Conroe, TX

McDade Park - Old Layout

3.935(based on 27 reviews)
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4 0
blake833
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 13.9 years 160 played 140 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Good, but overrated by far 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Dec 25, 2018 Played the course:once

Pros:

McDade Park is a challenging 18 hole course in Conroe in a great community park. It is a large park, but there is parking right by the beginning of the course near the amazing practice basket. It's a shorter-mounted basket in a graveled area, next to a course map and memorial. Very well done, very visible. And practice baskets are just a great touch.

Hole one starts off with a long par 4, river to the right to swallow discs that turn over too much, or get grip-locked. So really take advantage of that warm up basket.

Some of the holes are pretty long for par 3's, but some are also really short, so really I think it balances out. If a course offers as many birdie chances as it does holes where a par is a struggle, I'm ok. I like having a shot at winning a stroke back with my medium-at-best range.

The signage at this course was ok, i felt the distances were pretty accurate, and the hole markers were big stones. The tee's were good size concrete, and the baskets weren't always very visible (grey, no colored band), but they caught just fine. No maps on the tees, which could be useful on a couple holes.

In addition to the long and short variety on this course, there's a good variety of left and right too. But mainly there is a lot of just straight. At least, those are some of the holes I remember most. I don't remember what hole number they were, but the ones I remember most were just the ones where I had a great drive off the tee. But any hole has that potential, so the whole design is equally pretty great.

Cons:

As should be obvious for a course in Houston- very flat. No real change in elevation to speak of. Even on the walking paths.

Some of the holes are pretty darn tight. Especially 18. I played it as hole 2 by accident, and it is kind of awful. The pro that came out of this was that hole 16 got to be my last one, and it's a great hole, and I got the deuce to finish my round.

That area is also pretty poor navigation. If you don't know to skip the nearest hole after hole 1 to walk down the road to keep playing, you'll accidentally play 1-18-17 and look for hole 4 not realizing you haven't even played 2. The rest of the course- easy navigation. Simple and straightforward. But it starts you and ends you (with the 16 to 17 walk) on a weird note.

Watch out for water behind hole 8. You can't see it, and it's almost right behind the basket. This is one of my biggest pet-peeves, and how I lose a lot of discs.

Other Thoughts:

McDade is not a bad course to play. I really enjoyed it and hope I get to play again on a trip back to Houston. I definitely don't think it's worthy of a 3.9, or anything close to a 4 without any elevation and without a signature hole. It's a lot of just "Very Good" design, and may be about the best that could be done at this location.
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2 5
ivanhenson
Gold level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 12.8 years 664 played 218 reviews
4.50 star(s)

Super Course 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 23, 2018 Played the course:once

Pros:

Perfect Course. Well mowed great tee pad and baskets. Great park and lots of trees and a river to look at. Variety of shots.

Cons:

No elevation at all and the layout is a little hard esp long walk from 16-17

Other Thoughts:

I wish they would have made a few holes a little longer or a few baskets a little closer to the trees or river
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2 6
Trinitydisc
Experience: 7 played 7 reviews
4.50 star(s)

Wonderful Course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 3, 2017 Played the course:once

Pros:

This course is great! First off the practice basket is in the middle of a nice 30ft circle of pea gravel. No mud or sand here. The park and facilities are kept in great condition. Great layout of holes some fairly open some in tight trees.Large tee pads great signs(one was missing but I can't remember the hole). I really can't think of anything bad about this course unless I just want to be picky.

Cons:

I honestly can't think of any true cons. I will say that if you like long bomber holes, you wont find any. Not saying that all the holes are short, just no holes that are extra long either. If you like elevation changes, you wont find that either.

Other Thoughts:

This course is over a hour and a half drive from my house and I'll sure be making that drive to play this course again.
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10 0
sisyphus
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 12.6 years 397 played 383 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Definitely the most popular 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 11, 2017 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

This course clearly get the most play in the immediate Conroe area, and attracts the crowds because it's well scaled for recreational to intermediate skill levels, and has variety galore from the big field opener to short ace-deuce runs (10 & 12, especially), to increasingly challenging, technical finishing holes (on 17 & 18). It is a park course that gets good maintenance and has very little underbrush in which to lose a disc. In fact, the only place I could see as a disc lost would be an overzealous shot on hole 8 going into the drink.

Fantastic, level, concrete tees and good signage clearly leads you to good DGA baskets, and forces you to control your throws into wooded gaps, along reasonable fairways, and under some low-ceiling branches. There's a lot to like about McDade. I liked the fact that there's a port-o-let by the 11th tee, that there are trash receptacles throughout the course, and that the course seems to be well-maintained. There are even gully crossing bridges for flash flood season.

