Coon Rapids DGC is a 21-hole course located in the northwest Minneapolis suburb of the same name.

This course offers a fun challenge for recreational to intermediate players, with hole distances averaging about 285'. There is a nice mix of fairways, from tightly wooded to mostly open. A highlight for me was hole 10, which is the longest on the course at 416'. This one is a gentle right turn in a wooded valley, playing more downhill than uphill. I also liked hole 14, which starts in a wide open field but gives way to a tightly wooded approach. The basket is sunken down in a stone pit, with the top of the cage at ground level.

Elsewhere on the course, there are rolling elevation changes on a handful of holes - most significantly the last four. The course ends with a wide open throw down a sledding hill, but it is only 300'. There are also several holes where a water retention pond could come into play. It is always on the right side of the fairway, which made it pretty easy for this RHBH thrower to avoid (for better or worse).

The baskets are DGA models. Some holes appeared to have multiple pin placements, but only one basket is installed per hole.

The tee pads are well-laid paver arrays in wood frames. I liked these. Some holes appeared to have a second "short" tee just to make things easier for beginners (not a true second layout).

The tee signs are OK. As of my visit, there were kind of two iterations of them. What looked to be the older set of signs is more permanent, but less detailed with only a hole number/distance/par. Underneath these were newer-looking signs with more detail (including a map of the hole and even an elevation profile) but these were much more temporary looking and a couple of them were missing. Hopefully there are plans to make the more detailed signs more permanent.

Trash cans and benches appear periodically near tees. There is a kiosk with a course map at the first tee (the map is fading and could use a re-print), and porta potties near the parking lot.

Holes 1-2 are kind of close to the road, and many holes are kind of close together. There is nothing egregious, but overall the course feels a bit cramped. The navigation is also tricky in spots. The overall layout kind of loops around and back on itself quite a bit, and there are some weird transitions and longer walks between holes - so more arrows would definitely be helpful.

The former hole 9 has been removed, so you proceed directly from hole 8 to hole 10 (not a bad transition with the way the holes are laid out). The end of the course has also been rethought. The sequence of final holes is hole 19 -> hole "A" -> hole 21 -> hole 20. It looked like this change was at least a year old. Why not just renumber all of the holes to minimize confusion?

There aren't any long, open holes to really air out drives.

I did not see a practice basket.

Road noise takes away from the aesthetic a little bit.

This is a fun shorter course that could be a 3.5 with a couple little details ironed out. I'd play here often if I was a local. As is with me visiting the area, I had about 90 minutes to bag another course between BRP and the hotel I was staying at and Coon Rapids DGC fit the bill. It's nothing that visitors should go out of their way to play, but I was pleased with my decision to stop here.

21 holes, decent variety. Multiple pin positions.

There is a hole for everyone here, from the kind of bomber open holes, to super tight wooded holes. Even some elevation.

21 holes all seem to have at least 2 pin positions so depending on when they are moved and such you can have a lot of different looks.

Decent signs showing direction to next hole as stuff, as the layout wraps on itself a bit.

Dirt tees. Seriously I hate natural tees so much on a heavily used course in the cities.

No lines on some holes. Too many holes are basically a poke and pray type shot. There is no clear line, and the trees prevent a skill shot. It is basically a luck if you hit the perfect line from a couple hundred feet out. Some of the alternate pins are the worst at this, as they are just in groves of small trees.

Lots of roots and stumps. One of my playing partners was rocking a cart and had some trouble. I had a couple times I twisted an ankle walking. Course just needs some of that stuff beat down better.

Not a terrible course, just very Meh. Has potential to be better. Open up a couple clearer lines on some of the holes, put in some concrete pads, and it moves into 4 territory.

Nice signs, but they don't have any hole design on them, so the blind holes you have to go scout up a bit and hope you are looking at the right basket. Really would have been nice to see a hole layout and maybe the possible placements on the signs.

- There is a great variety of shots at this course. Everything from tight wooded shots, to open downhill shots, doglegs, water play, etc. This is where this course shines. You'll use every shot in your bag playing here.
- Excellent use of limited elevation.
- Difficult and technical. Definitely not a course for beginners.
- Playing along the creek is nice for a few holes, but only sorta comes into play on one hole (#11). Or if you really griplock a shot on #3 I guess.
- Good signage (this is a recent addition) - although fairly large. I think the size was to help with spotting the next tee for navigation purposes. Some of the more confusing sections of the course also have arrows to aid navigation, which is nice.
- Improves frequently as it is still a new course. Seriously, every time I play here it is better. Absolutely amazing how much work is being put into it. Thanks to everyone who helps with those efforts! It is for this reason that I expect this to course to move closer to a 4+ star level over time.

- Short holes, but an excellent use of the space.
- Tee pads (or lack thereof). Please PLEASE install concrete tee pads if at all possible. Almost every hole's tee area is not level, and in the spring or any recent rain, a mud pit. The only hole with an actual tee pad is #1, and frankly I hardly see it used. It is a step up wood box filled with woodchips (not solid), and is constructed too short in my opinion.
- I can appreciate the technicality of the course, but some holes are too unforgiving. The best example is the tee shot for #6. There is almost no gap from the area by the sign. It seems like some more tree trimming is needed. Hole #14 is also like this - if you have an excellent tee shot from the field into the gap, you are still subject to lady luck as it is completely jail through to the basket.
- #18 and #19 are in sort of a marshy area which tends to be wet and muddy, from what I have seen. I'm sure this is seasonal though.

Most of these cons are not related to the course design, but rather the state of the course as it stands now. I play this course frequently and will be updating this review as these issues are (hopefully) addressed.

What is the deal with hole #4? I just don't get it. Total gimmick hole in my opinion. I expect there will be a mando closer to the turn of the dogleg eventually, but as of now there is almost no incentive to even use the fairway. A 130 degree dogleg just isn't fun..

This course is also very littered, there is a lot of garbage laying around. I was going to list that as a con, but I realize it is not the fault of the course itself. Please pick up after yourselves people.

#2 and #18 sort of overlap fairways, which could be dangerous on a busy day. Hasn't been an issue for me yet.

As note to future players: #20 and #21 are pulled in the winter (I assume) because the hill is a popular sledding hill.

Some shots are tricky which makes it fun. There's a couple wide open space to get in a little pocket between the trees hole, that's fun.
It changes up on you a lot from hole to hole, some holes are wide open field shots then your in the woods trying to keep it under branches.

Some shots are really tough dog leg turns that branches make impossible. It's tough to find your way since the since just say the number and a couple holes in the woods are really close so you could get lost for a second out there. No clue where the hill top hole's basket is.

I've created a group to meet there on sundays to play against random teams and maybe make a tournament or league https://www.facebook.com/grou...658695472195/