A decent 9er dropped into the middle of a busy park.

Newport is an odd little course and a mixed bag. On the bright side, it's got course basics - concrete tees, tee signs with mildly reliable information, baskets, and next tee indicators. It's also not hard to follow, and the holes flow nicely together.

Some of the holes out here are legitimately fun as well. The first hole is simple but difficult, a low-ceiling shot with a right finish. I also enjoyed the more creative holes - (4), (5), and (9)--which all required some shot and route selection to have best chance at birdie.

In terms of shapes, eight of the holes are entirely reasonable and make for solid throwing. A handful are unspectacular in addition to the ones just named, but it plays correctly. If the cons were all gone, this would be a solid 2.0 or possibly even 2.5.

Oof, a lot of mistakes made with this course.

First off, safety. Possibly the most unsafe place I've ever played. There are constantly walkers near or in fairways. For example, (4)-(5) both play straight along concrete walking paths, and (6) and (8) have paths long and parallel of the route. To add on, hole (4) is atrocious. There are benches, volleyball nets, and lampposts in the fairway, and a crowded playground within striking distance. There's a picnic shelter between tee and basket (7), and a maintenance shed along the side of fairway (2). Private property is easily in reach to the right of (9).

The design is only made worse by the busyness of the park. It was crawling with walkers when I visited, and I spent a lot of time waiting.

If you avoid damaging anything, you still have to figure out where to throw, which isn't helped by the tee signs. Though they have maps, the distances are very sketchy. Furthermore, they aren't pointed the right way sometimes, culminating in the mother of all misplaced tee signs on (8), which is directly in front of the tee.

A couple of annoyances to close out. First, holes (1)-(2) are hurt by overhanging low branches that really restrict the lines. A high-powered forehand driver becomes the only option on what could otherwise be flexible holes. Second, the course ends on the opposite end of the park from the start, which necessitates a long and annoying walk at the end of the round.

Newport is reasonably fun disc golf. Unfortunately, it's horribly thoughtless design. How does that average out? For me, it's just barely Passable in the sense that it's a quick and enjoyable round if you have the park to yourself. Keep your eyes peeled but enjoy some challenging lines.