(2.720 Rating) An older hybrid course with a mix of park style and wooded holes.
- HOLE VARIETY - I played both courses during my stop in Kingsley, and if there was one thing that I thought was better here over its glistening new-born sibling, it was the hole to hole variety on the original course. Open shots, heavily wooded needle shots, touch shots, luck shots, Rec bombs, up shots, down shots, big hooks and pockets. A-men. The only missing elements on this layout are water and multi-play holes.
- CHALLENGING - IMO, the perfect challenge level setting for the first course in the area. It's probably why there are two courses here now. The challenges are not powder puff nor unrelenting. A majority of the shots are Rec level with a few Novice plays and a few Intermediate level shots. I had to really think about the big right bender on (11) and also a couple were just outside my max power range.
- FUN FACTOR - Unlike the Bear's Den layout, I actually felt like there chances here to walk-out with an ace. Hole (8), is a straight putter run down a gap of evenly spaced pines. There are several tight technical lines on the last third of the layout as well. I would guess that aces occur on this layout at a 5 times greater clip than Bear's Den. In addition, the birdie potential on this layout is much greater too. It just feels fun overall and the odds losing a disc is low.
- BASIC - The essentials of tees and baskets are adequate. The pads are generally concrete and a touch smaller than average. The baskets are older Chainstars, but still in good shape. There are also a couple benches sporadically spaced on the layout.
- NATURAL BEAUTY - I scored this aspect as average. I really liked the raw wooded appeal of the last 7 holes and that was the main reason I included this attribute in the pros. Hole (8) looked neat too with its uniform tree spacing. The only holes that lacked appeal were in the beginning as they were more open and had minor spacing issues.
- BEGINNER FRIENDLY - Not perfect for beginners but very much doable. A much better option when compared to Bear's Den.
- QUICK PLAY - Less than an hour for this quick solo. I'm thinking quick groups can tackle this one in under 90 minutes.

A typical course yearning for some polish.
- NAVIGATION AND SIGNAGE - This aspect could really use an overhaul. It wasn't terrible, but it is very much sub-par when compared to Bear's Den. Tees only have a simple numbered post with distance and line shape of the fairway. The post on (4) was missing on my play. I don't recall seeing any navigational cues between holes and there was no course map posted either. The journey between (11) and (12) will be tricky without a navigational app.
- AMENITIES MAINTENANCE - It appears all the new love is going to Bear's Den. In addition to the signage, the baskets, tees and benches are all inferior when compared to the sister course. I would have had this course at a low 3.0 had the amenities been at the same level as Bear's Den.
- MULTI USE HAZARDS - Players are likely going to have to wait to throw on a few holes to let walkers pass. Holes (1) through (6) all sort-of have some sort of interaction with the built environment, especially walking paths and park access roads. Nothing major, just not ideal. I think (9) and (10s) fairway are too jammed together as well.
- FINISH FROM PARKING - A 300 foot walk back to the parking area after finishing (18)

The DGCR rating for this course is spot on IMO. This is your typical small town course that had enough room to put in a respectable 18 hole course. It's worth checking out for sure if you live in the Traverse City area or a 30 minute travel range for that matter. Beyond this distance there are likely better course options that are closer. The bonus here at Kingsley however, is the fact that there are two courses here and that's the reason I ended up here instead of one of the other dozen or so courses I flagged when researching the area. I think most trusted reviewers are going to score this one a 2.5 or 3.0. If the course were to ever get an amenities overhaul, I think this course moves up to a low 3.0 caliber course for those that went with a 2.5. If we didn't rate courses of multi-course destinations individually, I would give the combo of the two courses an easy 3.5 rating. For those that only have time for one course, i would hit Bear's Den first, unless their max arm power is sub 275.

- Plays through a multiuse park and with a few exceptions is mostly away from other activities.
- Discraft Chainstars are aging nicely and still catch very well.
- Quite clean and nicely kept up.
- The flow was fairly intuitive and was easy to find your way around - mostly.
- I really like some of the funky lines on 7, 12, 13, 16 and 17. Really makes you think about your shot placement.
- I think 7 is the signature hole for sure. Its brutally hard (for a par 3) slight uphill dogleg right to left hole with a basket tucked into the trees. Nicely done.

