Spacious 9 hole layout. Variety of holes; i.e. open fairways to narrow fairways. Quiet course in AM. Nicely manicured fairways.

Gravel tee boxes. Cheaply made signage for holes. Half of holes didn't have a sign for hole. Holes #8 & #9 easily lose a disc if drive isn't accurate. Small trek between basket #5 and tee box #6.

Need a spotter for the last two holes. No designated parking for course. Risk towing in parking lot for apartments off of Dorchester or Waterbury Elementary School off of Dover Dr.

- park is generally in decent shape
- good challenge that forces shot placement
- hole lengths accessible to any level player
- some unique fairway setups (nice if you like a real challenge)

- some areas in big need of a fresh mow
- tee signs are pretty basic and are missing on 2 and 8
- tees are gravel and just ok
- really need a spotter on holes 3, 7, 8, 9 due to tall grass/prairie plants
- port-o-potty right in front of hole 1 tee makes it rather tough to have a decent line to the basket
- some long walks and navigation challenges
- parking situation is not ideal (school parking lot was blocked off when i was there, street parking is a bit of a walk)
- hole 9 has a tree very close to the tee that again makes initial drives rather challenging
- some fairways are so narrow it's to the point of being unpleasant
- some of the DISCatcher baskets are in poor repair with rusted chains and broken/missing chain retaining rings
- no practice basket

I tried to be fair to this course but I struggled to find many positives. I love a challenge, but I don't love hunting for discs in the grass for 30 minutes. Despite throwing into the rough many times I was never looking for more than 5 minutes - I attribute this to luck, because the rough on this course could seriously eat discs. Some of the fairways are so narrow you're all but guaranteed to end up in the rough a few times. I enjoy technical courses but I prefer trees/obstacles to thick undergrowth like this.

The signage was basic and the baskets are showing their age. Still, everything was serviceable. I do think the design of this course could have been better thought out. There is a permanent port-o-potty about 20 ft in front of the hole 1 tee. Between that and a tree there's really not much space to eek through. Again, I like a challenge, but obstacles this close to the tee make the hole a bit gimmicky and luck-driven in my eyes.

Hole 5 seems a bit hazardous, you are basically throwing straight down the walking path. It's a rather poor design for safety and efficient flow of play.

Hole 7 has you throwing almost entirely over rough grasses and trees. It's almost asking for a lost disc unless you try to go around it (RHBH hyzer way wide or the like). At some point it's more irritating than fun. I've played courses that kick my butt and put me 20 over par that are still fun, but the challenge is reasonable and rewards good play on those courses.

All in all, the biggest con here is the rough tall grass areas. It's a serviceable course, but probably one of my least favorite I've played in Chicagoland. I would probably return to almost any other course in the area instead.

Very challenging especially if you play OB
Teepads are very nice

Extremely challenging for a beginner player.
Needs to have someone clean up all this tall grass all over the course
I would assume later in the year this course will be very mosquito heavy

I didn't like how narrow the fairways were on almost every hole. I also didn't like how close the Baseball diamond was to where I was playing.

The Goose Lake DGC is a lengthy walk in from the parking lot.

The course has older Discatchers with the yellow band. This course has ginormous tee pads. The # 2 pad is 33 feet long and has a dog leg right which aims toward the basket. You could park a semi-truck on these pads. The tee posts show the hole #, par and distance.

Holes 1 & 2 both have very pretty, natural fairways. I felt like I was on a regular ball golf course. But then # 3 basically had no fairway, just a 10 foot swatch of mowed grass with 3-4 foot high prairie grass on both sides. No thanks! I don't wish to spend an inordinate amount of time hunting for my disc. I don't usually stay in a normal sized fairway anyway.

# 4 is 550 feet across a wide open field and a boggy area. Boring! It was damp in late June. Boots would be requires for most of the year. # 5 plays 515' heading back. There is one solitary tree in the fairway. I never found the # 6 gigantic tee pad. I did stumble upon the basket.

