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Highland Park reviews
9
0
Lots of Potential
Reviewed:
Updated:
Played on:Jul 5, 2020
Played the course:2-4 times
Pros:
Variety - Given the location you might think this would be another boring city park course. Not so. Highland Park has a bit of everything, from open bombers to water carries to (very) tight wooded holes, uphill and downhill.
Use of Land - The designers mostly did a good job with the layout. There is a surprising amount of elevation change here, and it is used well. There is also little danger of an errant throw encroaching on another fairway, and the holes are all far away from the playground area.
#6 is a standout hole even with the current state of the course (see Cons below). It plays 320' according to the course map. Your tee shot has to carry probably 175' or so across a fairly steep gorge with a creek in the middle. There is quite a bit of brush and a few trees that can send your disc down into the creek, which is probably shallow enough to retrieve your disc from. After the creek it's a sharp dogleg right to the basket.
Another great hole is #14. This is a 356' downhill bomber coming out of the heavily wooded area of the park into the open. It's a great view and a chance at a birdie with a solid tee shot.
I have to mention hole 12 too. It's only 150', but plays up a steep hill in the woods. The basket is on the top of a wall built into the hill.
Use of Land - The designers mostly did a good job with the layout. There is a surprising amount of elevation change here, and it is used well. There is also little danger of an errant throw encroaching on another fairway, and the holes are all far away from the playground area.
#6 is a standout hole even with the current state of the course (see Cons below). It plays 320' according to the course map. Your tee shot has to carry probably 175' or so across a fairly steep gorge with a creek in the middle. There is quite a bit of brush and a few trees that can send your disc down into the creek, which is probably shallow enough to retrieve your disc from. After the creek it's a sharp dogleg right to the basket.
Another great hole is #14. This is a 356' downhill bomber coming out of the heavily wooded area of the park into the open. It's a great view and a chance at a birdie with a solid tee shot.
I have to mention hole 12 too. It's only 150', but plays up a steep hill in the woods. The basket is on the top of a wall built into the hill.
Cons:
The infrastructure here is in poor shape. The baskets have been repaired since 2020 so they are all at least functional. But it's still 16 old model DISCatchers and one unidentified basket that are all showing their age and might spit out putts (plus one brand new, white banded basket on hole 15 that I can't remember...might be an MVP?) The hole numbers on the baskets are often incorrect.
New in 2021, someone has added tee signs for all holes. They are just small white painted boards with a hole number, distance, and "WATER" if the hole has a water hazard in play. Some of these were just sitting on the ground near the tee when I played. A couple of Next Tee signs were also added in a similar style. This isn't enough for the signs to be a Pro now, but better than nothing. Thank you to the individual or group of people responsible for these!
The tee pads are dirt.
There is no kiosk/course map. Use the map attached in the Files section here for navigation.
No practice basket, although you could use hole 18's basket which is located on a slope (there is a clear line of sight up to the tee).
Although I praised the overall design above, there are no obstacles between the tee and the basket on some holes.
Hole 16 can be unplayable depending on your skill level and the time of year. It runs 273'. The first 250' or so of this can be a marsh area depending on time of year and there is really nowhere to lay up, so if you don't make it the full 250' you may lose your disc. There are some larger trees too to potentially cut down your throw. Also to get to the tee from the #15 basket you have to walk across a small "land bridge" on the edge of said marsh, which can also be quite wet.
On some of the wooded holes the "fairways" are literally 2 ft wide walking paths that wind up and down hills at fairly steep angles. I generally like this type of hole...but a little brush clearing would go a long way here while still keeping things challenging. Hole 6 described above can also be very tricky if the brush around the creek is overgrown, as it has been on multiple occasions when I played.
Stairs on a couple of holes would be a good safety improvement too.
Probably not too much challenge for more experienced players.
There is quite a bit of road noise throughout this course due to its proximity to the I-196 freeway.
New in 2021, someone has added tee signs for all holes. They are just small white painted boards with a hole number, distance, and "WATER" if the hole has a water hazard in play. Some of these were just sitting on the ground near the tee when I played. A couple of Next Tee signs were also added in a similar style. This isn't enough for the signs to be a Pro now, but better than nothing. Thank you to the individual or group of people responsible for these!
The tee pads are dirt.
There is no kiosk/course map. Use the map attached in the Files section here for navigation.
No practice basket, although you could use hole 18's basket which is located on a slope (there is a clear line of sight up to the tee).
Although I praised the overall design above, there are no obstacles between the tee and the basket on some holes.
Hole 16 can be unplayable depending on your skill level and the time of year. It runs 273'. The first 250' or so of this can be a marsh area depending on time of year and there is really nowhere to lay up, so if you don't make it the full 250' you may lose your disc. There are some larger trees too to potentially cut down your throw. Also to get to the tee from the #15 basket you have to walk across a small "land bridge" on the edge of said marsh, which can also be quite wet.