The most challenging holes appeared to me to be hole 15, with a tight window to hit if you want to get very far down the way toward the basket (360' from the tee), and hole 18, which requires two really good control shots to get into it's guarded green for a three. Might be a true par four hole.

Cons:

The lack of elevation in the region means they didn't have any to work with here, but it seems a little regrettable that they weren't able to incorporate the nearby river just a little more to make up for it (like Stonebridge Church nearby uses the pond for three gut-check shots). Only hole 8 here has the river a mere 40' past the basket to give you pause. The lack of next tee signage definitely would make this course a navigational challenge for the newcomer who forgets to bring a copy of the course map (see note below). They are definitely needed after 1,3,6,14, and several for the long walk after 16. It's nice to have a practice basket right by the parking area, but odd to use gravel there.

Other Thoughts:

The beautiful memorial at hole one is very attractively done!

Navigational hints: I personally played 1, 18, 17, then 2-16 for simplicity's sake. You do have to turn right after hole 6 and not head to the 11th tee. After 16, you need to cross the far end of the soccer field and look for the small path into the woods to get to 17.

Reviewer Background as of this writing: played 295 courses and written 280 reviews, with skills hovering around a 900 rating, with folks ranging from age 7 to 87, so I try to write reviews helpful to all.
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1 8
Texasmouth
Experience: 19 played 6 reviews
5.00 star(s)

Great course! 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 30, 2016 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Great course with challenging holes, wooded holes, long open throws, etc. This is a great course for any skill level.

Cons:

Flooding covers the entire first hole. Can get really overgrown sometimes. Lots of snakes.

Other Thoughts:

One of the best courses in the area. A MUST PLAY if you are close. Actually, even worth driving to.
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1 4
Meho20
Experience: 8.9 years 24 played 3 reviews
4.00 star(s)

Fun Place to play!! 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Sep 12, 2015 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Nice mix of everything here.

Open fairways, wooded fairways, long holes, short holes, kind of has it all.

Concrete pads, good baskets, really nice when its freshly mowed!!!

Always meeting new people on this course and having fun!

Cons:

Can be very crowded, it is a very popular course for this area.

Can get littered, again very popular and is next to a larger city park that draws in large crowds on the weekends.

Other Thoughts:

One of my favorite courses in the area, has a great mix and fun to play!
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1 6
DeadEye
Experience: 43 played 11 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Been a while 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Feb 22, 2015 Played the course:once

Pros:

Very fun course, though it was a little easy. Not sure if I just had a lucky day, but I think I shot somewhere around 7-8 down my first time playing it. Good teeboxes and fun shots, beautiful park.

Cons:

A little too easy.
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9 1
c_a_miller
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 11.9 years 299 played 207 reviews
3.50 star(s)

2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Dec 27, 2012 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

-This course surprised me in a number of good ways. For one the course is nestled in a very gorgeous park that is very fun to walk around.
-The concrete tee pads are HUGE and perfect. The course signs are all great and has exactly what you would need in a course sign. The baskets are also in great shape.
-There are a good number of longer open shots to short technical shots. The course does not favor right or left, I found it a great mix of both type of holes.
-This course is challenging enough for an intermediate player to have his struggles but it is a good course to bring a new person as there is very little water hazards and very little chance to lose a disc.
-For the bigger arms, most of the holes at McDade are birdieable. It is not necessarily easy to get 18 birdies but it is possible with a good drive.

Cons:

The biggest con I have more McDade is park is that there are no "signature holes". I have played this course now a few times and there is not one hole that strikes me as THE hole of McDade as you would expect at other highly rater 18 hole courses. Probably the ones that stick at to me are the first hole with the San Jacinto River to the right and holes 17 and 18 that are a tight straight shot through some woods.
-Most holes are repetitive and a few seem like they were just thrown into the middle to try and get to 18 holes.
-There is literally no elevation even by Houston standards. This is not something that can be dealt with just a little nitpick.

