Pros: Fairly forgiving . Some trees but not punishing. Nice length holes for a 250'-300' arm. Very pretty cypress trees! Looks like a solid intermediate could on occasion par this course, but need a decent arm and straight shot. It's in Monterey, a very nice CA town.

Course a bit worn and some holes could interfere with others. Front 9 has old asphalt streets running through the course. A bit repetitive. Not that imaginative of a course layout. Seems like wind could be a factor on summer afternoons.

-DGA Mach 5 and X baskets
-Usually tee signs with distance and OB descriptions
-Several holes used in 2011 PDGA Pro World Championship
-Shot distances are variable, from about 225 ft to 681 ft
-Cement tee pads on several holes (a circle tee) and large swaths of astroturf for other holes
-Generally good flow, ending near where you start (and you can start on any hole)

-Tee signs have multiple "signs" on them, some original and some from the World's layout, some from local events, and so the numbering and distances are really odd
-No on-course amenities (e.g., bathroom, water)
-Parking fee required, up to $4 for a day pass (good until midnight) at a ticket dispenser (cash or coins). Fee parking in front of University Police building is in the middle of the course. You can start on hole 19 or 9 if you do not want to walk to hole 1
-Allows for a wide variety of shots since there are many wide-open holes
-Low chance of losing a disc on most holes unless you end up in a Monterey Cypress tree

Some distances are estimated (~). Others were taken from tee signs.
Hole 1 (~375'): Round cement tee at corner of Divarty St and General Jim Moore Blvd. Pin framed by large eucalyptus trees about midway down the fairway. Usually a strong headwind and OB road to left. As you tee, white chapel is at your back and Divarty St (OB) on left.
Hole 2 (~300'): Astroturf tee that is just past pin 1, tee points downhill to pin 2, which is partially obstructed by large cypress tree. Usually a big spike hyzer and skip gets you in putting range.
Hole 3 (~260'): Astroturf tee back up hill from pin 2. Flat mid-range shot between cypress trees to pin 3 downslope.
Hole 4 (~330'): Astroturf tee to left of pin 3. Basket is up the hill on a mound of ice plant just past a yellow hydrant. Big air shot to either side (or over) the cypress in the middle of the fairway.
Hole 5 (~400'): Round cement tee on raised area right of pin 4 (World's tee). Basket is down the slope, protected by a row of cypress trees on right and a pine on the left, and surrounded by OB. White lines on roads indicate in vs. out and drop zone is about midway down the slope.
Hole 6 (~300'): Round cement tee to left of pin 5 (World's tee). Uphill with big trees blocking most flight paths, and OB road on either side. Drop zone marked. Big arms go RHBH hyzer bomb with wind pushing disc right to left.
Hole 7 (~270'): Round cement tee to left of pin 6 (World's tee). Uphill with a few trees blocking most flights, and OB road on either side, on a raised platform and drop zone marked. Most go RHBH spike hyzer with wind pushing disc right to left.
Hole 8 (~420'): Round cement tee to right of pin 7 (World's tee). Similar to hole 5, but trees mostly on right. Drop zone about 200 ft from tee. OB to either side of fairway and marked with white lines on asphalt.

Holes 9-18 are "new" holes, placed after the removal (2015?) of several buildings, parking lots, and asphalt roads. The removal of these military-base buildings gives this section an odd look, since the trees were preserved, and many roads are now gravel paths. For those of you who played the original course, or the world's course, you will be surprised at the difference but eerie familiarity. All tees from 9-18 are astroturf pinned into the sandy soil.

Hole 9 (330'): After hole 8, cross the street (Inter-Garrison Rd), walk along the front face of the University Police building, and the tee for 9 is across the access road. The basket may or may not be in place, which is up the hill. I have played this hole on three different occasions and it was in only once.
Hole 10 (327'): Tee is to the left of pin 9. Pin is between cypress trees and small pines block the way unless you go up and over them. Slight downhill.
Hole 11 (393'): Tee is right of pin 10 near edge of access road. Low ceiling off tee and one pine tree in the middle of fairway, slight uphill.
Hole 12 (357'): Tee to right of pin 11 and set back a little. Flat shot between cypress trees, right into headwind and along old roadway.
Hole 13 (330'): Tee to left of pin 12 and set back 100 ft. Flat shot again, right into headwind and pin on a raised bank near large cypress.
Hole 14 (~355'): Tee beyond and slightly left of pin 13, 200 ft walk. Shot parallels nearby road and drops over old parking lots.
Hole 15 (~225'): Tee past and to right of pin 14. Shortest hole. Rope behind pin is OB and close to pin. Two trees frame the basket.
Hole 16 (681'): Tee slightly right of pin 15 and about 100 ft past it. Longest hole of the course. Straight off tee and past large parking lot that is now gravel.
Hole 17 (381'): Tee right of pin 16. Shot heads through a stand of cypress trees. Pick your flight path but avoid the evenly spaced big tree trunks.
Hole 18 (370'): Tee right of pin 17 about 150 ft. Drive under (or over?) cypress trees framing the pin, which is downhill.

