Shorewood Park is a classic 18-hole course full of tight and technical shots through a mix of wooded and more open fairways. This course is a great option for newer players looking to test their accuracy and shot selection, and provides a fun round of old-school feeling disc golf.
Location of Shorewood Park is right near the junction of Interstates 55 and 80, and is right off the highway exit when coming from the south. You can also access this park from the other direction on a separate exit on 55. The park has a sign at the entrance, but blink and you will miss it, so keep an eye on your GPS. There are food and gas options not far from the park in Shorewood. If you are looking to make a day of disc golf, this course isn't far from other courses in the southwest greater Chicago area. If you're looking for higher rated courses, The Canyons in Lockport is not too far away, along with Highland Park in Joliet. This is one of a few older courses in the area, with Community Park and the redesigned West Park (the oldest course in Illinois) are also close. These options, combined with other 9- and 18-hole courses in the general area, provide plenty of options for you.
Park Amenities are catered almost exclusively to the disc golf course at Shorewood Park. The park includes a water fountain, picnic tables, a port-o-john, picnic tables, benches, and a parking area. Parking will fill up quick on a nice day, as this course gets a lot of play from locals. There aren't really any other amenities here; no real trails or other areas for other sports, so disc golf is the head attraction at this place.
Course Equipment at Shorewood Park is a mix of new and old. The old fiberglass signs have been updated to simplistic signs that include a general layout of each hole, the distances from each tee to the pin, the hole's par, and an outline showing OB areas. The signs look brand new, and are all in great shape with the exception of hole 10, which looks to not have been updated yet. The white tees are not really marked well, but the red tees all have concrete tees that are in great shape. The baskets at variations of older Chainstars, and while they are clearly on the old side, they still get the job done. The signs also make not of doglegs on the course, and yellow markings either on the ground or on trees are also in place to make note of doglegs that are in place. There are also trash cans at most of the holes, so don't be a litter bug. There's also a bulletin board at hole 1.
Course Design at Shorewood has been virtually unchanged as long as I can remember playing this course, and older members of this site seem to agree that the original charm of the course is still in place. Most of the holes are under 300 feet, with many being shorter than 200 feet. The course makes up for the short length with technical requirements, with plenty of sharper fairway turns, doglegs, and tight tunnels. Most players won't need much more than putters or midranges on this course, but being able to throw dead straight, left turning shots, and right turning shorts will all be necessary to score low here.
Variety, outside of length, is great at Shorewood. Holes like 3, 6, 9, and 10 will require straight shots, while holes like 4, 5, 8, and 16 will require very tight turns to the left or right to challenge for a birdie. Other holes like 2, 13, and 17 will provide more open shots, though there are still ways to get in trouble on these holes if you don't hit your line.
Difficulty at this course mostly revolves around navigating the wooded holes. Newer players will find this course to be a good challenge to try different shot shapes out with slower discs. While this course mostly won't be too challenging for intermediate players and up, it still provides a fun and quick round of golf, as long as it isn't too busy.