Other Thoughts:

The Conroe/Woodlands area has some great courses and McDade Park is definitely no exception. The park is clean and has a pleasant feeling to it.
Combining this course with Terramont Park and the River Plantation Course and a good day of disc golf could be had.
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11 0
Donovan
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 37 years 300 played 187 reviews
4.00 star(s)

Micky D’s! You Want Fries With That? 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 25, 2011 Played the course:once

Pros:

This course has lots of variety and has some nice vegetation. This course has open holes, wooded holes, good pin placements, and has a great maintained setting. This place was really nice. I liked the variety of hole lengths. There is nothing real long, but they mixed it up pretty well. The equipment is in great shape. There are concrete tee pads, the baskets are nice, and they have new tee pads have what you need. This place has a huge parking lot, a good message board, and they flowered up the first hole (See the media tab for picture of hole 1). For the most part, the navigation is pretty easy.

Cons:

There isn't much as far as elevation is concerned. Like other have said, there are a few holes that feel like they put them there just to connect the better holes. It was dry the day I was there, but you could tell this place will hold some water after a rain.

Other Thoughts:

The Fun Factor for me was good. I really enjoyed playing here and I would easily play this again. I can't mention enough how well maintained this park is and how beautiful the entire park is Thanks Conroe!
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0 6
cj37
Experience: 5 played 5 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Practice Here!!!! 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 16, 2011 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

This is a very great practice course. Has a few difficult shots blocked by trees, bushes etc.

Cons:

It can get crowded sometimes. Also, there is a playground off of the edge of hole 16 where kids have the tendency to roam over to and snag a disc occasionally.

Other Thoughts:

Great layout!
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0 5
MrNiceFella
Experience: 17 played 15 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Clean!! 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Apr 1, 2011 Played the course:once

Pros:

Park is very clean and well maintained. 18 holes with different variety of challenges. Tee pads are nice and course is clearly marked.

Cons:

Not much room for power. Mostly short shots but still lots of fun.
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9 0
dreadlock86
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 16.9 years 382 played 306 reviews
3.50 star(s)

2+ years

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Mar 9, 2011 Played the course:once

Pros:

-variety of shot types, good mix of open and wooded shots
-excellent new tee signs
-big concrete tee pads
-baskets in good condition
-nice, large park; looks well maintained
-practice basket with distance markers
-a few very good bridges over creek/wet areas (5-6, 15)
-lots of mature trees make for a well-shaded round in the summer
-begins and ends near parking lot (plenty of parking), course flows pretty well but a few tricky spots

Cons:

-mostly shorter holes, only 2 over 400'
-very flat, a few very minor elevation changes
-located on a floodplain, rain can be an issue
-many holes seem like filler holes (2, 7-10, 12, 14)
-a few awkward spots in the flow and navigation, especially right at the beginning/end, presumably some of this is from the redesign (1-3, 16-17)

Other Thoughts:

This is a fun 18 hole course in a nice looking park that is well maintained. The park is beautiful and well shaded but is not secluded, lots of houses and streets nearby.

The parking lot is large and right near the park entrance and the practice basket area is great, with brick distance markers. Very nice, well-sized concrete tee pads and the baskets are in great condition.

The first hole looks really great when you first walk up. I was impressed with the big tee and landscaping around the tee area. This hole is a fun open hyzer with the basket just out of sight and a river on the left. I had high hopes after this hole and while it didn't go downhill after that necessarily, the rest of the course didn't quite live up to my expectations. Don't get me wrong: the course is fun, well maintained, relatively easy to navigate and has a lot of cool shots but it didn't live up to my expectation of a "great" (4 disc) course.

The area around holes 2-3 and 15-18 is a little bit awkward. There is a walk from 1 to 2 and then hole 2 throws across a field with pedestrian walkways. From the tee for 2, you might be looking at basket 16; the basket for 2 is straight ahead, to the right of basket 16. Then walk across the road to 3 and eventually come back out at 15 in the same area. Hole 16 is a really cool open shot into a wooded area with the basket behind a couple rows of trees. Then there is a walk into another wooded area to get to 17 (in other words, there is no sign to the next tee and it's inside the woods so you can't see it from 16). A few "next tee" signs around here and also at the intersection of 6-7 and 10-11 would shape things up a bit for newcomers. If I remember correctly, there are next tee arrows on the new signs though.

There are lots of trees so many holes have well defined open fairways lined with trees and there are also holes that are fairly wooded, especially 17 & 18. The lines aren't too difficult but there are enough trees to ensure a wide score spread.

There are a handful of uninspiring holes that seem to just fill the space in the layout to get to 18 holes. 7-10 immediately come to mind; they are a short loop in a small area off to the side between holes 6 and 11. Seems like an afterthought added to the main front-to-back flow of the course.