Once you finish 18, walk past the University Police building again, this time on the backside where all the police cruisers are parked. Cross Inter-Garrison Rd again and you will see tee 19.

Hole 19 (~340'): Round cement tee near street (World's tee, old #9). Drive slightly uphill to a pin with a slope backing it and a few trees to either side.
Hole 20(~380'): Walk up the slope behind pin 19 to a round cement tee near street (World's tee, old #10). Drive down to pin to left of a massive cypress tree.

the west section is nice, front 8 andmaybe 19 &20 if recall. good tees, cool clear air off the bay, no poison oak, fresh air if your allergies are bugging you, come here. good tees, good condition, college campus, former Fort Ord, some views, not busy

back 9 are repetitive with not enough technical and too much distance for non-pros. need to pay for parking.

a tree planting effort would help the back 9 and make this a great course.

See bellow

See bellow

I pulled up to the course having never played before and ran into a group of locals finishing up. They informed me that the first 5 holes have been repositioned and gave me some directions. I was to play the new first 5 then continue to play from the old 6 -18. The first 5 were interesting and make better use of the area. I then started on 6 and could not figure out how the layou was related to the map posted in the "files" section so I gave up. It looks like the course is in the process of improving and I hope to come back at a future date and see how the course developes.

The course plays through mostly open fields on the CSU campus. Most of the holes have a few scattered mature trees to avoid, with several baskets placed close enough to a tree that you have to think a little about your shot placement. There are OB roads and other random strips of concrete to avoid, especially on the back 9, adding a little more shot placement challenge. There are some minor elevation changes throughout the course, and the last couple holes play up and down a medium sized hill for a little bit more fun. There is some distance variety, no real huge distance shots but a nice mix of short and medium length shots.

The course is very repetitive, especially on the back 9. It feels like you're throwing the same shot over and over, and players with only a hyzer shot will be able to score well at this course. There aren't enough obstacles to really challenge you, and there is no rough at all so it's easy to recover from a bad drive.

Navigation is a bit tricky, the original course signage is mostly gone, so only the holes that were used in the combined world's layout hae signs, and those don't match up with the numbering of the original course at all. There are concrete tees on those holes, but the rest are mostly deep soft sand which provides for terrible footing.

Make sure you print a map or you'll probably not figure out all the holes on this course, certainly not in the right order. Parking is difficult, I found it easier to just pay for a metered spot than try to figure out where it was legal to park for free.

Beginners will find this course very approachable, with reasonable distances and not much punishment for errant shots. More experienced players won't find a whole lot of challenge or variety here. The other course onsite offers a little more length and a little more of a technical challenge.

(Note, my rating for the combined worlds layout would be higher than my ratings for either of the individual courses on site, it offers better variety and challenge and doesn't have the same tee and navigation issues.)

• Baskets are in pretty good shape
• Interesting terrain and scenery
• A few fun/memorable throws
• Plenty of room to warm-up/practice
• Friendly folks

• Wind can be fun (not a true Con)
• No restrooms/water that I could find
• Tees are inconsistent
• Signage needs attention in a few spots
• Not easily navigable without a map

Tips
• Do take one of the fine Otter maps located here: http://www.dgcoursereview.com.../7dba6aad.pdf
• Take water
• I don't know what to tell you about parking. I just found a meter and fed it.

