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Baker Park reviews
8
0
PastorofMuppets
Silver level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience:
4.9 years
150 played
118 reviews
Great Intentions, Poor Execution
Reviewed:
Played on:May 21, 2023
Played the course:2-4 times
Pros:
1) Initial impression as you enter the park is above average aesthetically pleasing. This course is set back in a public park inside a small subdivision in the absolute middle of nowhere after traveling down miles upon miles of nothing but farms and rows of crops. If you like driving through areas like that, the drive in is pleasant. As for the park itself, large and freshly paved parking lot, and multiple well built and maintained buildings and courts/fields. There is a full length basketball court, several baseball and soccer fields, a very nice main pavilion with an enclosed kitchen/concession area that is rentable, enclosed bath-house, and a large maintenance building. At the center of the park is a massive pond which sports great fishing and some very nice covered paddocks, picnic areas, and some nicely constructed bridges. There is also a paved walking track around the pond.
2) You can tell that when initially built, the park board threw a ton of money at the initial implementation (though I will preface that they probably had little experience with disc golf and failed where they could have succeeded, I will mention below in my cons). I will discuss each of the following because they bear their own section, but concrete tee-pads, Discatcher baskets (painted green), wooded post tee signs, and trash cans at every teepad.
3) Tee Pads (the good). Tee-pads are concrete, landscaped with a two foot wide section around them filled with mulch, surrounded by landscaping timbers. You can tell A LOT of effort went into making these tee pads look great.
4) Baskets (the good). Discatcher baskets in decent shape. No issues catching. Each basket is surrounded by landscaping (most were an old semi truck rim mostly buried in the ground, filled with mulch, with landscaping concrete blocks surrounding the rim. Does the job of making it easy to mow around the baskets and looks pleasant.
5) Tee signs (the good) They exist. Each one has a small trash can attached which is very nice.
6) This course uses the slight elevation of the land and the open area around the pond to create some decent holes, nothing spectacular, but moderately challenging especially if it is windy. All holes are Par 3 and in the 375 feet average.
7) Even though the course chooses to hug the pond all the way around and there aren't a ton of trees on the property, the course designer did a great job of utilizing what they had to work with. There are multiple shot shapes required, a couple tight gap shots, some very sloped greens, and a few greens protected by trees, small inlet streams, or the pond itself. No iconic holes, but each one can easily be remembered when thinking back on your round.
2) You can tell that when initially built, the park board threw a ton of money at the initial implementation (though I will preface that they probably had little experience with disc golf and failed where they could have succeeded, I will mention below in my cons). I will discuss each of the following because they bear their own section, but concrete tee-pads, Discatcher baskets (painted green), wooded post tee signs, and trash cans at every teepad.
3) Tee Pads (the good). Tee-pads are concrete, landscaped with a two foot wide section around them filled with mulch, surrounded by landscaping timbers. You can tell A LOT of effort went into making these tee pads look great.
4) Baskets (the good). Discatcher baskets in decent shape. No issues catching. Each basket is surrounded by landscaping (most were an old semi truck rim mostly buried in the ground, filled with mulch, with landscaping concrete blocks surrounding the rim. Does the job of making it easy to mow around the baskets and looks pleasant.
5) Tee signs (the good) They exist. Each one has a small trash can attached which is very nice.
6) This course uses the slight elevation of the land and the open area around the pond to create some decent holes, nothing spectacular, but moderately challenging especially if it is windy. All holes are Par 3 and in the 375 feet average.
7) Even though the course chooses to hug the pond all the way around and there aren't a ton of trees on the property, the course designer did a great job of utilizing what they had to work with. There are multiple shot shapes required, a couple tight gap shots, some very sloped greens, and a few greens protected by trees, small inlet streams, or the pond itself. No iconic holes, but each one can easily be remembered when thinking back on your round.
Cons:
1) The first immediate knock is that the hole numbers are extremely confusing. The logical hole #1 right beside the parking lot (and only tee pad anywhere near the parking lot) is actually hole #7. To compound things and make it worse, U-Disc lists this as Hole #1. The hole distance information and map in U-Disc appeared to be pretty accurate and you would be able to navigate this course using it. "Real" Hole #1 is on the entire other side of the pond with zero parking and no vehicle access which is more confusing than American politics.
2) Tee Pads (the bad) while they definitely put a good amount of money and effort into these tee pads, they failed to make them big enough. The tee pads are 3' wide by 6' long, and finished concrete instead of textured. They were EXTREMELY slick. To add to it, the teepads are raised and surrounded by landscaping mulch which has settled over the years and is probably 3 to 4" below the level of the tee pad. To add even more, the tee pads are surrounded by landscaping timbers (and rail-road ties on some holes) which puts you several inches above the ground and blocks you from a run-up, whilst making you very aware of your footwork. I slipped twice, fell once, and my playing partner slipped twice as well.
