, and one long roller (hole #3).
-Several bathrooms and water fountains. -Enough of a challenge on most holes and only hole 2 and 4 are short enough to really be gimmies.
-Nice flow and around the perimeter of the park rarely are there backups or conflicts with other park visitors.
-dog friendly
-LOTS OF POTENTIAL
-NEW CONCRETE TEEPADS

Cons:

-Trees hold discs
-only 9 holes, but this may change with time and support.

Other Thoughts:

Very enjoyable, peaceful round of golf. Best weekly bag tag challenge in Sonoma County in my opinion. Sundays at 10am-12(noon). BBQ potluck follows the round.
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6 0
joegraham
Experience: 39.8 years 112 played 4 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Lake Sonoma 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Feb 23, 2013 Played the course:once

Pros:

Very nice green manicured park about an hour north of Golden Gate Bridge just past Healdsburg with all the wineries in the area. Huge parking lot. Practice basket next to Tee #1 and picnic shelter. Lots of other activities: playground, picnic areas, grills, horseshoe pits, fishing at the lake. There are many different shots you'll need: long straight left, right, low ceilings, and one long roller (hole #3). Several bathrooms and water fountains. Enough of a challenge on most holes and only hole 2 and 4 are short enough to really be gimmies. Nice flow and around the peremiter of the park where I don't see any backups or conflicts with other park visitors. I really love Hole #1. It's long and open except for a tree about 100 feet out that you can go left or right of and possibly reach the hole. I reached it once with a good tail wind out of about 10 practice throws.

Cons:

Can't say there are any! It's 9 holes, but they are all different and challenging.

Other Thoughts:

Hole 3 is the biggest challenge at 500 some feet that you have to pass a row of mature trees about 330 feet out before a open area to the basket. A roller will go under those trees into the open pretty easily. This is the longest hole on the course by far.
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Designer response by Peterb
Thanks for the review Joe! Glad you had a great time...Let's get up there to play soon!

I'm actually a little surprised you didn't mention lack of elevation as a con.

4's a gimme? Really? Maybe 7 is a gimme...
8 0
Hazer
Silver level trusted reviewer
Experience: 18 years 168 played 53 reviews
2.50 star(s)

Lake Sonoma 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jan 24, 2013 Played the course:once

Pros:

Nice new 4'x8' concrete tees on every hole (holes 6-9 were still drying when I played). Simple post-style signs with hole # and an arrow pointing in the direction of the basket. Nice new DiscCatcher baskets. Practice basket and covered picnic/chill area by hole 1. Several restrooms on site, one being right between holes 5&6. Very beautiful and well maintained park with clean mowed grass and gently rolling hills throughout most of the park and course. Many trash cans scattered throughout. Very low traffic. Very easy to navigate. All holes but 1 (hole 3) are birdie-able. Hole 3: long hole shooting into a thick grove of trees with a low ceiling forcing you to stay really low or go over the top and risk getting stuck in a tree. Several tunnel shots. Hole 9 has OB running along the left side of the fairway. Lightly to moderately wooded. Good flow to the course with 9 ending very close to 1.

Cons:

Relatively easy course with only 1 challenging hole. No hole numbers on baskets. No benches. A couple baskets and fairways are fairly close to one another in the beginning of the course.

Other Thoughts:

This is one of the better 9 hole courses I've played in California. I think the designers did a good job with the available space and the park is beautiful and very well maintained. Even the restrooms were top notch for a free public park. I was the only one on the course at 1PM on a Thursday afternoon, but I'm guessing once word gets around that the tees are in more people will come play it. There's a little walk between holes 7&8, but it's easy enough to navigate. Great course for beginner/intermediate level players, but would get boring for advanced players after a few rounds. Safari is possible.
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Designer response by Peterb
Thanks for the review!
7 0
Magiken
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 14.7 years 74 played 74 reviews
2.50 star(s)

An Interesting Start 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Sep 29, 2012 Played the course:once

Pros:

• Nice new baskets
• A decent park
• There are restrooms and water
• Easy to find
• Some fun shots here and there

Cons:

• A little tricky to navigate
• No tees
• A bit heavy on the tunnel shots

Other Thoughts:

Tips:
• Tee markers here are brown 4" wide, plastic, flat stakes. It's not clear exactly where you should tee off in relation to these markers so you'll have to guess.
• The map in the Links section needs a few updates. Some guidance tips:
o The Practice basket and #1 Tee are past the dirt area and in the grass by the picnic table. They can be easy to miss from the parking lot but they're there.
o #3 Tee: After you finish #2 go right to the edge of the tree line and then straight back through the dirt field ~150' where you'll see the tee marker.
o #4 Tee: After you finish #3, go right and follow the fence line around to the left. You'll see the marker next to a covered picnic area.
o #5 Tee: After you finish #4, go past the restrooms and #5 tee is ~50' ahead next to the fence on the left. It had fallen down when I was there so it may be on the ground (I did try and stand it back up).
o #8 Tee: This tee was MIA when I was there so I just chose a spot near the corner of the new fence, roughly where the tee is marked on the map. I did see a metal pole on the other side of the fence. Maybe that's where the tee was?
o #9 Tee: This tee was also MIA when I was there but there was a little orange flag in the ground with some suspiciously placed sticks forming a rectangle in the middle of a small grove of trees to the right of where #9 tee is supposed to be on the map. This forms a nice anhyzer shot to the basket so I threw from there.

