Eastern-Central Iowa

[mgcoleman]

My son and I did a weekend tour of 6 courses recently. Iowa, huh? Yes, plenty of courses in Iowa and enough that we had to whittle down the choices and toss out several courses in the 3.5 ratings area. We ended up picking courses along our specific travel route (Cedar Rapids to Des Moines along Highway 30 on Saturday, Des Moines to Cedar Rapids along I-80 on Sunday). We played in Belle Plaine (Franklin DGC), Marshalltown (Riverveiw Park), Johnston (Walnut Ridge), Des Moines (Grandview), Indianola (Ewing) and Newton (Maytag). We both thought Franklin, Maytag, Ewing and Grandview were very good. We played 4 courses on Saturday, ate a huge dinner at Bonanza, hung out in the hotel, swam, crashed, got up early, decimated the complimentary breakfast, hit the last 2 courses. It was our first true disc golf road trip.
Things we wished we had done:
- brought more shoes, more socks
- not forgot my Teva sandals (stupid, stupid, stupid!)
- packed more fruit
- taken more pictures (too busy playing, having fun...forgot to stop and do a whole bunch of selfies...oh well)
Things we are glad we did:
- printed out course maps before we left (very handy to have them)
- stocked up the cooler with loads of water and Gatorade
- didn't overplan a bunch of other stuff (we stuck to driving, playing and eating...not much else)
- used the ratings to make our choices
- not letting life stop us from going (mowing the yard or other crap)

 

[Discette]

My son and I did a weekend tour of 6 courses recently. Iowa, huh? Yes, plenty of courses in Iowa and enough that we had to whittle down the choices and toss out several courses in the 3.5 ratings area. We ended up picking courses along our specific travel route (Cedar Rapids to Des Moines along Highway 30 on Saturday, Des Moines to Cedar Rapids along I-80 on Sunday). We played in Belle Plaine (Franklin DGC), Marshalltown (Riverveiw Park), Johnston (Walnut Ridge), Des Moines (Grandview), Indianola (Ewing) and Newton (Maytag). We both thought Franklin, Maytag, Ewing and Grandview were very good. We played 4 courses on Saturday, ate a huge dinner at Bonanza, hung out in the hotel, swam, crashed, got up early, decimated the complimentary breakfast, hit the last 2 courses. It was our first true disc golf road trip.
Things we wished we had done:
- brought more shoes, more socks
- not forgot my Teva sandals (stupid, stupid, stupid!)
- packed more fruit
- taken more pictures (too busy playing, having fun...forgot to stop and do a whole bunch of selfies...oh well)
Things we are glad we did:
- printed out course maps before we left (very handy to have them)
- stocked up the cooler with loads of water and Gatorade
- didn't overplan a bunch of other stuff (we stuck to driving, playing and eating...not much else)
- used the ratings to make our choices
- not letting life stop us from going (mowing the yard or other crap)

Have fun exploring disc golf. 20 years ago, I also made my first disc golf road trip in Iowa. It got me even more hooked on disc golf. I am now at over 400 courses played in 41 states!


Your course wishlist shows you haven't played SugarBottom yet. That is a very awesome course and way closer to you than Des Moines.

 

[mgcoleman]

Thanks. We've tried to play Sugar Bottom 2 or 3 times now, but it has always been just stupid busy - handfuls of groups of 3-5 players stacked up to start. Definitely on the list!

 

[crazykrug]

Did you play Ewing or Pickard, Pickard is the one in Indianola?

Also, there is another course on the north side of Newton next time you roll through the state.

If you come back to DSM, you will have to play the new Becky Zallek course.

 

[mgcoleman]

We played Ewing - fun course.
We only had time to hit the Maytag course in Newton (it was the higher rated and a full 18). The other course (Woodland?) is only 12 holes and we had heard from some other area players there is construction on/around the course and some holes are unplayable. No idea how true any of that it, but they all said hit Maytag.
Becky Zallek was a regretful cut from our list. We tried to figure out how to do it also, but time and distance just demanded we had to make choices...eventually had to head home at some point.

 

[deyo7]

I drove by Becky Zallek a few weeks ago and it appeared overgrown. Might have just been the day but could be a fall winter course.

If you want another stop along the way for next time, I thought the Colfax course was fun. There are a couple on top of the world throws there and quite a bit of variety: https://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.php?id=1477

Yes hit Pickard in Indianola sometime and then I haven't played Big Creek in awhile but I understand it's changed for the better. Tim Selinske US Masters being played at both (and Walnut and Gview) in September.

I also really like Grandview (play that a lot for a quick round) and Ewing. Did you like Walnut Ridge (2004 Worlds Location)? I need to try the Newton course sometime.

Cool to see an Iowa road trip - glad you enjoyed and sounds like an awesome trip to do with your son.

 

[mgcoleman]

Did you like Walnut Ridge (2004 Worlds Location)?

It was a Saturday mid-afternoon, so Walnut Ridge was really packed. There was also a good bit of people and cars moving around the park, so it felt a bit congested on a couple holes. The course deserves the good marks it has received. I favor more technical courses and Walnut Ridge seemed to agree with me. The layout is interesting and is maintained. Yeah, other than just being incredibly busy (how dare all those people show up when we are there, right?), it was a good time.

 

[ISUME]

I drove by Becky Zallek a few weeks ago and it appeared overgrown. Might have just been the day but could be a fall winter course.

If you want another stop along the way for next time, I thought the Colfax course was fun. There are a couple on top of the world throws there and quite a bit of variety: https://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.php?id=1477

.

Just wanted to point out Becky Zallek is the newest course and a lot of work is going in to knocking back all the overgrowth. All courses take a few years to get that under control.

Also, Colfax is a great fun course when it is mowed.

 

[deyo7]

Just wanted to point out Becky Zallek is the newest course and a lot of work is going in to knocking back all the overgrowth. All courses take a few years to get that under control.

Also, Colfax is a great fun course when it is mowed.

Yeah, I didn't mean to disrespect all the work that is going into BZ. It's going to be a fantastic course. I love the technical holes in and adjacent to the woods.

 

[pauldst]

Thanks. We've tried to play Sugar Bottom 2 or 3 times now, but it has always been just stupid busy - handfuls of groups of 3-5 players stacked up to start. Definitely on the list!

I was just in Iowa for 2 weeks. I played Sugar Bottom, for the first time since 2012, on a weekday morning. I didn't quite have the course to myself, but pretty close. I would not recommend this course when the heat and humidity are high, as it was that day; the bugs were out in force, and the woods were stifling. There are some nice holes, though, and definitely worth playing.