Overall, a really fun course with a decent bit of variety. A better option than all the other 9 holers around the area and less of a homeboy course than Bear Branch. Course rating seems a little inflated to me but maybe it's a matter of relativity to the surrounding courses. I bet it gets an extra star from many reviewers just for the concrete tee pads.

Definitely worth playing if you live in the Houston area. If you're passing through and are looking for the top 1 or 2 places to play, go to Shawshank or Spring Valley.


**Like this review? Hate it? Message me and let me know why! I want to make them better!**
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1 6
coyotepower
Experience: 18.6 years 87 played 34 reviews
4.00 star(s)

Conroe's finest 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Apr 8, 2010 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Out in the sticks. Plenty of foliage, trees. Good variety of holes. You can tell this was all peoples backyards in the past. Little rosebushes and nicely landscaped trees highlight the course throughout

Cons:

Out in the sticks. Have heard bad things about the dude in the house on hole # 3. Stay away. 1 particular hole on the backside has a row of trees you have to throw through in order to reach the basket - that needs to be changed

Other Thoughts:

I like McDade. had my 3rd ace there on the old # 18. Guess noone will be able to again say they aced that hole!
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3 5
rbsold
Experience: 14.2 years 55 played 10 reviews
4.50 star(s)

One of greater Houston's Best 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Jun 6, 2010 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Variety of holes, They did the best they could with the relatively flat terrain. Good mixture of lengths, and a lot of different shots will occur. I also like concrete tees. It's an enjoyable course to walk through as well, very nice and well shaded most of the time. You definitely get a chance to air your discs out every now and then. Also, I love the practice putt basket before #1(love when courses do this). There also is not many water hazards, so leave the snorkel and fins at home. Flow of the course makes a lot of sense after you've played it once.

Cons:

can be crowded with it being a multi-use park. Also hate how hole #17 & #18 can badly hurt a good round you might have had brewing, but hey that's disc golf.

Other Thoughts:

This course doesn't get enough love in my opinion, lot of diversity. Love the flow of the course.
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1 4
grrlDGr
Experience: 2 played 2 reviews
4.00 star(s)

#1 on my List 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Apr 24, 2010 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Pretty clean. Never crowded. Only one water hazard, a variety of throwing difficulties. Oh, and it's free.

Cons:

Floods after a good/moderate rain.

Other Thoughts:

New #2 and #3. Old #3 #18 were removed to install a new playground. Whatever... the old playground was removed from a different location and they put the new one in the way of the course. Anyways, the course still rocks otherwise.
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3 5
linkbhg
Experience: 14.1 years 10 played 3 reviews
4.00 star(s)

Played new tee/pin positions 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Mar 26, 2010 Played the course:once

Pros:

Varied course with a few wide open holes so I was able to get some power training. Great set up overall and wooden walkways over the ditches/creeks. You can tell the course is well taken care of.

Cons:

Had to pause for some joggers, but no big deal. First hole is set alongside the San Jac River, it's intimidating for beginners.

Other Thoughts:

I never played the old tee/pin postitions, so I have no basis for comparison. Long walk throughout the 18, but we caught a beautiful day, so no complaints.
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1 6
melissa197724
Experience: 14.8 years 8 played 1 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Watch out for #10 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Feb 27, 2010 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Nice location, pretty area, restrooms available. Everyone we ran into was really nice. Nice practice/warm-up area.

Cons:

#10 is on the edge of the San Jacinto river. We just lost a disk there. Watch out for the little kids running around picking up discs. We had a little boy come up and try to take one of ours we were playing with.
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9 0
hognosesucker
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 24.9 years 443 played 85 reviews
3.00 star(s)

A visitor's take on McDade 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Feb 1, 2010 Played the course:once

Pros:

-The best place to start with the pros is the parking lot...ample parking, with a nice park board, a park guy pulled up right behind us with the map for the redesign. Behind that is a beautiful practice pit complete with a 10m? ring and several blocks at different distances to practice putting.
-The teepads were also really nice, big trapezoidal tees with a landscaped dedication at the first hole.
-Nice bridges by holes 6 and 17.
-Many good holes here. 1 is a great starting hole, nice and long with OB on either side. 2 and 3 were the best holes on the course in my opinion, both longish, heavily wooded and fairly tight, the kind of holes that you want to throw hard and go for the shot, but that you should layup on and play for placement. Other notable holes were 17, which has a tight hyzer line on the right side of the fairway to take and if you don't make it you are behind a wall of trees. Hole 13 is a nice placement type (risk/reward) hole with some nasty rough on the right side.
-Good variety here, some nice anhyzers and hyzers, but alot of the hole had both lines available which was nice.
-The rough was nice and punishing, if you got in you had to make a nice shot out to save par. It really forced you to play the smart shot rather than going for it full speed all the time.

