Amazing course design, good baskets, challenging distances

Poorly maintained (mostly lack of mowing in summer). Natural tees and no signs (use UDisc for navigation).

I\'ve played many of the best courses all around the country. At its heart, this course has everything to be 5 stars. Unfortunately, nobody (including management - City of Carbondale) cares enough to make improvements or maintain the course. Still an incredible course that provides the challenge advanced players desire.

-Decently mowed fairways.
-Longer and shorter holes.
-Longer Pro and shorter Am tee positions.
-Good mix of moderate woodsy and wide open holes.
-Well designed; utilizing obstacles, and variable terrain; with a good variety of shots required.
-Benches for resting, at Tee 6 and Basket 12.

-Needs a kiosk with course map.
-Navigation needs work. Refer to map on back of printed scorecard or Udisc map.
-Some reasonable prudent tree trimming needed.
-Grass tees.
- No bathroom facilities out on the course (except woods).

After months of no maintenance on the wooded holes (7-11), the whole course is mowed again to a reasonable level. It's a fairly long challenging course. Better signage and concrete tees would be a big help. Be sure to sign-in at the golf course clubhouse; they need to know discgolfers are using the course. And take a last potty break there.

Some challenging holes that would be a blast if the place was maintained.

High grass, brush and fallen small timber. Heavily overgrown.

I'm sure this course is fun at certain times during the year. But, I've never walked off a course until now. After fighting uncut grass and heavy growth on every hole from 2 thru 11, we decided to call it a day. We walked to the nearest road and then another mile to the truck. If the golf course could put any resources into mowing and trimming, it would be a blast!!

Disc golf course in southern illinois

Tough to navigate. First hole is past the club house to the right of the maintenance shed with no signs. Like just about every hole on this course, basket is not visible from tee box.

Tee Boxes are just grass

I enjoy courses with some tall grass or rough but this was past ridiculous. The rough was all weeds and thorns and was almost impossible to walk through.

Most holes had good enough designs but there seemed to be no way to make/attempt any decent shots without fear or losing your disc in thorns and underbrush. As previously mentioned this course needs a lot of TLC to make it playable. Hole 10's basket was surrounded by over growth. They clearly put all of their work into the golf course

No signs at the tee boxes

Everyone keeps talking about potential. I do not see it as they have had plenty of time to do work and does not seem as though anything will be done. Signage and tee pads would do a lot to help alleviate all the blind shots.

This course is a challenging, fun to play mix of open field throws, tight technical shots through the woods, and mixtures of the two. The baskets are guarded on most holes except for a couple of holes that finish in the central field.

It's a long walk from parking to pad 1. Then when you arrive, you get to begin the guessing! Things like, "which way do i throw?" And "how far is it to the hole?". The signage is terrible to say the least. You get one pole with a stained piece of wood with a number on it. No arrow even! And there are multiple tees from which you can see multiple baskets. Oh, and did I mention that there is nothing marked for a tee pad? I'm not crazy about natural pads, but at the very least you would expect a fixed place, marked by something.

I'm not wasting my time fighting a course just to play it. The holes also seemed to follow the following formula: Throw, then tuck a basket into the woods around a corner. Repeat. But all of this is fixable! This course has great potential to be a challenging but fair, and fun course. I hope they fix the dumb stuff.

This course is VERY technical. Very. There are lots of small laned holes in the woods that require some crazy types of throws.

1) I do like the fact that there are maps available at the pro shop. However, they really do nothing in helping a new person find their way especially when you get to #5 and can see 4 baskets (and not #5!!!) in the open holes.

2) Very good mixture of throws you NEED to have. You will use your whole bag on this course.

3) Lots of work has gone into putting this course in and the fact its at 85% is so frustrating. It fits the natural terrain very well.

1) Very, very, very difficult to find the next tee on quite a few holes.

2) The rough. 25-30ft raspberry thickets. Yes, thickets. Why do you need four of them on #5 on a blind tee shot? Its just completely unneeded and completely unfair to the players.

3) The amount of crawling over and under logs that have fallen is flat out STUPID. Its completely dangerous and some of them have been there for quite a while. I stepped on one to go over (I think on #3) and it broke in half nearly taking me to the ground.

4) Natural tees suck. This course deserves so much better. Concrete tees would add one point to my review easily.

