The course plays through some really beautiful terrain.
New Innova Discatcher baskets.
I'll count the tee pads as a "pro" since the old course didn't have tee pads at all, however the astroturf pads are showing their age already.
The tee signs were good, but I don't recall seeing any "next tee" signs.
There are several very cool holes.

The 18 hole "upgrade" was not a pleasant experience to play. I feel like Al Quaal was reworked to cater to +970 rated players. This course spits in the face of the +80% of regular players when you consider that a fun 9 hole course was eliminated to make it happen.

Any shot off the fairway (ski trail) ends up in thick, nasty brush. Often, your only option from the rough is to pitch back into the fairway or maybe go forward a bit. I played in early March when there were no leaves or ground cover and we still ended up searching quite a bit. You really want spotters on some of the holes especially the long downhill ones. Because the baskets cannot be placed on the ski trails, almost all of the holes are blind from the tee. In many cases you can't see the basket until you get about 70 feet from it.

The Blue tees averaged 428 feet which is long in my book. I don't mind some long holes, but when the average hole is well over 400 feet I know my arm is in for a tough round. Plus, five of the medium length holes are very much uphill making them play that much longer.

My group discussed playing the Red tees but we felt they were way too short for our liking (averaged under 230 feet per hole).
It would have been nice to take a breather after some of the long climbs, but there weren't any benches on the course.

I've gotten my butt kicked at Idlewild, Maple Hill, Rollin Ridge and other long, tough courses and walked away with a smile on my face. Al Quaal offers a butt kicking, but without the smile.

Overall, I didn't care for the "new and improved" Al Quaal course and I doubt if I will play it again. As Mark Twain once said, "There is nothing to be learned from the second kick from a mule."

Few to be seen, difficult and bug laiden course

Mosquitos from the swamps nearby, hornets at three holes, extremely difficult par scores make it no fun for families, the creators took away the nice practice course at Al Qual and ruined a good thing

I, and many, are very upset that the original Al Qual Disc Golf course has been dismantled to create this abomination. I dare anyone to enjoy this course; the mosquitos will not allow you to focus.

We used to practice and learn, and get some fast rounds in at the original Al Qual course. The fact that this course was removed to make this ridiculously difficult course which goes all over the place (and I live nearby and never see anyone playing) is frustrating.

I would give this course zero stars if I could. No thought was put into this course and I never see anyone playing it.

The former Al Qual Disc Golf course always had TONS of people out and enjoying it.

Shame on you for ruining people's fun in a quest to create the most difficult course. Which coincides with mosquito territory.

Al Quaal Recreation Area is located just west of Marquette in Ishpeming, on Michigan's Upper Peninsula. This review was formerly for a 9-hole course that had been here up through 2021/22, but is now fully updated for the brand new 18-hole layout!

The old 9er here was relatively lengthy and challenging, and this new 18 takes that up another notch. There are two layouts, Blue and Red. The blue layout plays at championship level, with seven par 4's and hole distances averaging about 425'. This review is based on one round playing that blue layout, which honestly was a lot for my noodle arm to handle near the end of an 11 day course bagging trip. I plan on playing the Red layout when I return, which looked like it would still offer enough challenge to interest most rec level players.

The hole variety here is quite nice. There are only a couple of the tight wooded holes found on many other UP courses. The majority of holes have wooded fairways that are still narrow enough to require shot shaping, but wide enough to offer a little bit of forgiveness. A few holes that play through the main park area are mostly open, with only a couple trees and shrubs to work around.

There is a lot of elevation change in play here too. Hole 6 is a sweeping right turn that plays downhill for almost the whole 666'. Hole 7 is a much shorter downhill right turn at only 255', but the basket is tucked into a wooded area that slopes away from the tee. If your disc gets up on edge or otherwise somehow clears the trees, there is a lake lurking at the bottom of the hill (about 50' behind the basket). Quite a few of the other baskets also have rollaway potential, and a couple others had water nearby.

The baskets are blue banded DISCatchers that looked brand new. One per hole.

The two tee pads per hole are high-quality turf in wooden frames. Although some seemed a little bit lumpy, they were quite large and I also wrote "oddly grippy" in my notes. Overall I am putting these down as a Pro, although I'm always a bit skeptical of how turf may play in the rain and hold up over time. The tee signs are beautiful, color coded per layout, and in the same style you'll find at several courses around the Marquette area. They have all of the required info.

The front of the course has a practice basket, and a large kiosk including a high-quality course map. The front nine and back nine each loop back to the parking area, which is much appreciated as you may need to stop and rest/refuel.

