City Park features an 18 holes disc golf course just a few miles from the heart of New Orleans . There is off street parking usually close to hole 1 . I did not remember seeing any bathrooms near the course .
THE EQUIPMENT - There is a nice kiosk with map near hole #1 . Take a picture of it . The fairways are cut , but there are a couple of confusing spots where you can wander , looking for the next pad . There are 3 sets of tee pads at most of the holes . Pro and short tee pads are natural and the intermediate are cement , but decent sized , about 8' X 4' .. The signage is good and are at both the intermediate and longs .They are descriptive and have a nice picture of the hole , but since the course has multiple pin placements , you can't tell if they are in the long or short spots unless you walk up the fairway . The baskets are yellow banded Discatchers
THE TERRAIN - The course is flat . and very park-style . The types of trees vary , from you playing around fir trees to oaks . Low hanging branches will force you to throw low , around or a roller on some of the holes . The fairways are fair and can allow you to open up your arm in spots . The park was full of water from a heavy rain from days before , but well taken care of .
HIGHLIGHTS - No memorable holes to take home with you , but some fun ones . #9 was a double mando garage door drive . #14 makes you decide to take the dogleg left , or go through a tight doorway in which if you aren't accurate , you will be digging in the weeds . #17 had a nice elevated basket . #18 was a straight shot with a small pool of water and a low hanging tree in the fairway in front of the basket .
SIGNATURE HOLE - #2 would be my pick . the pin was in the long position , and I guessed it at over 500' . There is some brush on the right and far left , and sets of low hanging trees that will force you to be both accurate in not hitting the trunks , letting you be behind them , and catching a branch ( like I did ) . Basket placement was just beyond and protected by yet another low hanging tree . I think it was considered a par 5 .
TIME - Even on a mid afternoon Monday , there were groups and solo players on the course . It took me 80 minutes , but part of it was because of the standing water on the course .
City Park DGC is a popular place to play with the locals , who are friendly and helpful . It is central to New Orleans and a good chance to get your disc golf fix .

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WATER BASIN - It has been a long time where I saw standing water like this on a disc golf course . The course is flat and will be a swamp after some hard rains . wear waterproof shoes/boots if attempting this . The water went over my boots several times .
NAVIGATION - Not bad , but not seamless , either . Some backtracking on a few holes . I am not sure why the don't have an online map . I followed a few of the locals since the course was full of water and I didn't want to chance dropping my phone in it .
FLAT AND STRAIGHT - There are some obstacles to make you work on some of the holes , but there is no elevation , no water carries ( maybe the little ditch on 18 ) and many of the holes are straight ahead .
DISC RISK - some areas off the fairway have high grass , and some of the brush is very heavy . I passed a guy who lost his disc the day before on hole 3 , trying to find it . There was someone on the back 9 area ( maybe 15 ) who had a disc ricochet and couldn't find his , either . Take turns spotting if not solo , on some of the holes .

I was here several years ago , but was turned away because of a festival that took up most of the course . It looks like they are attempting improvements since then . City Park will likely never be a top of the line course , but so what ! Location , Location , Location . It's centrally located for the locals , and a solid enough play for tourists like me that want to get out and throw some .
MY RECOMMENDATION - A solid enough course in a well taken care of park . The several tee pads allow for better players to play with lesser counterparts. That said , this is a good enough play for newbies and 1 discers . Locals meet here and like it . Out of towners will like the convenient location , Intermediates will enjoy some of these holes , along with the pros , where both can work on their putting and midrange games . Don't go too far out of your way , BUT STILL PLAY IT !!

I will preface this review by saying that when I did come out and play, it was pouring at parts when I was playing. I feel certain that this review is as unbiased to that fact as possible, anyways - onward!

Disc golf on old ball golf courses can go horribly wrong, and I have seen it, design wise. I felt that the design of this course made the most of the expansive, and often times, tree less land that is offered. There is a real nice variety of hole lengths from long bomber holes to tricky short holes with triple mandos.

There are nice, new concrete tees that make it possible to drive on non-slick surfaces when it is raining. It sure beats the carpet like material that was used. There are three sets of tees, the two longer tees have tee signs while the shorter ones are marked with blue tees. There is something for every skill level here.

I liked the use of the river and the holes near the rear of the course a lot. It broke up the monotony of the longer, more ope holes that are scattered throughout the first part of the course.

A lot of reviewers mentioned in their cons that the course was overgrown and not manicured. I either caught it on a nice day, or the issue might have been resolved all together. Nonetheless, the course seemed to be in great shape minus the ankle deep water from the torrential rain.

Having an elevated basket is not a pro, and this course has one.

There are throw away holes, and from what I understand, the Parks Department limited the course usage in the space, which sucks but it still is what it is. It still led to some fairly uninspiring golf.

There is a bit of a walk back to your car from basket 18, which could suck if it is pouring rain or if it is hot and humid. Speaking of the rain, I am sure this course holds water a lot, as most ball golf courses do. Even without recent rain, I can see and have heard that it can be wet feet if you are not careful.