5) Lots of blind throws on some of the wooded holes that require a spotter thanks to the rough. Even with a spotter you can quite easily loose a disc when its only 5 feet off the fairway.

6) The trees that have the huge 12-15" throws need to come down. Again, very, very unsafe for the players.

7) The amount of baskets placed around a corner is just too much. Especially when they are placed around more raspberry thickets. Again, it just penalizes the player way too much if it goes in there.

8) Flags are sorely needed on the baskets in the woods.

9) Why the heck are there no trash cans or benches ANY WHERE ON THE COURSE!?!?!!?

I wanted to like this course so much. Most of the reviews are completely spot on. Its so sad because it has a TON of potential just like Rend Lake and this area will have two 4.5+ courses.

I'd call ahead to the golf pro shop and asked if the grass had been mowed recently before heading out or it could be a very very long day of playing golf.

This is a tough course. Definitely not a place for people to start learning to play disc golf. Top intermediate, Advanced and Pro will like the layout, but will have some major complaints. I have played over 100 courses and this was one of the toughest. However, it was not because of the course layout, it was mainly because of the rough, which I will comment on extensively in the con section below.

This is a new course, and the overall layout is very nice. You can tell there has been some investment in clearing out some trees and finding some great lines and pin placements. There is a nice flow and course maps and score cards are in the golf club house. Be sure to sign in so the employees know who is out on the course. We didn't know this and only found out on our way back after finishing the course. The fairways are mowed wide enough for big landing zones and you can normally keep your disc in the fairways.

My wife and I played this course on our way back home. She has been playing for two years and I have been playing since 1999. We were very excited to play this course and from the reviews it looked like it would be a wonderful way to end our vacation. We found hole one and were disappointed to see a slightly uneven natural tee pad. The first hole was pretty nice, but it went downhill from there. Hole #11 was a very good example of what the holes should look like, but even that needs a little work with a giant thorn bush 20 feet past the basket.

#1 High talent, poor execution. This course has great potential to be great, but is currently a sub-par course due to a list of major problems that need to be address, and soon! My wife and I felt mislead by the current reviews & wanted to give our evaluation of the course. There is still some major work to make this a good course. The basic structure is there, it just needs a lot of hours of clearing brush and the fairway and just a few more trees taken out. The most obvious example of unneeded trees is hole#4 which has a small leaning tree 150 ft out, right in the middle of a tight fairway and groups of trees. It is right where you should be aiming. Also it way too close to the teepad to make it a legitimate landing zone.

#2 Disc deadly rough. How much of a rough is too much? There were huge thorn bushes 20-25 feet in circumference in the middle of a few fairways, hole #5 & #13. Ridiculous if you get a disc into. My suggestion is to make these huge bushes into four smaller bushes, or rows of bushes, not giant bushes you can't see through. I believe you should be able to at least see your disc if it ends up in the middle of the bush. Back when I started playing I threw a disc in a similar bush & spent 30 minutes with a 7 iron hacking at the bush & using heavy logs to make my way father into the bush to get back my disc. It pretty much ruined my day and that bush was never the same. Also the rough on the sides was way too crazy. I have played in some places where there are thorns all over, such as The Technical College in Bowling Green, KY or Big Creek in Des Moinesm IA , but this was like walking into a forest of huge thorn bushes all over the woods. It looked like all the trees they did clear out were simply piled up on the sides of the fairways, in huge piles, which included piles of thorns in some areas (#16). It was easy to lose a disc and look for a good 5-10 minutes when we saw where it went in, due to how thick the brush and the grass was. I let Tracy have casual relief a lot on this course due to the number of thick thorn bushes, right on the edge of the fairway.

#3 Unsafe fairways. Yes, that's right, the fairway! The bad lies with nowhere to stand and throw were not limited to the rough. There were tons of sticks, tree stumps and holes in the front nine fairways. None of it was marked with spray paint so you could see it. We were tripped up a few times just walking to our disc and the leaves were not helping. Running up on a shot was almost impossible on several of the first 10 holes and even standing still and throwing the ground gave way a few times. It needs some major help and clean up before winter sets in or first thing in the spring. Walking across the tree stumps on #18 was very dangerous. It would be really cool if you were able to line them up flat.