I had mixed feelings about hole 10. This is a bomber hole playing from the parking lot down to a basket in a wide open field 460' away. The same lake from hole 7 could conceivably be in play - it is way off to the right, but big arms whose disc turns over or fades that direction on a windy day could find themselves getting nervous. Sounds fun though, so why my mixed feelings? Covering the entire fairway on the slope of the hill is a huge thicket of brush. My noodle arm and a slight headwind equated to my drive landing in the brush, and I feel like I only found it quickly due to 1) much of the brush being dead/thinned out for the year (it was early October when I visited) and 2) luck. This brush area definitely needs to be cut back, or at least a decently wide fairway should be carved into it.

While I'm on the subject of hole 10, behind the basket is an event area next to the lake. It's line of sight plus signage indicates that holes 10 and 11 are closed if an event is going on, so I can't really deduct points for safety - but with #15's tee being relatively close to #10's, realistically most players are not going to take the long walk past #10-11 just to play #12-14. So if an event is going on, it seems to me that five holes are basically lost.

Navigational signage had not yet been added as of my visit. Hopefully this is planned for the future, as there are long walks between a few of the holes. In the meantime, use the map (from here/on the kiosk) or UDisc for navigation.

There are a couple of spots where some stairs could be a nice safety improvement, such as the walk down from #6's long tee pad. I definitely recommend wearing hiking boots or other footwear with good grip when playing this course.

The previous reviewer superberry mentioned that the rough can be thick. Other than hole 10, this wasn't a problem for me in early October - but thinking back and looking at the photos I took, I can definitely see that being a major issue in the summer.

Several holes play in areas that are multi-use. Some holes are located near/on various trails, which I think are mainly intended for mountain bikers? Holes 15-18 play through the main park area that the previous 9-hole course utilized, and that could conceivably be in use by non-DGers.

No benches or trash cans have been added yet. A few of each would definitely be appreciated given how lengthy and hilly this course is. Although the park has restrooms, there are not any that are convenient for DG'ers. Also, the restrooms on the drive in were locked both times I visited the park.

Just to say it explicitly, playing this course is a serious workout. It has many long and hilly holes, plus a good number of long and hilly walks between the holes. It will take some time to play as well. I think it took me something like 2.5 hours solo, on a Monday with no one else on the course.

If you are a decent disc golfer in good physical shape, I definitely recommend checking this one out. My 3.5 rating reflects the current state of the course as of my October 2022 visit. Once everything is fully dialed in, this one will definitely be worthy of a 4.0. This is now one of the most challenging courses in the UP, plus it's just in a beautiful area with plenty of space. Thanks to those involved in making Al Quaal a "quaal"-ity local DG destination!

+ This is a very beautiful setting and there is a fair amount of challenge in playing it.
+ The course makes good use of the trees and elevation on the property.
+ There were simple hand painted signs on each hole although one was broken.
+ Navigation was straightforward.
+ The course is fairly open with a few technical holes.
+ I felt that there was a good range of distances, the longest hole was 460 feet and the shorter ones were 250 feet or so.
+ The course was very well maintained.

- There were no tee pads at all. Players just throw from the grass near the tee sign.
- Two of the holes play near exercise stations.
- Very old baskets which a lot of people may not like. (we kind of liked these baskets which made a loud clanging sound when the disc went in or hit the front. Not sure if home made or not.)

I was pleasantly surprised with this 9 hole course. I had heard from other people that this course has been closed off and on. I just looked at the scorecard and photos and it looks like some or most of the holes have been redesigned.

There wasn't anyone else around when we played this course. If there were people using the exercise stations it would certainly have been unsafe to throw those holes. Looking at the original photos, it appears that the dangerous situations have been fixed via redesign. (There is no longer a tee pad in the middle of another fairway and I believe the horse shoe courts have been moved.)
With Powder Mill and Silver Creek in nearby Marquette, this course probably doesn't get much action, but if you are looking for some longer throws in a more open setting, Al Quaal is worth a visit.

Aesthetic-- plays through a large multi-use park. Intertwined with MANY other amenities. This course is dangerous to be sure.

Teesigns-- there are no teesigns in place anymore.

Routing and nav-- without teesigns this place is a nightmare to route. I guess you could look for where people are gathered and there is probably a basket somewhere nearby.

Baskets-- Really bad. Really old and home made. These things are even green to perfectly blend in with the grass and trees?

yep, it's bad guys.
course bagged.

The only positive comment I can come up with is that the course exists and has baskets to throw at.

