Alexandria, LA

Martin Park DGC

1.635(based on 8 reviews)
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12 1
MikeK
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 29.4 years 334 played 132 reviews
0.50 star(s)

2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Apr 23, 2022 Played the course:once

Pros:

+bathrooms between hole 1 & hole 6
+course map near hole 1
+long & open holes if you like to let it rip
+a few concrete tee pads, however some not pointing at the basket

Cons:

-long and open and flat with just a few trees, most trees by hole 9.
-boring. Most holes seem to be about 400' and wide open. A couple are a little shorter. Hole 9 is about the only memorable hole with a lot of big trees to navigate
-no tee signs, and not all tees are obvious. There are a few concrete tee pads but not all holes have them; I used the sidewalk or walking path for a tee sometimes

Other Thoughts:

Not much to add here, except the downed trees described in aclay's prior review have been removed. The grass was about 3-4 inches high when I played on 4/23/22, and looked like it was being mowed on a more regular basis. Just not anything remarkable about this course at all, it's not much better than a practice area. Much better courses nearby at Ft. Buhlow and Kees…only course baggers looking for another belt notch need to tackle this one.
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12 0
aclay
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 40.1 years 341 played 270 reviews
0.50 star(s)

Martin Park 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Mar 19, 2021 Played the course:once

Pros:

-- Baskets, mostly in decent shape, and concrete tee pads.
-- Restrooms, although they were locked at 4:30 p.m. on a Friday during my COVID-era visit.
-- Map by parking lot, but there are no distances listed, and some of the obstacles (trees) on the map no longer exist.

Cons:

-- Park appears to be poorly maintained. Trees down all over the park appear to have been there for months, if not years. Grass was ankle high at the best and nearly knee high in some places. In addition, standing water, ankle deep in some spots, and muddy ground were hard to avoid. Locals told me it hasn't rained much recently and that this park is always wet.
-- Design. This isn't the best land for disc golf, but the designer or designers did a poor job with what is there. Parts of the fairways for Nos. 1 and 4 overlap, creating a major safety concern. Because of ridiculous mandos, tees are at angles that make it difficult to find the baskets. The basket on No. 3 is almost 90 degrees left of the tee instead of being in front of the tee. Forced mandos around trees that are now lying on the ground are just the start; throws over/around fences and over/along walking paths add to the frustration. The No. 6 tee pad has you looking at the No. 9 basket; the 6 basket is 100 feet to the right. By the time you've slogged your way to No. 8 and stare at nearly half a dozen trees lying in the fairway (starting 20 feet from the tee), you consider calling it quits. Then you realize that your option is to throw a RHBH hyzer over the downed trees. The problem is the walking path you'll be flying along and the apartments 20-25 feet right of that.
-- Nos. 1 & 4 aren't the only safety issues. The flight path to the No. 6 basket likely takes you right over the No. 7 tee pad. Then the 8 tee pad is less than 20 feet from the 7 basket.
-- No tee signs or any marking at the tees. Even with a map, navigation was a challenge.

Other Thoughts:

-- One of three maps on this site says to ignore the OB rules for the path on 8 and 9. That helps, but it still leaves the safety issue. Walking path on other holes has the basket less than 20 feet from OB.
-- Creek on the right side of No. 4 (and No. 5 to a lesser extent) adds some challenge, but multiple signs on power line poles on the course side of the creek say Private Property/No Trespassing. If those are correct, that means any throw in (or near the creek) is not only OB but on private property where, in theory, you can't go to retrieve your disc.
-- This is a long course for a 9-holer. Three holes are longer than 450 feet and only one is shorter than 300 feet.
-- Several of the baskets are missing the number plate on top, and No. 5 is leaning badly.
-- The last full review of this course was four years ago; one older review was updated three years ago.
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6 0
Qikly
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 12.3 years 181 played 150 reviews
0.50 star(s)

2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Apr 15, 2017 Played the course:once

Pros:

Martin Park offers nine baskets to throw at and enough privacy on the course to play safari as much as you'd like. There are a few obstacles that could be integrated into some decent safari holes, and lots of distance to stretch out if you like to throw bombs.

The course has concrete tees. Baskets are in good shape. Parking is ample, bathrooms are clean and readily accessible.

Cons:

Most of Martin Park's course is wide open, with what little trees that do come into play being relatively incidental. Lots of the distance in the layout seems extraneous. Grooming seems sporadic, with knee-high clovers throughout when I was there, making the prospect of uncorking a distance driver into a wide open field pretty unappealing.

The opening hole uses a barbed wire fence as its only real obstacle, which is pretty undesirable. A few later holes run close enough to picnic pavilions so as to be unplayble if those are in use, as they were when I visited. Tee signs are missing if they were ever here: coupled with the tall grass and wide-open fields this can make navigation a chore.

Getting here is fine enough if you follow the directions on DGCR but it wasn't the easiest place to find.