I wasn't thrilled with 7. It follows a narrow fairway with tall grass on the left and the baseball outfield fence on the right. Holes 8 & 9 are both similar. # 8 is 300' with the tall grass on both sides and 9 is 275'.

And now you have a very long walkout back to the parking lot by the school.

The tall prairie grass comes into play on at least six holes. As mentioned by another reviewer, beginners and scattered armed rec players, like myself, will hate the grass. Better players will throw over it or are accurate enough to overcome it.

4 & 5 are just long, boring open shots.

There is a very long walkout after 9 back to the parking lot.

I didn't see any geese but Goose Lake is just another Chicago 9'er. It's not the worse course around but I wouldn't be too excited to have this as my home course. Hunting for discs in the prairie grass would become tedious in a very, very short time.

1. Can't think of anything I would call a pro.

Edit: after after a couple nights I should say the teeboxes were alright. Upping my rating to half a star

1. Every hole is surrounded on both sides by thick brush. As in you go in even a foot, have a fun 10 minute look. Hole 8/9 are just ridiculous, literally fairways are 25 feet wide surrounded by 5 foot tall graas.

2. The baskets were in awful shape

3. Trash everywhere

I would never play here again, the course is just not well thought out. Hard is one thing, unforgiving disc eater is another matter

Edit: the teepads are nice, but what does that say that the best thing about the course is teeboxes that aren't even concrete?

Nicely mowed fairways, some nice par 5 s. The map at the beginning was nice but I had to take a picture of it to find my way to the tee boxes

This course needs some work. The fairways at this course are about 70 feet wide with 5 foot grass on each side. I spent more time looking for discs than playing. The baskets needed some work too. At least four of the baskets had no rings around the pole, so the chains would hang straight down and knock your disc out. Many of the tee signs were either missing or laying on the ground. I don't think I would go back here any time soon.

This course is always very quiet but I know why that is now. This one I wouldn't go out of my way for.

1) Hole Par and Distance listed on the posts by the tees.
2) Level gravel teepads are massive and allow for you to pick your spot.
3) Distance out here is one of the biggest factors in the challenge on the course. Holes range from mid 200's to low 500's with everything in between. Excellent variation allows for multiple shot holes, multiple discs to be used etc. This is by far the course with the most distance in the area.
4) Many holes definitely have some trees to challenge you. There also is some prairie grass on a handful of holes to eat up a low thrown disc and cost you distance. This also adds to the variety and feel of the course in addition to playability.
5) Scenic park with wetlands, prairies, mowed turf, nice trees etc.
6) Good variety of shots needed here, although on many holes you can pick your favorite line.
7) I love it when I get a chance or two to throw my rollers.

1) There is a missing ring on the #6 basket and the chains are rusty in spots. These baskets have seen some use.
2) The prairie grass eats up discs and will cost you some time if you throw in there. I suggest throwing in the fairway!
3) Walkpath is in play on multiple holes. Please avoid throwing if there are walkers around.
4) Portopotty is right in the fairway on #1. I imagine someone would get quite a shock if a disc hit it while they were inside.
5) Long walk between #5 and #6 as you pass #3 and #2 on the way back to the other side of the wetland.

It appears as though I have similar feelings about this course as many other people. I like that is has distance, I like the trees on the property and how the actual holes play. I do not like the annoying tall grass, the constant interaction with the walking path, or the goofy flow and broken up feel of the course. Overall I would say this is just another average course, not much more could be done out here to make it any better.

Level gravel tee boxes. Holes #6 and #7 are scenic and the trees were worked into those holes nicely. I wish the rest of the course was more like these holes.

Difficult for players who lack power and/or precision. Most holes are bounded by tall grass, so a poor throw may be costly. Some of the fairways were only about 12ft wide. At #4 and #5, there are few obstacles. Those fairways are wide and all you do is throw your disc as hard as you can. Long walk from #5 to #6. You end up feeling like you played more than 9.

