Pros:
- nicely maintained park in most ways
- signature Kansas Dynamic Disc baskets in great shape
- some tree obstacles add some limited challenge
- good they didn't try to pack more baskets into this small park
Cons:
- natural tees are a bit rutted out in places and can be very hard to find
- very short and only 6 holes
- almost entirely flat
- weird combination of beginner openness and distance with some major hazards with river next to park
- navigation is pretty unclear for such a short course
- doesn't make use of more prime land adjacent to course
- no real unique qualities
- no notable amenities
Other Thoughts:
Shunga Glen is another one of those courses where there's not a ton to discuss. In general, it's set in a nice park that seems well maintained. I suspect this course was made with beginners in mind, and keeping that in perspective, it's not necessarily a bad course - it's short, it's easy, and it's an introduction to disc golf without many aspects to add real challenge. With that said, anyone beyond a complete novice is going to get bored here quickly.
I'll admit I chose to bag this as I had to head through Topeka anyway on the way from Kansas up to Omaha - why not bag another course that would only take 15-20 minutes to play? To top it off, you can catch a glimpse of the Kansas State Capitol nearby.
The baskets are top quality, and every course in Kansas seems to be loyal to Dynamic Discs, who makes very nice baskets. It only makes sense, as this course is (relatively speaking) spitting distance from Emporia. I wish the tees were as good. Natural tees are ok on brand new courses and those with almost no use as well as they are marked very clearly - in just about all other cases, they're awful. Even with some wear and the UDisc smart layout, I never found the tee for hole 5, and a few of these were surprisingly hard to find. This is frustrating for me and will be frustrating for newer players as well. If you're going to set up a course, at least put a post in the ground or something.
The holes here are extremely short, and it is a small park, so I'm glad they didn't try to fit a full 9. Hole 2 has some more intrigue with trees and some shot shaping, and holes 3 and 4 run some surprisingly high risk of shanking a shot into the creek, which didn't seem beginner friendly at all. Otherwise, this is a fine course for beginners but has nothing really unique going for it. Bag it if you want; it will be quick, but I would not go out of my way to stop here for any reason. About the only other plus is it has its own parking lot I guess.