Cons:

-Tee signs were a lackluster and had wrong hole numbers on them according to the layout sheet.
-As with almost all the courses down here, the land was flat as a board.
-Navigation was a bit tricky and the layout is a little bit odd. For instance 5 (I think) plays into the woods then you walk back toward the tee and 50' over from it and even with it was the next tee pad. Also 18 ends a ways from the parking lot.
-My biggest beef with the course was that I felt there were a few holes that "got you to the next good one" and some of these holes 12 and 14 were these holes especially. These were pretty much holes to throw a putter straight with no real danger on them and 12 seemed like a major segway hole to 13 which was a great hole.

Other Thoughts:

Overall, I thought the course offered some nice holes with some decent variety. For the out-of-towner or the day tripping Houstonian it's a good place for a warm up round for Shawshank.
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7 0
Roc1Time
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 22.8 years 131 played 115 reviews
4.00 star(s)

One of my favs in Houston area 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 22, 2009 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

A very nice course with lots of great holes! It doesnt look like the Houston area when you get here because of the big trees and just the feel. The grass is something that I always think of when I tell people about this course for some reason. Like said before the upkeep is nice and there is plenty of amenities throughout the park. The technical aspect of this course always has me singing high praise because if you dont throw good shots your score will skyrocket quickly! There is no elevation here but the quality of the shots in and out of the woods make up for it. Most of the shots make you think about the placement because the greens are protected just enough that if your just off a bit and you could find something in your way on your putt.

Cons:

Can be a little confusing for first timers and even for those that played the course before the redesign. I also agree with others that state that some of the "brush" could be cleaned a little. Other then that I didnt have any issues with the houses or anything else!

Other Thoughts:

This is a great stop on your way to/from the Houston area and should be played if in the area for sure. Enjoy
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17 1
srm_520
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 20 years 156 played 142 reviews
4.00 star(s)

Great Course & Great Shade in the Summer Sun! 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Jun 19, 2009 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

McDade Park is beautifully maintained with bathroom facilities, a shaded playground area, pavilion, and trashcans located on most holes. The grass is well kept and there are quality bridges traversing any gully areas.

The park also has a lot of old growth throughout the course, so there is ample shade to keep cool under during the hot summer days. The abundant foliage also provides many challenging shots throughout the course. A great example is the redesigned holes #2, & #3. These two holes, although not officially marked yet, are at least 300'+ of multiple tight alleys reminiscent of River Grove DGC or Jack Brooks Course #2 that force a player to be very accurate or risk playing pinball in the woods. The two new holes are pound for pound probably the toughest holes on the course.

Overall, the course is one of the more difficult courses in the greater Houston area, but still plays fair to all skill levels. Even though there are no elevation changes to speak of, the large concrete tees (12' long by 7' in the back and 5' in the front) coupled with a good variety of distance, shot selection, and tree cover make this one of the best courses in the area.

BEST HOLE/S: #2; #6

Cons:

Due to the redesigned hole layouts, the beautifully done stone tee markers are now incorrect. This may be a good excuse to give these an update too, since idiots who have made aces have left their names and dates on the stones.

It could be argued that a few holes are too cluttered (i.e. #14, #16, & #17), and need to be trimmed back a little bit to make better windows on the fairways. However, these tight shots force players to be very accurate, which to many can be a positive.

The general course layout is also a bit confusing. Holes #1 and #18 are far apart from each other, and the redesign has only compounded the problem. Some of the course flow is also a bit weird around hole #6; so just remember to print off a map, since you can't rely on the tee markers being completely accurate. Also, due to the amount of construction still going on in the park, the parking lot by hole #1 was closed off to us, forcing everyone to park in the lot closer to #18.

WORST HOLE/S: #4

Other Thoughts:

McDade Park is simply beautiful and I enjoyed playing the newly redesigned course. I also like that the difficulty rating has increased with the new hole additions. McDade forced me to be on my game from the very start, and with frustration building at my inconsistencies, I know that making even an experienced player work for every shot is what any good course should do.

Being way up in Conroe, McDade feels like a good distance to drive, but it's certainly worth it to anyone in the Houston area. In addition, the course is only ten or fifteen minutes from Gwen Hruska Park, Bear Branch Park, and Terramont Park in the Woodlands area, so players also have the opportunity to play multiple decent disc golf courses in the same vicinity.
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