Clinton, IA

Eagle Point Park

3.585(based on 12 reviews)
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3 0
kevdiv48
Silver level trusted reviewer
Experience: 17.5 years 265 played 30 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Very High Potential, Needs Some Refining 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:May 22, 2014 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Eagle Point Park is awesome. It overlooks the widest portion of the Mississippi River and has great elevation. The disc golf portion is separated from the rest of the park. There is a good sign of the entire course before walking to hole 1, I suggest taking a picture of it at first since navigation can be a bit hairy across the expanse of the park. The teepads are generous and grippy. Hole 16's is not concrete, and can be a muddy mess after rain. Long tees are also present. The tee signs indicate alternate pin locations, but I have only ever seen them in one location. There is good distance, elevation and surrounding variety, though I feel a majority of the holes are LHBH and RHFH friendly. The landscape seems to be pretty well manicured, as the open holes with prairie grass have generous fairways.

Cons:

Eagle Point seems to still be a bit rough around the edges and has a few NAGS holes. Number 1 from the long is actually a pretty sharp dogleg that has a small window to get through. Very reasonable to get a 3, but challenging to get a 2. Number 2's pin location takes away any good chance at a long putt, you either have to park it, or lay up low. Anticlimactic finish to a decent hole. Hole 8 is very solid par 4. Hole 13 from the long is another NAGS, with a very small window between borders of trees on both sides to navigate the dogleg. Throw something too stable, you end up crashing in short on the right. Too straight, you're long and off left. Clearing trees on the right side would help this.
Hole 15 is a sweet wooded shot over a valley, but more clearing is needed to make this a reasonable hole. It's currently a poke-and-hope type of shot off the tee.
Holes 17 and 18 are rather anticlimactic ends to an otherwise solid course. Seventeen forces you to lay up about 180' and then navigate through a narrow tunnel in the woods another 200' or so. No real chance to get to it cleanly off the tee. Eighteen's low ceiling tunnel shot is rather frustrating and NAGS.

Other Thoughts:

All in all, Eagle Point is a course with plenty of potential and stands solid as is with its rating of 3.50. However, with some more refinement it definitely definitely can approach 4.0 and 4.5 territory. If you are in the QC area, I recommend a detour north to check out Eagle Point.
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4 0
Cobra165
Experience: 108 played 10 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Good course that needs players 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Sep 6, 2013 Played the course:once

Pros:

Holes that are fun to play. I enjoyed the twists and turns (except when searching for the next tee--see Cons). Seemed balanced to me. A few long anhyzers and some S-curve shots were included, which I appreciate.

A park seemingly made for disc golf. Lots of underutilized park space that was just waiting for fairways. Some prairie grass is used to frame a few fairways (don't let this scare you--it is not overdone, and the grass is not so thick that you can't find your disc). Otherwise the fairways are shaped by woods line and tree-dotted lawn.

Tee signs--the fact that they exist at all is a point in the course's favor. But these are well done and look very professional.

Good use of the elevation.

Cons:

Isn't heavily played. I know this because the two totally wooded holes are still jungles, with only a narrow goat path leading through the brush to the pin. Heavily played courses usually have bare earth fairways in the woods. The local players/club should try some creative methods to get more people interested--press coverage, beginner-friendly tournaments, etc. Here's an idea: at the next Lumberkings game, give away a free flier and a coupon for a discounted disc from a local merchant. (If there is no local disc merchant, that is part of the problem.)

Navigation. In several spots I tried one path to the next tee only to find I had guessed incorrectly. Locals often feel navigation at their home course is intuitive. This is not the case. Even a hole like 11, that finishes in the woods, had 3 distinct paths leading from the pin. The fact that the next tee was only 60 feet away is irrelevant because it was hidden by dense foliage. Even a simple arrow in certain spots would be very helpful. Details are important, especially for out-of-towners like me.

No number plates on baskets. Again, I know it may seem intuitive since the pad is aimed at the basket, but players want and need to see that number when they are on the tee. Which reminds me--there seem to be a lot of blind holes--not dinging the course for that--usually that means it has decent elevation. Just a warning to travelers, is all. My wife had to go forward and spot for me on at least half the holes.

Getting to the first tee was also difficult. It is not as easy as the instructions say. Once you are in that big parking lot with the lodge at the end, you'll need to drive onto a little one-lane roadway that shoots off the parking lot, then winds around for a bit more.

Just my opinion here, but I detest alternate pins on courses, and here's why: I never know what hole I am playing. Especially on a course with so many blind holes. Just give me more tees--that way I get to choose what course I play as opposed to someone's whim.

Tee pads--I love that they are concrete. It is almost always preferable to dirt. That said, there are a couple of places where the pads are very short, only to find others large enough to land a jet on (which is fine). There are also a couple of places where the tee pad is running noticeably uphill and could cause stumbling. A minor quibble perhaps, but again, details are important.

I dislike when designers design themselves into a corner (clearly the case with 17), then improvise a way out, to the detriment of players. The drive is a chip shot, then there is another 100 feet or so into the woods. If the hole is too short, revise the design until it is right. 17 and 18 ideally should have been combined into a memorable finishing par 4 that never entered the woods (unless by bad throw). Was there no other spot in the woods that a better hole could have been placed earlier? 18's fairway would have been better served as the upshot for the par 4, so that placement of the drive from 17's tee would have been critical. As is, there is no real route from 18's tee to the pin (very, very low ceiling or a clunky hyzer route). As a result, 17 and 18 seem kind of forced; a blah finish to an otherwise solid course.

