The Newport City Park has added disc golf to its repertoire in an effort to expand their recreational offerings. Unfortunately, they've crammed nine holes (and currently, only eight baskets) into an area that isn't adequate or ideal for disc golf.

The teepads are clean and level. The tee signs are detailed, but that's where the praise ends.

Noteworthy elevation exists only on Hole #2; it's a climb to the top of the hill in order to air out your disc toward the flatland below.

The last three holes are probably the nicest on the course. The fairways for Holes #7 to #9 are grassy, partly shaded and involve navigating some trees while being farther away from other park activities.

The basket for Hole #3 is gone. And apparently, it's been that way for several months. Maybe too many people were throwing their discs past the basket into the pool? However, without this basket, the course flows slightly better because the teepad for Hole #4 is near the basket for Hole #2. Completing Hole #3 would involve retracing one's steps on the just-played fairway, which is a terrible design.

The course ends far from where it begins. The teepad for Hole #1 and the basket for Hole #9 are about as far apart as possible without leaving the park. And while the course isn't very long, plan for at least a five-minute walk if you parked at the starting point.

Hole #4 is one of the worst holes I've played due to the myriad of potential obstacles that exist between the teepad and the basket. When I played this hole, the following obstacles were present: a flatbed trailer, a wooden ramp structure, piles of gravel, a maintenance building, a small wooden structure covering a bench swing, a paved road, a volleyball court and a playground area. Bypassing this area would be a better option than having a terrible filler hole.

The other holes aren't immune from undesired obstacles, though. On the first hole, a tall chain-link fence with barbed-wire on top lurks on the right side while the swimming pool guards the left-side boundary. Hole #2 includes strewn wooden planks, piles of chain-link fencing and cinder blocks en route to the basket. The basket for Hole #5 is next to the restrooms. Hole #6 brings a parking lot into play. And several of the holes include a route over pedestrian walkways. This course will be best played when there are fewer people.

I've never seen tee signs so poorly placed. Instead of having a consistent formula for positioning, the signs are actually placed so you can spot them from the previous basket. The sign for Hole #8 is 10-15 feet IN FRONT OF the teepad. Check out the photos to see such ridiculousness.

The distance posted for Hole #6 is wrong. The sign says 314 feet, but it appears closer to 200 feet.

Unless you're a course bagger or live near Newport, there isn't much a reason to visit the park for its disc golf. A rating of 1.0 ("poor") seems about right for a course layout that is unimpressive and fairly uninteresting, especially since non-disc golf obstacles abound and there are flaws in the unidirectional design.