It seems like the course was forced to fit the landscape. To make this course better, they would need to mow down more of the wetland plants and grasses so you're not trying to thread a needle or carry an expanse of grass. But that would go against the park district's likely wish to keep this area natural. The park is popular with dog walkers who seem unaware of the course, so watch for them.

- Course is set in a neighborhood park behind a grade school. There is a walking path, some baseball diamonds, and a park in between two holes, so you might have to do some waiting.
- Some very interesting shots here, that require line shaping and accuracy. #1 is a big hyzer/anhyzer around some large trees, #2 is a soft RHBH anny, #5 is a long RHBH anny, #6 is a big hyzer behind some tall grass, and #8 and #9 are both anny/flick shots. Knowing how to shape lines is very important here. Tall grass is big punishment for errant throws.
- A lot of these holes also have blind baskets, due to the severity of the lines - either around tall grass, trees, or both. Some are protected as well, with #6 in between a few trees, and #1 having some slight rollaway potential.
- A little bit of elevation in spots, like a slight downhill shot on #3 or a slight uphill shot on #8. Adds a some fun and challenge respectively, though it's nothing big.
- Awesome variety of hole length, with a few at 240'-275', some others right around 300', and some longer ones for the big arms at 425' and 515'. Overall it's on the long side, except for those easily clearing 300'.
- Good crushed gravel teepads, signage is good with only a few missing (and maps present), baskets are OK even with 9 missing the bottom rings.

- Biggest con at this course is some walking in between holes. Walking to #1 takes a few minutes from the school parking lot, and the walk from #5 to #6 is another couple minutes. Tee #5 is also a little tricky to find, checking the map is a good idea.
- Most fairways are pretty much wide open, with tall grass on the sides. General accuracy is usually enough to go on, there aren't any windows to hit for the most part (#6/#7 the exception).
- A few holes next to park and baseball field provides some interference, especially taking the hyzer line over the fence on #7.

- I came back to this course as a refresher for the review, and I was surprised at the quality. Some tricky lines to hit, with big annys and hyzers, that needed to stay well clear of some nasty tall grass. Scoring well here can require respectable length and decent accuracy. Probably just right for an intermediate player; beginners might lose all their discs and experts won't find too much challenge.

The course is realtively fun to play. Challenging holes. Some distance.

Built around a park, so way too many 9-13 year-old kids looking at you as kids that age will. Also there is a walking path that winds throughout the course, so there is a lot of waiting and praying. I almost took out two young girls with a "drive" that hit a branch and did it's own thing. I don't think they understood why I yelled "fore."

Goose Lake is one of the many shorter nine hole courses in the Chicagoland area. Like others, it is relatively wide open with very few obstacles to contend with and while it does require that a player is able to throw a driver or two, it makes up for this positive feature with nasty waist-high grass that lurks just off of many of the fairways. In the summer, the grass is pretty unbearable and on my visit in the winter the mud, while not terrible, was certainly a bit of an unpleasantry.

Use the trees!: There are several places where the natural features of the park (trees and brush) could be used much more effectively. There are several points where it seems that trees were almost purposefully avoided in the design. This park, while not huge, has room enough to add a bit more challenge and utilize available obstacles a bit better.

Long grass: Long grass and reeds really bum me out as obstacles on a disc golf course because they maximize the annoyance of having areas that are tough to find your disc while minimizing the actual punishment (score-wise) of throwing into these areas. Really it isn't difficult to throw out of even waist high grass when there aren't any other obstacles between you and the pin. Get your tomahawk/thumbers ready!

Goose Lake is 'par' for the course for the massive collection of nine hole courses in the area. Its fairly open, has little elevation, and overall doesn't have many features that challenge a player to play their best game. Newer players will probably enjoy the low-challenge level but would probably prefer to play at a park without the annoying grass rough. Players with more experience will probably enjoy the chance to air out some longer drives but won't experience any penalties for spraying off the tee.

