This nice, older nine-hole course plays amongst mature trees and a deep creek ditch in a park with lots of other activities, from the shelters to tennis, to play areas, to a skate park, to old asphalt walking paths and a couple of sturdy bridges crossing said creek, which are utilized to maximize the course's potential. With older DGA's (the ones with lipped rungs above the cage rim) just beginning to reach their rusty ages, simple 4x4 posts constituting "signage" at dual tees (toe boards and natural turf/dirt) to give two different angles of approach for each fairway, you actually will be able to choose options for your tee shots and approaches. Hole distances range from 175' to 310', the longest being 5/14, which finishes on a raised mound adjacent to a majestic tree. The course is accessible for recreational players, and poses reasonable challenges for skill levels up to intermediate.

The course plays almost all on the flat, level terrain near a creek, so it was muddy (and slippery) around some of the worn tee areas when I played there. There are some significant safety issues as the park currently stands: benches and picnic tables are definitely smack-dab in the middle of the fairways on 6/15 and 7/16, and you are near, or crossing the walking paths here and there. Watch out for the ravine to the right of 4/13, where a left to right shot definitely has a chance of getting wet.

For course navigation, be aware that you need to hole out on 3/12, then go to the bridge near the 6th tee to cross and play 4/13 and 5/14. Then after 6/15 continue forward, cross the other bridge, and come back to the tees for 7/16, before finishing your loop back by the tennis court fences at the south end of the park.

Really nice park. Mature trees. 9 Baskets. 18 tee markers. No body playing so easy to play at your own pace. 1 really nice hole on other side of bridge.

Old baskets. Cross back over yourself. 1 over water for an amature course that is too hard.

If you want no traffic this is a great course to play.

Close to home

They tried their best to make this work but it is awkward at best and if 2 people are I. The park it becomes very crowded.

If you want to catch a quick game then this is the place to play just to get some disc time.

1) Kiwanis is situated right in the middle of the town and is beautiful, especially during springtime! Very peaceful with only a few park patrons coming by to walk/jog, further explained in the Other Thoughts section. The holes make a loop around the park and start and end at the parking lot by the Tulane Road side of the tennis courts.

2) Although most of the holes are on the short side, most have just enough trees to not make every one a straight shot to the basket. Easy enough for the beginners with some challenge for the experienced players. There are two creeks that run down the entire park and have enough presence to make you think twice on some shots, #6/15 and #16 come to mind.

3) The park is maintained and the grass is kept mostly trimmed, while the banks on the creeks are completely mown down every once in a while. Some might say that there should be a tree or a branch cut down here and there but I think it adds to challenge of course. There are alot of shots that will test your mid range/approach game.

4) There are many restaurants in the immediate area to fill your empty stomach. McDonalds, Papa John's and Subway among others are right across the park on Timberland Drive.

1) The dirt tee pads will put off most veteran players that are used to nice concrete pads, although they're only really bad in the rain otherwise they'll just dirty your shoes. Nothing too bad but still a Con to most.

2) There are no hole signs on any of the tees and might confuse new players and first-timers to the course. The Main Sign on the course is also out-of-date and needs to replaced with the new layout of the course. I assume it will be eventually but for now it's a Con. Given all of that, it's still pretty easy to navigate around and find your way through.

3) If you happen to chunk a disc in either of the two creeks, there's a strong chance that you will either not be able to see it, or not want to get it because the water quality is suspect some days.

4) The baskets are pretty old Mach 1s, and there are a couple that are bent/damaged. #3/12 in particular is tricky to putt, but is still possible to make them in there.

Like stated in the summary Kiwanis is designed to be a "Junior/Recreational" Course with some challenges and OB to keep it from being too easy. Don't expect it to be a world beater or it will let anyone down, it's made to be what it is and it's exactly that.

Also, it's been redesigned to be more safe for the park patrons as before with the old course there were a couple of holes that went straight through the more busy parts of the park, but that has been addressed with the redesign.

There really isn't a strong need to carry distance drivers on Kiwanis, one could make due with just putters mids and fairways. While Kiwanis isn't very long both distance and time wise, it's always helpful to carry less discs and help your shoulder/back out!

Final Thoughts: Overall Kiwanis isn't a must-play course, but if you're in the area and have an itch to play it's a solid choice. When Morris Frank is completed most will flock there and with good reason, but Kiwanis can be fun in it's own right and I'll keep playing here and enjoy it every time. Don't let the Con section fool you, it's still very much a fun course to play with your buds!

It's spread out
Variety of holes, short, long, wide open, trees, etc.

