Labyrinth DGC is located on the West Shore Community College campus, which is located about a 15 minute drive northeast of Ludington, MI. Just to clear one thing up right away: this is NOT what your mind may have conjured up when you read "disc golf on a college campus." This isn't some silly pitch-and-putt where your main obstacles are buildings, cars, and pedestrians. This course is on the very edge of campus, and the whole campus feels like it is kind of in the middle of nowhere - surrounded by farmland and woodland on all sides. The aesthetic is actually very peaceful and secluded.

The 24 holes of discing here are pretty good too. The variety is outstanding. The first few holes play up/down some moderate slopes, and in/out of the woods. The course then opens up into a rolling meadow with a few scattered trees. The grass fairways here are cut in odd directions and places, sometimes giving the impression that holes play in a different direction than they actually do. I thought this was a fun touch and probably intended to be the "labyrinth" that the course is named after. This area contained the two most memorable holes on the course for me. Hole #10 plays blind off the top of a ridge to the basket below. Right after this, hole #11 plays up a different section of the same hill to a basket guarded by a circle of tree trunks.

The second half of the course is generally flatter, but has some nice semi-wooded throws (e.g. holes 13-17 or so), tighter wooded holes (18-22) and finally a couple of open bombers to finish things off. As a whole, Labyrinth is more open than many Michigan courses but there are still plenty of obstacles to work around. You'll have plenty of occasions to want to throw hyzers, anhyzers, and those elusive straight shots.

There are also two tee pads per hole, creating a short layout and a long layout. I played the short pads on my first visit, and returned a few days later to play the long pads. I felt that the designers did a pretty good job of placing the tee pads so that holes play differently depending on the layout you choose. The long layout plays a little easier than Beast or Goliath down the road, but is likely enough to challenge most disc golfers. The short layout is approachable for beginners, but will still be a lot of fun for many players. I think I enjoyed the shorts a little more overall, but some individual holes were more memorable from the long layout - notably #16 and #7 which both play up completely different, more challenging fairways.

The baskets are Chainstars in good shape - one per hole. There is also a practice basket next to the parking lot.

The tee pads are okay. They are decent sized arrays of patio pavers, and most of them have a rubber mat extension on the back to accommodate a short run-up. The arrays were flat and level when I played. Concrete pads would probably still be an improvement but honestly I had no trouble with these as is.

Holes 12 and 24 end at more or less the same spot so you could easily play the front 12 or back 12.

There are several trash cans located at tees throughout the course.

The entire course plays far away from other campus activities, and the holes stay well apart from each other. While a couple of holes play across a two-track, this doesn't appear to be anything that would be driven on with any regularity, or walked on by non-DGers.

The tee signage here is poor. The short tees have what I call "Ludington style" tee signs. These are carved wooden posts that have the name of the course above an outline of Michigan's lower peninsula, and the hole number and distance. These are undoubtedly unique and cool looking signs, but they need more information about the hole - at bare minimum, the par and a rough line. It was annoying walking up to spot the Chainstar baskets on the "labyrinth" fairway cut holes and especially in the shadows of the tighter wooded holes. The long tees have no permanent signage at all. When I visited, about half of the long tees had temporary signs from a tournament (these only had the hole number, distance, and par).

Navigational signage is also not good. There are some arrows in a similar style to the tee signs, that point towards the next short tee pad. A few more of these would be good for the short layout, but the real problem was navigating to the long tees. Some of the long tees are in an entirely different direction from the previous basket than the short tees are, and it took me several minutes to find a couple of them. There is a kiosk, but no map was posted on it and the scorecard box was empty when I visited. The map uploaded here is reasonably accurate, but again only for the short tees.

I don't believe there were any benches on the course. A few of these would be a nice addition. There was also no porta potty.

A couple of holes play pretty much straight ahead across the wide open field with almost no obstacles.

The rough here is kind of thick in some areas, and several large spruce trees in/next to fairways could catch and hide discs. I don't think there is a huge risk of disc loss here but be sure to keep an eye on them, especially if playing the long layout.