Goose Lake Park's greatest asset is length. Like an island in a sea of short pitch'n'putts, Goose Lake provides refuge for underused distance drivers. Don't get the wrong impression though, this course is nothing special. Hole 1 was well designed to make a RHBH hyzer impossible except for big arms. The anny route is treacherous, with a cattail marsh to the left of the fairway. After that, the design is more blah. The crushed gravel tees provide good traction while still allowing you to pivot easily.

The baskets need a tune up, they are abused Innova Discatchers. About half of the baskets are missing at least one of the rings that holds the chains together, leaving the outer chains hanging straight down. The layout here isn't very good, there is a lot of backtracking between holes. Looking at the land, I'm not sure that there was a better layout but the flow here sucks. Some holes also throw over or along walking paths, make sure its clear before you drive. Very wide open, there are no obstacles to air shots with the exception of 2 or 3 holes. The main obstacle is the long grass that surrounds most fairways. It won't get in the way of any lines, but it will drive you nuts if your disc ends up in it. The tee signs are very basic, with only hole # and distance. On the second longest hole, the sign is located directly behind the tee making a long run-up awkward.

Park in the school parking lot. The apartment complex parking lot nearest the first tee is full of tow-away signs. Walk straight back from the school parking lot and down the asphalt walking path to the first tee. Bring a buddy so you can watch each others shots or play a safe line. The long grass can be hell if you are not exactly sure where you went in. Next time I am out at this course, I will bring some wire or a couple of old coat hangers next time I am at the course and will try to temporarily fix the baskets.

Quiet park in natural wetlands, spacious crushed gravel t-boxes, groomed fairways & rough, hole/shot type variety, fairly challenging, course demands accuracy, some holes demand power, course layout maps & signs,easy to navigate, high end discatcher baskets, course length at 3110 (longest 9 around), well maintained, low traffic from other players & park users. Improvements would not be difficult & there's plenty of room to expand to 18.

Lots of brush, grass, reeds, etc., it's lined on one side by wetlands. This summer's hot sunny weather made for added lush growth. The thickest trouble areas are to left of hole 6 & 7. Holes 8 & 9 are moderately thick, the rest of course has spotty areas.

Only 9 holes.

Minor layout issues that could be improved. Some areas of brush could be cut back & lower. Some trees & bushes could be added for obstructions, esp. back side for some holes.

Course designers did a fairly good job given what is here to work with & doing so along a wetland sanctuary & park surrounded by residential neighborhood. The course is tougher if you play OB & 3 min. search rule. Can make up alternate tee placements from walking paths to add holes.

The course has similarities with some of the other courses in the area, yet this course, with nice tee boxes, equipment, length and other positives gets ripped on a lot. Some of the ratings here are low, the overall ratings of 1 (poor) & zero (abysmal) are harsh & lack in overall objectivity.

Have played this course since it opened and not lost a disc to date. The course takes some getting used to. I do not see this as a beginner's course because of the length & accuracy demands as well as the discouragement factor of having to avoid rough & losing discs.

To counter the rough, I use bright, bouncy type discs, my Pro Wraith t-dye for example is good for this courses & sits up on brush & tall grass well. Super soft putters work well also. Watching were it goes & keeping eyes on the spot helps tremendously to short search & find. If you're worried about losing discs, play for accuracy esp. first runs on the course or play as a group and spot each others shots on troublesome holes.

An okay course & facilities with room for improvements. There's not an abundance of prime courses in this area to date & many suburbs won't even consider doing a DG course at all. It's another course in the ground, not a bad thing after all. As for improvements, constructive suggestions to the park district is the way to go, they've seemed upbeat & positive about the game & course.

Goose Lake has me quite confused. I either like it quite a bit or I hate it, and I'm not quite sure which it is. The course could be quite challenging if you play the tall grass O.B. It would demand accuracy on your drives, and many of the holes have some healthy distances. Hole # 1 and # 8 took away the hyzer route for a RHBH thrower, so you had to use a few different shots. The course overall was flat, but the distances set it apart from most of the flat Chicagoland 9-hole pitch and putts. They did try to use what little elevation changes they had to work with. The tees were a crushed gravel and were in good shape, and there were good tee signs including several that had a course map attached.

