Bob Mays Park is home to a wide open 18 hole disc golf course that plays as a par 54. Located on the north side of Quincy, this is one of two 18 holes in Quincy, being close enough to each other to make for a full day of golf.

Bob Mays is a decent sized park that includes a pavilion, playground, water fountain access, exercise station area, soccer goals, and walking trails that go beyond the park. Except for some lines of brush/woods, the majority of this park is wide open fields, which is what the disc golf course resides on. The parking lot for the park is located off of 18th street, with the playground and pavilion being right next to the lot. From there, the start of the course can be found by taking the pathway around the playground and to the other side of the tree line.

This course is 5-6 years old as of the original writing of this review, and the course equipment is still in great shape. The Mach 3 baskets are all in great condition and aren't showing any signs of wear. The signs have that classic fiberglass design, and with this course layout, the basic design that comes with these signs is all that you need. I'm not sure when the concrete pads were added, but it seems like they were added after the course opened. The tee pads are a good length and seem to have plenty of grip to them. In addition, course maps and scorecards are available near the park pavilion, under a sign that points toward the start of the course. The course is pretty straight forward, as there are only 1 or 2 spots where someone may walk to the wrong tee pad.

The course layout consists of holes that vary from around 200 to 400 feet long, with some elevation adding or subtracting actual distance. The first 3 holes hug the right side of a tree line, and are perfect warm up holes for the course, being 271, 368, and 420 feet long respectively.

While a lot of this course is open and allows for multiple drive options, there are some fun specific lines on this course. Hole 12 is a right ending, and while it's not a sharp dogleg around the tree line, it greatly benefits those with a good RHBH anhyzer or RHFH drive. There are also a few holes that benefit left side ending drives, especially hole 15, which includes a sharp turn to the left around a tree line. The signature hole of the course is probably hole 9, which requires a shot around or between 2 tall trees about 50 feet in front of the tee.

This course is great for new and amateur players, as it's a great place to work on distance off the tee. Folks that have trouble hitting 300 or 400 feet will be able to work on their driving off the tee without much concern for ending up in a rough spot, with 3, 17, and 18 probably being the longest drives on the course when elevation is considered. Folks can also work on getting further off the tee while discing down on this course too, whether that be on the longer holes or some of the shorter 200 to 250 foot holes. You skill level will impact what discs you throw more on this course, where more advanced players will be going for their putters and midranges more so than their drivers.

The main con to this course is that it's very open. Apparently, the park has planted additional trees since the course was first installed, but most of the holes are still wide open. As a result, the course doesn't really force a particular shot type on a player except for a couple of holes, reducing the challenge level of the course. Given how open the course is already, there's probably only so much that designers could do with the land available, and the course just about maximizes the land it is on without intruding on other park amenities, particularly the walking paths that get substantial use. If the course utilized the lines of trees around the course more by going through them for more holes than hole 6, the course could probably be improved. This would probably require cutting down some trees or clearing brush, and I'm not sure how open to that the city would be, or if the local disc golf scene could take care of that work. As the course design stands now, the open field holes and lack of challenging aspects other than distance make for a round that feels bland.

Overall, this course is a great course for newer players to learn the game and work on their drives and putts. Anyone who has a decent drive will likely find this course to be less re-playable than many others. This course shows the difference that having obstacles to throw around can make. While there are holes that have obstacles such as trees or brush to avoid (holes 9 and 14 come to mind), the amount of of holes that are truly wide open brings down the amount of fun this course provides. Moorman Park down the road is also pretty short, but at least has some doglegs and wooded shots that mix things up a bit.

If you're new to the game, this course will be a great option to learn your form on. More seasoned players will find this course to be an opportunity to have low-score challenges. It'll be interesting to see if more trees get planted in this park, or if any adjustments to the design of the course are made over time. In the meantime, bring sunscreen and a hat for summertime rounds.

