Pros:
Lake Alliance Park is located southwest of Lansing, MI. The disc golf course here plays generally clockwise around the lake.
It would be easier to start with Cons, but the Pros I can think of are:
- Hole 4 is a 250' throw that requires a water carry of maybe 200', across a smaller pond next to the main lake. You could probably lay up off to the right to avoid it if desired. There aren't any trees or other obstacles, but this was still my favorite hole on the course.
- Hole 7 is another fun throw playing down a sledding hill. The park maintenance staff mowed a nice wide fairway here, and the rough didn't look like it would be too thick anyway.
- Most holes have simple tee signs with rough maps and other basic info.
- Most holes have older but still alright DGA baskets.
- There is a kiosk by the first tee that has a map which, although no longer 100% accurate, does at least still give a general idea of how the course is laid out.
- There are trash cans scattered around, and benches at tees for odd numbered holes.
Cons:
Right from the beginning, the play here is very uninspiring. The first three holes are all wide open throws with the lake technically in play, but it's well off to the right. It's far enough off that most RHBH throwers won't really need to worry about it. After hole 4 mentioned above, holes 5 and 6 had fairways that weren't mowed when I visited. The grass was knee-high or so, but not too thick so those holes were still OK.
I said hole 7 is a fun throw, but after finishing up hole 6 you'll turn and see the BASKET for hole 7 first. That's right - you're at the bottom of the hill and have to walk all the way 500' uphill, just to throw back down. Really makes what would be a signature hole less pleasant.
#9 - see holes 5-6. #10 - see holes 1-3.
#11, if you can believe it, is where the real problems start. This one dives into the woods, which is a good idea in theory but the fairway is only 8'-10' wide with waist-high thick brush on both sides. Holes 12-13 have the same thick brush, but no mowed fairway at all. It looked like at one point #12 played off into the woods away from the currently mowed path, and #13 played back to it. I saw #13's basket a couple dozen feet away in the brush, but did not bother stomping around to try to find #12's basket or #13's tee sign.
#14 plays along a decently wide wooded fairway, but only the pole of a basket remains. For #15 the basket was completely gone I think, but there was a sign posted nearby that read "Caution Disc Golf" with a picture of a bulldozer. Are they warning bulldozer drivers about disc golfers/discs, or disc golfers about bulldozers? I could not tell. It was pretty clear by this point that construction has impacted this area, and that park staff were not making maintenance of the disc golf course a priority.
I couldn't find hole 16 at all, although I didn't try too hard. #17 is playable, back in an open field. I couldn't find hole 18's tee sign, but the basket is still there. So in summary - this is basically a 13 hole course now. I'd say at this point you might as well just skip #11 in the woods too and follow the park drive around after #10 until you walk off into the field for #17 tee - making for a 12-hole mostly open round.
Some of the baskets that are still there weren't mounted level as of my visit. Some of the tee signs that are still there were on the ground.
The teepads are natural - tee locations are only marked by the tee signs.
Other than the sledding hill and small slopes next to the lake, the terrain is flat.
There are no navigational aids, so you'll need your own. As mentioned above, the map on the kiosk is misleading in a few places such as the transition from #6 to #7.
The park drive is in play on a couple holes.
No practice basket, and I did not see a porta potty or restroom.
Other Thoughts:
You could just as easily park in the front lot near the baseball diamond and start on hole 10. Or, you could just not waste your time here and drive 10 minutes to a worthwhile course at Lincoln Park - or 15-20 minutes to two even better ones at Burchfield Park.
I was initially thinking of giving a low 2.0 here before seeing the unplayable holes. As is, a 1.5 barely feels justified. I'd say that if you ignore the fact that there are supposed to be 18 holes and treat it as a 12-hole course, then it feels like a 1.5 to me. Dave's 1.0 is definitely more along my line of thinking than the previous reviews before that.
Even if all those holes were there, my conclusion would have been largely the same - non-baggers can give this one a miss. Worst 18+ hole course I have played in quite a while, to be honest.