3) Baskets (the bad). Each basket "had" a wind flag on it. Had is a strong word. Mostly all that remains is the flag stick and a torn shred of what used to be a wind flag. Again, great design initially, and probably great to look at, but now is an eye sore. As you progressed throughout the course, some of the rims around the basket were no longer buried and in great condition. Some were raised and leaned over leaning against the pole. Some of the holes were missing the concrete landscaping around these as well.
4) Tee signs (the bad) The tee signs are currently just a yellow painted 4x4 post in the ground with a small 3" red hole number attached. There is no information beyond that. I want to say when I first played here in 2019 there were actual tee signs because I remember the OB on certain holes. But currently that's all that exists. And being as they are numbered in a way that makes zero sense, they are essentially useless.
5) The purpose of this course is kind of all over the place. It is a 9 hole course that only 3/4 loops the pond and forces you to walk a significant way back to the parking lot. Despite tons of park area and unused space, there is only 9 holes. All of the holes are very challenging for beginner, novice and even rec/advanced players will find birdies being difficult. While there is nothing wrong with a difficult course, it seems out of place in a very small rural community, only being 9 holes, and not having an identity as to what level player base it is catering to. Higher level skilled players will bypass this course and drive down the road a little to play Mahr park or Madisonville City park. Lower levelled players will head to Marion to play the city park or the Beginners course there.
6) When we got to Hole #3 we realized the entire remaining part of the course was un-mowed. Holes #1 and #2 were not "freshly" mowed, but low enough. At Hole #3 it turned into a hayfield. Grass was above knee high. We only continued because it was one of our group's first time there and they had driven a long way to play. Probably adding to the lack of mowing, the course hugs the pond in low lying areas which were constantly wet and soft. The pond in the middle is very deep even right off the back, with the water line several feet below the edge of the bank in most areas. Getting your disc back seems nearly impossible if you chuck one in.
2) Tee Pads (the bad) while they definitely put a good amount of money and effort into these tee pads, they failed to make them big enough. The tee pads are 3' wide by 6' long, and finished concrete instead of textured. They were EXTREMELY slick. To add to it, the teepads are raised and surrounded by landscaping mulch which has settled over the years and is probably 3 to 4" below the level of the tee pad. To add even more, the tee pads are surrounded by landscaping timbers (and rail-road ties on some holes) which puts you several inches above the ground and blocks you from a run-up, whilst making you very aware of your footwork. I slipped twice, fell once, and my playing partner slipped twice as well.
3) Baskets (the bad). Each basket "had" a wind flag on it. Had is a strong word. Mostly all that remains is the flag stick and a torn shred of what used to be a wind flag. Again, great design initially, and probably great to look at, but now is an eye sore. As you progressed throughout the course, some of the rims around the basket were no longer buried and in great condition. Some were raised and leaned over leaning against the pole. Some of the holes were missing the concrete landscaping around these as well.
4) Tee signs (the bad) The tee signs are currently just a yellow painted 4x4 post in the ground with a small 3" red hole number attached. There is no information beyond that. I want to say when I first played here in 2019 there were actual tee signs because I remember the OB on certain holes. But currently that's all that exists. And being as they are numbered in a way that makes zero sense, they are essentially useless.
5) The purpose of this course is kind of all over the place. It is a 9 hole course that only 3/4 loops the pond and forces you to walk a significant way back to the parking lot. Despite tons of park area and unused space, there is only 9 holes. All of the holes are very challenging for beginner, novice and even rec/advanced players will find birdies being difficult. While there is nothing wrong with a difficult course, it seems out of place in a very small rural community, only being 9 holes, and not having an identity as to what level player base it is catering to. Higher level skilled players will bypass this course and drive down the road a little to play Mahr park or Madisonville City park. Lower levelled players will head to Marion to play the city park or the Beginners course there.
6) When we got to Hole #3 we realized the entire remaining part of the course was un-mowed. Holes #1 and #2 were not "freshly" mowed, but low enough. At Hole #3 it turned into a hayfield. Grass was above knee high. We only continued because it was one of our group's first time there and they had driven a long way to play. Probably adding to the lack of mowing, the course hugs the pond in low lying areas which were constantly wet and soft. The pond in the middle is very deep even right off the back, with the water line several feet below the edge of the bank in most areas. Getting your disc back seems nearly impossible if you chuck one in.
Other Thoughts:
I hate to knock a course that tried so hard to be appealing but missed the target wildly. You can tell the entire time that you are here that at some point in time, a lot of love and money went into this course. And it probably wasn't well liked and fell into less and less upkeep. There is a ton of potential for a redesign or even expansion. Even a few small modifications would help this course tremendously. I was unable to find any information on the course designer, but I did reach out to the park board to offer my help in any way they needed to improve or maintain the course. This course is definitely, as it sits, not worth the detour from either Madisonville or Marion to play when in the area, but hopefully it can be someday in the near future.
