The new and improved Church Creek DGC feels a lot like the old and unimproved Church Creek, only with 18 baskets instead of 9. The colored course sign which welcomes you is still the original 9 hole layout. The original 9 has concrete tee pads while the new back nine has natural pads at this time. It's the same story with the signs, the original 9 has nice little metal signs while the new 9 has no signage yet. Note, that a couple of the original 9 holes have not been changed to another hole even though the original sign is still there. For an example, after playing # 10, you are directed to the 11th hole which stills has the old # 6 sign. It's a tad confusing.

It's really helpful that hanging under each basket is a small plastic/rubber arrow pointing you towards the next pad. The Mach V baskets are a combo of the older ones with a rim on top to brand new models.

The course is a solid recreational play with hole distances ranging from 150' up to almost 300'. There are enough trees for this to be considered a technical course. You will hit some trees. I hit the public enemy # 1 tree on the course on # 15. I think 15 is the absolute people's choice for the signature hole here. It's just 183' across a very deep and nasty gorge. The basket is mostly hidden behind a couple of Douglas Fir trees. Really, the only true, horrible error you can make here is to hit this one Doug Fir tree and then carom way, way down into the nasty abyss. So naturally, this 716 rated reviewer (which coincidentally is the exact same score that I received on the SAT many years earlier) did just that. Luckily, for me, I had hooked up with Robert, a college aged young man who volunteered to climb down the abyss and retrieve my disc. I'm considering adopting Robert.

Natural tees and no signage on much of new added 9.

I wouldn't care to play this course in the wet winter months. There were muddy areas in mid-July when we haven't had much rain lately. Spring wouldn't be much better. Boots recommended.

Recreational distances and challenge, too. Probably not a course for Intermediate players and above.

The Church Creek DGC sits just four miles off of I-5 making for a nice pit stop along the interstate. When I first played this course years ago, I wrote in my review about a scary log crossing over a 8 foot deep gorge. I am proud to announce that a real (safe) bridge has been built. I'm eternally grateful!

Hopefully, the needed improvements (concrete pads and signage) will soon be made. When that happens, the course will be a little more enjoyable to play.

- Great course for beginners, all of the holes are short but offer enough challenge to be interesting. Experienced players will find it easy, but still will have to execute lines in order to get birdies
- Clean course, almost no litter to be found.
- Pleasant setting, quiet city park with a nice woodsy atmosphere
- Bathrooms on site
- The course could be confusing to follow, but yellow tape on the baskets point to the next tee and makes it pretty easy
- Good use of the available land

- Gets very muddy/soupy in the wintertime
- Some of the natural tees are in not good shape
- Some holes very close to each other, good chance of stray shots hitting others. Could be dangerous on a busy day
- Minimal signage, for now there are survey flags marking the tees which is helpful
- No long holes (I don't see this as a con as that's not what this course is meant to be)
- Hole 15 has a steep drop off behind the basket--very easy for discs to go over the edge. Not only is it sketchy to try to make your way down to get your disc, I foresee erosion becoming an issue

This course used to be only 9 holes and has since expanded to 18. I never played it in its 9 hole version, but rather than a new 9 being added to the end of the original 9, the holes have been sandwiched into the existing layout which makes some parts of the course clustered. I played on a drizzly MLK day and the course was basically empty so I didn't have any issues, but I could see issues arising if the course is a little crowded. As of now, the new 9 has gravel tees, some are in better condition than others. I get the feeling that they will be installing concrete tees eventually.

Playing in the wintertime, this course gets really soggy in areas. Definitely a good idea to wear waterproof shoes.

Hole 15 is likely the signature hole here, a short little putter shot of a hole, but with an extreme drop off behind it. It's a fun hole, but I could easily see someone getting hurt on it if they slip going down to retrieve their disc. And with increased use, I'm sure the hillside will lose a lot of its plant matter.

All in all, this a great recreational course. I hadn't been able to play for a few weeks before playing this course, and it was a great way to get back in the swing of things. It has enough challenge to be fun for an experienced player and yet not be too frustrating for a noobie. That being said, if you are experienced, you'll definitely be kicking yourself for any bogies. This course reminded me of Gaffney's Grove in Maple Valley or Evergreen DGC in Olympia, though easier/shorter than either of those. Well worth a stop if you're travelling along the I5 corridor, or looking for a course to introduce your friends/family to the game.