*Good variety of shots required
*Good variety of long/short range holes
*Beautiful mature trees make for some good nature sitings
*Well kept
*Opportunities to score for all levels

*Rough part of town - Play with a friend!
*Old baskets
*Old tee markers / Signs

My top course to play in Indy proper. Well kept, with need for some updating to tees, baskets, signage, etc. Opportunities for aces, birdies, and bogies and doubles on the other end of the spectrum.

For city park in a very flat Indianapolis, there is a fair amount of elevation change
Some heavily wooded holes mixed with open bombers
Concrete tee pads are in good shape
Lots of interesting and memorable holes
Huge old growth trees
Generally well kept
Hole 4 is really fun ace opportunity from an elevated tee over a valley to a basket.
15-18 a fun final four

Take someone who knows the course with you if you can or print off the map on here as navigation between holes can get a little confusing
A couple of the tee markers seem like they have the wrong distance
8-14 stretch is a little repetitive

I have played probably 20-25 rounds in my first year of disc golf. This course is very fun but would be much more fun if I had more experience and could throw further. Not a lot of birdie opportunities for a noodle arm, as it probably should be.

18 Mach 3 baskets that catch great.

Concrete Tees: Every hole except for 9 has a concrete throw pad (hole 9 was moved a few years ago). Hole 1 and 16 have shorter alternate tees.

Solid intermediate course. Challenging for beginners but easy to save par for experienced players.

Elevation: part of the course plays along and over a levee that doubles as a large sledding hill in the winter. Holes 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 15, 16, 17, and 18 have some form of elevation. Holes 3, 4, 17, and 18 have major elevation.

Water hazards: Many holes have water hazards if you overthrow or or throw a wild disc. Water is not a factor on this course. These holes are 7, 10, 12, 14, and 15. Keep it away from trees and you should be fine.

Variety: Long open holes, hilly bomb throws (4 and 18), many mature trees that will make or break your day, hyzers, anhyzers, and a few blind shots (6, 15, 16). Not many repetitive holes (see cons).

Benches and trash cans on site. Benches near parking lot, hole 5 and hole 7. Trash cans near start of course and hole 7.

Room to expand: a ton of open space to expand course. During tournaments here, this land is used for additional holes.

Decent hand drawn signs that list par, distance, and picture of hole.

Only 1 tee per hole (with exception of 1, 9, and 16). Alternate tees would greatly improve this course on many holes regardless if they are similar difficulty or a different difficulty. It would add variety.

Signs need updated. Newer signs would make this course more visually appealing. Old ones are starting to fade. Course also needs a map at the start, and next hole signs/arrows.

Not in nicest part of town.

Navigation can be tricky for new players. After hole 4, cross bridge next to hole 1 tee, hole 5 is to the right. After hole 6, walk past tee for hole 5 to 7 tee. After hole 9, walk along the road until you get to hole 10 tee. It's about a 2 minute walk. After hole 14, either walk to bridge and backtrack half of hole 15 to tee or cross creek at the road. Next hole arrows would greatly help new players.

Holes 11-14 are all repetitive and feel like the same hole plus or minus a few trees. It doesn't take away from the rating of the course but in the summer, there is not much shade. These holes could use some new trees to make it more difficulty and less repetitive.

I equally like this course and nearby Washington. This course is much more challenging and hilly. The levee is my favorite part of the course. This is one of the courses that I play every year. Haven't had a bad experience here. Course is a great compliment to Washington Park.

Additional tees, new signs, a few new trees on holes 11-14, and a course map would greatly improve this course. I would definitely recommend it to anybody in Indy or anybody visiting.

Easily accessible at the 'crossroads of America', Brookside Park has a sprawling and challenging disc golf course that uses the distances, elevations and turns of this somewhat urban park to very nice effect. With holes ranging from 217 to 601 feet, the shorter holes are usually still challenging because of the low ceilings created by the wonderful, mature park trees. Only four of the holes risk those dreaded disc searches if you pull too tightly into the rough: most of the holes are out in the open, but have lines shaped by the woody obstacles you've got to work around, or sometimes across a steep sided basin.