On some of the wooded holes the "fairways" are literally 2 ft wide walking paths that wind up and down hills at fairly steep angles. I generally like this type of hole...but a little brush clearing would go a long way here while still keeping things challenging. Hole 6 described above can also be very tricky if the brush around the creek is overgrown, as it has been on multiple occasions when I played.
Stairs on a couple of holes would be a good safety improvement too.
Probably not too much challenge for more experienced players.
There is quite a bit of road noise throughout this course due to its proximity to the I-196 freeway.
Other Thoughts:
There is lots of potential here but it goes mostly untapped.
With cement tee pads, better tee signs, new baskets, and a kiosk this course probably goes up to a 3.0. Throw in some regular maintenance and maybe redesign a few holes and it seriously could be a 3.5 or 4.0 in my book. I would like to see #14 extended to use the basket on #16. It would make for a nice long hole with a tricky pin placement (behind some trees when coming from that direction).
Overall, this place is worth checking out if you're a local but probably not worth a long drive. I live close by and will probably play it again periodically to see if there have been any updates.
UPDATE SEPTEMBER 2021: Just played the course again. I had an enjoyable round and I stand by what I said above. The land is here and most of the hole design to make this a 3.5 or maybe 4.0 course - right in the heart of a medium-sized city. But with aging/nonexistent infrastructure and still-questionable maintenance, I can't currently recommend this place to an out-of-towner. The handmade tee signs I saw today tell me that I'm not the only one who cares about this course or sees the potential here. Despite the new signs I am leaving my rating at 2.0 for now. The park seems to be popular with non-DGers, and I have encountered people sitting on fairways each time I have played here. With the (likely low) current volume of DGers and lack of signage and maintenance, I don't think the non-DGers are expecting flying discs on the course or aware where the holes are. This plus many blind holes equates to a safety concern for me for now, though one that might take care of itself if the other improvements are made and the park starts to see more DG traffic.
UPDATE JUNE 2022: Next Tee arrows that look homemade have been added in the bottoms of baskets. This helped me remember where to go, but a first-timer would definitely still need the map. The park itself is well maintained but the course is clearly ignored by the city, and only being cared for by a couple of motivated local DG'ers. There were entire trees down on fairways, and waist high grass and weeds on others. No change to my rating.
With cement tee pads, better tee signs, new baskets, and a kiosk this course probably goes up to a 3.0. Throw in some regular maintenance and maybe redesign a few holes and it seriously could be a 3.5 or 4.0 in my book. I would like to see #14 extended to use the basket on #16. It would make for a nice long hole with a tricky pin placement (behind some trees when coming from that direction).
Overall, this place is worth checking out if you're a local but probably not worth a long drive. I live close by and will probably play it again periodically to see if there have been any updates.
UPDATE SEPTEMBER 2021: Just played the course again. I had an enjoyable round and I stand by what I said above. The land is here and most of the hole design to make this a 3.5 or maybe 4.0 course - right in the heart of a medium-sized city. But with aging/nonexistent infrastructure and still-questionable maintenance, I can't currently recommend this place to an out-of-towner. The handmade tee signs I saw today tell me that I'm not the only one who cares about this course or sees the potential here. Despite the new signs I am leaving my rating at 2.0 for now. The park seems to be popular with non-DGers, and I have encountered people sitting on fairways each time I have played here. With the (likely low) current volume of DGers and lack of signage and maintenance, I don't think the non-DGers are expecting flying discs on the course or aware where the holes are. This plus many blind holes equates to a safety concern for me for now, though one that might take care of itself if the other improvements are made and the park starts to see more DG traffic.
UPDATE JUNE 2022: Next Tee arrows that look homemade have been added in the bottoms of baskets. This helped me remember where to go, but a first-timer would definitely still need the map. The park itself is well maintained but the course is clearly ignored by the city, and only being cared for by a couple of motivated local DG'ers. There were entire trees down on fairways, and waist high grass and weeds on others. No change to my rating.
2
0
gdtorrez
Experience:
1 played
1 reviews
More Than Meets The Eye 2+ years drive by
Reviewed:
Played on:Jun 26, 2018
Played the course:2-4 times
Pros:
-Short and sweet (took about an hour by myself)
-Good use of the elevation and woods on the back nine
-Some good obstacles through the trees
-Near downtown/NE Side
-Not crowded
-Good use of the elevation and woods on the back nine
-Some good obstacles through the trees
-Near downtown/NE Side
-Not crowded
Cons:
-Somewhat tough navigation starting out
-Fairly overgrown on some parts making it a little difficult to navigate when the water comes into play
-Fairly overgrown on some parts making it a little difficult to navigate when the water comes into play
Other Thoughts:
Initially, the course looked like it was going to be just a short boring 9 holes (which is what it started out as I guess) being that it is in a city park. As I went through the course, I was surprised how large it actually was going through the trees/hillside. Some enjoyable holes (12 and 14) but quiet a bit of overgrown holes I had to really keep my eye on. I will be going back for sure since it is close to where I live and pretty fun overall.
