Hobby Hill is a new park with a new course inside it. The course features a great variety of all kinds of hills and fairway shapes. There are ace run opportunities, chances for skip shots to get through low ceilings, and chances for super aggressive shots that are penalized if you make a small mistake. The issues this course had when it first opened are mostly gone now, and it's beating in nicely.

Tee signs are pretty good, and there are signs pointing you to the next tee pad and note if you're about to walk into another fairway. The course avoids the other park functions pretty well, and although you walk across a bridge that is shared with a walking path, there's little danger of other people getting hit with a disc. Despite the course being tightly packed, it keeps safety high.

Hills are used pretty well, and two of the hilliest holes (10 and 17) are great holes. There was some opportunity for more hill use between holes 4 and 7, especially a hole that plays way downhill and over the creek, but hey, you can't have everything.

Several individual hole highlights: Hole 7 plays along a creek, and especially if you're going to the long pin, the shot selection is real cool. Hole 13, possibly the hardest on the course, still provides several different shots. Hole 18 plays across a creek and valley and to a pin at the top of a brick wall (that looks older than the course), making it my favorite hole on the course.

A few holes (1, 6, to some extent 2 and 9) are a little short and fairly uninteresting. Some had an odd shape (5, 15, 16), and others have a few too many trees (3, 11, 17). Despite the variety, there's nothing over 370 feet, making the course a little repetitive at times. The other times, this sometimes seems like a pitch-and-putt course, since several holes lack high difficulty. Also, the field on 6, 8, and 9 is pretty boring - if only there was room for those holes elsewhere. As a result, while this course is real fun, parts of it don't feel like they had a great design.

The flow of the course has a few problems. It's pretty tightly packed, but there are enough trees to make discs unlikely to fly into adjacent fairways. A couple of times I think the land wasn't utilized very well. And the biggest offender is... Hole 6. It's a long LONG walk to get there from the pin of 5, and then it's a boring 125' hole. A new tee could come at the existing pin from a different direction and would be a good hole and merit the course a 4.0 rating for sure.

Other than the holes that have multiple baskets, there aren't any alternate pin placements, and since nearly everything is par 3, it limits the replayability of this course a good bit.

The alternate baskets on 4, 7, and 16 give a little variety, although I would rather have multiple pin placements. There's also a practice basket that can be played to as a long pin on 5, 10, or 18.

Water hazards are a creek that comes into play on a few holes. It's pretty easy to grab discs out of, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's a giant mud pit during certain parts of the year.

Kansas City is getting several pretty wooded courses now, and this is certainly one of the better ones, possibly the most fun to play. I don't know if it has all the parts needed to make it the best in the area, but I'm looking forward to coming back here and finding out.

18 hole layout has concrete tees, signs and sweet new baskets. Holes are mostly short to mid distance, with a few exceptions. The fairways range from flat and open to heavily wooded with elevation change.

I wouldn't call it beginner level, but the distance is very manageable on most holes. The fairways also have a good mix of shapes to pick up fundamental throws and learn strategic placement. A fun round that you can get through quickly if everything goes well.

I liked the final hole best. The tee is elevated, and the basket is also. There is a significant drop and climb in between, with many mature trees on the approach to the pin. It's a tough drive, but I did have a decent look at a birdie.

Hole 9 takes a crafty tee shot through an early window. The fairway is mostly uphill at a decent pitch, and the left side is thick trees and brush.

11 is a fun run downhill with plenty of trees. A putter will get you close, but the potential for ricocheting off of a tree trunk is formidable.

Hole 12 runs along the bottom of the creek bed, and is another one of the longer holes. The line is there, stick close to it if you want higher chances at making par. As you near the basket there are clusters of trees to dodge that can make the upshot tough.

13 is pretty much wide open, but the terrain is unusual.
slightly uphill and a bit of a blind drive that flies over an exposed rock terrace.

The layout is funky. A course map would be a great addition. The walk from 5 to 6 is past the playground to the flat, grassy area. That took me a moment to figure out. Between 9 and 10 also required a bit of searching for me. After hole 12 there is a trek to the other side of the park.

Hole 6 is comical. Wide open, about 125', and flat. The basket is backed by a stream and some trees, so over shooting the pin can leave a tough comeback. Great opportunity to get a birdie on the card.

Overall I thought this is a pretty good course. There are some slight imbalances and small inconveniences, but birdies and bogies are both likely.

I shot 4 over (58) on the round my first time out. Has 3 birdies, 3 bogies and 2 double bogies.

A couple of the wooded holes are very dense with trees and there is no defined path to the basket. A couple of others are lacking resistance. There are a number of fun and interesting holes also. It's worth a visit if you're in the area, but not on the level of KC's elite disc golf courses.

Parking on the East side of the park is nearest to the first hole. The front and back 9's don't exactly converge at the lot, but it's close.