Generous concrete tees at each hole (and short tees on holes 1, 9 & 16) are joined by adequate, if aging, signage showing distances, as well as some of the obstacles, and decent (again, if aging) DGA baskets. There are arrowed bricks at the baskets where needed indicating the direction you'll need to walk to the next tee (but you'll still want a map and/or a guide your first time here).

The course opens out with a humongous right-bending hole where the 300 foot driver needs to try to get to the large tree by the short tee. Monster arms can find a line around much deeper, but a deuce here would be amazing. The second hole is back to the left, and in the trees just sort of the pathway stairs, followed by an uphill hole 3 with one tree forcing a hyzer or an anny line. The fourth is an ace run downhill back to the parking lot, followed by a trek through the tunnel bridge over the creek to the 5th tee up to your right. You come back toward the bridge on a cool uphill anny (rhbh) hole #6, where you do NOT want to crank it too tight to the right and risk dropping off the edge of the earth in the woods!

From hole 6, cross past the 5th tee again to play 7, 8 & 9, which range from low ceilings to open field shot, and back to the corner (don't confuse baskets 7 & 9, both of which can be seen from their approaches). Then you hike along the road to the straightforward hyzer drive on hole 10, and the next four traditional park-like baskets. Once more around the road to another anny on 15, but this time downhill. You still want to avoid going too tight to the right, as there is a bridge and a steep-cliffed creek down in the woods here.

Hole 16 is memorable from the long tee: drive to or just past the short tee for a look at the ridge and the trees that guard the (blind) basket beneath a beautiful, huge tree, and just before the drop into the basin beyond. Then try to keep your drive on 17 from rolling down the hill, and finish with a downhill 342 footer on 18, back to the parking lot and shelter.

If anything needs updating at this park first, it would be newer signs and next tee indicators. Then, a decent bathroom and benches would be helpful. The flow of the design is a little awkward, having to cross past the 5th tee to get to #7, and the walks after holes 10 & 14 are right up against the roadway. Finally, the neighborhood kids that use the basketball courts have a tendency to pick up your discs as if they own them (even in the middle of a tournament with over 80 players on the course), so I'm not entirely sure I'd be comfortable playing alone here (at least on holes 7-9), because I'm not a runner, and can't afford to lose my drivers.

The park is large enough for 3 to 6 really nice temp holes used in tournament play, and I know those who enjoyed the 24th annual Checkered Flag Open agree: we can all overcome a rain delay if we yell loudly enough, and long enough, "I Wanna Play!!!"

Brookside Park is a very fun and challenging course! Its located only 5-10 minutes from downtown Indy. There are a lot of great reviews written on Brookside so I'll reiterate the key pro's and con's in my opinion.

*Long challenging holes, but with the addition of a few alternate tee pads (1,9,16) the course sets up nicely for intermediate & adv/pro level players.
*A decent variety of shots, especially in the beginning and end of the course.
*Fun elevation changes on the holes located around the large water detention area. ( its almost always dry with cut grass)
*very nice park,lots of space with mature trees and usually well maintained.
*concrete pads are in good shape
*most holes have clear routes which reward good tee shots, but there is also some level of creativity and risk reward as well

*overall decent baskets, but they are old and not the most reliable
*signs are out of date
*navigating the course can be tricky at first, and there is a long walk between more than one hole
*wind can be a major factor in the large open areas (added wind challenge can be a plus or minus)
*some sections of woods have thick undergrowth and steep slopes
*use caution when sports teams are practicing or people are walking in the open areas
*holes 11-14 are pretty redundant with moderate length and mostly straight ahead shots

Definitely a Brookside fan! Its a old course that continues to play well year after year. Its in need of some updates, but a course you should play in Indy.

