Redlands, CA

Ford Park

2.035(based on 17 reviews)
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11 0
Shadrach3
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 6.1 years 339 played 322 reviews
2.00 star(s)

A Course is a Course, of Course, unless, of Course, that Course Has No Pads

Reviewed: Played on:Jan 5, 2024 Played the course:once

Pros:

A course or not a course? Either way, a nifty park to throw in.

To depart from my enigmatic start - this is a totally charming park. Medium hills, thick pines, other trees, lush grass, and a central pond make for about as good a city park setting as you could imagine. I played here as the day was beginning to cool off, and it was lovely.

Three of those elements - great trees, big hills, and water hazards - make for great disc golfing. I threw some really enjoyable downhills, carefully shaped drives, and nervy water carries during my time here.

The seven DISCatchers are good, and their placement carefully thought out to provide a variety of approaches and greens. This is good, since most rounds here will involve rethrowing to the same basket a couple of times.

Cons:

Okay, now the big problem: there are neither tees nor tee signs. Period. This is literally just baskets in a park. The definition of safari golf. Is it even a course if there's no defined layout?

Even if you did follow a layout such as the current 18-hole recommended on a certain app, you're going to be looping back on yourself, throwing across and back over fairways, and undoubtedly running into other throwers if any disc hurlers are out at the same time as you.

I hate to scrape so hard against this course. I really enjoyed most of the tee locations suggested by GPS, which made truly compelling shots. But its capacity, at best, is one group, and its flow is infinitely malleable.

Beyond this, there is a big issue of things being in the way. "Things" refers to people and buildings. Two baskets bring the playground into play, several options play over sports courts or storage sheds, and all of the water carries will put fishers in danger all around the pond. Add in some blind walking paths and mid-fairway picnic tables, and you have a safety nightmare.

Other Thoughts:

I loved playing at Ford Park. It had all the gameplay elements of a great city park course. Unfortunately, its lack of clear flow, on-tee nature, constant human and civic risk, and the inability to play the entire property thoroughly due to high numbers of park-goers all draw this back more than substantially. It's a bit of an impossible rating, but overall I wanted to be nice and called it Reasonable. If you want nice safari golf, go ahead, but PLEASE be ultra-cautious of all the innocent park-sharers.

~Similar Courses: Well, none really. But if you ignore the glaring flaws, the gameplay has the feel of Earlewood Park (Columbia, TN), McCurry Park (Fayetteville, GA), or Tyus Park (Griffin, GA).
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7 0
The Katana Kid
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 8.9 years 185 played 56 reviews
1.00 star(s)

Only worth visiting when people aren't there 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Mar 30, 2019 Played the course:once

Pros:

Ford Park is a nice place with a lot of potential for disc golf. There is a small pond and enough elevation with mature trees that give this little park some potential. Also, there are some open grassy areas that give you a chance to air it out in a few places

Cons:

Because Ford Park is a nice place there's a lot of people there picnicking and fishing. I could only find 7 baskets, but there were 70 people when I visited on Saturday afternoon. And I found zero tees, as others have said, so plan on safari disc golf. It's a 9 hole course and one of the baskets I found was labeled "10" so I wondered about that. The baskets are integrated too closely with popular spots for people to hang out and that's a problem for our crowd. I've been to quite a few popular parks full of people that are large enough to allow for the baskets to be placed away from the populated areas. Ford Park is NOT big enough or designed for us to coexist with non disc golfers.

Other Thoughts:

Ford Park would be a nice disc golf course if it were dedicated to disc golf. Some park goers were interested in disc golf but when I offered to spend time with them to teach them the sport they were more interested in the activities at the pond. Ford Park is not far from the Yucaipa course, so unless you want to just bag this course it is better to go to the pride of the Inland Empire at Yucaipa. There is a chain link fence on one side of the park which looks temporary and made me wonder if there were more baskets on the other side but I couldn't see any.
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2 0
TED4692
Experience: 6 played 2 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Ford 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Sep 21, 2016 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Lots of Safari hole options and layouts. Plenty of longer open holes for practice. Almost always another disc golfer present to play with or show you the course. A lot of Ace run potential even for the novice golfer.

