Pros:
- 2 permanent baskets and 2 teepads at every hole, and some holes have up to 3 potential basket locations. This allows multiple ways to play the course and widens the appeal to all levels, from beginner to pro
- Shot variety: nice mix of long and short holes, technical wooded, open with obstacles.
- Beautiful and secluded. Plays through some gorgeous old growth trees, winds up around a slight hill. Apparently this is a mixed use park - you won't know it. The disc golf area is pretty much exclusively disc golf.
- Concrete teepads
- Great tee signage - shows all basket positions and the distances to each of those positions from each teepad. Perfect.
- Players of all skill levels will enjoy this course but it's challenging enough that when you birdie you'll feel like you earned it.
- Clean and well maintained. They put work and attention into this course and it shows.
- Two practices baskets and a huge wide open field next to hole 1 for fieldwork. Really nice touch (I don't know if it was designed for that intentionally but it certainly functions that way).
- Top of the world shot on 3
Cons:
- Can get crowded during peak times. It's a popular course (for good reason).
- Some of the red/blue baskets are pretty close together (not a huge deal but on some holes it could be spaced a bit more).
- Navigation in a few spots may give new players pause, as occasionally you can see another set of baskets from the fairway of one hole, but they have some signage and the layout is intuitive. There's no weird double back or anything so if you think you're going the right way you probably are.
- No water holes if that's your thing (except the creek behind 3 but that really doesn't come into play).
Other Thoughts:
Full disclosure, Hiestand will always have a special place in my heart. It's where I learned and fell in love with the game, and it's the course I've played the most often. Today was my first time playing it in 7 years and I was interested to see if it still held up. I'm happy to say it did and then some. There have been numerous improvements (the second set of baskets, new tee signs, the updated steps and retaining wall on 5 just to name a few) made to what was already a great course. In years past I would've mentioned graffiti and beer bottles in the Cons - that's changed to a pro, as I saw almost none (they may have taken the benches out due to Covid but still, it's obvious the course is well maintained). To me, it just doesn't really get much better than this. The course has pretty much everything in terms of shots and challenge, it's well laid out, there are some gorgeous holes and most of all they are just fun to play! The cons are so minor. Outside of destination courses or dedicated complexes, I think you'd be hard pressed to find a better course. Will always be one of my favorites and a must play if you're in the Madison area!