Ypsilanti, MI

Water Works Park DGC

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2.195(based on 24 reviews)
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3 1
Kennygooo
Experience: 24.8 years 44 played 9 reviews
0.50 star(s)

What a dump 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Mar 27, 2021 Played the course:once

Pros:

Baskets were in good shape...thats it

Cons:

There are supposed to be 3 tees per basket I had a hard time finding 1 for every single hole. The baskets that weren't in the woods I could not find any so I invented tees to throw from.

The amount of trash spread throughout the wooded area is appalling. I'm sure I could have filled an entire dumpster. I think I came across the remnants of camps. I did find 2 sleeping bags.

Other Thoughts:

If someone suggested a group cleaning I would come out and help. If the tees were better marked or marked period and some fairways were managed this could be a decent course. As it stands I won't be going back.
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0 1
YpsiDiscin
Experience: 2 played 2 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Worth stop if in town 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:May 21, 2016 Played the course:once

Pros:

- Well designed layout in a small park.
- 3 sets of 'tees' allow for different round every time.
- Mix of tight woods, and more open holes.

Cons:

- Very hard to find the tees- no signs. They gave me a map at the pro shop nearby at Lakeshore.
- Dirt tees- throwable but not cement.
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4 0
Stardoggy
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 12.7 years 1002 played 214 reviews
2.00 star(s)

Sketchy, but fun. 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Mar 12, 2016 Played the course:once

Pros:

9 hole course in a city park in Ypsilanti, MI.

Chainstar baskets, all in decent enough shape, even if a bit old. One pin position per hole.

Most holes had 2 or 3 tee pads. Most of them were simply further back, but also introduced additional obstacles.

Lots of mature trees all over the fairways, which helps to force lines if you want to score well. I thought the fairways were well defined and fair, but relatively challenging.

A decent variation of distance, even if the longest holes were a bit open. I especially liked hole 9's forced low shot. You'll really need to pull low, flat and hard to get close.

Water COULD come into play, but it would be off a horrible throw, or a really bad kick. Mostly, it's scenic...or as scenic as a scummy river can be.

Cons:

Natural tee pads, and most of them were in somewhat rough shape. Rutted, pitted, etc.

No tee signs, but the flow was generally good. There were a couple spots on the last few holes that you had to so some searching for the blocks in the ground.

I wish there was a nicer way to put this, but Water Works is a dump. Garbage everywhere and just a generally scuzzy feel to the place. Man, just piles of garbage.

I'll try to be as nice about this as possible, but the crowd here isn't exactly the creme de la creme. I was honestly a bit leery about leaving my non-hoopty vehicle in the parking lot. The people I talked to were nice enough, but it seems that the clientele here are the people that can't afford a car to get over to Rolling Hills.

Also, I don't know if I mentioned this, but man is there a lot of trash here. I'm pretty sure I saw a few bum dens, and I have to imagine some pretty nefarious dealings occur here after dark.

Other Thoughts:

While the golf here is relatively fun, it's hard to encourage anybody to go play here. Maybe late morning, after the bums have cleared out to go find their daily fix, and before the criminals have started their days.

This is the type of course that you only play if you're a local (like within two blocks), have nothing to lose, or feel like you must play every course in existence. I fall into the latter category, and while I've been to some pretty sketchy areas for throwing frisbees, this is pretty close to the top of the list.

Just don't go. Go hit Rolling Hills and have a blast there...or drive a little and hit some of the other great courses in the area.
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3 2
W7amf
Experience: 19.1 years 10 played 9 reviews
1.00 star(s)

broken condom 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 29, 2014 Played the course:once

Pros:

its a disc gold course, kinda

Cons:

dirty
not marked mapped
found used condoms and needles
trashy
bum camp

Other Thoughts:

this place is dirty. there were some bums camping by the river. the woody holes had trash and the park is kind of sketchy... not a place you'd want to be after dark. we literally found used needles and condoms on the course near the pins. didn't even finish. there are several nicer courses within a short drive. we didn't have much time and just picked one that was close to where we were. we chose poorly. a local club should really clean this place up.
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5 0
davetherocketguy
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 19.7 years 114 played 105 reviews
1.50 star(s)