Cons:

The park has a tendency of getting pretty crowded. They removed two baskets making it 7 pins. Conditions of the current Tees are a bit worn in.

Other Thoughts:

Overall the course is my local go to course but it doesnt have a lot of room for improvement due to land constraints. its like putting 5 lbs. of stuff in a 1 lbs. sack.
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2 1
Cjnichter
Experience: 13.6 years 67 played 2 reviews
1.00 star(s)

Has potential 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 22, 2013 Played the course:once

Pros:

There aren't a lot of pros that I can think of about the course itself. The park is beautiful and there is a lot of potential for a great course.

Cons:

It was almost impossible to figure out the course layout. Very frustrating. We only found a couple places in the park that had markers in the ground for tees. We ended up trying to play safari, but with the number of other park users, it was very difficult.

Other Thoughts:

This course has a lot of potential. But, until there are some sort of marked tee areas and course layout that is easily followed, I won't be returning and probably won't be recommending this course to anyone else.
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2 0
jtrod
Experience: 21 played 10 reviews
2.00 star(s)

Guide and updated map needed 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Mar 17, 2013 Played the course:once

Pros:

Nice park that is also good for the family and dog, good baskets, friendly players, water holes, not a lot of ob and relatively clean bathrooms. I like the kinda safari style of course.

Cons:

Possibility of picnickers in the park and some baskets and tee pads are near tables. The 2 maps are outdated based on the added ground markers for teeboxes.

Other Thoughts:

Met 3 groups that were helpful but each group had a different idea on how the course was to be played. I understand that the city will not allow tee signs but maybe an updated map could be posted some where in the park. and on this site.
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4 0
adamtheviking5
Experience: 14.2 years 118 played 13 reviews
2.50 star(s)

9 baskets randomly strewn through small park 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Feb 14, 2013 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

There a 9 very nice baskets that you can assign tee pads for making for an essentially endless combination of holes. And thats all for the pros section.

Cons:

There is no layout at all. The course map is a decent suggestion of one possible safari layout though it shows several tees where it would be impossible to play from due to buildings and such. No tee pads or signs of any sort. Lots of non disc golf traffic. Weirdos live in the park. I saw 2 different campsites along the fence. Would be scary around dark.

Other Thoughts:

I found concrete markers for several holes today that i had not seen before. There was one for #3, #7 but it was marked as #5, and interestingly there were markers for #10, #16, #17 and #18. So maybe with some more investigation this turns into an 18 hole ciurse. Also the maintenance guy said theyre moving the basket for 7 cause discs go into the maintence yard and an alarm goes off when you jumo the fence. On an unrelated side note, i did see a couple little bass(very very little) in one of the ponds. This is a positive for me cause my 7 year old hasnt developed a taste for disc golf yet but if the word "bass" is muttered, hes in the truck with his rod before i get my shoes on.
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4 0
mashnut
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 22.7 years 831 played 777 reviews
1.50 star(s)

Ok park, unmarked course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jan 18, 2013 Played the course:once

Pros:

The course plays through a nice multi-use park. There are some good elevation changes, nothing huge but enough to add some variety and fun and a big enough hill to rip some cool drives from on the last hole. A couple small ponds come into play adding some risk with plenty of room to play safely around them.

There are enough mature trees to force some tricky shots and some low ceilings to contend with. It's not a course where you'll have to hit tiny gaps but you will have to do a little line shaping to score well. There are a couple shots that are longer and let you stretch out your arm a little, and some that give you a fun ace run chance.

Cons:

The tees are mostly unmarked, with some hidden in ground markers that are almost impossible to find. Even with the course map I still felt like I was mostly making up tees and playing safari that approximated the posted layout. Lots of the holes seemed to conflict with walking paths and picnic areas, even on a weekday morning there were enough people that we had to be careful and play around certain areas. On a busy day this would not be a very safe place for disc golf and the other park uses to coexist.

