Some wooded holes
Free in winter (pay state park fee in-season)
Lots of parking in winter (probably not in summer)
Good signage
Right off the Taconic Parkway

A lot of open holes
Mats on tees (though they're in good shape)

If you like wooded courses, like I do, the first 9 are for you. Most of the back 9 are open, some quite long. The signs and baskets are in good shape, except the signs to get to the 10th tee. There is water that runs through the course so it can be quite muddy and squishy.

+ Right from the start the course gives you an idea of the variety of shapes and challenges: open, wooded, staked OB, straight and doglegs in both directions...all within the first five or six holes


+ I really appreciated this time through the variety of lengths to keep your attention on the par 3's. For example on the whites, holes 14 -17 go 230 / 340 / 193 / 283. You're not just dialing in the same disc / same shot hole after hole


+ The front and back nines differ, with more woods on the front, and more length on the back.


+ Two sets of baskets - the back (white) baskets stretch out the course to 7500', and add 3 to par. The short (yellow) baskets are 5800' with five par 4's spread out between the front and back. Between them, the two layouts address a wide range of players


+ Hole #5 is a good example of "two baskets, two challenges." You're throwing down a wooded alley from a high elevated tee. The white (longer) basket is straight ahead, directly in front of a lakeshore. The yellow basket if off to the right, well short of the lake, but placed up on a high mound with a "pit" in front of it

- The back nine skirts around picnic areas and playing fields. The design is good enough that disc golfers won't often intersect with the civilians, but on a busy weekend you're probably going to run across stray picnickers, dog-walkers, kite-flyers and ball players on the open fairways that characterize the back nine. Even on a Friday morning in late Fall, I found a dog walker using the part of the front nine as a trail. I stood on the eighth tee to watch her slowly walk the middle of the fairway directly from tee to basket <sigh>


- The park charges admission (but only seasonally). If you object to paying to play, come during winter months. The course is immaculate

~ Excellent signage and large, level tees (mostly pavers). Brooms at many tees


~ Hole #16 is flat, short and technical, which makes it a big change from the rest of the back nine. It's located by itself in a grove of trees across a picnic area and behind a comfort station. I understand from a local that it's one of the original holes, and I'm glad they've kept it, even if it means a little extra walking


~ The unique double-decker basket on #15 (white and yellow baskets on the same pole, with white up top) is a nice touch. And the designers had enough humor to show a difference in hole distance (five feet) depending on which you play


~ It's obvious this course gets a lot of love and care - as a recreational player who just shows up and plays courses, I recognize that I owe a lot to park management and club volunteers. While you're on site, try the new "Ace Place" for warmup and fun. Use Parking Lot 4 to access this separate niner.

+ The whole course plays within a lively state park. The player will feel as though they are enjoying a nice stroll as they throw.
+ Each and every tee pad is made of basic but sturdy rubber atop a wood and rock foundation. All tee areas have a bench for sitting and a broom for courtesy sweeping.
+ Two pins per hole.
+ Hole 9 brings the player back to the parking lot/bathrooms as well as hole 18.
+ A nice park-style course with plenty of hybrid-type holes.
+ A lot of tree-dodging and tunnels for tacticians to practice their aim and placement.
+ The elevation challenges are pleasant and manageable.

- Even though I played in late autumn, I can clearly see how overgrowth and impossible areas of rough can be a real problem at this course.
- Wooden planks and tree trunk bridges on some of the soggier parts communicate to me how often this course probably floods over during wet weather.
- Some of the holes feel interchangeable and/or unremarkable.
- Some ridiculously restrictive OB here!
-Not too many opportunities for big arms to get a long glide.

My favorite hole at this course would probably be hole 4 because of its pretty valley shot. I liked being challenged to dodge trees both with and against gravity.
My least favorite hole here could be hole 14 because of how straight and flat it was with just an open tunnel.

As for the course as a whole, FDR DGC is a great choice for the disc golfer. Before I go any further, I want to say that my review is based on the short layout. Plus, the Sun was already low in the sky when I started my session, so I had to more or less rush through it all. However, despite my quick tempo of play, I still had a very good time here.

All holes have just one tee pad. The difficulty is decided by which basket you aim for each time. Many courses have two tee pads with just one basket. FDR Park's approach accomplishes basically the same thing. I will say, though, that it was a relief never having to worry about whether or not I was on the correct tee pad for my desired layout. It all depends on the basket for which a player aims.

Regardless of which difficulty you elect, however, some of those holes can be downright irritating. Holes 2 and 7 jump to the front of my mind as prime examples with their bonkers OB areas. Without a doubt they force a player to think and focus, but new players will definitely feel a bit betrayed by the unreasonable boundaries of these out-of-bounds areas that otherwise seem just fine to land in.