- Some of the holes play next to and around the park walking path.
- Tee signs are just 4x4's with a number and distance on them. There is nothing indicating what is and is not OB so I guess play everything as inbounds...? I think this is needed on holes like #11 with its super duper sharp left to right dogleg and the fence at the back end. Is the fence OB? Can I walk on the other side? No idea...
- The tee pads while constructed nicely are woefully small.
- The first 6 holes are ok but rather bland. Just your typical wide open 300'-ish mowed grass holes.
- #9 has a ridiculous and impossible to hit dogleg. For a 180' hole there is no line to get to the basket without airing it out 100' up with a RHFH over the tops of the trees. Maybe there's a line there but I couldn't find it.
- I think the sumac on the left side of #11 ought to be mowed down and cleared out. Newbs are going to find that stuff uber frustrating with their newb hyzers and all. Plus, clearing out those plants is not going to reduce the difficulty for the rest of us.
- Navigation could be better. I get that the painted spoke on the basket points to the next tee but really some "Next Tee" signs are a lot better looking.
- Didn't care for 18 either. This is a laser straight fairway to a hard left dogleg with no realistic line from the tee to the basket. Definitely a poke-n-hope type of hole.

Ok dg'ers of Kingsley...Its time to update this course. It's been around a good while and even though its a ton of fun to play the game is changing and this course can potentially change with the times. First thing is new signage. Show what is and isn't OB. Secondly, a lot of these holes need new pin placement. #9 is a great example: Put that basket closer (not too close of course) to the volleyball courts and off to the right. Maybe clear out a few more trees and some brush. Thirdly these tee pads really need to be reconstructed and some short/long tees added as well. #7 current tee is in a great long position.

And I wonder about expansion. There seems to be land the park owns (maybe?) off to the west of the soccer fields and possibly south of #11. Space for nine more maybe? Its a good course to be sure and a great place to work on a variety of shots but with some tweaking and improvements it could be fantastic.

Aesthetic-- plays through a large multi-use park but plays mostly along the edges and through one larger field. non-discers could be an issue here so throw carefully.

Teepads and signs-- concrete pads, nicely sized and in good repair. the signage is basic but effective giving you a basic line to follow BUT I do question some of the lengths being listed as shorter than they actually are.

Baskets--ChainStars. All in good repair. hard to see in some of the woody holes and could really use some increased visibility. Some holes are just straight blind (the huge turnover on #11).

Upkeep-- I was at this course very early in the morning and the park (on-site) caretaker greeted me and gave me a course map which was much better than the one provided on here. I posted a pic of it. There was nary a bit of garbage here and the grass was all nicely cut.

Routing-- this course is easy in places and really really difficult to follow in some other places. #1 is all by itself with a long walk to #2. there are other places that aren't so obvious as well #11-#12.

challenge/risk v reward-- none really to speak of. there really isn't a chance of losing a disc here (with the exception of #11) and the challenge factor is mostly encompassed by the thick foliage on the woody holes.

Basket placement-- some of the basket placements here is really really bad. I hate 90 degree turns out of the woods. they really just don't make good sense. you will always over throw these and have to throw back to the basket...

Variety-- either it's wide wide open or it's wide wide shut... not much in the way of variety here.

I wasn't overly blown away by this course. it was fun, but nothing to write home about.

This course was a very pleasant surprise, when it really shouldn't have been. It may be small, but I have always found Kingsley to be a community that takes a strong pride in itself, and that pride shows again here with a clean, fun, intelligently designed course that's a part of a very well maintained, municipal grounds.

There are not very many elevation changes, but this course makes the best of them, and taking in natural and man-made obstructions to make a fair show in the risk/reward department. While there are fairly non-exceptional holes on the front 9, pins are placed near/behind trees and bring into play OB like roads and tennis courts.