A lot of people compare Washington Park and Brookside... since they are only 5 minutes apart... and I rated both courses at 3.5, but for slightly different reasons. I find myself having a bit more fun at Washington because of the variety of shots, course layout,ace opportunities and disc golf atmosphere. On the contrary, Brookside for the lengthy challenge, the park itself is very pretty and spacious, and the course isn't as crowded.

Cant go wrong.. PLAY THEM BOTH!

-The "front side" of the course (see my Other Thoughts below for details).
-The most challenging course in Indy.
-Great use of the unique landscape.
-Requires a solid range of different shots.
-Not a lot of other park traffic to contend with for the most part.
-Good concrete teepads for both pro and am tees.
-An older course that has some character.

-Signage stinks.
-Some of the baskets could use updating.
-Navigation can be difficult. The last time I played there a new player came up to us on hole 15 trying to figure out where hole 10 was. We had trouble just trying to explain to him how to get there.
-Definitely not in the best part of town.
-No available restrooms/benches/amenities of any kind.
-Don't go in the creek.

Brookside is really divided into two separate parts which I will refer to as the "front side" and the "back side." The front side basically consists of holes 1 through 4 and holes 15 through 18, while the back side has holes 5 through 14.

The front side of Brookside is great. These holes largely incorporate a massive rain basin (don't worry, it's almost always dry) that creates some very sharp and interesting elevation changes. Holes 1 and 16 are very long and difficult, legit par 4s for an am like myself, and even the pros in the league I play in often struggle to get these in 3. The other holes on the front side are much easier, but are equally different and entertaining.

The back side of the course is much less interesting. It's your basic, straight-forward dg course with some variety in length and a bunch of trees that you have to throw under and around, but nothing too special. You essentially just grind your way through it so you can get back to the fun holes on the front side of the course.

Overall I would give the front side of Brookside a 4 and the back side a 2.5, which I'll average out to a 3.5. It's the toughest course in Indy (which may not be saying much) and definitely one you don't want to miss if you're visiting the city and looking for a place to play.

- Course is set in a fairly large park that has some other activities present, but the disc golf is pretty well separated. There are a few spots close to some basketball courts, and some busy roads, but there shouldn't be much interference.
- The majority of the holes here are on flat ground, with lots of trees or forest to force some different lines. It kicks off in a big way with a 600' dogleg right around a dense forest. Most other holes have lots of mature trees to contend with, some of which are pretty low and take away a lot of options. Overall, a straight shot or hyzer can get the job done on most of these.
- Other holes are more open, but have noticeable elevation changes to contend with. #3 is up the side of a hill, and #4 and #18 come back down in a big way. #6 is an uphill RHBH anny, while #15 is a significant downhill RHBH anny shot. These are both interesting holes that make good use of the trees and hills. #2 and #17 have sloping greens playing on the hill as well.
- Some baskets are pretty well protected by trees, and others have sloping greens that can punish a bad putt or approach shot. Drive or upshot placement is vital to leave a good look at the basket, while avoiding the risk of a miss turning into a very bad miss.
- Excellent variety in hole length, lots of different shots because of it. Two holes over 400', another at 570', and one more at 600' for the big arms. A few shorties as well, which are legit ace runs with a backboard both up and down the hill. Good mix in between these too. Holes #1 and #16 are both solid par 4's, with one a 90 degree turn around the woods, and other up a sloping fairway, over a hill, and finishing near some trees with a sloping green.
- Good teepads, baskets, and signs. Navigation is pretty tricky without the map, definitely check it out beforehand.

- A good variety in holes overall, but there are many that feel very similar. The flat section of the park uses the trees to make things interesting, but they are all straightforward and don't require much thought. Distance and very basic line shaping are the only key.
- The roads that border the course make for some interesting OB at times, but overall it is an eyesore and a distraction. At least the course is well spread out anyway. Some long walks in between holes as well, including next to a busy road.
- When I was there it smelled pretty bad in some places. The warning signs for raw sewage in the water are definitely believeable.

