The first thing I noticed as I drove up to Albert Oakland Lower course was the brand new pickle ball courts. I love playing pick about as much as I love throwing plastic.

The concrete pads are great. I really appreciated the metal tee signs especially the washer system indicating which the basket was in. The baskets are older DGA models with a yellow number plate on top. As a visitor, I appreciate that big yellow number. I played Albert Oakland about fours ago and left more than a little bit frustrated. I think then I played about 25/36 holes and half the time wasn't sure which course I was on. I know I drifted back and forth between the two. I do know that I got lost at the same point this time as before-after playing # 4, I still couldn't find 5 & 6, where in the hell do you hide them?

Albert Olson Park is a wonderful piece of land for a disc golf course or two. It has some fun
yummy elevation, lots of lovely green grass, water and enough trees to keep things interesting.

Both the shot over the pond (# 11) and the hole that plays along the pond (# 16) make me a little nervous. For me, both are possible drowning sites for one of my discs. There was no life guard on duty this morning!

Tricky for me to navigate. Probably a lead cinch for every other disc golfer in the world. A few more next tee signs would help me, at least.

Older DGA baskets are a getting up there in disc golf basket years.

Have to walk pickle-ball courts on both # 1 and # 18. Forces me to make a difficult moral decision.

I hope that Dana, the guy whose disc I found on # 17, finds it at the agreed hiding place. This course would be so pretty and inviting on a sunny day when the grass has recently been mowed. And when you're playing with someone who knows their way around. It has good bones and plus, it's a good amount of difficult, not overwhelmingly, ridiculously so, but pretty good to the degree that even recreational players can enjoy their rounds here.

+ Good course in a really nice, multi-use city park. For the most part, the other activities don't interfere with disc golf, and vice versa.
+ Well maintained
+ Offers a wide variety of shots and options
+ Hole 1 in either pin placement is a reachable, controlled BH hyzer shot. It offers a nice start to the course -- a full rip for most, but a legit birdie opportunity.
+ Hole 2 is a big arm spike hyzer, but also offers a par route through the woods.
+ Holes 3 and 4 allow you to really open it up without much chance of getting in trouble off the tee. Same with Holes 5 and 6 but a little more shaping required.
+ Hole 7 is a manageable (but still difficult) tunnel shot with water in play on the right and near the basket.
+ Hole 8 is all about shaping the line.
+ Hole 9 is probably my favorite. There are many different options off the tee -- putter/mid-range anny to landing zone, RHFH, roller, etc. Then it requires another good placement shot to reach the green (in one of the long placements).
+ Hole 14 is about placement and accuracy, but also offers some high risk/high reward options.
+ Holes 10, 11, 15, and 16 are point and shoot, with 16 being a relatively short throw across the muck pond.
+ Hole 17 has a relatively tight gap off the tee to avoid the trees (which will then send you into the muck pond). You also don't want to get too low or the cattails will eat your disc.
+ Good amount of parking, especially considering all of the other activities going on in this park.
+ Bathrooms and water available near holes 1 and 4/6/7.
+ Tee pads and signs are all in really good condition.
+ Good use of trees, creeks, and small hills to increase difficulty.

- There are long walks between holes 4 and 5 and holes 6 and 7.
- There is potential for confusion going from hole 9 to 10. You have to walk directly past the tee for hole 12 from basket 9 before you get to 10.
- The Back/Lower and Front/Upper courses merge near holes 14 and 15. That can be a little confusing for a first time player.

This is a old-school city park course that is showing it's age a little but still offering solid disc golf. After playing three rounds at Harmony Bends over the past few days this course is like an easy walk in the park.

Decent selection of hole lengths and types, from 200' shorties out to nearly 500'. You'll drive with putters, midranges, and drivers as you play.

There is also a decent mix of open, semi-open and wooded holes. As expected the wooded holes are shorter with the longer holes being more open.

A decent hillside near the tennis courts gives some uphill/downhill flavor to a few holes. And the creek winding though the wooded bottom of the course adds challenge there as well.

Gigantic parking lot with restrooms that are closed during the cold season (Oct 15 - Apr 15). Decent concrete teepads and DGA baskets that catch fine. There are abundant pin positions at most holes which I'm sure offers frequent players some welcome variety, but creates some confusion among us travelers (see cons).