If you can throw far, 450+ you will find this course not to difficult. Nice baskets, some new pin locations are fun, but longer than original locations. Nice park, with nice amenities. My alternate home course, played here over 100 times. They also recently added some young trees (maple?) to some holes to help define them and eventually shield players on neighboring holes/tees and add some obstacles.

So much is wrong with this course, but its not all the course designer's fault, nor is it really that correctable. Still no tee pads, but there is talk they might get some in a year or so. Tee areas can get very slick in the summer when the grass is 3-4 inches long and holds dew water all day long.
There are 2 main issues with this course. The park is just a huge open area. There are small pockets of trees, which have been used as best as possible, but they are mostly over grown and on the outer edge of the park, not accessible to play. This also means that it is usually VERY windy at this park, more so than Moorman park about 5 miles away. It can get very frustrating knowing that every hole will have a wicked wind due to the wide open park and lack of trees to create wind breaks. This also means on hot summer days, this park can be brutal to play, as there is little to no shade. 2. The park is just a huge open area. (I know I repeated it but its warranted). Being like this there are very few holes where accuracy is paramount. I'm ok with some power driver holes with little to no gap to hit, but at this park its virtually every hole except 2. One can crank it way off target off the tee and still end up 40 ft away. Its RHBH power driver rewarding with little to no accuracy risk/reward. For anyone who throws 275-300 you will have a very hard time getting birdies, as the average hole is close to 350 with several over 375 ft. Last 2 holes are 400+ with 17 playing about 450 due to the uphill nature of the hole, but again no risk/reward for accuracy.

The layout isnt the fault of the local club members. While they had input on the design it ultimately came down to a park board design. This meant it was laid out as they felt it would best use the area and not interfere with the major walking path that runs through the park. Its not the best design but it is a nice change of pace to Moorman park across town. This course, and park for that matter, could be made so much better with the simple addition of more trees, and more trees, and more trees. There are so many holes and areas of the park which would look and play so much better with properly placed trees.

-Easy course to understand and to play, no real risk of losing a disc at this course
-Most holes are in the 300-350 range with no real obstacles so you really have the opportunity to let it rip and showcase your arm off the drive
-Good course to practice your drives
-Set in a quiet neighborhood

-No obstacles to speak of. I believe there's only 1 or 2 trees on the hole course that really come in to play
-Shooting back and forth across the park in a straight line can become very repetitive
-No concrete tees, not a necessity, but it is nice to have

Okay course to play every once in a while. Wouldn't recommend making a long trip to play here as you will be disappointed. Would highly recommend checking out either Moorman Park, also in Quincy or Huckleberry Park, just a short 20 minute drive southwest in Hannibal, Missouri.

UPDATE: As of October 2017, the local park district has began to plant several trees on the course to create more of a challenge to each hole. They should have all trees planted by the winter of 2017.

The course has nice new Mach 3 baskets. There are several holes where you can let loose some big drives. The park is nice, in a quiet neighborhood, and well maintained. The course flows well enough that it is fairly simple to find your way around without using the map. There are basic tee signs as well.

There are no tee pads, or even markings for a tee area. Just tee signs. Throw from somewhere near the sign I guess. All of the holes are very repetitive, playing back and forth across an open field. Most holes are easily reachable for a player than can throw 350 feet. There are trees in the park, but they rarely come into play on any hole. The only time that trees really come into play is on Hole 15, and it's a disaster of a hole. About 250 feet to a corner and then a U-turn around some trees.

The property is mostly open with some gentle hills and some patches of trees. It's not fair to expect a championship caliber course here, but it's clear the course designer was not experienced and didn't care a great deal about making a fun and entertaining challenge. I expect this course will remain mostly unplayed as it offers little challenge for an experienced player and little fun for a recreational player.

It wouldn't take much to redesign this course as there are no tee pads in place. My advice is to find an experienced course designer and make this into a solid course. With some creativity, I think it could be significantly better.