Calvary Church in Plainwell, MI has been rebranded and is now known as "City on a Hill". The disc golf course on site has clearly not been affected by this change. It does not appear to have undergone any changes since the time of Christ - but nonetheless is holding up okay. It consists of 9 holes sandwiched between the church and the US-131 freeway.

This course is either a pitch-and-putt or ace race depending on who you ask, with all holes between about 150' and 225' long. However, there are always a couple of trees to work around. I thought the designers did a fine job of incorporating a good mix of fairway shapes into the small space available. Off the top of my head there are a couple of gentle left handers, a couple of right handers, a couple of straight fairways, and #8's extreme left hand curl. I threw 3 or 4 different discs off the tee.

The baskets are DGA models that look pretty worn, but still caught fine. They could use some tape on the rungs pointing toward the next hole, but the paths between holes had been mowed recently when I visited so navigation was straightforward. The course flows well from hole to hole and loops back to the parking lot.

If you really overthrow hole 3 (which is only a 200' throw), it's possible that your disc will clear a 6' high fence and land close to the southbound lanes of the US-131 freeway. That same fence defines the left side of the fairway on hole 5. And as you might guess, the noise from the freeway is impossible to ignore throughout your round.

Hole 9's tee pad is in hole 8's fairway. A playground can also come into play on the finishing hole. Both of these could cause issues if other people were around.

The tee pads are small rubber mats. It looked like these were basically an attempt to patch over worn-in natural dirt tee areas, without first repairing and flattening those areas. The result is uneven, concave pads that likely collect water any time it rains.

The tee signs consist of rough information Sharpie'd on the top of small wooden panels. These panels are mounted horizontally on top of tall wooden posts that are also labeled with mailbox hole numbers. Hopefully you are at least 5'-6" tall or so, or else these are going to be hard to read. I didn't really look at these much, to be honest.

The course is flat and short with no water hazards. Purely recreational level of challenge. Anyone who can throw 200' is going to be trying for deuces on every hole, and likely getting a few of them.

No kiosk, trash cans, benches, porta potty, or practice basket.

Other than the safety issues, this little course honestly isn't a bad play for what it is. After throwing my arm out at Yankee Springs Golf Course and pinballing off 3 trees per throw at Pine Lake Recreation Area earlier the same day, I actually kind of enjoyed throwing two quick rounds here.

This one definitely isn't worth going out of your way for, but since it is about the easiest on/off US-131 possible and right between Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo, it's going to be not far out of the way for a lot of people. I am planning on bagging the Kalamazoo area courses this summer/fall and will be coming from GR, so I honestly might stop here again for a quick warm up or cool down. You could complete a round here in 30 minutes, and that includes the time to get on/off the freeway!

This course is located entirely in the backyard of a church, and they did a decent job fitting 9 holes in there. There are quite a few trees in that area and they're all utilized to form some decent layouts. There are a couple of doglegs, a couple of blind tee shots, and a couple of holes with O.B. There are a few holes with trees near the baskets that set you up for tricky approach shots. Also, in the summer, only the fairways are mowed, and they're kind of narrow. The weeds in the rough get pretty tall, so you'll need to focus more on accuracy with your tee shots.

For the most part, this course isn't real difficult for more advanced players. The holes are kind of short, and two of them are a little too open and straightforward. Some of them have enough room that they could've been made a longer, which would've been nice. The tee pad for the 9th hole is practically on the 8th hole's fairway, which is obviously inconvenient. When you finish the 4th hole, you have to back track to get to the 5th tee pad, which is inconvenient if players are behind you waiting to play the 4th hole. It would been nice if the tee pads were cement. Also, the course is only 9 holes long and doesn't take long to play.
There's a fence around the course that marks the edges of the church's property, and there's no convenient way to retrieve your disc if it sails over that fence. The course is only 9 holes long, which is always negative for me. I realize this church doesn't have room to add 9 more holes, but the problem is that it doesn't take long to play 9 holes, especially if they're relatively short, which is the case with this course. Also, there are no cement tee pads, which is always a negative for me as well.