Random Thoughts:
This course is a bit tough to review at the moment because when I was there, they were prepping it for the upcoming tournament so you had holes in fantastic condition with brand new big pads and then some that needed serious attention. But with that said, we had a good time out there. The area with all the abandoned buildings was an interesting place to play and had one memorable throw where you had to decide how close to those buildings you really wanted to get (#5 I think) and with the fences up it made things even more interesting. There are also a few memorable dive bomber shots on the back nine. Overall there are usually several routes to the basket with almost always a strategic tree in play, and the elevation changes also play a big factor on a number of holes.

Bottom Line:
I'll probably have to revisit this review when I return and the modifications are complete, but generally I enjoyed my time here and the three beginners I brought had a good time too. I would call this an intermediate style course due to the length, but I found it very fair to make par on. Do check it out.

- Definitely has that beach feel, with the sand, grasses, bay winds, and gnarled cypress trees.
- A few chances to let your disc rip in the open air, although hole lengths aren't too long
- Loved playing by the abandoned military barracks. The uniqueness of this aspect was one reason I really wanted to play here.
- Not too hard to find off CA-1
- The front nine holes definitely have a little more challenge, as the elevation and wind come into play more, and the baskets are placed precariously by the trees to make upshots a little more tricky. The back nine holes, on the other hand, seem like the same shot 8-9 times over.

- Parking. You probably will have a hard time finding free parking. I didn't even want to chance it, so I just put two hours in the meter and then I could park wherever.
- Signage has seen better days; only some of the signs actually have maps, hole numbers, etc.
- Inconsistent tees. Some have those awesome circular teepads, yet others have uneven sandy tees that don't allow for good X-stepping.
- Navigation is a little tricky, and a map will probably help you out a lot.
- The Monterey Bay winds will torment your throws. I was throwing champion firebirds that were being turned over like sidewinders. After awhile, I found that the only way I could avoid the winds from thwarting my throws was to just throw thumbers and tomahawks.
- Finally, a word about the shot selection: it isn't too diverse. While it's true that there are some elevation changes, most shots are straightaway throws to the basket with little in terms of doglegs or technical wooded shots. Some trees come into play, but not enough.

I was passing through Monterey on my road trip and didn't have a lot of time, so I decided to play the easier CSUMB Cypress Course instead of the Oaks Course. The other reason was that I was excited to see all the abandoned military stuff around. All in all, I wasn't too disappointed about my choice, but it would have been cool to play both. Perhaps the best part about playing here was seeing all the stuff advertising the upcoming PDGA Worlds events! Just to play where all the pros are going to play was worth the trip.

The course is clearly worn, but it's not a terrible round. Wind will be a factor, so come on a less windy day (if that's possible in the bay area) or bring a bag of discs suitable for these conditions.

The Cypress course at CSUMB is nice open course that gets a lot of play from local students and casual players. Those looking for more of a challenge probably avoid this course with all of the other options in the area including the nearby CSUMB Oaks course. As other reviewers have said, there are some pretty interesting and unique features to this course, including vacant buildings right up next to the course and a great bomber finishing hole. For being relatively flat and open, the designers have done a fairly good job of utilizing the available obstacles and creating a variety of shots off the tee including pretty long doglegs and low-ceiling skip shots.

Tees: The tees can consist of any number of natural teepads, some of them are firm dirt (which may become mud on a wet day) and some of them are loose, fine sand or dirt which becomes slippery when moving over hard ground or when it is so deep as to shift on its own. I'm guessing with the upcoming Worlds tournament, we'll see vast improvements to the teeing areas.

Challenge: There are some pretty nice par three holes, a bit of distance, and some good tree obstacles to work with. Overall though, you get the feel of a pitch'n'putt with a bit more distance. There just aren't enough areas to punish poor shots though - most of the course is just wide open grass and trees, no 'rough' to speak of.

Replay-factor: The replay-ability of this course is pretty low with most holes so open that they require little shot planning except to compensate for the frequent winds. Play it more than a few times and you'll likely get bored.

This course is worth it for a quick warmup or cooldown but with the much nicer Oaks course just around the corner, you wouldn't see me here that often. The Oaks course is much better maintained and offers a much better challenge for experienced players without being too 'intense' for newer golfers.