Neighborhood "looks" sketchy but could be a nice course with some TLC 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Apr 12, 2014 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

- Chainstar baskets with dual layer of chains which seem weathered a bit but are certainly in good repair.
- Brilliant course design on 2 through 6. Short-ish holes (depending on the tee) that play through the woods. These take good advantage of the existing terrain and features and put them to good use.
- Excellent risk/reward especially on #2. That river is intimidating. Throw a disc in there and you can kiss it bye bye in that fast moving water.
- General flow of the course feels natural for the most part.
- A great place to work on many aspects of the game from accuracy to distance.
- I love the fact that someone went through the trouble to install three tee pads per hole.

Cons:

- It's only nine holes.
- Navigation is lacking. Sorry, have to disagree with some of the reviews here. Without the nice map provided in the files section on this site I would never have found my way around. Being able to see that on my iPhone helped immensely.
- Tee pads are atrocious. Their placement makes complete sense but are so muddy and rutted out it's hard to justify risking injury using them. Concrete pads would be a GIGANTIC improvement to this course.
- Next tee signs. I see someone had the rather novel idea to zip tie red tent stakes to the bottom of the baskets to indicate next tee. Unfortunately, knuckleheads have seen fit to destroy several of them. I would suggest a more permanent solution like paver bricks in the shape of an arrow at the base of the basket.
- #7 white tee goes right at the #8 blue tee. While I realize there are very few people on the course there is no reason to have this situation in my opinion.
- #9 tee throws really close to a roadway. One solution is to make the trees there a mando to reduce discs landing on the pavement.

Other Thoughts:

This has the potential to be a 3 disc course if it had a little bit of money poured into it. I can certainly understand vandalism is a concern so tee signs may not be viable but just concrete pads alone would make a huge difference. There are some brilliant elements here so if you are in the area and need a quick round this is not a bad option. Don't let the neighborhood scare you. I've seen MUCH worse however I am not sure a glow round would be a good idea.
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5 0
apdrvya
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 13.9 years 350 played 293 reviews
3.00 star(s)

that rapey/stabby feel 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Mar 31, 2014 Played the course:once

Pros:

Aesthetic-- plays through a small "inner" city park. Has a baseball field and a bridge, not much else. I can't see where you'd run into other people unless they are homeless or rapey stabby. A guy was whacking golfballs across the field when we were there.

Routing/nav--not terrible with the map. not great either but it's passable. the orange stakes on the baskets helped to point the way.

Baskets-- all present and accounted for, sir! in decent condition and visible enough.

Challenge/variety/risk v reward-- although the risk v reward isn't blatant, it is certainly there on the watery holes. the challenge here lies in the tightness of the woods holes and the openness (windy) of the open holes..

Cons:

Teesignage-- poor at best. I understand the city didn't help. but I hate teesigns flush with the ground. I can understand how it would be damn near impossible to nav with snow or tall grass. it was hard enough to find the teeboxes.

Teeboxes-- muddy and uneven. hard to find.

Other Thoughts:

I can imagine with some TLC this course would be pretty cool. As is, I was pleasantly surprised with this course. We didn't run into any rapey stabby types but I can understand the possibility.
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1 3
timbur3
Experience: 16.8 years 101 played 50 reviews
2.50 star(s)

Pretty good 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 8, 2013 Played the course:once

Pros:

- Had baskets
- Had multiple tee pads
- Good mix of shorter wooded holes and longer open field holes

Cons:

- Very tough to navigate
- Not good signs
- After they mow it is almost impossible to find the tee pads unless you know where they are.

Other Thoughts:

The course seems off the beaten path and pretty empty. This would be nice if you are looking to go somewhere not crowded.
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2 0
Meesta_Bleesta
Experience: 20.8 years 27 played 7 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Not amazing, not bad though 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Sep 24, 2013 Played the course:once

Pros:

-Baskets are in good shape

-Park doesn't seem very busy; there was no one there when I was there, and the baseball diamond appears to be essentially abandoned

-There's a walking path on the other side of the river for pedestrians to go, so not a lot of 'civilian' activity on this course.

