Pros:
• Concrete tees
• Baskets in good repair
• Good variety of hole distances
Cons:
• Dangerous holes
• Confusing layout
• Missing tee signs
• Only one shot required: righty hyzer
Other Thoughts:
City Park in Mitchellville is comprised of roughly two square blocks of land. Within that space, there are numerous play courts, baseball fields, picnic shelters and a restroom building. Amongst all of this is the course, with its holes shoe-horned into the spaces in between. This makes for some problems when you try to play the course, the least of which being the confusing routing of the holes. The worst problem is the inherent danger built into some of the holes. I'll start with the hazardous nature of the course.
With such a small space to start with, coupled with all of the other facilities in the park, there is a very real danger of hitting other park users. This is most apparent on holes #8 and #9, where you are required to throw toward picnic shelters, where even the slightest errant throw could likely land in the shelter. This is worse on #9, where you not only throw past the restroom building, but are required to thread through some trees to get to the basket, which is only 30 feet from the edge of the shelter. Compounding this problem, the shelter is hidden from the tee.
Some other hazards include holes throwing over a baseball field, tennis court, handball court and sand volleyball court. Two of the holes running along the outside edge of the park feature the opportunity to hit a house if your throw turns over or ricochets off a tree or power pole.
Although less serious, but still a real problem with the course, is the confusing routing of holes. The first three holes flow well enough, but when you get to #4's tee you are presented with a short, straight shot. However, when you study the tee sign, you realize that this is not the correct basket. You're actually intended to curve around to another basket to the left. Some directional signage to indicate the direction to the next tee would make for less confusion for first-time visitors.
There is a dreadful deficiency of shot variety. Virtually every hole's ideal route is a right-to-left shot. If there is a hazard or obstacle on the hole, it will likely be on the left side.
In summary, this is an ill-conceived course that tries to fit full-length holes into a very small, cramped space. It would be better suited as a pitch and putt course with holes not exceeding 200 feet. As it exists, you'll never want to play it on a busy summer weekend.