Too many people run/walk the track and you have to throw across it a couple of times. I nearly hit a woman that was jogging...
Some signs are missing or point in the wrong direction, we completely skipped a hole because we couldn't figure out where to throw from.

It's okay for a pit-stop, or a hometown course, but it's certainly not a destination course.

This is the original course in Lufkin and surprisingly has a big amount of pros.
The course is in a nice park with HUGE trees and the holes are all reasonable distances. Not too long but not too far. Also, no hole is a straight shot, line shaping is necessary. A few shots play over a creek, a deep creek at that. It is a hazard that you would not expect to find at a course like this.

All of the tee posts are still present and the flow of the course is very easy. The majority of baskets/tees can be seen from a single point of the park. If you do get turned around there is a map of the course at the parking lot.
No other disc golfers are out here.

First and foremost the big con is the baskets. They are small and old and I do not think they are up to current regulations set by the PDGA.

Hole 2 plays near a playground and even the slightest bit off on the shot can put park goers in harms way.

Many of the holes switch back and overlap one another. However, with a course like this that does not see much play it is okay but not real ideal.

I would say that the course could have and should be designed better. I think the land has a bit more potential then what it is sitting at right now.

With Morris Frank Park now in Lufkin, this makes Kiwanis Park that much more obsolete. Still, this is a great course to start out at. I have not personally played the new course, but from what I have heard it is much tougher than this one.

9 holes, many holes are longer than they look. They make good use of the creek that runs through the park, not a ton of interference from other activities in the park

This course may have once been great, but it's fallen into disrepair. See my photo I loaded of the basket for hole 6 (please note my friend Chris is not a giant). The park was a little crowded, but didn't affect us a ton. One hole, maybe 7 or 8 actually crosses a parking lot, so be careful not to cause any damage.

This is an ok course, not the best, not the worst. With a little love and time it could be a fun short 9 to play. If you're in Nacogdoches, it's probably not worth the drive out, and there are three really good courses in Nac, so just play there.

--Nice shade from all the trees
--fairly short holes (good for beginners) yet with all the trees it is a challenge.
--9-holes make for a nice quick game
--Plenty of places to eat nearby
--Hole #1 & #9 are fairly close to each other.
--Rarely any other people playing disc golf

--Not designed by Disc Golf players but instead by city park workers (I think they did an alright job though)
--No set Pars for each hole...most are probably a par 3
--Although a good challenge, ALOT of trees.
--Located in public park, can be crowded with kids/birthday parties, especially Hole #2, which is really close to "water park" area.
--Holes and tees may randomly disappear (stolen? repaired?)
--Creek is more of a sewage ditch, very dirty and is an obstacle on many holes...disc may get lost in it.
--No map of the course (if there is one it is probably outdated)
--No good transition between hole #2 & #3. No bridge but you do have stepping stones and bricks to cross to other side of creek.

I have seen this course go from having very few tees and baskets missing to being organized and playable. My friends and I would just guess where the tee would be and we would have to use one basket for multiple holes.

It has gotten a lot better and every time we play it we have fun. We are not experts in any way but we do like to play and this course always poses a challenge with the trees, creek, and little kids running running around.

This may not be a traveling destination but if you are in the area it is worth playing. Play a round, go across the street and get some McDonalds (you will smell it while playing) and go back to play another round.

It's a short course that plays quickly. You could easily playing on a lunch break if you work in Lufkin.
There's a large course map near hole one.
Several picnic areas as well as basketball and tennis courts if you bring along non-disc golfers.

I'm not a stickler about dirt teepads, but I would like there to be a teepad. There's just a short post marking the area.
Hole one runs right though one of the picnic areas and hole two crosses the children's water park. You'd have to skip these two holes if the park was crowded.
There's no good way to get across the creek on hole three. The steps are long since washed out, and to go around would be a ridiculous distance in either direction. The city wouldn't have to put a super nice bridge in like the one before hole five, but it could definitely install one like before hole eight.
None of the baskets are a uniform height and the basket on hole nine is about a foot and a half off the ground.
There's a lot more of the park that could be used to make this a much better course without adding holes.
Also, the one set of restrooms is on the complete opposite side of the park as the DG course.

Lay up or launch something you don't care about losing on hole seven. The creek is wide and deep at that point and anything that goes in is probably not coming back out.
You really don't ever need to play this course unless you live in Lufkin or maybe if you're just in town with an hour to kill. However, if you do live there and would like to get into the sport, it's a decent enough course to get you started. Just drive down the road to Academy and grab a Roc or a Buzz.

There is a large course map, with distances, on a sign at the parking area. I snapped a photo of it and used it for reference the first time I played.

