Long Lake, MN

Nelson Park

1.75(based on 5 reviews)
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7 0
mndiscg
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 16.4 years 502 played 494 reviews
1.00 star(s)

Short course on a long lake

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 16, 2023 Played the course:once

Pros:

+9 nice baskets. All in good shape.
+Navigation is pretty straightforward, even with being able to see 2 or more baskets off the tee most of the time.
+Signage is solid and gives you everything you need to know.
+Nice little park next to a nice lake. Thankfully, this part of the park is mostly disc golf and the other part near the parking lot contains the playground, bathroom, boat launch, and more.
+Some ace runs available.

Cons:

-The primary con of this course is that the land isn't ideal for a disc golf course. It is a small, skinny strip of land in a popular park in a fairly well populated area. This parcel of land could house 3-4 reasonable, normal shape and size disc golf holes but instead they crammed 9 into this area. This leads to many of the other cons.
-Course is very short yet some of the holes have very tough lines. Like curves or turns that are far too tight for the shortness of the hole. Or hole 6 which is short but has a narrow piece of landing area that is made more narrow by being overgrown by the bushes and wetland plants that are encroaching on the sides of the green. The course is too short for more experienced players but the poor design/technicality of the course makes it really difficult for newer players.
-Many baskets are super close to the rough. Most greens don't have a true putting area. I almost lost a disc here on hole 4 as a very experienced player with good control. There are probably a good number of discs in some of the swampy areas near the course.
-Safety issues abound. I had to short arm some of the already short holes due to other park users. On one of these short throws, I still had someone try to pick up my disc despite only throwing it about 80 feet. There were walkers, a cross country team, people walking to the fishing pier, and more on the course.
-Tees are natural and not great. Thankfully I didn't need a real run up on any hole.
-No elevation to be found here.

Other Thoughts:

+There probably shouldn't be a real course here. There just simply isn't enough land for it to happen and still be safe and fun.
+This course is a quick play as long as you keep your disc in the mowed areas. Nobody will judge you for playing it safe and saving your plastic. Course baggers and locals needing approach practice are the only people that should be playing here.
+Fun factor is low. I don't mind recreationally minded courses that are done well but this one isn't.
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3 0
jland969
Experience: 19.2 years 77 played 11 reviews
1.50 star(s)

Not Exciting 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 30, 2019 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

Free
Ample Parking
Decent Baskets
Mowed Fairways
Achievable distances for new players
Beautiful signage

Cons:

Natural Teepads-Acceptable for drive distances
Crossing fairways
Level of technical challenge not equal to size/distance
Water/marsh/very tall grass hazards not well integrated
Short/small
Heavy pedestrian traffic in area

Other Thoughts:

Had some free time after fishing and found this one close by. It is very achievable in length, but the lines are not well defined due to overgrowth of trees close to pads, and very tall marshy areas. The distance would appear to cater to a new/rec player, but technical requirements would result in many lost discs without good control. There are legitimate water and deep grass hazards on most of the holes with enough trees to ensure an unlucky bounce here and there. Overall it was a fun course on a nice lake, but I do not expect to return.
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6 1
Badgerman
Silver level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 21.2 years 551 played 62 reviews
2.50 star(s)

Nelson Park 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Mar 27, 2019 Played the course:once

Pros:

+ Easy to find and navigate.
+ Excellent Signage with everything you need to know. Map at beginning and hole maps on each tee.
+ A huge amount of risk/reward due to water and thick rough
+ Good variety of shot shaping opportunities

Cons:

- Grass tees get very muddy
- holes 6 and 2 cross fairways, could be frustrating if the course gets busy
-Very small and feels a little cramped

Other Thoughts:

Water comes into play on Holes 1,2,3,5,6, and 7

Hole 6 basket is located on a 15' landing strip between 2 ponds.

Mostly shorter holes with 1 hole over 300'

This course is great for working on control and accuracy, but I wouldn't try out any new discs here.

It was very muddy and soggy when I played, but we're not done with the spring thaw yet so we'll see how it dries out in the summer.

All in all, a totally fine course
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3 1
alexaaron
Experience: 14.5 years 388 played 14 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Pitch and putt course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Sep 24, 2018 Played the course:once

Pros:

Quick, centrally located in long lake and easy to navigate. Mowed fairways and a nice big map at the start of the course make it easy to figure out the layout.

Cons:

Its small. And lots of the shots have big risks, such as very tall thick rough and water. There are a couple holes that cross over each other, but being that this is a beginner/kids course, it's not very likely crossing paths with another golfer will occur. There are also benches and picnic areas around and on the course, but again, this isn't a super busy park and probably wont be a concern most of the time.

Other Thoughts:

This is 2 blocks from my house and I'll be stopping here often to get in a little exercise and practice on my short game and putting. Pros and most enthusiasts wont appreciate this course, but it's great for bringing the family out to play some frisbees.
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8 1
Steve West
Bronze level trusted reviewer
Experience: 1.4 years 631 played 30 reviews
0.50 star(s)

All Risk, No Reward 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Sep 22, 2018 Played the course:once

Pros:

New baskets, nice signs, mowed fairways, parking lot, bathrooms nearby, easy access.

Cons:

Really uninteresting. Many impossibly shaped right-turn throws (unless you can throw a circular arc segment) so the play is to lay up left into the other fairway on a 100-200 foot hole.

The course offers almost no chance of success for the level of player who would like a course this short. For example, if you find a 142 foot hole appropriately challenging, you probably can't land on an 11 foot wide isthmus. Bye-bye 10th birthday present.

Interference issues abound, as would be expected when 9-holes are crammed into two, count-'em - two(!) acres of land, along with a walking path and picnic shelter.

Sure, only a couple of the fairways technically cross - if you only count the straight line from the tee to the target - but you are almost always on two fairways at once, and there are spots on the course where you can be in the flight path of three or four holes. Some of these spots are tee pads and targets.

The first hole requires a blind throw toward a picnic shelter. The target would far enough away from the shelter if the thrower could see either the shelter or the target. However, many throws will land on the grass around the shelter where people let their dogs work their anal gland problems out.

The RHBH hzyer route would be over lose-your-disc-bushes, water, private property, a walking path and the picnic shelter. I'm sure the designers convinced themselves no one would ever attempt these throws. Ha!

Other Thoughts:

If the decision-makers at your city, club, or camp are so ignorant or cheap that they think they can get by without hiring a real designer, take them to this course. For the lack of an experienced designer - or even the maturity to consult with an experienced designer - all the money and effort that went into this course resulted in a basically unplayable course.
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