The California State University Monterey Bay Cypress Disc Golf Course besides having one helluva long name also features the occasional coed wandering by. Taking your mind off the coeds for a second, the campus sits right next to an abandoned military base. The US Army seems to just up and left leaving the buildings there. The first eight holes play around these adandoned barracks and whatnot. It gives you this urban guerrilla vibe. It's too bad they couldn't have actually played through a building or teed off a stairwell or something. Maybe incorporated some paintball into the fray as well! What's the sport in the Olympics where you snow ski and then shoot at targets? As it is, they did use the few existing trees as well as they could. This part plays as a kind of a recreational course. After the first eight, you walk a block to a more wide open vacant lot/park and play the last 10 holes. These 10 feature more distance, some elevation, the same scattered trees and a few more coeds! There are signs with the required down and distance. The pads are natural worn spots. # 18 is great fun! It's probably plays 400 feet down a gentle hill from the normal teepad but in someone's infinite wisdom they've deduced to move it back another 50 feet up the hill now giving you a 450 downhiller to end with. Wheeeeeeeeee!

It's not real pretty but the front 8 is real different from anything I've played before. The back 10 is pretty basic. Fairly windy! You're just playing across a vacant lot, really. It's a place for the recreational player/college kid to get a game in, not lose any discs and have a little fun.

This is not the type of disc golf course I envisioned at CSUMB. Maybe in New Jersey, or Beruit or Bogota or Belgrade. I thought gentle Pacific Ocean breezes, lovely green grass and palm trees.

But then I starting tallying. Add bonus points for Cali coeds. Deduct points for vacant lot feel on back 10. Add point for # 18 downhill throw. Deduct point for constant wind. Add points for Urban/Mad Max/Stephen King/Uniqueness of front 8. Deduct point for parking. Deduct point if some crazy looking Aussie guy in some crazy vehicle tried to run you down while you were putting.

well laid out course. my girlfriend could actually par and almost birdie some holes.
i liked hole 18, wide open downhill with a tailwind. sidearm went 450ft for birdie. this is a good course to learn a new throw, bring a beginner, or if you just want to run a course in 1 hour. finally i like the abandoned buildings, its a mad max feel.

parking sucks. there is free 30 minute parking between the two sides of the course you can just keep an eye on you ride. the holes start getting boring after a while. especially with the oaks course nest door. You cant drink beer there.

just play it and check it off the list.

I took someone here to introduce him to the game. We originally went to the oaks course but a local told us that we might be better off at the cypress. I think that was good advice. My friend had a good time and I got a chance to let loose from the T. For more of a challenge I guess the oaks is the ticket and it is right down the street, but I never played there. Almost impossible to lose a disc. You might not be able to retrieve all your discs if it gets caught up aloft a big tangle of Cypressness but at least you know where it is. The course is also set in the middle of an old military fort which is pretty cool.

Nothing real exciting about this course. Was never comfortable about where to park. Pretty flat. Weren't many trees but they made good use of the ones they had.

I guess if you are in Monterey check it out but maybe only if you are a beginner or bringing a beginner.

The course seems to be right near the hub of campus though obviously in a run down area. There were two tees for most holes one that was obviously for the casual player and one that was obviously for the better players out there. There was a good deal of challenge but the course was very fair in that it made you work for everything you got and punished you when you made mistakes. There were some good challenges as far as distance was concerned and some really fun down hill holes near the end.

There was lots of broken glass and the grounds were not very well kept up. The course is split in two sections with a good walk between them. There is not a good place to park close to this course for free though during the summer the campus is pretty much dead. The tee pads were dirt or sidewalk and hard to find sometimes. The tee signs were only somewhat helpful, usually as a marker as to where you might find the next tee.

I was pleseantly surprised by this course as I played it as part of my recent DG road trip. I actually saw the course getting a good amount of use but it felt a little scarry to be playing on a campus that was dead during the summer. The buildings that were close by look like they have been abandonded as there were several broken windows and the like. This is not a course that I would go out of my way to play again but defiantely my favorite of the two at CSUMB. I parked near the other course and just walked to this course and it was not too terrible. I did start at hole 11 as that is the closest hole to where I parked and then finished with hole 10. A map will defiantely be a handy thing to have.

A fairly easy course that allows you to work on new shots or run for a great score using your best shots in your bag. unlike the oaks course the cypress course was very easy to follow. very fun play in an unusual setting, surrounded by abandon military barracks. long and normal tees allow for a varied round of difficulty. plenty of parking was available as long as you are willing to walk to the next 9 holes.

same as the oaks course the dirt tees are pretty bad, deep loose sand is not a good launching platform. some signs were missing but not a big problem because the course map helped.

i played a RHBH and a LHBH drive off the tee on all the holes to get a feel for both sides of the course. to be honest it was just about the same for both shots in terms of the difficulty of the course. over all i had a great time with this course because of it straight forward style of play. we got in a round in 40 mins and went over to the oaks course 6 blocks away. great place to get 36 holes in one location.