#4 Tuck around baskets. I'm all for the occasional tucked around the corner basket or 90 degree turn to get to a basket, but at this course over half are tucked around the corner at sharp angles, some very tightly tucked into the corner or behinds a group of trees. I am fine with the occasional three or four on a course, but this was ridiculous.

#5 Natural tee pads. I'm ok, with defined and flat tee pads at some shorter courses, but this course needs concrete pads and fast. If you want this to be a great course, you need some long, level concrete tee pads. I would not want to slide around on uneven pads of grass and mud, which they will be very shortly and are already starting to show signs or wear. Also the short tee pads are marked with white stakes, 3 ft high, just enough to make you feel like you are going to hit them on your follow through.

Trash cans are a must. Even if you only have a few out there, they will be needed to keep the course clean. I've seen what happens to courses that do not have trashcans, the whole course can become a trash can. There were some other minor things that would be nice, like the distance on the tee signs and maybe a little map of each hole. Not needed since you do have nice score cards at the club house, but nice to have. Having numbers on the baskets would also be nice, but not really needed since most of the baskets are not that close. Again I must stress this will be a great course if you can get it cleaned up and once it is cleaned up we will be back to play it. Good luck and try not to lose too many discs.

Where to start. If you like a challenging course then this one is for you. Hole #1 is an open field shot with a slight downhill ending in a clump of trees to the right. The rough to the right is brutal and the field mowing to the left can hide discs just as well. Congratulations, you just played one of the easier holes here at Hickory. And so it begins a two hour romp through one of the toughest courses around. As you meander through tight wooded holes and deceptively open holes you can't help but think man when does this get easier?
It does when you get back to your vehicle and realize you have just made it through alive.
I like the long tight wooded holes because they make you throw different -S- lines while still being fair.
The open holes with those pesky Berry Traps(these things are 20 to 25 foot circles of very thick sticker bushes 8 to 10 feet high)stragically placed make each shot a sphincter twitcher.
.

Beginners and beer drinkers are going to think this is just an awful course and probable not return. It is not (NOT) a fun course for leisure play. No trash cans, no concrete teepads,one short fairly easy hole(15),no benches,no teesigns and lots of places to loose plastic.You have snakes and poison Ivy and nettles(this is just in the fairway)and stickers/thick brush roughs on both sides of narrow fairways.

This is a work in progress and will take lots of upkeep but it has a potential for being one of the best courses around. This could end up a 4.5 rated course when it gets beat down and concrete pads are in.
Pros and Advanced are going to love this place. It rewards excellent and precise.One nice throw on a par four and you are putting for an eagle. Miss early and you could be looking at a 5 or 6.
You have another course at Campus Lake that the hackers can have fun on and there are very good restuarants here in Carbondale that cater to almost any taste.

Brand New Baskets. Lots of risk vs reward holes, that make you pay for an errant shot but makes it a great feeling when you hit that line. Secluded in the woods but shares a club house with a ball golf course. So after a long hot round you can get a cold drink and a burger.

Much of the rough is not just rough it is brutal. Thick vegetation, brambles and berry vines. Many small stumps and roots that need to be cut out for safety. It still needs some signage, and could use concrete tee boxes. The low ground on 17 needs a path you can get across on. Lots of Poison Ivy.

This is a brand new course and they are still opening it up and clearing the fairways. I gave it a 4 for its potential. It will be a solid 4 maybe higher with some work. Tee signs with distances, this way to next hole signs and good tee pads will Make this a great course. This is not a beginners course, it could use a shorter 9 hole that is more forgiving. What I can see here is some great tournament play!!! C'Dale you hit an Ace with this. It is the best course in Southern Illinois. You 900+ players need to come play this!! SOON.

Mowed fairways, variety of shots, hard pin locations, woods, open space, tunnel shots.

Course is brand new. The grand opening is this Saturday, 6/15/13. So the course needs a lot of breaking in. I have 2 big cons that I can't ignore. The course flow makes it impossible to play just 9 holes. You pretty much have to play 18 holes, 'cause holes 9 and 10 are miles from the club house. There's a way to play an alternate 9 holes, (1-5, 15-18). So you're in for the long haul of all 18 holes. My other complaint is that a lot of stuff needs to be cut down to make some shots even possible. Pin locations are hard enough, but on a lot of holes, you're just throwing between trees and hoping. Not enough big windows.