Outside of that, this course has some nice low-pressure shots to enjoy. Mind you, it is mostly wooded disc golf at this place. Although, the spaces between trees are wide enough for me to comfortably call this course a hybrid-type: meaning that it often incorporates elements of wooded and open holes in the same hole. This allows both power players and precise players to enjoy taking their own approaches, but I still feel that this course caters more to skillful placement over power; though both styles can be successful here. Just watch out for mud in the low sections of this place. I get the feeling that some parts of this course simply never dry out.

I do want to say that nothing reached out and grabbed me at this course. To my mind there were no grand vistas or impressive hole layouts. Everything was tight, effective, functional and efficient. I won't fault FDR for that. It is certainly a lot more organized and cleaner than a fair few courses I've played. As a side note, I've got to point out the first time that I have ever seen two baskets stacked on top of each other was right here at hole 15! That was an unexpected delight to behold.

And finally, my favorite thing to bring up in any review is the 'next tee' signage. This course absolutely has it, except it's only really prevalent on the white (long layout) baskets, according to a local I bumped into early on in my session, and he was right. So I can't subtract any points from the course because every hole has a next tee sign. However, I can't add points, either, because the player always has to find the white basket in order to know where to go next. Most of the time, it's obvious to begin with, but that's not the point.

Bottom line: The course at FDR State Park will almost certainly scratch your disc golf itch. While it's not the most impressive course, it's got more than enough going for it to make the player feel satisfied and accomplished. Warmly recommended.

Nice state park. Nice lake there too. 2 Baskets for each Tee, yellow and white. Decent signage.

Long course. A lot of side brush to loose discs.
The greens have some high grass not so nicely mowed.

$8 to for parking in this park.

1st Tee is next to parking lot 1.

This is a really great course. The variety of holes are excellent, and though they tend to be on the long side, there are a few very nice short holes and one of the most scenic I've encountered, going downhill to pin at the water. The boxes are well kept and once you find them (see cons) their signage gives all the info you need to know to play the hole and (hopefully) find the next box. We played on a Thursday morning in September, so there was no issue with crowds or picnics as I see in other reviews - for us it was perfect timing.

We met the course designer and one of his friends when pulling into the lot and they pointed out the first box and told us the signage was good. For the most part, 75% it was good, but on the back 9 we had some difficulty finding a few. As of late September 2015 there is a large dumpster placed right in front of the tee box on 18, which was really disappointing since it's a 600ft (yellow) or 800ft(white) hole, and it took away any chance of a good drive.

I wish I lived close to this course because I could see it becoming a favorite if I could play it regularly. Definitely should be on any player's list of courses to try when in the NYC area.

18 holes with single rubber tees and two baskets on every hole providing good variety and challenge for different skill levels. Signage and navigation were ok with map. Excellent use of the rolling elevation and terrain. Fairly even mix of wooded and open holes leaning slightly toward more open, and good mix of hole distances with a couple par 4's. Two 9 hole loops to parking lot. Restrooms, water, food and beer available by picnic area. Loaner golf discs available at concession stand.

Busy park and picnickers sometimes setup right in the fairway or roam around parts of the back 9. Poison ivy in rough. Signage and navigation a little tricky on the back 9. A little muddy around hole 7/8, but walking boards are there for convenience. The fairway grass was a little tall on the back 9, it was tolerable, the maintenance crew happened to be mowing, and I did talk to one of the workers who said the park had been cutting back on mowing so the course hasn't been kept in pristine shape.

FDR is a very nice and active state park, it has the largest pool I've ever seen and is twice as long as a standard Olympic pool. There are hiking and biking trails, picnic areas, a concession stand that serves beer and hot dogs, fishing, volleyball, playgrounds, and of course a disc golf course. This is the first State park I've ever been to that sold alcohol and is allowed on the course. It was a little bit on the expensive side to play and enter the park for $8, but for a family this is probably a steal with all the other stuff to do here. The guy at the park entrance was very helpful telling me which parking lot to park in for the course and also gave me a course map/scorecard, although I think it had the old design still on it.

When I played here the park was packed with picnickers and other park users, although I was the only person on the disc golf course except I ran into a local course worker and played a few holes together until he had to leave. The front 9 holes were by far my favorite part of the course, it's mostly wooded with ideal rolling elevation, and it also has the only water hazard. Hole 5 was my favorite of the course, it's a wooded downhill bomb with the basket placed just in front of the Mohansic Lake.

After playing the front 9 I was thinking I would be giving the course a 4 or maybe 4.5 disc rating. The back 9 is almost like a completely different course, it's mostly open and long with a couple shorties in between, and the elevation is less fun and the rough more frustrating. The back nine is also where I ran into a number of picnickers and park users. I didn't have any negative encounters, but a few people were educated about disc golf and how they are setup on a fairway. I had a few people watching in amazement and wanting to buy some of my frisbees for some reason they thought I was also selling my discs.