This is a pretty basic park course with 18 par 3ish holes playing over mowed grass and between mature, spaced trees. While it helps to be able to shape drives it isn't critically important on many holes.

The tee signs are rough old fiberglass things that are pretty basic and don't do a particularly good job of showing you what the holes actually look like. They indicate several pin positions but do not tell you where the pin currently is. Plan to do some looking around.

This is a compact, crowded layout that often has more than one basket in site from the tee. Given the aforementioned lack of detail on the tee signs you might be guessing where to throw.

Navigation is not intuitive and you may find yourself wandering (and wondering) a bit.

I stayed in the Columbia area for a few days and played both Harmony Bends and Albert-Oakland courses. You might think with Harmony Bends currently being the #1 course in the country it would attract all of the DG traffic, but that is not the case.

The Albert-Oakland courses are just such comfortable, old-school DG courses that are easier, and more casually enjoyable. And there is nothing wrong with that!

-uses a variety of terrains, elevation, and creeks, and a pond
-longer and shorter holes, ranging from wide open to fairly wooded
-concrete pads (some with hole numbers spray painted)
-tee signs, the old school ones
-at least 2 pin positions on each hole, up to as many as 6
-offers a good challenge for Ams and a definite challenge for rec players and beginners
-one of two courses on site, the more challenging of the two
-course map at the start
-plenty of parking

-long walks between holes
-unintuitive layout, hard to follow
-some signs missing or hard to read
-signs don't show what the current pin position is, plus many blind shots
-more bridges are needed to cross the creeks in various places
-definitely some filler holes

The back course at Albert Oakland started as a temporary tournament course in the 90's (see Three Putts's review below). The issues I had playing this course were easily understood once I realized it was conceived as a tournament layout where long walks and poor navigation wouldn't matter in a tournament setting. Since becoming a permanent course, the back course offers a more challenging layout than the front course, a Steady Ed design from 1979.

The multiple pin positions on each hole add a lot to the replay value for locals. They can be frustrating for the traveler and some scouting ahead will be necessary since there are no indications on the tee signs for the current position. New tee signs would do wonders for this course. Another improvement that would be welcome are some bridges or better creek crossings. The creeks are in play at least a few holes but as many as almost half, depending on the pin position. The pond is in play on 16 & 17 and is a nice extra feature before the round ends.

There is a nice variety of holes as the course works its way through distinct areas of the park. The first 6 holes are mostly open with a few tree lines in play and offer a chance to air out some drives. Holes 7-11 & 15 play in a more wooded area with defined fairways and tough rough. Holes 12-14 are in an area that is a bit more open but still has dotted trees to work around or under to find the green. The last 3 holes are back in the open area at the start of the course, 16 & 17 playing across the pond.

I enjoyed this park for the two courses available, the history, and some fun holes. With a local guide, you can get a round in on both courses pretty quickly. I'm curious if traffic has slowed here now that Harmony Bends is open but I imagine a lot of people might not want to play HB every week. The front course here is probably the best place in town for beginners and the back course is something for them to graduate to as their skills improve.

The back course is fun despite the long walks between holes and poor navigation. It's worth playing if you have plenty of time in Columbia. But if you only have time to play one course in town, then you should definitely go to Harmony Bends.


**Like this review? Hate it? Message me and let me know why! I want to make them better!**

Course has a mixture of all kinds of shot. Long, short, high and low ceilings and a couple water shots that might make you think twice about your disc selection.

Navigating to and from holes 5 and 6 can be tricky as well as determining basket location. Pad signs need to be replaced!

Fun course slightly more difficult than the top course at the same park.

My wife and I played this with another couple and found it to be a nice course overall with a nice variety of open and wooded holes, many of which played along or over a stream. The landscape variety kept it interesting and made for a nice walk in the woods in addition to the DG play.

Concrete pads and signs.

Many tees are located near interesting workout stations which added to the fun of the course even though not technically part of the DG course.

Flow was confusing at times so a map is required for first timers.

Each tee had a hole map, but some were confusing and not oriented correctly so we weren't always sure which way to throw.

Some holes required a lot of walking between one basket and the next tee.