Other Thoughts:

Everyone can make up a layout appropriate to their skill level. Beginners can avoid the pond, and play a layout that's reasonable lengths with enough trees in play to keep it interesting. More experienced players will find plenty of opportunities to stretch it out and throw some longer shots and bring the water into play a little more. If there were marked tees and less safety issues, this would be a great 9 hole layout. As it is it's an ok place to play some safari but not worth going out of your way to play.
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3 1
jbl39
Experience: 6 played 6 reviews
1.50 star(s)

Great course, poor location 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jan 2, 2012 Played the course:once

Pros:

-9 holes total, though the holes are reversible for an acceptable 18 holes.
-Park is well maintained, mostly clean.
-Wide open spaces make for some awesome shots that yield low scores.
-Numerous elevation changes.

Cons:

-There are simply too many people at the park to have a good time. Expect waiting for people to pass or simply skipping holes due to people having picnics right beside the basket. Very frustrating.
-There are no tee boxes. Impossible to know where to tee off from.
-A few shots over bodies of water. You may lose a disc.
-Holes are too short and require very little skill. Advanced players might find this course boring.

Other Thoughts:

They simply need to make a course separate from the park. There are too many people walking around that have no regard for the disc golfers. Lots of bad looks, bad attitudes towards the golfers, etc. If the course had very few visitors it could easily be a worthwhile course that locals would frequent, but as of right now it simply isn't worth it to visit and play 9-18 holes.
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6 0
OcDiscGolf
Bronze level trusted reviewer
Experience: 26.8 years 23 played 19 reviews
2.00 star(s)

Nice course that needs Tees 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 20, 2011 Played the course:once

Pros:

• Lush park with lots of other amenities including drinking fountains and bathrooms
• Subtle Elevation change on a number holes
• Good mix of moderately wooded and wide open hoels
• Water! The pond comes into play on a few holes including one hole (Hole 5 I think) that goes almost directly across one of the ponds.
• Nice, clean Discatchers with (correct) numbering on them, I wish the tees were the same way
• Doesn't ever seem to get crowded with Disc Golfers, and the non-Golfers are aware that there is a DG Course here and largely stay off of it with their picnicking.

Cons:

• No marked tees or tee signs anywhere. I played for the first time and had to be a guide for a 5 person group using only the map from DGCR. Needless to say, I felt like I was geocaching at times trying to match up terrain with an aerial view of the park.
• Occasional picnickers and fisherman can get in the way of your tee shots, especially on weekends. Not the worst I've seen, but I did have recalibrate my tee off position on 2 holes. Since there are no tees anyway this really didn't matter much

Other Thoughts:

I went to a recent family gathering at Ford Park in Redlands, and after finding out the location I was determined to play the DG Course while I was there. It was a large family birthday party, and I was fairly confident that no one played Disc Golf. I brought 5 extra drivers and putters to see if anyone would like to join in the fun. I got 4 of my relatives (who were all first timers) to go out and throw the course with me. Teeing off on Hole 2 my cousin shanked one of my loaner discs right into the pond! I had a good laugh on that one. Then another one of my cousins ended up a foot from the water which is on the left side of holes 3 and 4. Lots of good laughs, and a good opportunity to give a quick lesson on anhyzers before I ran out of discs.

I was pleasantly surprised by both the beauty and variety at this course, especially with the elevation change and the water mixed in - This is rare in Socal for 9 hole courses. I would almost say the course exceeded my expectations, but the lack of any tees or tee markers really puts a dent in the rating here. With proper tees and signs, this course could easily be a 3.5 in my opinion. I wasn't as lucky as the previous reviewers; I didn't see a single other disc golfer out there and thus had no frame of reference as to where to tee off. I had to approximate where the tees were located based on the course map/aerial shot found here on the course page. My family were good sports about the whole thing, but it was especially annoying when I came to what I consider the signature hole which is over about 150 feet of pond, then down an embankment to the basket which is at a slight hyzer angle. My noob companions decided not to throw it (they felt bad about losing discs earlier in the round), But I ripped my Archon over the body of water to within 20 feet of the basket, then clanged the putt for a birdie. The way I threw the hole, it was about 290 feet.