Other Thoughts:

I know, I know, the cons list is three times as long as the pros, but If I am back in the area I will definitely stop again. A solid course that just needs players and a bit more attention to detail so that travelers can have as enjoyable an experience as the locals. Good start to a good course-- keep going!
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12 1
#19325
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 22.9 years 351 played 178 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Fly Like an Eagle 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 11, 2010 Played the course:once

Pros:

Eagle Point is an awesome park. You'll find that out when you first arrive. There are several large sculpted wooden eagles sitting on top of several trees when you pull in. It is a great faciltiy and very peaceful area for a course. The park is very well maintained and has water/restroom facilites.

There is a nice large bulletin board near tee #1. It has a course map and box for score cards. There were no score cards in the box though.

The terrain is awesome. Some nice elevation and dense woods. The grass was mowed that day and the course was looking awesome.

The tee pads are nice and long. I played all the long tees. Many holes have short tees as well. This course offers challenge for all skill level players.

The tee signs are awesome. They have an eagle on them and note both tees and both pin positions. They are very descriptive and easy to spot. Check website for tee signs and pictures of holes.

The baskets are new Gateway Titans. They catch very good and I think they are great baskets. Looks like there are other pin positions but I did not see them.

There is a good variety of holes. I threw a wider variety of shots and discs during the round. There are several nice roller holes as well.

There are some really sweet holes. Hole #4 is an awesome downhill par 3 thru a tunnel. Hole #8 is a great par 4 which requires a well placed drive and great 2nd shot.

Cons:

Once these items are taken care of this course is probably worthy of 4 to 4.5 rating. This course is fairly new and it's still a work in progress. The tee signs indicated multiple pin positins but I did not see them.

Keep the disc in the fairway! The rough is nasty. Play with a friend and spot for each other. It will help the enjoyment factor.

There are a ton of blind holes. I could not see the basket on 13 of the 18 holes we played. It took the 3 of us just under 3 hours to play the course. It took a long time to find holes and tees. Some navigational aids would be very helpful.

The rough area around several of the baskets needs to be cleared. Those greens include 2, 11, 15, 16, and 17. Several walking paths need maintained as well.

Hole #3's tee pad is under construction.
Hole #5's tee pad is very short and under construction.
Hole #16 did not have a concrete tee.

The stretch of 12, 13, 14 is very repeitive. I threw the same shot and disc on all 3. Roller, Roller, and Roller.

I would have liked to seen a few more pro par 4's. I estimated this course at par 56 to 58. Maybe some of the other pins make for more par 4's.

Other Thoughts:

I enjoyed playing this course and look forward to playing it when it's complete. It's another great addition to the Quad Cities.

The Quad Cities has some very good disc golf. Plan a vacation here and play as many course as you can. You will not be disappointed.

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9 0
hognosesucker
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 25 years 443 played 87 reviews
3.50 star(s)

A gem just north of the qca 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 26, 2009 Played the course:once

Pros:

-Awesome setting for a disc golf course: massive park with great views of the widest part of the Mississippi River (can't see it from course but in other areas of the park)
-great elevation changes especially on the front nine (many uphill shots, some rolling hill shots and down hills)
-good mix of holes anhyzers, hyzers rollers, straight shots
-2 tee pads, most holes have 2 pin locations
-well maintained from what I saw
-awesome tee pads (12' x 4' concrete)
-great signs (good representation of hole obstacles and pin locations, also aesthetically cool-brown with an eagle holding the hole number)
-challenging hole locations (a lot of tucked away holes in the woods that offer great risk/reward possiblities-either lay up to the opening (safe) or go for it (risky)
-rough is very rough: save strokes by staying in the fairway
-fairly open but many mature trees make shot placement paramount
-2 holes completely in the woods with many that start open and end in the deep woods
-blind holes galore:about half of the holes you can't see from the long pads (short pads most are visible)
-many legitimate par 4s
-dueces are earned (no straightfoward easy holes)
-course is shared with a horse trail at some points, but local knowledge says that horses are few and far between, thus the area for the course is pretty much entirely for dg (no playgrounds, picnicers, general annoyances)

Cons:

-no facilities that I saw near disc golf course, there are bathrooms and water at park however
-2 of the tee pads were not yet poured when I played
-because of the blind aspects of many holes and the thick, nasty rough, spotters are necessary, unless you want to leave with a substantially lighter bag at the end of the round
-storm damage by 2's baskets needs to be cleared
-the woods holes (15, 16, 17) are rough and nasty: head high weeds, stinging nettles, poison ivy: it needs to either be cleared or tramped down by foot traffic
-a lot of prairie grass to lose your disc in(not necessarily a con if you have a spotter)
-course closes in November for bow hunting

Other Thoughts:

This will be a championship level course, it's not quite there yet due to the cons that I described above but with time, play and foot traffic the majority of the cons will not be a problem. When this course is broken in, it will be a 4.5 for me at least.

Go to www.iowadg.com find a local with some course knowledge. DG hasn't really caught on here as I understand, but there is a possiblity of some qca'ers coming up for a round.

I can't stress enough to bring multiple people to play. Spotters are extremely advised. When I played there were just 2 of us and we spotted on most of the front nine and some of the back. But due to the elevation changes it gets tiring to run ahead and spot for half the holes, so a three or foursome is recommended.
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6 0
OldAL
Experience: 20.8 years 6 played 5 reviews
3.50 star(s)

2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 18, 2008 Played the course:once

Pros:

New course above the Mississippi river that has length and also some shorter more technical wooded holes. There are two sets of tees for each hole and the distance between the tees on some holes is quite substantial. The beauty of the park itself is big pro. Beautiful views of the widest point of the river.

Cons:

Brand new course that did not have any signs when I played it. There was some holes that were still in the need of some clearing of limbs and the rough was very very thick.

Other Thoughts:

Wind is a big factor and this not a typical par 54 course. [from the pro tees]. This has a definite potential of a 4 star rating or better.
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