-Pro, Am, and Beginner tees for every hole! And they go by color, which helps when trying to find the next hole

-Stakes at the bottom of each basket directing players to the next tee.

Cons:

-All natural (read: muddy) tees

-Even with arrows on each basket, some holes are hard to find/understand, especially 7 and 8. When you get out of the woods, there are some baskets and there are some pads, but it's not clear which goes where. Pretty minor.

-A little difficult to find the course itself when you get to the park. We had to ask some locals who were on the path across the river; they were kind (and knowledgeable) enough to help us out.

Other Thoughts:

Overall I found this to be a surprisingly fun, short, mostly technical course. A couple of holes were right next to a wide river, which I'm a sucker for. It's got a certain atmosphere to it...there's a bit of trash floating around, and some campfire sites (teens? vagrants?); one of the holes has a tattered pirate flag hanging in the middle of the fairway, and the tee boxes are put together in such a way (rocks spray painted different colors to indicate skill level, with a spray painted number somewhere nearby to indicate hole number) that it seems like the course has been sort of strung together by a band of misfits or something. It's kind of cool. It shows that someone loves the place. Not a destination, and certainly not a place to go bombing drives but by no means a bad course.
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1 2
Trizzor
Experience: 10.7 years 29 played 9 reviews
1.00 star(s)

Ruined by non-golfers. 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 24, 2013 Played the course:once

Pros:

• It has baskets.
• Very secluded

Cons:

• Non Disc Golfers ruined it for me. See Other thoughts.
• Grass clippings covering 3 of 9 Tees, we had to search and search. Never did find 9.

Other Thoughts:

I won't be going back to Waterworks anytime soon.

•At hole 2, there was a man and his two dogs camped out near the shore by the basket. He had his clothes hanging on the basket... he was trying to coach his dogs to attack the ducks. He wouldn't move, even when acknowledging us and being asked politely. The 12-pack of Bud Light is partially to blame.
•Hole 6 I think it was, maybe 5. A group of teens smoking, sitting right near the basket, again refusing to move.
•Hole 8, a Man and Woman letting their dog run free around the basket while they sat and chatted away maybe 30 feet from it.
•Hole 9, Couldn't find the tee pads. The grass was very very long before the last cut, making the clippings 5-6" long. The grass holes looked like a guile suit.

Lasting Impression: Well, I got to play 5 (6 if you count safari for #9) of the holes on this course. This course is another reason I wish all courses were pay-to-play or privately fenced.
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3 0
leindecjoeld
Experience: 12 years 18 played 4 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Best 9 hole course in the area 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 17, 2012 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

-Never busy
-Good mix of long and short tees
-Good mix of open and wooded holes (5 wooded and 4 open)
-People who play the course are helpful and nice
-Seems like the course is constantly being improved, every time I play there is a new change
-Red white and blue tees which cater to all skill levels

Cons:

-Starting spots are tricky to find if you haven't played the course before
-course runs along a river, this can cause the ground to get very saturated in rainy season, especially on holes two and three.

Other Thoughts:

I have played every nine hole course in the Ypsilanti region, and I would have to say that this is my favorite. There are never other players here, so you can play a round fast. I love swinging through on my way home from work and playing a quick nine. The course does sit in a sketchy neighborhood, but don't let this deter you from checking out the course. There may be some odd characters fishing in the river next to hole 2, but if you treat them like people and just say hi to them you will find that they are just as nice as anyone. I might think they look crazy fishing in the most polluted river I have ever seen, but they see me as some crazy guy throwing a disc around in the woods. All in all I have never felt nervous while playing a round.
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1 4
Grim meanies
Experience: 1 played 1 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Grossly under-rated 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 21, 2012 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Quick course, not crowded.