The Cypress course is easy to navigate, the baskets are not far from the tee boxes. Its very straight forward and open. The course has well defined fairways throughout and is easy to figure out. A player can get in a quick round here. The setting is sparse and natural in that it was once similar to an unnatural setting and then became abandoned, its very interesting. The abandoned buildings for me make this place special. I like holes five and six because they play close to the buildings, it had a sort of urban feel to it. It felt like the movie Full Metal Jacket to me, all it needed was to be on fire.

This course has signs and they are in decent shape, still functional, with important course information and par listed. Because of the signs, a map is not near as important here as it is at the Oaks course. I would recommend this course for beginners and recreational players and those looking to get in a quick round, and send the advance players to the Oaks course (with a map).

Parking was a little bit confusing, there are just so many potential parking spots that could turn out to be bad because of the abandoned buildings. Then, the parking spots that appeared to be good require you to part with some coin. The courses is split up in two separate halves with a city block long walk between numbers eight and nine. There are not many tress and only a few longer holes on this course. The wind can provide a challenge and be persistent. I played this after the I played the Oaks course and I felt a tad let down. The tee pads are "natural," also know as well worn dirt pits. The course ends nowhere near the first tee or where they have you park, it was tempting to just skip the last few holes. The course is mostly wide open and flat with only a few groups of trees per hole.

When comparing the two CSUMB courses, they truly are different and have completely different enjoyment factors. This course leans toward a traditional round where a player can work on scoring and get in a quicker round with little design confusion. The Oaks course is more of a hike, has longer holes and is more confusing with much more vegetation. In my opinion, the other course is better, but they are not similar and it would depend on what you are looking for in a round. I would like to play Cypress again someday. I wonder what its fate will be when the surrounding buildings finally get razed. When I played this course, there was a group of kids shooting out windows in the old buildings with a pellet gun. They had no regard for the police station only three blocks away, nor for the pictures of Steady Ed on the tee signs cautioning you with a reminder that the father of disc golf is watching you.

I played this in the evening and next to the front nine are a bunch of old dorm buildings with broken windows and some boards over the doors. When the wind blows disturbing sounds come from the inside which makes it seem like a Stephen King story.

If you follow the dotted line on the tee box diagrams the course will be a lot tougher.

Many holes about 250 ft, scenery is fixed (abandoned military base).

A lot of open area. If you want to practice drives or new puts, etc; this is the place. You can take as much time as you want for the most part. I'm usually the only person out there when I play, except on Saturdays.
Easy to navigate. Markers are in place an accurate.

Wind gusts can ruin your day and/or test your skills.
The back nine has a few disc eating trees. Bring a sling shot.

This is my home course.
The front nine has old military buildings around it which is awesome I think.
Because if you accuracy is off you can smack into a building or break a window.
People are friendly on this course. They will let you play through, join or help you retrieve a disc.

The front nine is a lot of fun as you throw through the cypress trees and over the hot burning sand. The coastal winds play a large factor in one's score so controlled shots is a must. the course is a mixture of tight fairways with low tunnel shots at times while other holes are wide open allowing for big arm throws. The course for the most part isn't very long, but is still challenging enough to not be a waste of time. Some of the surrounding military housing buildings are abandoned and mysterious which make this course unique for the area. The baskets are in good shape and the layout of the front nine is well thought out considering the amount of land used.

The back nine seems redundant as they are all fairly straight and go back and forth. However, the slight elevation shots make for challenging drives considering the wide open land and gusts of wind taking hold of one's throws.

I am yet to play the new CSUMB course but figure that most of the concerns were addressed when designing the new course. Playing in the sand on this course is a lot of fun. However, the tee pads and signs need some work in order to make this a more legitamate course. The Cypress Course plays well for novice/amateur players but if looking for a pro course, I would skip this one and suggest heading straight for De LaVeaga. I love Monterey, and feel there is a lot of potential for this area. I anxiously await for the next time I have the opportunity to play here as well as the new course on CSUMB.