Each tee has a short white 4x4 post that tells you what tee you're on but no other info. This assists the first timer in navigation because all you have to do is look for the next white post.

This course is set in an old city park, with huge pine trees throughout, so it is very pretty and shady. I played three rounds back to back and it was 99 degrees and high humidity so the shade really took this course to the next level.

The design was very fun and pretty challenging due to the trees and creek that comes into play on some of the holes. This is definitely not your average pitch and putt nine hole course.

Dirt teepads.

This is a multi-use park so you have to be extra careful to avoid the other park patrons. Hole #1 has you throwing between a picnic area on the right and a pavillion on the left and there were birthday parties at each when I played. Hole #2 has you throwing back between the same pavillion and a water splash park. I had to lay up on this hole as not to decapitate any tiny splashers. Just about every other hole has you throwing across the sidewalk that winds back and forth through the park. Hole #8 has you throwing over a parking lot and around a tennis court.

The creek is pretty easy to avoid but if you happen to go in there, the water is extremely nasty looking and the banks are very steep and deep.

After you finish hole #9 you have to walk around a series of tennis courts to get back to hole #1 and the parking lot.

I was just passing through town when I played this course and was pleasantly suprised by it. I will probably drive a little out of the way to play it again in the future. Hopefully next time will be during the week and I'll be able to be a little more aggressive on each hole since there shouldn't be as many people using the park.

Course is usually empty. In the many times that we've played there, I've only seen someone else playing a couple of times. Tees are clearly marked and all have baskets that are clearly marked with corresponding numbers as well.

Trees! I don't mind the fact that there's trees, but on a couple of holes, they are so numerous and randomly placed to the basket that it's kinda crazy and very hard to just find a line. There's a walking track that people are usually on, so you sometimes have to wait a minute or two to tee off on a couple of holes.

Overall, this 9 hole course is good for practicing for beginners and working on short technical shots. The only disc I've lost so far was here (I was in a spot where I tried a tomahawk throw. First one ever, and it didn't go well. Caught wind and curved right into the creek). There are a couple of holes that you have to throw over a drainage creek. Some areas are shallow enough to get to, but there are some that are deep enough if you put a disc in it, you're not gonna want to go after it, as you can't see anything in the water, and there's no telling what's been thrown in it. Basket #8 near the tennis courts is great for practicing your putting. There aren't really any good places where you're going to throw long drives, but you can practice near tee #1, which is also near the tennis courts. I currently max out at about 190 - 200 feet. However, if you can throw much over 175 feet, then you're gonna start getting into trees. Pecan Acres in Nac is a lot better as a course. If I didn't live in the area, then I wouldn't drive out of my way to play at Kiwanis Park, but if you find yourself here, it's worth a play.

Nice tight holes that are fun to practice considering it is only a 9 hole course. I have gone out there in between classes since I currently go to school in town and like I said it is good for practice although not the best design when it comes to safety.

Luckily there is never anyone there so I just have the park to myself and make up shots through the mature pines to the cool old school Mach baskets with heavier than usual chains.

Course despite other reviews has some cool 300-350ft tightish holes which are fun and fairly challenging so I might review it a tick higher than most.

Jogging path comes into play and holes 8 and 9 intersect and have a decent walk between each other.

Only 9 holes

Not going to host any tournaments but it is fun for putting and driving practice.

It's a place to play disc golf, kinda. It is safe and easy to find. It is close to places to eat. It has a couple of decent holes because of a creek and a lot of mature pine trees.

Hole 3 and 5's baskets are missing unless they are both 800 ft shots and I didn't walk far enough. Except for 2 holes it is poorly designed as if the designer was not a disc golfer. It did not take full advantage of the amazing amount of mature pine trees or the creek. 3 out of 9 were open straight shots leaving a lot of the more wooded terrain unused. I found the basket for 7 but not the tee. Tees were wooden pegs with the numbers on the wrong side with an arrow on the side of the peg pointing the direction of the shot. There were walkers and gazebos and cabanas and playgrounds and mimes and people juggling. Just kidding about the last 2. The holes could have been located more remotely instead of as close to the other park activities as possible. Just a poorly designed course that has perfect terrain for disc golf.

I changed my rating from1 to 2 discs because of a new appreciation for unused in the design, yet well maintained land for me to set up my portable disc catcher and seeing the pics of Conejo Valley YMCA in California. The terrain was great, mature pines and a nasty creek. It seems baskets have been replaced and it now has all 9 in from what I gather from recent reviews. I might stop and play on my way to Houston to play McDade and others. Keep those Texas courses coming.