With a few changes, and a bit of wear, this course will be outstanding, and World's-ready, easily. It's got tons of scenic changes. Holes 1,5,12,13,14,15 are wide open, and the rest are in the woods, with especially 6,7,8,9,10 being almost rain forest-like. Lots of tunnel shots! The mowed fairways are a HUGE plus, but the rough is 5' tall prairie grass, so even 1000 rated players are gonna lose a few. This is definitely a championship course, not beginner friendly. And in just a few months of play, or a year, this course will easily be 5 stars, and THE best course in Southern Illinois.

1. Good baskets

2. Unique holes

3. Great mix of open and wooded holes and both on a few different holes.

4. Chances to air it out and spots you gotta be short and technical

5. Challenges all parts of your game

6. Fairways are now clear in the woods for the most part

7. Off of the fairways in the woods have been cleared out greatly and it's much easier to find discs now in spots where it was not before.

8. Secluded

1. A couple of holes are designed around sticker bushes. One with them in the fairway and the other right by the basket

2. Sticker bushes are throughout the course in the rough and woods, Helps that most of the big ones have been burned.

3. Lots of chiggers and ticks during summer

4. Cockle bur.

5. Natural tee pads. Most are not bad but a few holes are somewhat difficult to get a good run-up and good footing.

5. Uses the same facilities as the ball golf course.

6. Some ball golf staff members don't make you feel very welcome.

7. Too many left to right tee shots.

8. Long grass in the fields makes discs hard to find when not mowed

Great course when it is maintained which has improved a lot since it first opened. The Carbondale Disc Golf club has done great work on cleaning up the course. As long as they continue to focus on clearing out the sides of the fairways and don't take down any more trees (which I'm told they are not going to do any more tree chopping) then the course is only going to get better. I advise any player that is new to the game or that is a rec player to play the short tees (marked by white sticks or red flags) as It will make your experience more enjoyable.

Hole Notes-
Hole 1- Tucked down far to the right
Hole 2- You can see it to the right
Hole 3- You can see it way down over the creek slightly right
Hole 4- Over the creek up the hill and to the right
Hole 5- Is none of the basket's you can see. It's far down to the right
Hole 6- Straight ahead
Hole 7- Walk a little up from the tee pad and you will see it straight ahead
Hole 8- Walk a little up from the tee pad and you will see it to the right
Hole 9- Just hit the gap with fade to the right and you should put yourself in a position to see the pin from there
Hole 10- Walk back and to the right and follow the path through the woods to the tee. Basket is Down to the right
Hole 11- Pad is up to the right from Hole 10 basket. You can see basket tucked in woods
Hole 12- Walk up through woods to tee pad. Throw as far as you can and stay a little to the right. The basket is way down to the left in between trees and you can't see it until you get close
Hole 13- Walk up thru the woods from 12 and you'll see the tee pad and basket straight ahead
Hole 14- Tucked down far to the right
Hole 15- Over some trees to the right
Hole 16- Walk back from Hole 15 through the gap in the woods to Hole 16 and you will see the pad and basket is to the left
Hole 17- Straight ahead
Hole 18- Hit the gap to the right and then it's up the hill. It's the basket you see when you walk up to #1 Tee.

Innova Discatcher baskets
Secluded
Mowed fairways
Stumps to sit on at most tees

Only natural tees
No trashcans
Signage still in the works
TICKS EVERYWHERE BRING SOME OFF!

Best part is that all of these cons can be fixed in a relatively short amount of time, and for only a little bit of money. Get concrete tees and good signage, This course is a 5!

I truly believe this may be one of the best courses in Southern Illinois. I will actually put it up there with Foundation Park in Centralia, IL. This course has all sorts of different shots so bring the whole bag.

Great layout
Scenic
Good baskets

Needs more clearing
Natural Tees
Not done

I think that as the course progresses and becomes more refined the course will just keep getting better. I would love to see concrete tee pads in the future.

Just playing in the first tournament at this course. The overall consensus was that it was a good, challenging course,that is going to just keep getting better.

The superintendent of the carbondale park district would like to have all 18 holes in by may and to put on a big opening tournament so keep checking back for more info.