There is a longish walk back to the parking lot after the final hole, which again ends near where hole 12 ends. I had to wonder if it is possible to add a couple more holes on the south side of the two-track, where there seems to be some unused land. Those holes could play back towards the parking lot.

The edge of campus that this course is located at is also the furthest edge from the entrance. Once on campus, follow signs for the ice arena for about 3/4 mile to reach the course, which shares a parking lot with that arena.

Unlike many of the other Ludington area courses, Labyrinth is free to play. However, they do have a donation box at the first tee and I arrived thinking I needed my "Mason County dollar", so I dropped it into the box. I would encourage you to do the same. What else can you even buy for a dollar these days anyway?

Labyrinth feels like it has been flying under the radar a little bit, if that's possible for a Ludington course. Despite being ten years old and in an area well-known for disc golf, there were only six reviews and three course photos on DGCR prior to my visit. West Shore Community College and the Mason County disc golf club have put together a solid course here. I enjoyed this one enough to add it to my Favorites as it stands today, and many of the issues I mentioned above are fixable. My recommendation: Play it!

-The use of the terrain is amazing at this course
-Excellent beginner to intermediate course
-Excellent pin placements
-Variety of shots needed
-Routing was simple with plenty of next tee signs
-Nice scorecards with a map
-Some blind shots and quite a bit of risk/reward shots
-Overall, the course layout/design is amazing for the property that they had to work with
-The wind that blows through here definitely adds a nice challenge
-24 holes
-I would easily rate this course a 4 when long tees are added

-No trashcans
-No benches
-Teepads are very bumpy and uneven rubber mats
-Not a con for me, but there are a lot of very short holes

We hit this course on our 5 day DG trip to the west side of the state. Right now, it is definitely a beginner to intermediate course, but there will be long tees added in some time in the future. The long tees are already mowed and marked with flags, and Mason County Parks told us that they will be put in this year. I am hoping that concrete tees will be added in the future because the current tees are very bumpy and rutted.

We were amazed with the use of the terrain and the basket placements here. Very well designed. You will use quite a variety of shots.

I would highly suggest playing this course if you are in the area, and have time to play multiple courses. I definitely wouldn't skip Beauty/Beast/Goliath/Leviathan to play this course, but we had a 5 day trip and played 320 holes of 7 different courses. In my overall opinion, it was worth it.

Fun course with scenic terrain, rolling hills and nice woods. Well-suited for beginners through intermediate skill levels.
• Nice balance between semi-open and wooded holes. Numerous fairway shapes allow for a variety of different shots.
• Elevation featured prominently on at least half the holes to increase fun factor, challenge, eye appeal and risk/reward: uphills, downhills, rollaway greens.
• Blind holes force you to accurately gauge line and distance to score well.
• Has some interesting and fun holes. I particularly liked #10 and #22.
• Wind was definitely a factor when I played. While it can be frustrating, I feel it changes things up a bit, increases challenge, adds some degree of variety, and can help to provide greater scoring separation.
• Navigation: A few holes seem to criss-cross each other, so there are a few spots where finding your way is a bit tricky. Shares the same land as a cross country course, so some of the mowed paths for runners can mislead you. However, they've done a nice job with tee markers (hole # and distance) and added numerous "Next Tee" signs to make navigation pretty simple overall.

• Needs trash cans - badly. Piles of beverage containers near many tees. People think they're being considerate leaving them in a pile (when they should really be packing them out), but it looks really bad when you walk up to the tee to find a pile of bottles and cans.
• Some of the tees are rutted and uneven - could really use flypads or concrete tees (I realize $'s always a factor).
• Somewhat lacking in variety of hole lengths, and plays a bit on the short side. While it appears there's room (and plans) for long tees on a few holes, I saw none during the round.
• The rough can be thick in spots but it's a new course and should break in nicely. Tall grass can also make it hard to find wayward tee shots - reasonable chance of disc loss.
• One short hole (somewhere in the upper teens) seemed a bit ridiculous, and IMO needs to be opened up a bit to provide a more reasonable line. Seems like the only executable tee shot is a OH or spike hyzer.
• I wish tee markers included a simple line drawing showing the fairway shape so visitors know where to look when walking the fairway to spot the pin.
• Doesn't seem challenging enough for upper level players (at least not until Pro Tees are established).