If you don't play the tall grass as O.B., it's just annoying. There is tall grass on most of the holes, and all it does is make finding your disc a hassle.

The basket for # 3 and # 5 were close together, and there was no need for it. They easily could have been moved further apart.

You can see the basket for # 1 from the road, but you have to walk up past it to get to the tee and shoot back to it. It is just one example of the poor flow of the course. The tees for # 2 and # 6 are actually right next to each other; you shoot #2-#4 down to one end of the park, shoot # 5 back and then take a long walk past # 3 and # 2 to get back to that 2/6 tee. Then you shoot # 6-#9 to another part of the park. Once you finish # 9, you have to walk past # 6 and # 1 to get back to the parking lot. The course is marked fairly well and has course maps on a few of the tee signs so it is easy to navigate, but the overall flow is poor.

Hole # 7 played along a ball field outfield, the fence being a bit too close for safety sake if the ball field was in use. Most of the baskets were in good shape, but the ring was broken on # 7 and the chains were just hanging straight down.

Hole # 9 is sorta/kinda tucked into the woods, but the area in front of the basket is wide open. They missed a chance at a protected pin there. All the rest of the baskets just sit in the open

I think Goose Lake is one of those places you have to figure out for yourself. I can see where some players might really enjoy it and find it a challenge, and I can see where others would hate it and find it to be a waste. Between the distances and the disc-eating tall grass it might be a bit much for a beginner, but the design really isn't challenging enough for an advanced player. Players that fall in-between those two levels might find this to be a good test of their skills. Personally I go back and forth on it. Playing the long grass OB added quite a bit of challenge to it, so with creative ground rules I could see a round being quite fun. It's not a course for everyone, but some players should enjoy this one

Nice crushed gravel tee stations
Manicured fairways cut out around the rough (like a ball golf course)
Challenging holes with a couple tough left-right dog-legs.
A couple of long holes over 425 feet
Very easy to follow and great flow through course with the exception of one walk back to hole #6.
Nice wetlands backdrop
Nine holes that give you a little bit of everything!

It is easy to spend awhile looking in the rough on holes 3, 6, 7, 8, and 9 if you make a bad throw. Hole 8 actually has a blind placement left to right over a wicked patch of weeds.

I am still a beginner so this course is very challenging for me but because it is so challenging it is also very rewarding when you make a great shot.
If you have good accuracy this course is a must for you to try!

The course is laid out around a multi-use park, but doesn't really conflict with the other park uses for the most part. There are some scattered smaller trees on many of the holes which keep it from being completely wide open. There is a little tiny bit of elevation on a couple holes that adds a little bit of interest. There is a good mix of shorter ace run holes and some longer holes, including a couple with room to really throw a drive. There are a few holes which force a left or right turning shot, which surprised me given how open and flat the course is.

There is a course map by the first tee that was very helpful. All the tee signs were in good shape, and showed the layout and distance for each hole. The tee pads were crushed gravel, and for the most part were level and big enough, and provided decent footing even in wet weather.

The course just really isn't that interesting. The biggest obstacle is the tall grass, which doesn't really affect your throw, it just eats discs that land even a couple feet off the fairways. I don't mind a little tall grass on a course, but here it was on nearly every hole.

There were a couple places where the course played a little close to walking paths and a baseball field, not a huge deal but it could be an issue on a busy day. It's a little tough to find the first tee, it's over near the baseball field a ways away from the school lot where we parked, I didn't see parking that was closer other than the apartments nearby which had permit parking only signs.

The length and openness of this course would make it good for beginners, but new players might find it frustrating to be looking in the tall swampy grass on many holes. More experienced players aren't going to find anything unique or all that challenging here, though the rough encourages careful shot placement especially on the longer holes.