It seems that the course is improving with time as there are now concrete tees, the course was in good shape. I applaud the New Orleans disc golf community for their diligence in working with those dang bureaucrats. There work is not going unnoticed. Still, this course does have its limitations that seem to be at no fault at the designers but the Parks Department.

If you are New Orleans, I would still recommend you stopping to play. There is a fun factor here plus a lot of sweat and heart went into making this course as fun as it can be.

This was the last course I played in the New Orleans area, and boy do I regret waiting so long. Since then, I have never been able to just play one round. This course is just plain fun to play.

To start broadly and move to the specifics, the flow of this course keeps it fresh. Built on an old ball golf course, there's a few tees on some raised mounds, so you get some extra distance. Hole 7's basket is in an overgrown sand trap. Some holes are hyzer, some anny. Backhand or forehand. There are a lot of straight shots though, a bit on that later. The main thing you should know about the overall layout and feel of the course: There is real challenge, but real birdie opportunities.

Some holes are more unique than others, and offer things no other course in the area does. Hole 9 is straight through a triple mando arch, 17 has a VERY elevated basket, and three tees for all levels of play.

This usually isn't a pro, but I've found it pretty enjoyable: There is almost always someone else out on this course.Usually this would be, at best, a non-factor, and at worst make a crowded course. But the New Orleans disc golf community is almost always out playing, keeping the course clean, and preventing over growth.

There is a good mix of these shorter tighter holes, and longer bomb holes. I haven't really sat down and checked the balance or pattern, and that is mostly because I have always been so content after my rounds it doesn't even matter.

More specifically, the fairways are clear and fair, the tee signs are good, even if the distances are off (by a lot on two holes, see below).

Some of the distances are just inaccurate. I play from the red tees (closer than yellow, farther than blue), and the two most obvious ones are holes 7 and 13, which are around 600ft, still listed at about 350, and par 3.

Tee Pads are a mix of faux-turf, and earth. A course this well-designed should have concrete pads. I think the main issue here though is the disc golf club does everything and has to raise the money for course improvements.
UPDATE: Many of the tee's have now been made into concrete, and the rest are slowly coming. The club is doing all of this themselves through fundraising and donations.

Some walks are pretty muddy, and the walk from 18 back to the parking lot is pretty long. I'm actually ok with this though because I like the holes the way they are. At this point I'm just nit-picking.

There's no real elevation holes, but honestly if you were expecting that at a New Orleans course, that's your fault.

Returning to my prior statement about a long straight shot, here's why that will help you: Hole 2 is a straight low tunnel, and holes 8, 9, and 10 are progressively shorter and tighter tunnel shots (9 and 10 you could use a good driving putter).

For being in a flat, open area, this course makes the best of what it's got. If you're a power thrower, or a finesse thrower, this course will have some holes for you.

The other local course is Lafreniere, Parc des Familles, or Pelican Park if you're driving up north. To rank them personally, I would say:
1) Parc des Familles
2) City Park
3) Lafreniere
4) Pelican Park
CP and Laf are probably pretty close and depend on the person

- free to play, free to park
- bomber course
- some fun ace runs : triple mando, raised basket
- multiple pins, multiple pads
- very informative tee signs for long and longer tee pads
- quality baskets
- course loops back to the beginning half way through
- map at beginning of course. I had to consult a cell phone picture from 8 to 9
- nice, safe area to throw

- long grass makes this a lawn dart course, no potential for extra carry after ground contact
- no designated parking lot, park on far side of a semi busy street
- mostly open field course
- worn astro turf tees, sometimes too short for long hole run ups, sometimes natural
- soggy course
- signs need pin position indicator. I stepped up to a 700+ ft hole and didn't know which pin to throw to.
- basket 18 ends a couple hundred yards from the course beginning
- no trash cans
- not much shade for a majority of the course
- flat course
- overgrown fairways
- no benches

City park is a long open field style course that does a great job utilizing large trees scattered throughout. The trees force subtle shot shaping on an otherwise open course. There were a few technical woodsy fairways on the back 9, as well. I came here early in the morning to beat the mid day heat. The course was flat, overgrown, and soggy. I am unsure if the course was so soggy because if the morning dew or because it is just naturally a little soggy in general. Either way, it made for a long round. City Park's overall fairway lengths can be daunting, especially with the lack of shade. I would overwhelmingly recommend using a cart, although I'm not sure if they'd roll very well with all the soft ground and tall, wet grass

I came to NOLA for the sights, sounds, and food, but managed to sneak in a course while I was here. The course neared a 3.5 rating for me, but I had to deduct some fractions of a point due to a few reasons. The fairways, as a whole, lacked definition and weren't very punitive. Wet knee high grass covered most of the course too. I spent a lot of time baking in these shadeless fairways looking for decent drives buried in grass. Also, all these long drives would be better complimented with concrete teesrather than astro turf. Some tees were short and/or natural.