At one point we ended up on the front course since the two run close together on later holes.

A couple of shots were too tough for the wives so they skipped those holes, such as the two shots over the pond (16 & 17) and one that played over the creek through a narrow, bushy area (9).

Only played the back half due to time but liked it and will return next time we are in Columbia.

-Two 18 hole courses in the same park
-Nice large concrete tees
-Maps at the start of the front course and the back course
-Some very fun shots that will challenge most peoples games
-A small pond comes into play on holes 16 and 17. It might be slightly too far for beginners to clear, but there is a safer way along the side.
-Creeks flow through the property providing not only more challenge, but also adding beauty to this course
-Some ace run holes mixed in
-Good mixture of wide open park like holes and tighter more wooded holes
-Next tee signs on the holes (though some of them point in the wrong direction)
-Some low celling's on the more wooded holes force you to place your shot well
-Well maintained park area that seems to get mowed regularly
-Risk / Reward holes where you need to think about your shot
-Baskets are a little old, but still are solid and catch well
-Multiple pin positions on every hole
-Park has lots of other amenities, picnic areas, playgrounds, walking paths, workout equipment, and even a little water park for the kids

-The flow of this course is terrible, with lots of long walks, backtracking, and potential to end up on the front course by accident
-A guide isn't necessary for first timers, but it does help out a huge amount
-Signs are about useless on holes where they are still there, some are missing all together. Distances are way off, there is nothing marking if you are on the back course or the front course, and the signs could also use to have something to mark which pin position the basket is in (though I did talk with a guy out there who was taking down distances to replace the signs so this could change soon)
-There are a few times you needed to cross the creek and there are very few bridges. Be prepared to have wet feet, you will probably need to walk through the creek at one point or another.
-Other people using the park including a bunch of kids on a field trip, people walking their dogs on the walking paths, and people using the workout equipment around the back part of the course
-After hole 9, the tee pad that seems the most like you should go to it is actually hole 12, to find hole 10 go past it and to the right of the walking path.
-At some point (I think hole 13) there were multiple tee boxes, with no tee sign. This could get confusing if you are traveling from out of the area and don't have a guide.
-At one point we almost ended up on the front course by accident, as the most natural tee to walk to was for the front course and only a hole or 2 off hole # wise. Coupling this with the fact that there is nothing to tell you if you are on the back course or the front one, this could cause confusion.
-Poison Ivy around in a few spots

The back course at Albert Oakland Park starts out as a pretty wide open park style course with a few holes that you could open up and let loose a big throw. Once you get to hole 7 the course starts to become tighter and more technical. There are a couple of creeks that flow through the course, and they have been incorporated well, creating excellent risk / reward shots. The one problem with the creeks is that they don't have bridges over them in all the areas that they need them, and as such you will probably have to ford a creek at some point getting your feet wet, just be prepared for that. There is also a pond on holes 16 and 17. It provides a nice little challenge, though experienced players will be able to clear it with ease. If your disc ends up in this pond it will probably be pretty hard to get back as the water is brown with lots of pond weeds growing up through it.

One thing I could highly recommend to all courses with multiple pin positions, like this one, is to have something on the tee signs that indicates what position the basket is in. This doesn't have to be expensive, some washers, bolts, nuts, and a sharpie is all you need to make simple ones.

There is a sign with a map of the course near the first hole. I would highly recommend taking a picture of it, as you may end up needing it to find some of the holes. Finding a guide would also be a great idea if you are trying to play this course as an out of towner.

Over all the back course is defiantly the best course on the property, and I think it has potential to be the best course in town if it were to get some improvements.

This course will test every shot in the bag. Most fairways are established enough that good lines are rewarded. Plenty of trouble is out there when you miss though. Although every hole is not memorable there are some true gems on this course. The natural landscape is used very well. The creek and lake make for some wonderful scenery. This park is always well maintained.

Navigation between holes is tough. I could see first timers spending some time looking for the next tee or accidentally ending up on the front course. I could see some bridges being helpful, but I've always been fine without.

I might have a sentimental attachment to this course as I played it religiously in college, but I love this course. This course does what none of the st Louis course do in incorporating water so successfully. This is a very well maintained and established course. Some fine tuning and landscaping around tees and pins is all that is needed for this to be a 5 star course in my mind.