Safari is definitely a possibility here, but really not my style - I like Safari golf about as much as I like Pole Holes. Teepads/Markers are an integral piece of course design, and the rating on this course takes a big hit because that element is missing. If I was in the area and had some time, I'd definitely go back and play again - but I think I'd hang out near the first tee for a while and attempt to procure some locals who are familiar with the layout. That might make it a bit more worthwhile.
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1 3
Discbear
Bronze level trusted reviewer
Experience: 24.8 years 1579 played 25 reviews
1.00 star(s)

Lets get it right 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Feb 25, 2011 Played the course:once

Pros:

It's a nice looking well taken care of city park. The baskets are fine.

Cons:

There is no discernable way to determine where to tee off on any of the 1st 8 holes. We searched and there is no signage and no tee boxes except a place that looks obvious to throw hole 9. Holes are mostly short. It's really not worth playing unless you need a place close to home to throw, as we all often do.

Other Thoughts:

Safari possibilities could make it more interesting and challenging. For teeing off we just selected an area near the previous basket to throw from.
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8 0
The Valkyrie Kid
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 46.4 years 1562 played 1507 reviews
2.50 star(s)

A Pretty Little Throw! 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Apr 7, 2010 Played the course:once

Pros:

Ford Park is a lovely little hilly/wooded park located in a what seems to me to be a pretty nice little neighorhood. The park was very clean and inviting. Nice terrain for a course with slightly rolling hills and the pond. The holes presented a nice challenge for the average disc golfer. Nice Discatcher baskets with numbers helped the navigation somewhat. It provides a couple of ACE runs. One tee plays across the little lake/duckpond. The park was relatively quiet the day I played. # 9 allows a chance to finally throw a little air. The park is close to the freeway.

Cons:

Navigation was not easy. There are no marked tees that I could find. I'd love to see if something could be done about this whether it's painting some marks on the sidewalks or putting some simple little marker stones. I think a couple of holes play right over picnic tables. This would be problematic on heavy use days.

Other Thoughts:

I liked this course a lot for being your typical little 9 hole course in the small city park. The elevation was fun. # 9 was a fun throw. I would like living closeby and dropping over for a quick round or two. I'd probably be frustrated with the "crowds" factor. I'll come back if ever in the area again.
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14 0
Apothecary
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 27.4 years 66 played 36 reviews
2.50 star(s)

Beautiful With a Guide 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Feb 1, 2010 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

-Design. While there are no marked tees, the way the locals play it (which is pretty much what the map on DGCR delineates) is a great mix of short, mid and long, wooded and open, uphill and downhill. Most shots are technical and force some tricky lines. Side note: Mikethrice's pics aren't the tee positions used by the guys I was playing with. Those pics don't do the course justice.
-Baskets. Nine tip-top discatchers, clearly numbered.
-Extremely clean course. One of the locals I played with (thanks, Greg and Gil, for being such gracious hosts) told me course custom is to pick up any trash we see. It shows. I didn't see a single piece of trash on the course.
-Quiet, scenic park setting surrounded by orange orchards
-Not much golfer foot traffic
-Plenty of parking

Cons:

-Not enough baskets (though I hear playing the course backwards is a fun way to do it).
-Pedestrian/picnicker/other sport-playing folk to share the park with. Most people we warned were quick to move out of the way and inquisitive about the sport, asking to check out our plastic as we walked by. A group of kids walking by a bad drive decided to pick it up and throw it to the basket (grrr).
-A bit tricky to find
-No designated tees. Bring a map and play with the locals!
-Some of the designated concrete tees are narrow and right against picnic benches. They feel a bit cramped.

Other Thoughts:

This is an excellent newer course that deserves to be developed and at least tried out if you are in the area. The piece of property that houses the course is great for a technical, shortish course. Significant elevation changes, baskets in precarious positions on the backside of sloping hills and past the lake, and plenty of trees to shake things up make Ford Park a challenge for allcomers.
Most nine-hole courses feel short to me. Not this one. Holes three and eight (which locals play as a par four) are long and technical and let golfers stretch their guns. I could easily have stayed and played this course all day and leave feeling satisfied.
In between the tight, technical holes the course opens up and offers some fun downhill shots. Holes six and nine are fun, deceptively short holes.
I can't wait to go back and play this course again when I'm in the area.
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9 0
Danger
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 15.3 years 105 played 70 reviews
2.50 star(s)

Fun little safari course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Nov 27, 2009 Played the course:once

Pros:

-Nice Discatcher baskets
-Endless variety in shots, because you make them up as you go!
-Friendly locals were more than happy to let us know 'what the deal is' at the park.
-Freeway friendly for a quick round
-Lake can come into play if you want it to.
-Pins are numbered, keeping a general sense of order.
-Nice views and actually a really nice quiet vibe for what it is.