Cons:

Tees and signage need improvement. Holes 7-9 are really boring

Other Thoughts:

This course has a over-exaggerated "shady" reputation. This season (2012) the course has not only increased in upkeep, but a lot of work is being done to improve the signage. Especially nice are plastic markers attached to the baskets indicating the direction of the next tee.
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1 1
24chains
Experience: 26.6 years 78 played 4 reviews
2.00 star(s)

Pirates Bay 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:May 5, 2012 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

- Hardly played by the rest of the world, This little 9 hole sits in a seedy part of town yes but has potential to be a decent 3-star course with a little leg work. Open holes yes but wind comes into effect making even those not so easy on gusty days. Short in the wood holes yes, But water comes into play on some and will make you choose wisely.
This course is great to work on your tunnel shots and open field bombs.

Cons:

Two Words for this course..
GanG-Starr..
Seedy 'Hood - Check
Sketchy "Fishermen" on water holes - Check
Obvious vagrant campsites - Check

But this course is still a decent pit stop off the highway and a great place to work on short game and open field bombs.

Other Thoughts:

For a course long forgotten by the city it is the locals and leagues that are doing the work to get this park back into shape. We are taking the steps to correct the issues with tee pads and signage, course maintenance from the city is mowing when they can so it falls on the Disc Golfers to step up and help maintain the area. Pack in and Pack out your garbage and that will start to help out.
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3 0
Innovadude
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 25.8 years 235 played 180 reviews
4.00 star(s)

help me fix it! 2+ years

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:May 13, 2012 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

- Good design with 5 wooded holes offering a challenge to all players
- 4 more open holes to let it air out
- Downtown
- 2.5 miles from The Throw Shop the biggest disc golf shop in Michigan
- newly maintained fairways summer 2012

Cons:

- Bad neighborhood
- Can be flooded (#2-3) in the spring
- Mega bugs and insane poison ivy in season (working on fixing that)

Other Thoughts:

- I helped design and install this course, the city gave us no $ for tee, signs, or maintenance and the local A3 club bought the baskets.
- Not recommended to play alone it's not the best area but it's not so bad you can't play here, just don't leave valuables in your car or play alone without a phone at least. I've played it dozens of times and never had a problem, but some people have.
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4 0
AKormendi
Bronze level trusted reviewer
Experience: 25.6 years 65 played 27 reviews
2.00 star(s)

PRINT A COURSE MAP 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Nov 26, 2010 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

-Right by the Huron River
-Never busy
-Open to 10pm, suitable for night golf. I've played later, without harrasment, too. The park mostly gets ignored.
-Baskets in good condition.
-Woods fairways well defined, giving 5 short holes of reasonably challenging finesse golf.
-4 field holes give big arms a chance to spread out a little, providing much larger distances than you see on most 9 holers in the area.
-Scenic, when clean.

Cons:

-Dirt/grass teepads. Or today, mud.
-No signs for the field holes, if you want any idea where to tee off in the field, you'll need a course map. Woods tees easier to find. Short tees are not on the course map, but there is evidence of them existing at some point, and they can be found in the woods. Nonetheless, short tees easy to create in the field, since the holes are wide open.
-Very little intereresting about field shots. Obstacles hardly come into play.
-Park often used during the summer for non-disc golf activities. May render a couple field holes unplayable.
-Trash. Wind blows it in from residential areas on the bad side of Ypsi. Local players don't seem to respect the course, either. Not always bad, but frequently so.
-Burrs. During the right season, there are seas of burdock waiting to stick to your clothes and bag. Clear right now, though.
-Pretty much flat. Two baskets on very small hills, no height to throw off.

Other Thoughts:

This course has a lot going for it. It's got river. It's got space. It has some decent woods area.

It's never going to be a great course though.
It's too open in most of it, and too flat. But mostly, it just has too much competition. In any other area, this would be a serviceable course, and likely would have gotten attention from the local disc golfers to solve its problems. Its worst issue is the lack of teepads. Without a dozen great courses nearby, people would have come together to put concrete down, or at least have played it enough to pack the dirt down and show where they are. As it is, it's a mystery for a lot of it. This course has 5 really nice holes with 2-6, but hole 1 and holes 7-9 have you throwing across empty space with little to modify your approach. So as it stands, you've got very little exciting golf in an area filled with exciting golf in greater concentrations. Unless a giant hill sprouts up, or the park picks up some property on the other side of the river to make some exciting water holes (neither of which are likely to happen) this course just doesn't have the chops to compete with the rest of the Ann Arbor area's outstanding disc golf.