For the small amount of room this church had to work with, they actually did a pretty good job setting up this course. The biggest issue is that the holes are pretty short. However, most of them aren't real simple and straightforward. There are some obstacles you need to be mindful of on each hole, and you'll also want to try avoiding the rough in the summer. Overall, this is a decent technical course for beginners and players with weak arms.

Calvery Church appears to be coming up a little short in the collection plate on Sundays. Everything about this church and the adjoining property is shabby looking and could use some paint and TLC. There are some cheap looking lawn chairs around the church. Maybe they have hired a homeless guy for pastor. The basketball hoop by hole 1 is broke off and is an eyesore.

The disc golf course has the same feel. It's just kind of grubby and unkempt. The grass doesn't appear to have mowed anytime recently. The kiosk is OK but has no information. There are small garbage pails around the course but every one is overflowing with cans and bottles strewn on the ground. The signs are kinda strange. They have a number and a board that faces up, like it's there for writing down your scores. They were perfect for me jotting down thoughts about the course. My notes have never been neater.

I wouldn't quite say that this course is on life support but I would say that the course is very, very sick in need of some serious medical help, and soon.

The actual course is not that bad of a design. There is nothing overly dynamic nor are there any signature holes but there are 9 little recreational holes to fill your disc golf urges. You can see that there has been some play here lately. I think every hole here qualifies as an Ace Run. There is some rough along # 3's left side but other than, there isn't much danger

General shabbiness everywhere.

The grass needs mowing.

Pitch and putt distances.

Garbage is piling up.

Lacks challenge and creativity.

It's a shame this course is being put to seed. With some basic maintenance, it would be a nice little beginner course. You can tell it gets some play by the amount of garbage that is piling up around the pads. Probably not a course you're going to go out of your way to play but local beginner and rec types could have fun playing here.

Easy location from US-131.

Every inch of the small property was used well. Designer did a decent job getting something from very little available. There is a smattering of trees and shrubs and they were used to create some semblance of purpose from the tee most of the time.

Routing/navigation was good. It was easy to find where I was supposed to go.

Baskets are acceptable. 8-year-old Chainstars (I think).

It's intended for kids, beginners and recreational players and does a pretty good job for that purpose.

Experienced players will be fine with a putter and a mid or two and might enjoy a carefree round with a beginner friend. That's exactly what I was doing there.

There is a wonderful opportunity to play "safari" golf here. (See "other thoughts.")

Rubber tee mats aren't the greatest. Most of them had puddles after a small amount of rain. Since I wasn't there for a serious round, it was perfectly acceptable to just tee off as close to them as possible.

The freeway is right there, and if you hate traffic noise, that will be a major con for you.

Flat terrain.

I didn't see a proper place to relieve myself...

If you're an experienced player looking for a challenge, the standard 9-hole layout isn't it.

I've heard many people poo-poo this course as something not worthy of visiting, and now that I've finally gotten here, I disagree, especially if you live in the area. It's probably not worth your time if you're from out of town and are only here for a limited time, however.

I come from a time and a place 25 years ago when we were thankful for ANY course, would drive for over an hour to play something different, and this is a nice little place to play a quick round or take your friends for their first time. I would be ecstatic if I were a nearby resident and had something like this where I could grab a putter, a Stratus and a Roc and knock out 18 holes in 30 or 40 minutes after work or something.

Here's the bonus. With the tees and baskets shoe-horned into such a small property and the available spaced-out clusters of vegetation, it's a perfect place to play "safari" golf! I was here during bad weather and had the place to myself, so here's what I did to make a few holes over 300' and have a little extra fun. It actually flows decently too...