If you're passing by, the course is there and is a quick play. Don't drive at all out of your way to play this one though, especially if it's been raining recently as many areas of the course get pretty muddy and swampy.

A variety of different shots are needed to play the course. It makes good use of the park which it shares with a baseball diamond.

The course seems very well maintained. There are fairways that always seem to be mowed through the tall grass.

The course has very good signs.

The gravel teeboxes are also well maintained and nice.

Some longer holes are on the course which is impressive considering the small park it is in. Hole 5 is 515 feet.

Tall weeds and grass can easily eat a disc that is just a few feet off the mowed fairway.

The course has a confusing layout despite the good signs. After hole 5 you have to walk all the way back past hole 3 to hole 2's tee as hole six tees off in the same area.

Holes 6 and 7 play up against the outfield of the baseball diamond.

Not a bad course, but not great either. The rough makes it almost necessary to bring someone to spot or you will lose a disc.

Nice gravel tees for each hole. Good signage marking pin location and footage for most holes, some missing. Decent use of a limited amount of space.

The course looks like it is located in a flood plain, with most of the ground being swampy, and covered with tall grass. Discs thrown into the grass can be very difficult to find without a spotter. Not much of a challenge, most holes are fairly open without much obstruction/obstacles.

It's not a bad course, it just doesn't do anything to make it stand out from other offerings in the area. Unlike some of the other "pitch and putt" courses, they do have a few long holes here, which is a nice change of pace. The grass is a killer on some holes. If you play without a spotter, keep in mind that there will be some places where you are throwing blind, and if your disc crosses into the grass without you seeing it land, you may have a long search on your hands to find it. I played while everything was dry, but it isn't hard to imagine that rain will make much of the course wet and unplayable, and I can also imagine that mosquitoes will be very thick in the summer. All and all, I would only visit the course if I happened to be in the area, otherwise, there are better courses in the area to spend your time at.

What I personally like and how this course stacks up:
1) Holes with good risk/reward -- D
2) Holes that have rewarding birdie opportunities -- D
3) More wooded than open - lots of variety of shots required caused by hole shape and topography -- D
4) Natural beauty (Appalachian beauty preferred) and seclusion -- D+
5) Multi-shot holes with defined landing zones, good risk/reward and multiple options to play them -- D

I ranked this course subjectively based on my own personal enjoyment factor...more accurately my "personal addiction factor". Since I have played a decent number of courses (115 18-hole, 50 9-hole as of early 2009), my hope is that players/explorers who have similar tastes will find my ratings list helpful as they chose courses to play and explore.

Over time, I expect to fill some of my reviews in with more descriptive verbiage...if what I say adds anything to what has already been written. For now, my list is more important to me than the verbiage of my reviews.

I fully expect others with different tastes/philosophies to disagree with me. See my profile for my rating philosophy.

Very decent tee boxes, and the holes are all marked fairly well. Seems to be a decent use of space, given the fairly limited resources available. The baskets were high quality and cemented into the ground. Some longer holes, which is surprising, given the space. Totally empty while I was playing.

Not a ton of variety on this course. All of it was fairly open, with very little by way of obstacles. Tall grass doesn't provide much of playing challenge, aside from obscuring lost discs. The fairway on holes three and four are absolutely unplayable and disgusting. They were very mucky and fairly unplayable. I definitely did not want to throw my discs in that mess. I disagree with the previous reviewer that the fairways are in any way well maintained. Course is wedged between a couple of baseball fields and is behind an elementary school. Some holes are also close to a playground, so there can be some foot traffic issues during weekdays.

I'll be honest...I was ready to be pleasantly surprised with this course. The first tee was very hard to find at first...it's close to the baseball field furthest from the school. The first and second holes were very nice, and I liked the tees and tee markers. But then the awful terrain on three and four kinda ruined it. Four provided no challenge, aside from being over 400 feet long. And there really is no challenge or variety to this course. This course is totally blah, and that might even be generous. I guess if you're driving by the elementary school sometime, give it a shot, but don't go out of your way to play this. By no means a very good course.