Some of the more memorable holes were 11 (a downhill with a 90 degree hard right after ~250' with OB if you miss the turn) and 6 (uphill with a heavy headwind, fat sprawiling trees with nice lanes and an OB the length of the right side.)

Signage was (crude, but) effective, nice uniform, concrete tees and a healthy balance of open field and woodsy holes.

The "long" walk back to the car was hardly a con, as it took place across an unused field which begins with an obvious raised, paved "extra" tee that allows you to empty your bag with a tailwind.

The lack of water hazzards often means a similar lack of mosquitoes, but not here. This is a dry, dusty course with a large quantity of sand.

The beginning holes are very much no-frills, garden variety, field holes. While they are a bit dull if it is calm, they can be very useful if hitting this course late in the day. Starting at hole 7 allows you to play the tighter woods holes and finish on the beginning field shots which are much easier to play in fading light than woods holes.

No amature tees, for there is no need for them, as there are no 400'+ holes, most over 300' are field shots, and 5 holes are <200'. Would definitely get a higher rating from me if this course was a bit longer.

I'm sick of crude but effective signage.

We played this course on the same day as Hanson Hills, skipping Log Lake Park in Kalkaska. LLP would actually have been the logical course given our path, but we substituted this course instead, since even though it is roughly the same "walk through the woods"-type course, it doesn't play as much like a "putt & approach" course like LLP.

The mix of deciduous and coniferous trees means that this isn't a completely different course before/after the heavy foliage.

This course is not signed from the main road through town that I saw. I have failed to bring my directions to this course whenever I've played it, but stopping by the nearest playground and asking a local got me friendly accurate directions both times. One mom even had me follow her while she drove past it.

Nice course, fantastic community.

Concrete Tees, Wood Directional signs, Mix of open and woods

From Tee 1 to Tee 18, there's a big hike back... would be nice if it had ended closer to the beginning.

Not a fan of the Plantation Pines.... Sorta ugly. I think Tee 9 had the arrow pointing to the wrong direction for the basket.

Overall wished a better mix of open and woods, with better types of woods. The first few tees in the pines were interesting, but by the 15 or 16th tee, was wishing I'd gone to Osprey Int. in Benzonia, or Mt. Holiday.

When I'm playing in a park I like the open area that should be grass to be more grass than sand. I think the grounds keeper cuts the grass to low which leads to a lot of sand exposed. I really really didn't like the row upon row of pine. It's not pretty, and after the first couple tees, it gets boring quickly. I live close to Kingsley, but would rather travel to almost any other course than this one locally.

Some very easy, open holes. Some challenging tight holes. Great mix. Most of the holes are easily navigated (had a little trouble finding hole 2, but I've got it now). Wasn't too busy on the day I was there.

Hole #2 was a little tricky to find. First 5 or 6 holes are pretty boring. They just cover one field. After that, the woods are in play and the course is more fun.

-This is a nice little course. Well maintained with extra necessities like concrete tees and good signs.

-Coming here I expected a lame little course just to throw in on our way back from Hickory Hills, but it ended up being better than I thought. I especially liked the variety with the woods on the later part of the course. Also moderate to minor elevation is a factor on a few holes.

-The first holes are very bland and can get you bored with the course at the beginning. It would be nice if the course was mixed from hole to hole better, rather than having the first half wide open and the second half super technical.

-There's no map or signs to direct you to the next hole. Also a couple holes can be confusing on which basket to throw to.

-Overall CCS is a fun course. It's definitely not the main attraction, but it's a good side show for the other courses in the area, and it's good for the people who live around it to have.

I enjoy the mix of wide open spaces for the first few holes and then the tight throws required on on the last few holes. When I'm done I feel like I've had an opportunity to "let it rip," but also feel like I've had to make some tricky shots.

They've done a pretty good job with the layout around an already filled in Civic Center with baseball and soccer fields filling in a lot of areas.

One of the better maintained courses in the area.

It is a rather simple course layout, especially the front. While I like the freedom that the wide open holes bring, they tend to get boring after the first couple of plays.

The second half of the course through the trees all have at least one sort of throw's line, but for the average/beginning disc golfer these holes can be quite difficult is you can't throw that line.