Other Thoughts:

I would be hard-pressed to recommend Martin Park for anything other than practice by a local. Even a pretty die-hard course bagger like myself had a hard time shaking the feeling that visiting was a waste of time. Alexandria is home to the very solid Ft. Buhlow courses, and both Kees Park and Louisiana College are enjoyable casual/short courses that are great for supplementing a day trip to the area. I'd recommend visiting all of these before thinking about stopping at Martin Park.
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1 2
PudgenBrow
Experience: 10.5 years 13 played 2 reviews
4.00 star(s)

Ants in the Pants? 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Sep 20, 2014 Played the course:once

Pros:

Lots of fun on the long game. Challenging on the fence hazard on hole 1.

Cons:

Beware the fire ant hazard on all holes...you can't miss it. Also, my wife found the unstated water hazard on holes 4 and 5 (keep left).

Other Thoughts:

Sunscreen recommended in summer. Course is wide open.
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5 0
Austin Aschbrenner
Experience: 11.9 years 15 played 4 reviews
2.00 star(s)

Martin Park Park 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jan 19, 2013 Played the course:once

Pros:

Relatively easy course.
Wide Open
Great for Beginners and the occasional rocket thrower.
Concrete Tee-boxes
Has those rare par 4's I've heard tales about.

Cons:

Almost all of the holes with the exception of 8 and 9 are WIDE open.
There are no signs at tee-boxes declaring which hole it is for.
Some of the Tee-boxes are aimed in the wrong direction.
Various bits of trash like bike and car tires randomly hidden around.
Water hazards on the edge of the course is utterly filthy and filled with trash.
Risk of losing a disk to the fence and not getting it back.

Other Thoughts:

A fun little course but kinda un-kept and wide open. But it's a good course to maybe warm up before a full round.
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4 1
RRRTourney
Experience: 2 played 2 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Fun 9-hole course. 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Nov 17, 2012 Played the course:once

Pros:

This course has a fun layout and gives you plenty opportunity to use a big arm if you have one. I haven't seen many 9 hole courses this long and it is defnitely a world apart from nearby Kees park when it comes to distance. Concrete tee boxes throughout. .

Cons:

There are no signs and first timers are going to have to search for tees and baskets. Definitely download and print the map before you go. Only the baskets are numbered. I'd give it another half point if it had signs at the tee boxes. One of the tee boxes (6) is oriented incorrectly. It looks like there was supposed to be a mando, but it's not marked. The course might be a bit difficult to find. Just look for the big radio tower and get to it because it is in the middle of the course.

Other Thoughts:

This is a convenient course to get to from I-49 or 71 if you are coming from the south. Buhlow is a better experience, but this course is worth the visit.
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8 1
Doofenshmirtz
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 12.4 years 124 played 72 reviews
0.50 star(s)

Nice 9 holer 2+ years

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Sep 14, 2012 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

The course has an interesting layout with some longer, wide open holes while also having some more technical holes that require some shot shaping. At over 3,500 feet, it is a relatively long course for nine holes. The park is well kept and mowed and sees only light use. There is a playground, public restrooms and a police substation at this park which keeps everything both convenient and safe.

Pay attention to the red arrows painted on trees. Those are the mandos. If you ignore them, you will take much of the fun out of holes 2 and 3. Play the sidewalks as OB for a little more difficulty on holes 4, 5, 7, 8 and 9.

EDIT: Due to lost trees, most of the above is no inaccurate.

Cons:

Its's only 9 holes, but it's a good start for Alexandria. There is a course map at the first tee only but no individual tee signs so take a pic of the course map before you play if you are unfamiliar with the course. The basket that the first teebox points at is actually on hole #4.

UPDATE: The City of Alexandria has only one disc golf course and, sadly, this is it. It used to be a fun course. The adjacent 911 center has moved it's fence, multiple trees were knocked down by storms and the new administration of the City has basically just given up on disc golf.

Other Thoughts:

This is a fun course to play that can be very difficult in windy conditions due to the length of some of the holes.

"Petey," our name for the chained pit bull in the back yard of the house near the 7th basket, has a new and higher fence that eliminates some of the former unease at playing this hole. But there is a corner of the fence that still gives cause for a little concern. If you accidentally throw a disc in that yard, just leave it. Petey seems hungry a lot.
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5 1
Mung
Experience: 12.5 years 61 played 9 reviews
1.50 star(s)

interesting 9 holer 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Sep 12, 2012 Played the course:once

Pros:

The city has done some major renovations to this course and park. Much easier to play now, even the last two holes. Grass was mowed, no other players to slow me down; nice open course except for first hole fencing problems..

Cons:

First hole abuts the 911 call center, and discs manage to get inside fence constantly, meaning you lose them for the round, until you go ask to be let back there. Mosquitos are epic along the treeline. No signs, yardage, etc.

Other Thoughts:

Doofenshmirtz discovered this while goofing on GoogleEarth, so we went out at lunch to check it. I then hit it after work. First few holes are long but open. Several spots where you could easily lose discs, including fenced in yard of 911 center, swampland across big ditch, and backyard with giant pitbull.
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