• Pairs well with The Edge for a nice day's discing; each course offers what the other is lacking.
• Nice scorecards with color map available at kiosk. Nice aid to navigation. Note that scorecard distances on seem way off, but tee signs seemed quite reliable.

There's no denying Labyrinth is a good course. Solid design and good disc play are nothing to turn one's nose up at, and while I think they did a good job here and enjoyed my round, I wouldn't call this course "destination worthy." It's no better (or worse) than good courses in other communities I've visited. I'd give it a 3.25, and if you throw in long tees plus decent, level tee pads, I can see 3.5, but I can't rate a course based on elements that aren't in place yet, so 3.0 it is.

The "problem" is the Mason County boys and Bill have set the bar so high with other courses in the area that I can't recommend spending your time playing Labyrinth when you could be experiencing something special nearby, especially if your time is limited.

However, if you're staying in the area for a few days, and have had your fill of the area's best (i.e. Flip, Beauty, Beast, Goliath, Leviathan,) and still have a desire to hit another course, bring your discs to Labyrinth and enjoy - but don't skip one of those to play here.

Great variety of holes: short/long, open/wooded, uphill/downhill.

Beautiful park-like setting with rolling hills and well-mowed fairways.

Challenging for advanced players, but simple enough (wide enough fairways) for beginners.

Long tees not yet set up.

lots of elevation changes making the course more difficult. a few tight wooded holes(17-22). a lot of tight lines and tough wind to play with. wide open fairways on quite a few holes giving a variety of shots.

fairly short right now. longs going in soon(already marked). off the fairway is some tall grass on most holes. easy to lose discs(lost 3 already). no teepads. teepads will be installed, but they won't be concrete.

overall, a wonderful course. the wind and the elevation changes combined make it a difficult course. wind at the teepad may be calm, but over the next hill or around the next corner is a whole different story. one of my favorite courses in the area. if you're in the area, check this course out. i just hope you don't lose any discs.

this is going to be a place holder review for now as this course is new, as in no cement teepads or long placements yet. As in it doesn't officially have it's grand opening till next week (Sept 23, 2012)

This is yet ANOTHER great course design in the West Michigan Area near Ludington. These guys know course design. Up down all around. In and out of woods with a bit of sadistic placements. This is another course, much like the one in Scottville to compliment the gems of Leviathan and Beast/Beauty/Goliath.

It is completely playable right now and you will certainly get the feel for what is to come. Def worth a play when in the area.

I will do a full review next year once this course is broken in, as for now she is a solid 3.0 to 3.5 after playing her today.

Immediate thought: this little sucker gave me anxiety. One disc lost, someone else's found, and plenty of looking time. loved it.

Aesthetic-Course wraps through a field behind West Shore Community College. shares some land with cross country course but the day we were out, we saw one runner the entire time. also has some access roads that run through so work trucks may cross your path.

Routing/navigation-not too bad. paths are mowed into the course to help guide but I'm sure with time "Next Tee" signs will be installed along with tee signs (I know this will be taken care of by the mason county boys)

Baskets-brand new ChainStars, orange necks for visibility

Risk v Reward-there is some here, throwing over hills blindly towards "that big tree" was a bit intimidating.

Variety-There is a lot of variety here. with just the short course available right now there are plenty of changes within this course.

Teesigns/next tee signs- these will be in by next week, I'm not so worried about these.

Teepads-at current, non-existant. rubber mats will be installed before long. there will not be cement pads here apparently.

With this course only being in place for three weeks, it's pretty impressive how far they've come. it definitely still has that "new course" smell, but playing with AikoAdam was great. he let us know of all the changes that will be in place before long. It seems that every hole will have a short and long tee in the future. WSCC also wants to have three 24-hole courses on site in the next few years and be able to host big tourneys.