Howard Park is a nice nine, with natural tee pads marked with numbered posts and Discatcher baskets. Fairways are cut out of the woods, and mostly bare aside from the winter leaves littering the ground, and the grass as you exit on the last hole. The park is multi use, but the disc golf portion carved out of the woods, and is pretty well off the beaten path.

If you don't enjoy wooded fairways you should skip this one. Most lanes are sizable enough to stay clean, but stray trees stand here and there and some lines are quite crowded. A stream runs through the center, and is in play at times. Missing a throw in certain places will mean you're facing a tough recovery. Distance is not crazy long, only one hole exceeds 300' and a couple of others are a touch under.

This one is tough for new players due to the multitude of trees. A good challenge for the recreational guys or gals. The first two holes are good warm ups. 1 is a bit downhill and short, a bit of right to left. A putter can do the job but don't overthrow, the creek is just behind the pin. There was water, and visibility is not good. Hole 2 is slightly uphill, also right to left. It is more than twice the length of the first hole, at 329'. A well placed drive and nice skip could get you close, but I put too much hyzer and came up left and well short. 3 might be the prettiest hole, see the pic. I like the little tunnel shot with a mid range or putter, and this one does it nicely. Dead center of the fairway, the basket is framed by trunks posted up on both sides. The creek is a factor, along with the handful of trees that create the snug run from A to B.

I didn't know what to do with hole 4, it made me wish I had a better sidearm. It's tough for RHBH, but does have the airspace to get good distance. A row of bushy evergreens on the right side hide the bucket. 5 has a couple of obstacles that require either good precision or a bit of luck to pass by with one throw. A line drive with little or no fade, about 260' is what it takes. Hole 6 is left to right, and not too hard of a bend. Short and sweet, unless you miss to the right. I don't recall much water, but the pin is in a bit of a valley with a minor drop in elevation. Hole 7 is similar to hole 6 in spirit, with a lot more teeth. The turn to the right is much more lefty friendly if you throw backhand. The inside of the curve is lined with trees on the edge of the creek, and it is a steepish drop of several feet. Probably the worst place to get wet.

Hole 8 is a kinder version of 3. Longer, but with a less crowded route to the pin and a very gradual decline in elevation. It does cross the creek on the approach, but it's at a shallow point without much risk. Hole 9 might be the most open throw from the tee, but there is a window and you need to be turning left after passing through. The pin is on the only grassy portion of the course, you'll walk past it on the way to the first tee. The approach is directly over a depression with a drain that was dry on the day I played, but looks like it could be squishy after storms.

I liked the balance of this layout. It is fair for both right and left handers. Has a couple of putter throws and some where you need to wind up. The fairways border on unfair in a couple of places but don't cross the line. As far as 9 holes go, this one is almost as groovy as can be.

Improvements on equipment would be really nice. Concrete tees would be my first upgrade, followed by signage. The path was hard for me to find going from hole 2 to 3, I walked down a deer trail into tall grass for a ways before realizing I shoulda made a left. One or two directional cues could be helpful. I was told there is a map on a competing DG website, maybe I will bootleg it and post it on this page at some point.

Stream crossings can be slippery when wet. There are stumps, rocks and crude steps carved out in places, but the short legged and clumsy tread carefully. It was a bit muddy when I visited, and my girl needed a hand to stabilize her at a couple of points.

I did enjoy this course quite a bit, it reminded me of some of the courses I played while living in the Augusta area with the woodsy setting. We went to try out a brewery (Smoke in Lee's Summit, it's excellent) and played Recreation Park in Raymore first. Howard Park only has half as many holes, but I would play it twice before visiting Raymore, unless you are looking to notch multiple new ones.

Unless there were another nine holes added, I couldn't go over a rating of 3, but I liked this one all the same. I don't really penalize for natural tees and lack of signs like I should, the soul shines through here. Mud was limited to the creek's banks, and never interfered with my play. I will have to return in the spring and try it out with leaves on the trees. I bet it is significantly brighter in May, though perhaps a bit more added challenge.

I played poorly, missing birdie putts on holes 1 and 5, and one was a real chump shot. Bogies on holes 3, 6, and a double bogus on 7 humbled me. It isn't out of the question by any means, but I would feel like I had a good round if I finished bogey free here. Control is key in a few spots. This is a good addition to the scene, and fills a void in this small part of the metro area.