(1) #1 Tee to #2 Basket
(2) #2 Tee to #3 Basket
(3) #4 Tee to #5 Basket
(4) #6 Tee to #1 Basket
(5) #7 Tee to #8 Basket
(6) #9 Tee to #7 Basket
(7) #6 Tee to #2 Basket
(8) #3 Tee to #7 Basket
(9) #6 Tee to #9 Basket

This was more like a -2 round for me where everything *should be* an easy deuce in the standard layout.

Don't do this, of course, if there are people all over the place, and if you're not confident in keeping your throws out of the apartment parking lot to the north.

- Baskets, compaired to the other 9 holers in the area this is one of the few that has actual baskets.

- Navigation - every tee has a different colored box to show you were it is. Everything flowed well and it seemed the fairways were mowed to show you which basket you are shooting at.

- Tee pads while they are a little short and rubber they are better then the sand boxes it appears that everyone has mentioned before.

-No real difficulty. They are all pretty much ace runs, but they do have a little bit of shot mix up.

-By the highway (also a plus as it's easy to get too) but it's very loud.

-Hole 8, appears to have two shots, one that is a huge weight hyzer that the tee pad doesn't really face the basket and one small like 80ish ft hyzer spike. Not sure if they moved the basket and made a new tee.

From what i read on the other peoples reviews it looks like they are trying to fix it. This isn't anything that is a destination, but if you are coming north to go to Kzoo or battle Creek, this is a quick stop off the high way for a nice little warm up round.

I am guessing by being at a church it's made to get kids and new players into the game, and it is very good for that.

I enjoyed this more then what most people did, but I also like throwing putters at watching them go for ace runs

A nice short course with many ace opportunities. It was well groomed making a lost disc near impossible. Well signed and easy to follow. Laid out in a nice fashion to where you finish by where you started. Excellent tee markers with bag holders, and trash bags. Very little grafitti. Not much litter. Good baskets. Hole 8 had two tee positions. Not very crowded. Easy access and good parking.

It was a really short course using every inch of space available. Not exactly the most challenging course ever, but is an excellent beginners course. If there were a lot of people playing it would be crowded quick. The tees were uneven and had a rubber mat over dirt. Most holes were the same in length. Not very scenic as you're playing in everybodys back yard and right next to the highway. There was a fire pit in the middle of the fairway on 8.

It is an awsome course for the beginner, or an amatuer looking for an ace race. If you're in the area and have 45 minutes to throw a quick 9 this is your course. The play is so fast you might just play 2 rounds to get another ace!

The course plays in a small field behind a church. It seems like a good spot to expose people to the sport, with baskets visible from the church and parking lot, and some visible from the highway. The course uses the scattered trees reasonably well to protect a few of the pins and force one interesting up and over line. There is a course map at the parking lot, and despite the lack of signage it's not hard to follow the flow here.

There's not really any challenge or variety here. 8 of the holes are similar lengths and require basic straightforward shots, and the only different shot is not all that difficult, with a 150' spike hyzer or overhand over a bush. There aren't enough obstacles to make any of the shots feel obstructed, it's basically a wide open, short field course. The tees are terrible, they're just dusty rutted out areas that are expanding as people throw from outside the worst of the ruts.

Beginners can have a good time trying out the sport here, there's not much punishment for errant shots and the lengths are reasonable. Experienced players will find no challenge here, even with nothing but a putter.

Aesthetic-- kind of reminds me of a mini-golf course that is really trying to be a par 3 golf course. the property is in decent condition.

Baskets-- reasonable condition, some of the "basket portion" were slanted and uneven.

Map-- yep, there's a map, thank god..

Easy to find-- right off 131.

Navigation-- HARD even with the map. finding the basket for 4 is difficult if not impossible. there are two baskets in a direct line from the tee... ALSO, the tee for 4 does not point towards the basket, rather it points at the basket for 5.

SandBoxes-- the teeboxes are like sand boxes, I found myself taking my steps to the side.

Fairways-- overgrown and hard to follow in places.