Even though the terrain in New Orleans does not allow for elevation changes and the land on which the course was placed was originally a few golf holes, the designers did a pretty good job of mixing it up and making some challenging shots here. Two sets of tees allow for different experiences - I played the shorter set as I'm not a long thrower and they seemed pretty long. The course is fairly new, so I'm assuming there will be improvements over time.

Some holes of note:

#3 is a nifty right to left that has an old golf cart path from which a skip may hurt or help you.

#4 is a somewhat tight drive that needs to go left to right to have a chance at a good score.

#5's basket is nestled in between some small trees that makes the approach pretty technical.

#9's "triple mando" is pretty cool. Short enough to not be ridiculous and justly punishing if your disc fades on your drive.

#10 is about as tight as they come but not long - I'm not a tunnel shot fan, but the shortness makes it bearable.

#13 can be a monster par 3 (there are two basket positions) that mandates a straight drive so as to avoid getting trapped behind some nasty trees. The course map linked here shows the shorter layout. When I played, it was just right of the #14 tee as it looks on the map.

#14's basket is well hidden as you stand on the tee box so look for it as you come up 13's fairway. It's a highly technical shot and the basket is backed by water not too far behind.

#15 and #16 are tucked away almost in a jungle setting. While it seems this was necessary to "squeeze" 18 holes into the land, they really are neat little holes.

#17 requires a bit of a walk to get to if you're playing the shorter tees (take a look from the pro tees and you'll understand why I'm glad I didn't play them). Then the elevated basket is well done. Quite a challenge as the bottom of the basket is higher than the top of my head.

Like the older course, I fear a moderate rain will make this one very sloshy, especially on the parts that were originally water run off areas from the old golf course.

Living in Baton Rouge, this course makes me want to bring my discs if I ever travel in the direction of New Orleans, so it's definitely a positive experience.

The map on this page is accurate (with the exception that it does not show the longer hole #13) so bring it along.

The newest form of New Orleans City Park's disc golf course offers about as much diversity in terms of hole length as can be found within a par 3 format: even the short tees range from sub-200' to well over 500' (when 13 is in the long position), with most every range in between represented. This mix ensures variety and makes extensive use of your bag. There are opportunities to air it out, tight quarters, and lots in the middle.

Lines and hazards are similarly varied. There's no repetition out here, and lots of opportunity to benefit from having a variety of shots in your game: being able to throw both BH and FH really comes in handy on this course, and less-common shots such as overhand and rollers (grass allowing) play well, too. It's a nice mix of holes that will definitely make life difficult at some point if you don't have a versatile mix of shots.

Obstacles aren't overly abundant, but smartly used to ensure a technical round. Sidewalk OB is intuitive (and thankfully sparsely trafficked), making for some real risk/reward shots on a few holes while factoring in to a lesser degree on several others. Other hazards include tight wooded lanes, challenging low ceilings, sprawling trees, some compact windows, the occasional tricky-to-hit landing zone, a very elevated basket, and even a USDGC-style triple mando. There's a nice range here.

The two sets of tees are are both well-integrated. The shorts are newbie friendly while still having enough challenge to be enjoyable for better players, and the longs throw a lot at you, adding their own technical twists beyond sheer distance. The longs make for a very worthwhile round; shooting even on them is a very solid score.

Every bit of technicality is squeezed out of this land as dictated by park officials - the land afforded to the layout is severely limited, with some more-wooded stretches off limits or used with severe restriction - but there's only so much that can be done. There aren't enough trees or acres to allow the course to stretch out or offer a more technical round or varied environment (though as described above, even minor differences are used to great effect). The use maximizes what's available, but the course's ceiling was capped from the get-go.

The limitations on land and usage also make it difficult to avoid throwaway holes. There are only a few of them but they're there. The openness and narrowness of the land the back 9 plays on is largely the issue: there weren't a lot of design options available.

The course is approaching a year old but it remains in rough shape. Grooming is inconsistent at best and gets pretty bad in the summer. The natural tees can get overgrown or become blocked by foliage, especially the longs, which are under-used. Some better footing is sorely needed on many holes. A lot of work went into preparing the land for the course and it's light years from where it began, but the land is still rough around the edges and the upkeep isn't there.

Proper tee signs have yet to be installed and the temps have fallen off in places. Occasionally images from the old course are visible which can be confusing to newcomers. Long tees have no info other than hole number.

Bathrooms are needed. A portajohn comes and goes from the area.

Course does not drain well, but it's New Orleans.

I've been playing this course since before the layout was finalized, and it's been neat to watch it grow. There are some some memorable and worthwhile holes out here, especially from the long tees. It's a shame that the park didn't give the designers more to work with.

I would rate the design a 3.5 and the playability/grooming a 2.5, so 3.0 seems appropriate. The long tees are particularly solid, it's just a shame they're not better tended to. Hopefully the upkeep improves over time, as the passion is certainly there on the part of many locals.

This is the most convenient course to visit from the downtown area. I prefer Lafreniere in many ways, but you don't have to contend with nearly as much of a pedestrian problem here.