Howard Park is a short, wooded course with many tight lines and punishment for shots that leave the fairways. It has a variety of right-to-left and left-to-right holes, and slight elevation change on most holes, though it's not severe very much. As a place to practice shot shaping on relatively short holes, this is a good place to go.

The park seems like there was significant work done to make the place Disc Golf friendly. The trees and bushes that were cut down to make room for the course have been turned into mulch which is spread throughout many fairways. This helps prevent weeds overgrowing everything. There's also some stairs to help cross the creek a couple of times.

Despite being a short nine-holer, this course does a good job punishing shots. Every hole has some line that you can hit, but if you miss, you could be racking up score even on a 230' hole. A lot of holes here remind me of a longer, still heavily wooded course that might be found on a world-class course and will be attacked by the best players. So if you aren't a professional and you want to feel good about yourself when you pure the gap on some of the tight lines, this is a good place to go.

Not every hole is a straight shot. In fact, only holes 3 and 8 are absolutely straight, and the rest curve slightly. A few curve significantly, and the course balances left-turning and right-turning pretty well.

There's regular park activity away from the course. There are bathrooms, good parking, and it's in a good part of town.

Most holes don't feel very creative - someone chopped down a bunch of bushes and stuck in a basket. There's an over-the-top line on at least one hole that makes that hole unexciting and also creates opportunities for lost discs. Hole 7 is a very odd shape, finishing right but having no clear gap to hit. Even then, anything that gets to the corner will have a putt, so that hole doesn't reward good shots well. That said, removing one or two trees on that hole would probably fix it.

Navigation is poor. From many baskets, there's at least one path that could lead to another tee pad, and the tees themselves are only easy to see because they're concrete now. The alternate pins, while adding a lot of variety, are a little confusing when you just can't see the basket from the tee.

While the course was dry when I was there, it can clearly become a problem after rains, especially on the holes that don't currently have mulch laid down. You're crossing the creek many times, and the higher the creek, the more annoying it will be. Erosion is likely to become a problem on some of the muddier spots.

There's not much variety in hole distance. Other than 2 and 9, every hole felt like about the same amount of power was required to reach the pin, the only difference being the shape of the shot. They're also two of the only holes that have significant elevation change.

A walking/biking path comes through the course on hole 8, but it's pretty easy to avoid. The other attractions at the park also make it a good place for families, and do a good job staying away from the course.

Compared to other courses in the area, Howard has some significant advantages, but the poor tees and lack of good signage prevent a higher rating for me. And if that does happen, it will be a good opportunity to reevaluate where exactly the trees should be positioned. This course can certainly get better, namely by altering a few holes slightly and adding those amenities, so if they ever come, I may be upping my rating a bit.

An all wooded course hidden in the back of a quiet park in Lee's Summit. Each shot is challenging and almost always forces some finesse rather than raw power. Combine that with some harsh doglegs (2, 6, 7, 9) and you have one of the best 9-hole courses in the KC metro.

The creek running through these woods is used expertly. On 1, 6, and 7 you'll be in it if you get over-zealous on running a putt, and on 3 and 8 it runs right across the fairway and adds a little bit of elevation change (up on 3, down on 8)

Nice new DisCatchers on every hole, and hole 9 can be used as a practice basket.

Log bridges have been added to help with crossing the creek in between holes 2/3 and 7/8.

Areas of the rough are almost not worth searching in. Hole 1, 4, and 6 are the main offenders.

Navigation is hard even when you've been here a few times. 2-4 and 7-9 can all be a bit confusing even when staring at a map. This isn't helped by the fact that the tees are marked by 4x4 posts in the ground which blend in really well to the wooded course.

The tee areas are very rough and don't have a specific marking, leaving it up to the player on where to tee from. Some more mulch would be nice.

This place takes a long time to dry out after a rain.

Holes 1 and 4 don't hold up in comparison to the rest of the course. Maybe some new pin spots can be added in the future.

I had more fun playing here than I have on several of the local 18-hole courses. It's full of small/medium size gaps and several doglegs. The creek is used incredibly well to up the difficulty even more!

My main concern is if it's not tended to the creekside erosion will end up forcing even newer bridges to be installed. Regardless, get out and make a few laps at Howard. Beginners won't get too frustrated, but experienced players won't be grabbing every birdie out there.