Overall FDR State Park Disc Golf Park is a very good course and so far all the reviewers here are in unanimous agreement with a 3.5 disc rating. This is not a destination course that is going to wow you like Warwick, but it's a better than average course most people are going to enjoy playing. "Do something. If it works, do more of it. If it doesn't, do something else." - Franklin D. Roosevelt

Love the design and mix of wooded and open field holes, this should allow various types of players to have a chance to score well in tournaments.
TWO BASKETS on every hole!! Very nice and not all that common. I did play both baskets several times to play and get a feel for the differences, and they both presented different levels of golf and would be appropriate for AMs/Pros playing in a tournament, as well as adding choices for the casual player every day. These two layouts white/yellow did play very different and was a good use of multiple lines/greens/challenges between the two layouts.

The wooded holes on the front 9 have a nice mix of elevation, left and right turning holes, variety, and all play very fair. I'm a wooded player and really liked the tight lines that are available, as well as some of the 'choices' given to an anhyzer/hyzer shot from some of the tees.

The back 9 is mostly open with large mature trees that allow big arms to let loose. The mature trees ensure that those long throws still need be accurate, and will punish a bad throw, which is not always easy on mostly open land. Good choice of lines and shot variety on the back 9. I disagree with previous reviews that these play boring/similar holes.

Tee pads need work still, I can see that a LOT of the hard work to dig out and level many of them has already been done, so finishing them off and leveling the ground would help a good bit. Even the fly pads, which may be in new areas since the redesign, could use some stone dust and a 4x4 base to tamp/grade them and make an awesome tee surface. I understand the work that has gone into the fairways and green areas comes first, and that this may very well be on the "To Do" list.

Some of the holes have nice signs showing where the next tees is, but about half the holes I did not see anything. EXCEPT that someone thought to have orange landscaping flags laid out like breadcrumbs leading me to the next holes, I believe that was for the tournament the previous weekend, but it really helped me find my way. More navigation would help the traveling golfers.

Out side of the 'small stuff' that can be remedied, the course has very little cons. Fixing these issues, I'd easily adjust my rating up to a 4.

Never played the course before the 2013 redesign, but did see several older unused tees and those holes appear much better than the previous ones.
The park itself is very nice, clean bathrooms, plenty of parking, running water, safe area, picnic areas and grills, etc. As far as amenities, FDR park has all you need. There is a fee in season, but that can expected in many parks.

Overall the course fits in well with the surroundings and uses the land fairly well. Some of the back 9 might have conflicts with walkers/children in busy times as the playground area is between holes 16/17 (I think its those 2 holes), but I didn't see where else the course could go and didn't explore anywhere else int he park, nor am I aware of any restrictions the park might have put on the designed that 'pinned in' the land that was made available. Guessing here, but I think the designer did well with what was "available land"

Overall a very good course, with potential to become a great one. I would definitely make the 4hr drive to come up for a tournament, so that says all you need to know.
Keep up the good work!

Front 9 are very challenging (only played the white baskets) and mostly wooded. The whole course makes you test every shot you have in your arsenal or shows you how much more practice you need. Hole 5 was the most memorable whole to me, 510ft to the pin sitting on the side of a scenic lake. Throwing downhill through a tunnel of trees, you can be rewarded handsomely if you get it right, or almost throw it into the lake like me. Tees were nice and signage was great.
Literally its own exit from the Taconic parkway, couldnt be anymore convenient.

Long holes...I like me a long hole, but one after the other can make them just plain boring. I would rather have 2 different holes in the space that was taken for one flat ground 700ft hole. It was the end of the summer and my buddy and i made the mistake of thinking we didnt need high socks, huge mistake. The rough and out of bounds were unforgiving, you really needed spotters for most of the holes on the back 9. The fantastic tick signs were a constant reminder of our sock folly.

Had to pay for parking cause its in season, but thats not that big a deal for the quality of the course.

Wide variety of open field and wooded holes.

Difficult to find some tees, and know where the baskets are. Fairly long walks between many tees.

The course has had improvements since I played last year, so I look forward to playing again.

I can't believe no one has reviewed this course. It is a beast! New hole layouts and super long. Two holes 700+ and many over 500. Two baskets on each hole and nice tee boxes. Mainly flat with some woods on the front and open areas for the long holes. Close to the Taconic. Westchester Disc Golf Enthusiasts keeps good care of the course and puts on some PDGA events.

The first tee is a little hard to find as all the kiosks we could find had no dg information on them. From May until October you have to pay to park so if you're going for just the course, (its a huge park with lots of stuff going on), you'll have to pay up.