Lakewood High School sits near Lake Odessa, MI - about halfway between Grand Rapids and Lansing. Behind the school is a large open area dedicated to various athletic fields and facilities. A 9-hole disc golf course plays around the outskirts of this area.

There is a decent mix of holes here. Several holes are longish and fairly open, while each still having a couple of obstacles between tee and basket. Holes 3, 4, 8, and 9 are all at least 300' and fit this description. Other holes are short but tightly wooded with fair lines, like holes 2 and 6. Hole 5 is a 260' throw that requires probably a 200' water carry across a retention pond.

The baskets here are all yellow banded DISCatchers, and all were in fine shape for my visit.

Several holes play near or cross over what appears to be a popular walking path. There are a couple of blind throws towards this path. Also, if people were using the athletic fields a couple of holes could be unplayable.

The tee pads are natural. The tee signs shown in the old photos here are now gone for all 9 holes - although the posts remain so you can at least tell where to tee off from. There is no other infrastructure or signage other than a large billboard next to the parking lot advertising the beginning of the course.

The layout is simply not good. There are long walks between holes, especially 5-6, 6-7, and 8-9. The walk back to the parking lot after hole 9 is the longest of all - it must be 1/4 mile. With zero navigational signage, use of the map uploaded here (or UDisc, I assume) is a must. The map is pretty close to accurate I believe, except that hole 8 is much further north/up from where it is shown. It is located about at the top of the image frame, playing in the direction shown. You can follow the paved path between holes 4-5, 5-6, and 8-9 (for the latter, turn right on the path then left at the shed).

Some of the holes themselves are also a little silly, with the worst offender being hole 1. This one curls slightly to the left for about 300' off the tee, with the fairway being defined by a parking lot on the left and thick brush on the right. Then the brush opens up and the fairway kinks to the right about 120 degrees for the last 100' up to the basket. Just getting par will probably require a 325'+ drive to clear the brush and reach the open field beyond, then an accurate upshot and putt. To any high school students playing this as their first hole ever - it gets better! (not really at this course, but other courses!)

There isn't enough elevation change to really affect play.

Wind can be a major factor here.

I was between a 0.5 and 1.0 for this one, which probably tells you all you need to know. In the end, I'm rounding down because I have to agree with what TVK said about target audience. I'm not sure who benefits from a course laid out like this. There is definitely too much distance and challenge for your average high school student in P.E. class, and the water hole #5 is a lost disc waiting to happen. Serious disc golfers will be frustrated with the long walks between holes, not to mention the unrealistic line on the opening hole. Baggers will be annoyed with the amount of time needed just to play a 9-hole school course. There appears to be plenty of space here to lay out a simple little pitch-and-putt (maybe even more than 9 holes), and that change would make this place much better suited to introduce students, families, and other Lakewood High visitors to the sport!

I truly believe when you design a course at a high school, said course needs to be appropriate for those high school students. Did the principal or school board approve a course that their students could have no success on and will never play?

There are two Pros for this course. First, there is a great course sign at the beginning. Secondly, nice baskets. Rarely used. Only about 100 catches on their odometer.

Now, on to the Cons!

Starting with hole # 1. The tee sign is broken and unreadable. Next, the ground where the tee pad once stood has been bulldozed over. Third, this is an absolutely ridiculously designed hole. You're throwing over the pavement/parking lot and then need a sharp right turn around the corner of the woods. I doubt very much if any HS student here can make this throw.

Hole # 2. No sign and much overgrown.

Hole # 3. 321' feet with thick woods all along the right side of the fairway. Goodbye discs.

# 4. 439' up a 30' wide fairway with tall, disc hiding grass on both sides. Yeah, HS students are going to love this hole.

# 5. My own personal favorite. First, I went the wrong direction looking for a sign and ended up on the other side of the jungle. It's actually only a 260' carry but you're throwing over this wetlands area with 10 feet high jungle grass and other creepy plants. If I threw my disc into this abyss, I wouldn't be worried about finding my disc, I'd be worried about finding my way out.

# 6. Not bad! 201' with a slight anhyser needed and there's actually a fairway.

# 7. No sign. I'm lost. I quit! I think the basket is over at the corner of the soccer field. This basket is trashed. What a surprise. By now, I felt like trashing the next basket myself.

# 8. ????

# 9. I've given up.

Now this is my particular favorite Con about this course. As I get ready to walk back to my car, I look out over the horizon and in the far distance, I glimpse sight of the high school. It's like a mile away. It was like as I was looking through the wrong end of my binoculars.

Don't waste your time. The course is toast. It's done. The Lakewood HS students have spoken and they overwhelming vote "No". This is not the course for them or anyone, for that matter.

Aesthetic--plays around the athletic fields at Lakewood High School, incorporating them as OB as well as parking lots and driveways.
Upkeep here is nice, all nicely mowed and the wooded holes had relatively clear fairways.

Baskets--brand new Innova DisCatchers. Basket #1 was missing (somehow) highly visible for the wooded holes.

Teesigns--Beautiful, full color, OB marked with accurate distances.

Variety--A little of everything a flat course has to offer.. fields, wooded, even a little water come into play.

Routing--very tricky in places 4 to 5 to 6 to 7 are very tricky. I made and posted a map to aide further travels.

Teepads--grass, no skid marks yet.

risk v reward--other than the water hole, there is none. not a single "scary" throw.

missing basket on hole 1

this course will be epic with a few "next tee" signs on some of the longer walks. for a 9 holer, having this many 400 footers and this kind of variety is rare. thoroughly enjoyable.

Nice layout and mixture of open and wooded holes. Great for beginners. Most holes are very reachable.

It's only a 9 hole course. There is absolutely no elevation changes whatsoever.

Good course for locals who don't want to drive far to get their disc golf fix.