People who disc golf in the Traverse City area should definitely have this course in their rotation, but I wouldn't travel hours out of my way just to play it.

-the addition of cement pads was very nice
-the wooded holes are all a lot of fun and require some precision
-a few fun, blind shots, so make sure you check out basket locations before throwing or you can lose a disc pretty easily
-good layout, but a very average course overall

-very dry/dusty
-lots of mosquitos
-even with the tee signs this course can still be difficult to follow, so make sure you have enough time to walk around and find your way (this really only comes into play in the middle of the course, the beginning/end are pretty easy to follow)
-because of the simplistic signs and some baskets being close together its more than likely you'll throw at the wrong basket once or twice

the tee signs are very simplistic wooden 4x4 posts. other than being able to spot the next tee from a distance, they don't do very much to help you when you're actually on the tee.

not too much in the way of elevation, but regardless this course will make you think about each shot

The first 7 holes are open and fun. They are not overly challenging but for a run of the mill course it is nice. I like the slight elevation changes with out having to climb mountains.

From 8 on out the wholes become rather ridiculous with the trees. I find that several courses try to make up for lack of distance with an almost insane amount of trees. So I hope you have a good arsenal of throws.

At the end of the day course like Kingsley and Kalkaska make up for short easy hols by just leaving an absorbently large amount of trees in the way. Makes it very difficult to pull off a solid drive and you end up make more "trick" shots than you do normal throws. Don't get me wrong, I like my fair share of thumbers / tomahawks but I don't like to be forced to use them constantly. At the end of the day if they would widen out several of the fairways in the back half of the course it would actually be worth at least a 3.

The trees are not as much a factor during the early season, before the leaves come out.

Wind is a factor on the front nine.Back nine requires accurate throws, then you must be able to putt.

Some holes could of been a little longer
but there wasn't any more room.

Road and walking path come into play on the front nine. Could use a course sign.

Each hole on this course is well marked with hole #, basket direction, and footage. Almost every tee area has a trash can or bucket to keep the area clean. Concrete pads are always well tended and are big enough for a run-up. Wind comes into play regularly on the front 9 with some holes being longish drives through wide open fields. The back 9 are heavily wooded with straight shots through the pines and curving fairways through the hardwoods. Bring a full range of shots as hyzers, anhyzers, and pancakes will all come in handy. Minor but fairly regular elevation changes also make this course interesting. Creative basket placement, fun and interesting use of available natural terrain features, and some long drives will keep you coming back for more.

The best holes here are #7 for long, wide open drives; #9 for a long anhyzer or a thumber over the trees; #10 for its funky "S" shaped, narrow fairway and hidden basket; and #11 for its looong, sharp right dog leg around a hill, flanked by the shooting range on the left and the forest on the right!

*** Updates from 5/16/10 ***
The park has added a new directional post in the fence line along the road, just before the cross-walk to the restrooms (right near the #3 tee pad). It points the way to the first tee. They've also added a course kiosk, although nothing had been posted as of 5/16/10.

Several holes flirt with the tennis court fence, the walking path, and the main entrance road, so watch for cars and people. No overall map and few/missing "Next Tee" signs may have you searching through the park or woods for the next hole - even #1 isn't clearly marked! I made a map and have added it to the Links tab; printing and taking it is recommended for your first outing here.

The park can get exceptionally busy with participants in other sports.

Beware of the bees nest on the ground just to the left of tee pad #6. It is very well populated and they get cranky come mid summer!

It's a pretty long hike back to your car around the soccer fields when you're done.

Hole #1 can be found by looking for the corner of the tennis courts with the yellow donation post - the first basket is along the court fence line and across the walking path, in a clearing. Follow the back edge of the tennis court fence past the groundskeepers' RV then left to the edge of the woods for the #2 tee. A long walk back towards the restroom building will bring you to tee pad #3. The remainder of the tees follow more obvious routes.

Interesting views of the park can be had from the back 9 through the pines. The bathrooms are convenient and nicely kept.

Scorecards and a course map are now available on the Links tab.