Random Thoughts:
I had a rough day on this course and I can't decide if I just caught this course on a bad day. I got there around 10:00AM and I'm guessing the sprinklers had just been on which is normally not a big deal but the grass in this park is super thick and a little high which means it's a little bit of a slog to walk through, and in some areas was muddy, and others full-blown flooded. The other thing that made this course a challenge is the lack of tees. Not only was I just guessing on where the intended tee area was but due to the aforementioned soggy grass, I found myself slipping quite a bit, and when I wasn't slipping I was thrown off-balance because not only was the grass high and wet but the ground itself is anything but flat. It's quite clumpy in fact. As for the holes, there is some fun to be had out here but be prepared: these are longish holes with some emphasis on low tunnel shots. To summarize: #1 is a nice starter hole as it lets you let one fly with minimal obstacles. #2 is a challenging tight tunnel shot. #3 I don't really understand. It's a really long hole that starts you out ~200 feet from a tree line which I don't see any way of penetrating so your best bet is to try and land it in one of the tree openings to set yourself up with a long tunnely shot to the basket. This is by far the hardest hole on the course. #4 is another tunnel shot although quite a bit easier than #2. #5 has you throwing out of the trees towards a fairly open basket. #6 starts out in the open and has you throw into a basket in the trees. One of the few places you can kind of let fly again. #7 is similar if you have the arm for a big hyzer but the short route demands a pretty straight leftish to rightish shot with medium height. On a side note, I'm surprised this tee is where it is out in the field. I wouldn't be surprised to see the football/soccer crowd yank it out one day. #8 (where I played it) is a shortish tunnel shot. #9 (where I played it) is a pretty wide open medium-size anhyzer. I actually almost aced it which was a nice way to finish the round.

Bottom Line:
As I said, I'm a bit conflicted about this course. It's a decent park from an amenities perspective and I do see great potential here for (with some alternate tees) a fun 18, but it's absolutely going to need some clear flat tee areas as the ground is just too shaky right now. While I didn't 'get' a couple of the holes, that's fairly irrelevant as others may love them. And that certainly wouldn't stop me from coming back. And who knows, maybe it's not done(?) I know what you're thinking, no course is ever done. But I think you get my meaning. In any event, I look forward to any improvements and a return visit.

UPDATE 10/03/2012: I spoke with one of the course designers who informed me that the course is, in fact, still in progress. There are two concrete tees coming for each hole thus making a full 18. There were also some last minute changes made to the park that caused some of the hole re-routes such as on #8. I was also informed that #3 is actually a par 4 which makes a lot more sense to me now. With all of this in mind, I'm now looking forward to a return trip and an updated review.
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Designer response by Peterb
Time to get back to LSDGC. New concrete tees make a world of difference
7 0
Peterb
Silver level trusted reviewer
Experience: 30.9 years 81 played 32 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Stil very fun! 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Feb 17, 2020 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

- awesome manicured park with cut green grass, BBQ areas, volleyball, hoops, bathrooms, water, etc
- fun shots that will test you, but aren't so tough as to leave you frustrated
- 9 freshly poured concrete tee pads
- plentiful parking
- shady trees scattered throughout
- 1 par 4
- potential for expansion to 18 tees
- potential for multiple pin placements

Cons:

- hardly any elevation change
- holes 5-7 are a bit too easy...may require a set of advanced tees
- holes 8-9 are a bit of a walk...but not too bad
- gets really hot in the summer
- the grass, as it was currently cut, is pretty thick. Too thick for rollers which would be super fun if possible.
- we'll see about drainage in the winter(edit, drainage isn't much of a problem)

Other Thoughts:

Fun little 9 where you can air it out a bit and also


Challenge you with some low ceiling shots. Not too
Hard. Par is 28. Great park facilities especially for a BBQ. Good starter course for the lake Sonoma rec area. Potential for that epic rugged mountain course in a nearby area. UPDATE 2020: Took my kids to play this for the first time. Needs some TLC in terms of course signage. The course sign itself is very faded. Most of the tee signs are gone, making navigation difficult for first timers. Some trees have been cut down making the course a little easier than it used to be. But it is still very fun! Enjoy...
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