I'd recommend this course to anyone. Plus you can go play the front course when you are done to make a day of it. Great course.

-Matt

61 total pin placements allow for a variety of course setuls. Recoverability from bad drives is usually more than fair. Has a good mix of long and short holes, open & tight. Lots of water (pond and creek). The creek comes into play on holes 5, 6 (really bad overshots), 7, 8 long/gold, 9, 10, 11, 15. Pond on 16 & 17. Has new color coded pin markers in the anchors for each hole. The tee sign has the anchor marker attached to it, although the tee sign has yet to identify which pin is which.

Needs a a bridge on holes 7, 9, 15, 16 & 17 (lots of water, and not great ways to cross), especially for kids. Some small amounts of poison ivy in the roughs on holes 5-15. The cedars need to be manicured and trimmed higher so as to retrieve errant shots easier. Needs new signage with up to date measurements and pdga par ratings for various skill sets. The new anchor markers are nice for pin identification, but new signs need to go in matching the same color code so that players know where the basket is and what the par and distance is.
Also desparately needs directional signage from 4 to 5, 6 to 7, 7 -i, 9-10 & 14 -15

Good tee pads, good baskets, and a decent variation in the holes. Some really scenic holes, and some great use of the space available.

Navigating this course is awful! I'm pretty sure I played part of the front course on accident. Some of the holes are really awesome, but the tee signs are so bad you really can't figure out where you are going.

Maybe my least favorite course I've ever played. It has some decent holes, and some that are really cool. But all the cool holes in the world can't make up for an inability to figure out which one comes next.

Good course layout. 3 pin placements for each hole, so it changes frequently. Mix of wooded and open holes. It is more powerful than the front course. Some holes require HUGE drives.

Scorecards with maps would be amazing for this course. The baskets could be replaced in the near future. Also, the grass gets a little tall from time to time.

This is the course that I play the most. It changes a couple of times each season, and I think it is an excellent place to play and practice.

Lot's of variety in the course. Plenty of challenge, yet plenty of opportunities to make up ground if you have a bad hole. The first few holes are fairly open except for 2. Starting with hole 7 you will need to have more careful shot selection to deal with the trees. Until 16 and 17 when you will have to throw over water. Finally 18 is pretty open, but long uphill. It is the best practice course in Columbia because of the variety of hole locations.

Not much elevation change. Sometimes hard to figure out where to go next. Definitely, helps to have someone with you if you haven't played the course before. For first timers you should know that after hole 4 you will need to cross the parking lot to the east to find hole 5. After playing hole 6 you will need to walk west to the sidewalk and follow it around to the South through the woods and take the left at the split in the walk to get to hole 7. After hole 14 you will need to follow the sidewalk to the North to get to 15. If you walk West from 14 you just run into the front course.

Definitely the place to play if you are going to play only one course in Columbia

Course is located in a park with technical shots and long bombers. Great mix of holes. This course will challenge every shot in your bag. Hole 2 is a HUGE hyzer over some very tall trees. Very fun to play. The wooded holes have a well-defined fairway, while still staying fairly technical. The rough will punish errant shots, but wont put your disc in jail. A small creek runs through the back nine. The water is placed in just the right area for a risk/reward shot. Will you go for it? Or will you lay up and take your three? There is also a small pond in the middle of the course which comes into play on 2 holes. It is, however, very easy to clear if you don't have a huge arm. The baskets are in good condition and work just as well as any other baskets. Tees are concrete, big enough, and still have good grip when wet.

Not good signage. That's all I have to say about that. It can be hard to find the next hole if your not playing with a local, especially when the front course comes in the same area. No benches or trashcans anywhere. The creek can be very muddy. I wouldn't go in for a disc... Some of the "rough" areas can be thorny, and I think I saw some poison ivy around. There can be some joggers/bicyclists on the walking path, but it's not too bad.

This course has great potential, but it lacks some amenities. The arrows pointing to the next tee would be very helpful if the weren't spun in the wrong direction...

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Good distance variety. Once you figure out where you're going, the hole usually provides some challenge. The front nine of the back course offer plenty of opportunity to go for big distance. The back nine of the back course is more technical, with some interesting blind shots.