Extremely poor layout with other sports areas mingled within the fairways. Too open to provide any difficulty other than throwing around horseshoe pits and people.

This course could be soooo much better. The area is beautiful and the park would support a much better layout. It was nice to take a break from the road and play 9 holes but not a course I would drive out of my way for.

A staggering amount of diversity in a 9 hole course. Blind drives & open field shots to heavily wooded "corridors", short to gargantuan lengths, and a nice amount of OB.

Lake Superior is a stone's throw away, and the wind here can be brutal. We had 45-50+ mph "gusts" that blew up sandstorms from the baseball diamond and made new Firebirds flippy. You aren't just playing the course, you are playing against Mother Nature, even on a sunny day.

Easy on/off from the main drag if you are travelling across the UP. Much better of the two courses in the Marquette area (not exactly a high hurdle).

Idiotic design. The kind of design that Forrest Gump looks at and says "stupid is as stupid does." #7 Tee is smack dab in the middle of #4 fairway. #4 just so happens to be the longest hole of the course which demands a Big Arm drive. There is much more wrong, but that alone loses this course 2-discs worth of rating.

The course plays in the field only, and shares real estate with baseball, volleyball and horseshoe pits all within reach of your throws (and more likely to reach them due to the wind.) The individual holes are fun and each had a design that I liked, but the whole course only works if you have NO other people recreating . . . anywhere.

Signage ranged from sharpie on 4x4 to laminated pages. Each hole had a personalized name and description of the flight path, which was nice, but it was in pathetic disrepair.

There is a significant amount of land that could be used to spread out the layout and make for a very nice 9 or maybe even 18 hole course. Something, anything, should be done to remedy the layout, as you are just asking for trouble with the current configuration.

After playing, we were discussing the course in the car, and I realized I couldn't give it a very high rating. This is a shame, as I had a ball playing this little 9-holer coming back from Highbridge, but there are far too many flaws to earn more than a "passable" rating, and I'm really pushing that rating in the first place.

The bad layout is not a deal breaker, as there are not many people in the UP in the first place, and this park was deserted when we played. As long as you understand up front that you need to be careful of errant discs, this course can be fun.

My advice is, if you are in the area, come to Al Quaal, keep your head up, your wits about you, and carry a very overstable disc that is 3-4 speeds too fast for you. It may be the only one you throw.

Brand new Innova Discatcher Pro models with deep blue bands.
Two tees per hole. Blue tees are challenging and long and turn out to be par 61/62. The red tees are so much more incredibly short.
Tees are finished in astroturf, a first for the area, great grip, and look really good. They are very easy on the body too! (not all tees are finished with turf as of now)
Amazing use of elevation here, more than any other course in the area. Two huge downhill bombers on 6 and 10, a downhill ace run on 7, and more downhill action on 14 and 18.
Incredible variety of hole types - uphill, downhill, long open bombers, tight technical woods, par 4s , and ace runs.
Beautiful artistic and color coded tee signs.
Welcome board and practice basket area, plus the opportunity to practice approach throws to the hole 18 basket when no one is around.
This course offers something different, and something more than the other courses in the area, and is an incredible compliment to the collection of courses as a whole.

The rough is ROUGH! Throwing off the ski trails will leave you in an area left untouched, so it will be extremely dense at certain times of the year.
Lots of area residents walk their dogs in this park, both on the ski trails and the roadways. There can be dog doo on the ski trails. The course design was approved by the Recreation Committee and City Commission for the allowed areas, with the intent that dog walkers and hikers use the areas west of Baby Lake trail. There will be some growing pains with pedestrians encountering disc golfers and understanding the direction of play/throws, and finding alternate trails.
Not open in winter due to skiing and tubing.
Not a con in my book, but there are some long walks and this is a longer course than the rest of the area.
The bugs are AWFUL in peak summer season.

The land available at Al Quaal is amazing and disc golf here could be a world class venue with continued use, care, and expansion of the course.
The overall goal and proposal is to install two 18 hole courses here at this incredible property, each with two tees and two pin placements.
The property really is a multi-use park, although not very heavy use, but be mindful and courteous as everyone learns to live together with the new design.
PLEASE DO NOT THROW DOWN HOLE 10 WHEN WEDDINGS AND EVENTS ARE ON THE LODGE LAWN AREA!!!

Has some nice variations of style between holes; some short, challenging shots and some longer, more open holes.

Single-layer chain baskets, no tee pads; got confused a few times about where the next hole is. Also a few overlapping fairways where you'd have to wait for the people on the next tee to throw.

All in all a fairly fun, quick course.