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Grand River Riverfront Park DGC reviews
16
0
Unique layout playing on both sides, and hopefully not also in, the Grand River
Reviewed:
Updated:
Played on:Mar 13, 2024
Played the course:once
Pros:
Grand River Riverfront Park is an aptly named recreation spot near Lowell, MI. The park actually includes land on both sides of the ~750ft wide Grand River. The centerpiece is a beautiful timber framed walking/bicycle bridge over the river, that connects the two areas of the park. 19 holes of disc golf were recently added here, with two more coming soon.
This course is mostly wooded, with relatively tight technical lines making up the majority of the fairways. There are a few holes that play through partially open areas to balance things out. It seemed like there was a pretty good variety of fairway shapes cut into the wooded areas - plenty of straight holes included to go along with the left turns, right turns, and a couple of gentle S shapes. There is great range in hole distances, from about 180' all the way up to 570'. The number of holes under 250' is the same as the number of holes over 300' (eight each).
The other prominent feature of this course, as you might guess, is the water. There are several holes that play next to the river, and several more that play through areas that could be wet depending on conditions (see below). The combination of tight woods and water makes for a couple of scary throws. I watched what I thought was a pretty good tee shot on hole 6, kick off a tree and land about 10' out into the river. Thank goodness I threw my floating disc!
The tee pads are all concrete. There is one pad on most holes, but some of the longer holes also have a second short pad. The tee signs are on the small side, but have all of the info you could ask for. I played this one from the main/long pads, but I liked that the short pads present were also concrete and had the same signage as the long pads.
The baskets are new yellow banded DISCatchers - one per hole. There is also a practice basket, and a pavilion with restrooms near the first tee.
You'll either love or hate this layout. Holes 1-3 are on the south side of the Grand River, in a field and wooded area on the edge of the main park. Then, you make the long walk across the bridge for holes 4-9 and A-C on the north side of the river (holes A and B aren't in yet). Then it's back across the bridge for the remaining holes 10-18. If you like the view of the river and the experience of walking on the large wooden bridge, you might really like the long walks (as I did personally). But from purely a disc golf layout perspective, it could be annoying if you are just trying to bag the entire course. The navigational signs are pretty good, but even besides the bridge there are a couple of other longer transitions. If you're short on time, you could just play a 12-hole round on the south side of the river, or a 9-hole round on the north side.
This course is mostly wooded, with relatively tight technical lines making up the majority of the fairways. There are a few holes that play through partially open areas to balance things out. It seemed like there was a pretty good variety of fairway shapes cut into the wooded areas - plenty of straight holes included to go along with the left turns, right turns, and a couple of gentle S shapes. There is great range in hole distances, from about 180' all the way up to 570'. The number of holes under 250' is the same as the number of holes over 300' (eight each).
The other prominent feature of this course, as you might guess, is the water. There are several holes that play next to the river, and several more that play through areas that could be wet depending on conditions (see below). The combination of tight woods and water makes for a couple of scary throws. I watched what I thought was a pretty good tee shot on hole 6, kick off a tree and land about 10' out into the river. Thank goodness I threw my floating disc!
The tee pads are all concrete. There is one pad on most holes, but some of the longer holes also have a second short pad. The tee signs are on the small side, but have all of the info you could ask for. I played this one from the main/long pads, but I liked that the short pads present were also concrete and had the same signage as the long pads.
The baskets are new yellow banded DISCatchers - one per hole. There is also a practice basket, and a pavilion with restrooms near the first tee.
You'll either love or hate this layout. Holes 1-3 are on the south side of the Grand River, in a field and wooded area on the edge of the main park. Then, you make the long walk across the bridge for holes 4-9 and A-C on the north side of the river (holes A and B aren't in yet). Then it's back across the bridge for the remaining holes 10-18. If you like the view of the river and the experience of walking on the large wooden bridge, you might really like the long walks (as I did personally). But from purely a disc golf layout perspective, it could be annoying if you are just trying to bag the entire course. The navigational signs are pretty good, but even besides the bridge there are a couple of other longer transitions. If you're short on time, you could just play a 12-hole round on the south side of the river, or a 9-hole round on the north side.
Cons:
Scenic but lengthy walks aside, there are two definite issues here. The first one is safety. Walking paths are in play on many holes. On a few holes, the walking paths define one side of the fairway or are close behind the basket. The entire back nine basically follows the walking path clockwise around the main park. This looks to be a very popular park, so PLEASE wait for any other park users to clear the area before throwing.
The other big concern is flooding. The holes next to the river are obviously prone to this, but based on my experience it looked like most of the rest of the land used for the course is as well. I had to skip hole 12 because the second half of the fairway was underwater. Other holes that were flooded enough to be close to unplayable (but I sloshed through) included #1 (on the wooded approach to the basket), #2, #7, and #11. I think the location of hole 8's tee pad was moved to shorten the hole due to the potential for flooding at the originally planned spot. As I write this in March 2024 we have had an unusually warm winter here, with less snow than usual - so I'd hate to see what this terrain looks like during a more normal "melting season".
It happens a lot on courses like this, but it's unfortunate that the water hazards are mostly on the same side of the hole (in this case, on the left). The river itself is ALWAYS on the left, so at drier times of year it's possible that the only water hazards will be on the left.
There are some gentle elevation changes here, but never enough to really affect play.
No trash cans, benches, or kiosk/map yet. The mandos are currently just temporary pink tape wrapped around trees - hopefully better signs for these are in the works. Overall, the course is clearly still in its infancy and needs some finishing touches as well as just more wearing in.
The other big concern is flooding. The holes next to the river are obviously prone to this, but based on my experience it looked like most of the rest of the land used for the course is as well. I had to skip hole 12 because the second half of the fairway was underwater. Other holes that were flooded enough to be close to unplayable (but I sloshed through) included #1 (on the wooded approach to the basket), #2, #7, and #11. I think the location of hole 8's tee pad was moved to shorten the hole due to the potential for flooding at the originally planned spot. As I write this in March 2024 we have had an unusually warm winter here, with less snow than usual - so I'd hate to see what this terrain looks like during a more normal "melting season".
It happens a lot on courses like this, but it's unfortunate that the water hazards are mostly on the same side of the hole (in this case, on the left). The river itself is ALWAYS on the left, so at drier times of year it's possible that the only water hazards will be on the left.
There are some gentle elevation changes here, but never enough to really affect play.
No trash cans, benches, or kiosk/map yet. The mandos are currently just temporary pink tape wrapped around trees - hopefully better signs for these are in the works. Overall, the course is clearly still in its infancy and needs some finishing touches as well as just more wearing in.
Other Thoughts:
Overall, this is a unique layout in a cool spot. The wooden bridge is the centerpiece and most memorable feature of both the overall park, and this disc golf course within it. The end result is kind of a mixed bag. I could see my rating improving to a 3.0 once things are more dialed in, but the land isn't ever going to become less flood prone and I'm not sure how they would be able to really address the safety issues without dramatically reducing the number of holes. I do commend the course designers for introducing disc golf to a highly visible location, and utilizing the land available pretty well. But unless you're local, it would be silly for you to skip the DG gem at nearby Fallasburg Park to play here.