I played this course during a day where I played three 9-hole courses and an 18. this was the worst of the 9-holes by far.

Good baskets, Course map at the start of the course. Very little traffic. Easy to find. Well maintained. An ace opportunity on ever hole. This will be the first place I take people who have never played the game before. I met two guys on the course who come out there every day on their lunch break.

Holes are short and mostly straight with not many trees or obstacles to use different styles of throwing. More than anything, I think that is the biggest drawback to this course, not the short links or the fact that it's only nine holes. It seemed flat and barren to me. The tees are basically sand boxes and usually offer no hope of an X step (not that you really need to out here).

I tried to review this course as a 9 hole course on it's own and not let the hole count sway my vote. The fact remains, though, it will still be boring for the veteran player. Where it could really shine though is as a "disc golf training center". You could try out new shots, tweak your drive and practice your putting and midrange shots with what I'm assuming would be very little interference from other players. This course and a soccer field for long drive practice would be all you would need to become a great player on your own time. I wish I lived next door to it. I'd be out there every day before work.

No play during Sunday morning services- 10:45 am til ?

Course map in the parking lot, easy to navigate, nice baskets, lots of ace runs on all the holes, good to work with the putter and mid range, Nice little 9 hole course.

Short, Dirt tees(Sand really), Close to the highway, Not much of a challenge to play or many hazards.

I like to use this as a nice warm up 9 on my way to Kalamazoo or Battle Creek. This is one of the nicer little 9 hole courses that I've played compared to Middleville, Hudsonville or Norton Shores.

-No waiting, ever.
-Easy to navigate (Has a course map at #1)
-Generally clean, nearly impossible to lose a disc.
-Nice locals.
-A course with baskets. Fair enough.
-Nice and easy to play in big groups.

-Difficulty level. This is one of the easiest courses you will play.
-Very little hole variety.
-Flat.
-Hole #5. Aim right, or there's a chance your disc will float over the fence towards the highway. It is a pain to retrieve.
-Tee pads are "dirt" (at this point they are almost sand) and if it has rained at all, they will be puddles and you'll have to drive to the sides of them.

This course will not appeal to skillful players. It is a very short, 9-hole course with very little incentive to make someone return.

However, I feel this course deserves a 2 for one reason - this is the best learning course I have ever seen. If you are just starting out, or are still trying to perfect your anhyzers/forehands and midrange/putting game, I feel like there is no better course around to go play a couple rounds and practice. The owner clearly did not have this in mind, but if he was trying to create a practice course, he hit it spot on.

-Very rare to have a wait time.
-Generally clean
-Baskets
-Ideal course to practice mid-range throws and putts.
-Ideal course to learn how to drive accurately
-Easily accessible
-Not terribly difficult to locate

-Poses no real challenge to players of a fairly decent skill level
-Hole distances are all fairly identical
-Course is almost completely flat
-Dirt tee-boxes
-No hole indicators

This is my hometown course. I learned to how to play here and still am not bored with the course. I would not recommend going out of your way to play this course, but for those that it is available to, it is an ideal location to take your game to the next level.

Its a course, no wait, never busy, almost impossible to lose a disc, good baskets, very clean, & very close to the interstate. good to work on short game and putting.

verry short, not challanging, very open not many obsticles.

good place to practice, no wait ever, quick play,

- Basic teaching skills design
- Free
- Easy to figure out
- Great baskets

- Dirt tees
- Very, very short
- No obstacles/challenges, should shoot -6 to -9 during a hurricane.

Not worth the trip, good stretcher course between Kzoo and Grand Rapids if on the highway and bored.

short holes with few trees makes this a good course for beginner, nothing fancy required to make par

wont pose a challange to a golfer of moderate skill level

usualy pretty clean, not a lot of activity makes so you dont have to wait to play

It has baskets...and, um...did I mention it has baskets? Good to practice putting, I suppose.

No challenge, nine baskets in a field behind a church.