Still, if you're local, and bored, there's 5 good holes here that you probably haven't played.
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0 2
setebos
Experience: 14.8 years 21 played 5 reviews
2.50 star(s)

Meh 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 15, 2009 Played the course:once

Pros:

Nice usage of a relatively small amount of land; I liked the mix of woods holes and open holes

Cons:

Really, really hard to figure out where the next hole was, particular once you get out of the woods. I actually ended up completely skipping one of the holes.

Other Thoughts:

Not too bad, if you can figure out the hole sequence.
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2 1
DiscGolfinTheD
Experience: 19.9 years 21 played 15 reviews
2.00 star(s)

2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:May 25, 2009 Played the course:once

Pros:

Nice layout with a mix up of holes, 4 in the woods, 5 in the field, Mostly open but the woods were fun to shoot.

Cons:

Beware the river although its only 1 hole, NO TEES! the hardest part about this course was the complete lack of tee boxes anywhere, Also once you get into the field its little hard to distinguish were the start spots and which direction the holes flow.

Other Thoughts:

I think if there was a little bit of upkeep mainly around just creating tees this course has the potential to be a fun day out, its not too challenging in the field due to no trees or other obstructions but the woods were fun to play thru.
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2 1
ypsidisc
Experience: 14.9 years 3 played 3 reviews
2.50 star(s)

Its Not ALL bad 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:May 23, 2009 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

The holes all vary in length and difficulty. Not as many bugs as you would think being next to a river. Never crowded and when there are other players, most of the time, they let you play through.

Cons:

The tees are hard to find if you havnt been there. Some holes have three tees, most have only one or two. Makes it hard for different play styles, you basically only have one way to go about playing each hole, where as other, better courses give at least two, sometimes 3 routes.

Other Thoughts:

This course was the first one i ever played. I wasn't that good when i started so for me, it was a challenge.
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2 0
bygwyllay
Silver level trusted reviewer
Experience: 16.9 years 93 played 77 reviews
1.00 star(s)

Do not go here 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:May 23, 2009 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

None. I didn't even bother playing the "holes" outside of the woods, since there were no markers or tees on anything. Just pick a spot and start throwing.

Cons:

Looks abandoned. No tees for any hole. Site says it was created in 2007. I wondered if anyone has ever been there before. If they have they probably never went back and told their friends to skip it.

Other Thoughts:

Random chainstars in a field. Two good holes through the woods, although it was ridiculously muddy even though it hadn't rained in two weeks. A river runs to the left so be careful about where you throw; you won't get your disc back if it goes in.

Skip this course in favour of Rolling Hills or even EMU's 9-hole.
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5 0
ejvogie
Premium Member
Experience: 15.6 years 305 played 14 reviews
1.00 star(s)

Not on a drunken dare 2+ years

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Apr 22, 2009 Played the course:once

Pros:

Wooded holes will challenge your accuracy. Nice scenery by the river

Cons:

Natural tees........if you can find them. A local gave me some directions to start, "That patch of brown" and "in front of that pile" were among the tee locations. I had to make my own tees for 4 out of 9 holes. Almost didn't find #8.

Other Thoughts:

If I'm in the area again, I'll drive by this park and pay to play Rolling Hills.

*update* All this course really needs are marked teepads (concrete or natural, either way) and signage. That will gain at least 2 stars, maybe more.
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2 1
cjkloster
Experience: 1 played 1 reviews
3.50 star(s)

home course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Mar 25, 2009 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

never busy or rushed
nice escape from ghetto ypsi
3 blocks from my house
3 open holes in a feild so you can rip some long drives
challenging holes in woods
2nd hole goes along the river
(nice as long as you dont throw in water)

Cons:

hard to navigate if you have never played before
only 9 holes

Other Thoughts:

there are 9 baskets. the 6th basket is around a bend to the left once you throw out of the woods. you need to turn around and go left after hole 3 to get to hole 4.
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