- All in all, a pretty fun course that rewards players with bigger arms. Lots of deuce chances here; especially for players that have accurate distance. A decent amount of fun shots as well, thanks to the different elevation changes that are well used. Overall it is pretty open, though, and doesn't place too much emphasis on accuracy. More experienced players will probably cruise through, but should enjoy it. Everyone else should find it a bit challenging.

•Nice use of the Topography •Shots Up & Down hill,on #3,4,18. Sides of hills,#2,6,17. Over a "Levee",#16. •Mach 3? Targets. Catch very well with deep baskets. •All concrete tees are perfect! •No Large,or even small, Limbs on the course. •Large Paved Parking lot with Nice sized Pavilion,trash cans and DG only Info board.

•Grass needs cut more often, seems everytime I play it it's a week or more past the time. •Not enough trash cans,I diid see more. But they need to be bolted down to a small concrete pad. •Benches, the only ONE I remember is located by the basketball courts.•Tee signs need to be replaced but with the Vandalism I can see why they may not get done. As another reviewer posted,I believe, "Four areas of DG".... Well posted! Print the new map! You'll need it.

I've heard that members of the Indianapolis disc golf club (Indydiscgolf.com) have been doing work on the courses. I was interested in what was done, I did some work on the course about 10 years ago. New atees signs,built the Information board painted the number plates. Well, the active members have made this course much better. The first thing they did was upgrade the Bulletin Board,New Plexi-Glass,updated information,Course map (highly recommend taking a picture,if you can,with hour phone. If you forgot to print one off Links/Files,you'll need it!). A new #1 tee pad.The old one had a rather large corner cracked and broken off,anyway the new tee is now PRO #1 601' anyzer. #1 Am. is 318' straight shot with a low canopy in front of the tee. No tee sign,yet? #8 plays to a very large tree which makes your Approach a low canopy shot. But,to a smaller tree behind the large one I thought I was throwing to. #9 has two new concrete tees. All number plates have been repainted with white background and red numbers. Brush has been cleared out on #6. this COULD make it easier to Ricochet/Roll down the steep hill. Brush was also cleared out by #15 tee.Last I played I remember a bush that needed trimming. Members also removed part of an over grown bush around #17 tee. So you can see it better,it's about 100' north by the road. Thanks to all for the hard work! It needed it. The neigborhood has it's problems. I didn't see any "Neighborhood Crime watch signs" or enough street lights (that may or may not work) so there's a few reasons why the course/park gets vandalized?

A couple of very nice elevation changes (Can't tell by the photo's on here though); and almost all of the holes are 300-450 with one over 600 feet. You will need a nice array of shots to do well; and most pro's will be able to have a birdie shot (based on 3's for all holes, not par); although for the rec player, expect to go several shots over if counting by 3's. Very clean and well kept grounds.

While the first five holes are easy to follow, there are a couple of holes after that where you will need to look down at the ground where the course has little (perhaps 3 inches wide X 10 inches long) concrete markers directing you to the next tee (give the course designers credit for putting these in the ground though!). The signs for each hole have been damaged (apparently many times over by the locals); but were generally helpful, albeit all hand drawn due to the on-going vandalism). Another con was that that holes 11-14 (Can't quite recall which holes though) were nothing more than 300 footers over flat ground that were paralleling each other, which was kind of redundant (especially when there is plenty of room available to amend this injustice!!!).

I don't recall a sign showing where the course was within the park; however we were eventually able to find hole #1 by driving around the perimeter of the park. We played the course on a sunny Saturday morning; yet we were apparently the only player's on the course; so whether it was because it was just hot out (99 degrees); or a testament to the surrounding neighborhood I don't know; but it seemed a shame that there were not other players enjoying this fun course. If this course were in my community (Louisville KY), it would be played all the time! My bottom line is to play it; however think twice before playing it by yourself...

Great variety of long and short shots. Also a great ratio of open shots to technical ones. The baskets, though more shallow than I'm used to playing, are in great condition. Same for 17 of the pads.