Cons:

-No tee pads. And when I say no tee pads, I mean NO designated place to throw from. Keeping that in mind, it's fun to play once you accept the fact that its all basically safari golf.
-Lots of advice from people who clearly never play the sport.
-There is what appears to be a #1 tee right out of the parking lot, but it totally is NOT a tee, and it definitely is not for basket #1.
-I can see this course being pretty lame if the park is at ALL busy. It was not the day we went.

Other Thoughts:

This course would really benefit from some kind of marked tee areas. Even a pole in the ground with a number. I like to know how I'm doing compared to others. If you ace something here, does it even count?
The lake has a good amount of people around it, and depending on how aggressively you want to play, they can be in pretty dangerous locations.
Hole number 7 presents a wonderful opportunity for a long drive. Unfortunately the family and their dog were absolutely oblivious to us and we had to wait about 10 minutes to throw.
We used nearby paved picnic areas to tee off from, but they are really narrow and you run the risk of slamming your fingers on a bench if you are careless.
Visited this park on a 'mini golf road trip' and probably will skip it next time I'm in the area. That said, if it were near me, it is a course that I would probably visit on a regular basis. They did a great job laying out the course the best they could in that park. Great use of hills.
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1 3
Adevalk
Experience: 15.5 years 1 played 1 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Ford Park 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 2, 2009 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Free, lots of trees and open areas. Nice water shots and can be made challenging depending on where you decide to tee off from.

Cons:

Lots of people willing to pick up your discs and throw them back to you.

Other Thoughts:

Needs tees.
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2 1
victorvillesports
Experience: 5 played 2 reviews
1.00 star(s)

Well, it's a start... 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Aug 15, 2008 Played the course:once

Pros:

It's a nice park, it's close to the freeway, but you wouldn't know. There are a couple of holes that are wide open, and you really can make your own tee boxes... Tennis courts near by and a nice park for a picnic. And there is a small lake.

Cons:

No tee boxes. No signage. Some holes are very close to picnic tables, so you might have to skip or make it a 20ft hole.

Other Thoughts:

You cannot play all the holes if park is moderately crowded (like most weekends). While it doesn't appear to be well thought out with some of the hole placements, it's still a great visit.
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3 1
mikethrice
Experience: 16.3 years 19 played 17 reviews
4.00 star(s)

Nice Course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 16, 2008 Played the course:once

Pros:

Free, you can choose where to start each hole....so the course is always different. good looking park, old huge treees offer plenty of shade, go early. sunrise. no crowds equal no worries of hitting people. good balance of short to mid range game but without tees you can make each hole longer.

Cons:

the grass was just watered 730am on a saturday. i would bring those waterpark shoes. my socks were soaked. it was hard to get a grip on the disc. IF the park was crowded i could see people getting in the way. go early or late. no tees or signs so you know what the course should be but then again its all goood. only 9 holes

Other Thoughts:

fun and creative park...each time you can make it more challeneging by starting in a different position.i will go back for sure
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6 0
Doktor John
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 35.8 years 423 played 64 reviews
1.50 star(s)

Quaint Course 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 3, 2008 Played the course:never

Pros:

Nice Park
Beautiful Scenery
Creative use of available space

Cons:

No signs at all
No discernable tee pads
Would be very dangerous if people were in the park

Other Thoughts:

I played this in the middle of the day on a weekday and there were only about 10 people in the park and I was worried about someone walking in the path of a released disc.
I had to make up my own course since I couldn't find tees.
Nice little park and unique layout for the course (at least the way I played it)
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