Poor navigability. Got very confused several times, because the front and back courses overlap toward the end of the back course. The arrows directing you to the next tee are all spun around on the poles they're mounted on, so they're usually worthless.

I did not play the front course. It appeared mostly wide open and not nearly as technical.

Varied hole types requiring different types of shots, plenty of room to air it out but not strictly a 'big arm' course, concrete pads, lightly-worn solid baskets, reasonably accurate tee signs, clean course, water hazards, good use of wooded area to make some more technical holes, fairly easy walking.

Can be difficult to navigate the first time, hole 5 is accessed by walking across a parking lot and plays near a road, could use some more creativity with basket location (for example: 3,4, and 5 are all 'straight at the basket' drives of various lengths), can get crowded with non-DG traffic, needs more trashcans, discs can be lost here both in the woods/undergrowth, and water (creek and lake).

Difficulty: Noob - Pro. Probably the most balanced public course in Columbia; very popular with all types of players (many people in Missouri get their DG start here). It pairs well with the shorter and more technical front course.

The wooded holes play really well and are enjoyable. Also they are faily secluded lets you kind of get away.

Along with the very good holes the are some pretty bad ones link #2 wich basically has you throw blindly into a big patch of trees with no opening in them whatsoever. The course could also use some help in directing you on where next hole is. Could be very confusing for people new to course

This course is not great not bad it has some very good holes but also some awful one ie #2

Not as pathetic as other courses in Columbia

Most pins at "A" placement which I'm sure contributed to the crappiness of this course. Flat, not very challenging, awful layout, almost impossible to locate tees without a guide

I guess if you live in and around Columbia and have no other frame of reference for a decent course, you might give this a 3 out of 5 - scoring 1 to bring down average to more accurately reflect course

Holes are all challenging.
Very nice tee pads.
Water comes into play.
Ace runs even for my short arm.
Multiple and varied pin locations.

Most of the signs are useless.
No flow to the course.
Hole #2 no shot for short armed old man, I know sounds like a personal problem.

If I had not played with someone that had played this course I would have been lost, to me one of the most important things a course needs to take care of is good signs.

I really liked how the water was brought into play but I do think some bridges would be a great idea.

Very nice mixture of shots - shorter technical holes, as well as long par 4 pin placements (championship placements play par 58). Recently updated, with 2 new holes on the east side of the parking lot from #4. Lots of new pin placements as well. Park is maintained pretty well.

Course signs need to be updated with new layouts - the club and city are currently working on this issue, should be new signs by next season hopefully. A few of the longer placements are currently difficult to spot if you aren't familiar with the course.

Potentially the most balanced course in Mid-Missouri, and featured course during the Mid-America Open in July. Stretched out, there are a few 500'+ holes on the course, but lots of fun (but not easy) ace runs when it's in a shorter setup.

This park is very well maintained and clean. I have always been impressed how well the grass is mowed and how little trash there is out there.

The course itself is a lot of fun. There is ton of diversity which I am a big fan of. While there are no 600 ft behemoth holes, there is plenty of variation in distances and use of the land. A nice balance of open, park-like, and wooded holes with tons of well placed mature trees to wreak havoc on would-be great shots. There is even water that can come to play on at least half the holes on the course in the form of a pond and a deep creek that snakes throughout much of the course. The concrete tee pads are luxurious. Some of the largest tee pads I have played on, period. You could set up an RV on these things.

At one point, this course had very good signs. At this point, the signs are mostly worthless. There are a few that seem to still be accurate, but many have become outdated and unhelpful.

The flow of the course is very confusing. It is super easy to get lost. I have no idea how someone who has never played out here before would find their way. About half of the holes require you to walk back across the fairway you just through across to get to your next tee.

The baskets are just okay. At one point they were awesome, but because this is an old course, the baskets reflect that. Not a big issue, just thought I would throw that out there.

The flow and signage issues keep this from being outstanding in my book. This would easily be a 4-4.5 for me if those issues were ever resolved...but I don't see the flow issue ever being completely corrected. The signage issue would bump this to a 4 by itself.

I still love playing out here and head that way whenever I am in the area. It is probably the best course in the middle of the state.