Can get very soggy after rain. Difficult to navigate. It's in a pretty rough part of town.

I always have a fun time here. But if you have a noodle arm (like me) prepare for your score to suffer on this course. My father-in-law got a disc stuck in a tree on 9 and a guy across the street got my attention with his megaphone and told us to use his 12 ft. bamboo pole to knock it out. That made me think better of the neighborhood. But, then again, my mother-in-law was punched in the face and robbed there while she was walking her dog and, a couple of years ago, disc golfers went into the creek looking for a disc and stumbled upon a corpse. Play at your own risk.

Great elevation

Awesome 1st hole

Nice distance course

Nice pads

Good balance

Poor signage

Difficult to navigate

This course has more than meets the eye.

I love long courses. This course is long, but still loaded with deuces. One third of the 18 holes are over 350ft. Hole one is 600ft. Nice start!

A lake bed plays into the front and back nine. With this, you get tremendous elevation shots. Hole 4 and 18 both shoot from the upper rim to the lower opposing side, creating awesome finesse, sail shots.

The course has nice diversity of lengths and angles. For the most part, its pretty much an open course. Open, but not plain. There are plenty of trees, just nothing too tight. You will still have to shape some nice lines for par.

You will definitely need a map. Don't hit the course without it...unless you want to wander.

This was a very fun course. All said and done, it has just about everything you look for. I needed most discs in my bag and used multiple releases.

- The variety of shots that you get at brookside is it's best attribute. it opens with a 600+ footer that favors a forehand throw, and then rolls into a shorter shot that runs into some trees. Couple all of that with some of the most drastic elevation changes that you can have on a course in the midwest, and it makes for a fun day.
- The pads, save for pro pad on 9, were all in good shape.

- not all of the holes are marked very well, and there is no way to know where the next hole it. Aside from that, this course was fun.

Take a local with you!
If I played this course by myself, I would have missed half of the course.
This is a fun course that favors the forehand player, or someone with a bunch of anyhyzer shots in their bag. Loads of fun and lots of variety.

-nice teepads and baskets
-tons of shot variety for every type of throw
-mature trees and and not so thick rough
-low ceiling shots
-elevation change (3,4,18)

- lack of trashcans
- signs are old and need updated
- sometimes the other people on the course can be a problem

All but a few holes on this course use the same teepad, but the Indy Disc Golf Club should be putting in an actual pad on 9 for the pro pad, as well as an Am pad on hole 1. Hole 16 has both a pro and am pad. This year's Checkered Flag open was a big success with Ams playing on Saturday and Pros on Sunday, big turnout for both divisions.

****Key info for people who have never played this course: After hole 4 (big elevation change downhill, 283 ft) go past the tee for 1 and cross the bridge with the fences on both sides, from their walk up the hill to the right to find the tee for 5. Hole 5 runs down the access road to the left with the parking lot to the right. Hole six is across the access road from the basked on 5, its a big anhyzer shot for RHBH. From the basket on 6 cross the access road again, walk past the tee for 5 and the teepad for 7 is next to the basketball courts. After you bucket hole 9 walk to the left around by the road, then follow the dirt trail along the road to the pad for 10. After hole 14 walk around the bridge on the sidewalk (the road will be to your right) and around the corner to the teepad for 15.

www.indydiscgolf.com

****Pro pad on one has been repoured to make for a longer tee pad. Am pad has been poured on one as well. Pro pad has been poured on hole nine too.

Good distance, great variety, and some really unique shot opportunities make this course a must play for intermediate and up. Good placement of tees and baskets make the sparse mature trees count.

As everyone has stated this course is in the middle of the hood. I've only played there once but my dad plays a lot in his Indy circuit and has never been bothered before. Aside from that a few holes play through high traffic areas so be careful as you go. One tee was missing and a few signs are gone. With such distance between holes in spots that can be annoying. All in all a good course with few flaws.

