Pros:
- Wabash is set in a large multi-use park. The discing ranges from park-style openness to moderately wooded, with some tasty bits of elevation to shake things up. The schule is well-worn, but potentially punishing. Most holes are very short, ranging from only 90' to 280'. One hole is listed at 300' and one hole is 400'. Despite the short length, the course doesn't feel "cheap" or "throw-away", so to speak. Each hole presents its own little challenge or a fun ace run. A fair amount of rudimentary line shaping is required to score well. Experienced players will shoot well under par, while beginners have the opportunity to play well without tons of mindless open holes.
- A small stream comes into play on #1 (off the tee) and #18 (left in the woods).
- Concrete tees in good shape, adequate tee signs. Bathrooms on site but locked during non-peak times. Lots of other park amenities and activities for the whole family.
- Fun.
Cons:
- Next tee signage is needed in a couple of places. In particular, the walk from 12's basket to 13's tee isn't at all obvious. Turn to the right and follow the road to find 13.
- Holes 9-12 are very tightly packed in a relatively open, grassy area of the course. On a busy day, I imagine these holes could become very dangerous without proper etiquette and caution.
- Long, improbable walks from hole to hole and from #18 to the parking lot. It seemed as though the walks between holes and back to the car were longer than the course itself, no joke.
- Hole 18 is currently without a pad (my group, at least, could not find one) and is at the corner of the basketball courts. Look for the faded white arrows leading to it.
- The park, if not necessarily the course itself, has some downright hazardous terrain. Parts of the park have very long, steep drop-offs without any sort of warning, signage, or railings. Exercise caution if you decide to wander through the park.
Other Thoughts:
- Set in scenic little Wabash, the City Park disc golf course is an interesting little specimen. Other than the disc golf itself, which is extremely short but still playable, the park has several attractive features. An extremely well-kept and pimped out baseball diamond (dugouts, lights, et al., all for what looked to be a little league team!) Sweet-smelling honeysuckle trees line vast sections of the woods, and often run the length of the fairway. Huge, ancient trees tower over the park in areas, giving the course a feeling of having been there from the beginning of time. Be sure to scope the old-people's retirement home (adjacent to #6) replete with graveyard! No joke.
- Overall, nothing to write home about. This course isn't going to stun experienced discers (unless it's from the length of walks between holes), but for beginners, casual players, and one-disc rounds, it's ideal. Terrain and vegetation are used well enough to make the course a pleasure to play.
UPDATE: This course has gone through a fairly major renovation. It's keep some of the deuce-or-die charm of the old layout while adding some gnarly new holes that are much more challenging. I played the new layout last summer and I think they had *just* made the changes. Signage was in a transition stage, but manageable enough. The new upgrades were pretty cool and I look forward to seeing how the new holes have mature with a bit of time. I'll revisit and update the review accordingly as soon as possible, but for now I've adjusted my rating upward to reflect the new layout.