A few spots to lose a disc so play safe when possible.

This course has a lot more holes with good length than any others in the area. It's nice to be able to have the chance to rip it a few times on a course, especially when these longer holes are not all wide open. Brookside offers a nice mix of some open holes across a flood plain and holes through scattered mature trees. The course also calls for a nice mix of shot selections, with lots of holes that turn both ways, and some straight ones mixed in.

The few holes that play in the part of the park with elevation changes do a nice job of making use of this elevation. I really enjoy the shots from one side of the flood plain to the other, both up and down.

The majority of the tees are nice concrete pads that seemed large enough, and were in good shape. The couple tees that were not concrete were at least level and clearly defined. Most of the signs were also intact, and had distance and par for the hole.

The biggest issue with this course is the navigation issues. There are three places where the next tee is not at all obvious, and requires a fairly long walk. As some previous reviewers stated, these walks would not be bad at all if they were clearly marked and easy to follow. There were also some signs that were missing, and this was in a part of the course that had obviously been changed at some point, leaving some confusion in the layout.

This course will test many different parts of your game, and makes for overall an enjoyable round. I would agree with the other players who have said that this and nearby George Washington Park make a great pair, and between them you will really feel like you've used almost all your different shots.

The course is not in the nicest part of town, but neither I nor anyone I know has had any issues playing here, and all the people I've met on the course (including many non dg players) have been friendly.

This is a longer course with large mature trees and a solid design given what there is to work with in the park. It makes good use of the few available trees to shape some of the holes. About half the holes are medium length (275-325ft) and the rest are longer (350-600ft).

There are some big elevation changes on a few of the holes at the start and end of the course which is around a man made drainage area. There are some of the most fun holes on the course.

The shot variety is good, there are a few holes that force turnover shots and some other with multiple routes through the trees. The trees create a low ceiling on some of the holes which adds to the challenge here.

There are walking paths and roads that come into play on a number of the holes. After playing a tournament here it seems they only play the roads as OB, not the walking paths. That's worth mentioning as it's not really noted on the signs.

If you've got a big arm you'll have fun out here trying to get your birdies. The course is beginner friendly because it is so open with little rough to worry about, but as previously mentioned it is on the long side.

There are two great par 4 holes holes here which I always like to see on a course. Hole 1 is the first par 4, a 600 ft turnover shot with rough on the right and OB road on the left; great starting hole. The next par 4 is on hole 16. The elevation changes as you approach the basket make it a fun but tough hole.

Water and restrooms are available at the large tan building about a 1000ft past hole 8's basket. On a hot summer day it's definitely worth the walk to get water since that's the only place it's available near the course.

The park and surrounding area is not in a very nice part of town. While I've not heard of anything bad happening to golfers here, I would not recommend playing here by yourself later in the day.

There is a walk from 4-5, 6-7, 9-10, 14-15. I didn't have much of a problem finding the next hole the first time I played here, but it wasn't obvious either. Signs pointing to the next tee would be a welcome addition. ***UPDATE*** It appears there are some small arrows pointing to the next hole but they don't stand out well.

The course can get a little muddy, especially the bottom of the dry lake bed, when it rains but that's pretty normal for a disc golf course.

This is a fun course that's worth checking out when you're in Indy. George Washington Park is just couple miles away and these two courses compliment each other well.

Giant dried up lakebed which offers some crazy shots of a cliff into the basin. Large steep-banked creek winds throughout and will swallow discs whole if you're not careful, but is pretty easy to avoid.

Rough neighborhood that almost makes it not worth playing. Poorly marked course and some holes are difficult to find.

This course is fun because of the lakebed, but doesn't really offer anything that Washington can't give you. The neighborhood is pretty sketchy and I've had some nervous moments there with questionable characters hanging around. I always go play with a small group. Most holes are pretty straight-forward without many obstacles other than slight dog-legs are single trees that are generally easy to avoid. I'd rather play Sahm than this course on most occassions.