Had a little problem figuring out the Blue v.s White tees at first but thats just because we are new to this course. We liked the layout and basket placements. We were able to use multiple styles of throwing methods as well as multiple disc.

The course had a great mix of technical holes as well as open distance shots. Loved playing through the woods and thought the course was well groomed.

Didn't have any real con's. Brighter marked baskets would help first time players of this course find the basket easier, other than that we had no complaints.

Good: signage, warm up basket, tree challenges. You could find a line most if not all the time. Starts shorter and more technical and opens up on the back 9. multiple tees makes for a date night course. decent variety of lefts and rights. Did not get poison ivy, so there may not be any.

The par 4 early on is an easy birdie, later there is a hole that hould be a par 4 and is not. Navigation a bit tough on back 8, feels like a 9 hole was expanded into an 18 hole course. No water fountains on site.

Spent the night in Grayling, played this in evening and the PDGA the next day. 2 great days of disc.

A family friendly track with plenty of shade. Signage & mowed paths make it very easy to navigate. Dual tees. The Blues play to an advanced level but provide enough challenge to engage a pro.
The front 9 is well manicured and pastoral. The back is a bit more rustic. I didn't notice any sort of thorns or vines in the rough, but the front has plenty of high grass off the fairway and 'hungry' cedar trees.
I enjoyed this course for its simplicity. There were some holes that were long enough for the blues to present a challenge (especially in the blustery wind) but the shorter holes were fun, fair and invited us to experiment with alternate throwing styles without blowing out our arms.
Ample length tee pads for a shorter course, for the most part. The back 9 features home made wooden targets that look cool and catch well. The locals we met were friendly and helpful when one of our "lefty" throws went astray.
People who only have time for 9 holes can veer left after hole #8(?) and play #s 17 & 18 in (making that 10 holes) Pine Knoll is a nice warm-up before playing the more challenging PDGA course.

Although it sits at the base of a ski hill, the course topography is mainly flat with only minimal elevation changes. Somewhere near the end of the front 9, there is an elevated tee throwing into an open field for 500+ feet. The hole was fun enough but the tee didn't allow for enough run up or follow-through.

(#1154) A great complement to the larger, more challenging course. We saw far more players on this course...mostly kids. Come for the day! Play both courses!

Aesthetic-- plays through woods and some more open woods and ends with two more open holes. I'm sure this is the busier of the two courses here as it's FAR easier to play.

Baskets-- nice, ChainStars and custom wooden baskets. I really liked the wood baskets as they add an aspect of originality to this northern michigan course.

Routing and nav-- a little confusing at the 7 to 8 junction. That said, you could easily turn this into a quick 9 hole course (old layout) or play through the new 9 holes.

Teepads-- Dual pads on EVERY hole. was nice to have the choice. I played a little of each set during my round and took pictures of the new 9.

Originality-- the uprooted trees on 3, the wooden baskets, this course has it's own identity from the big brother course on the hill. One of the other nice things is that this course plays a lot "cooler" than the PDGA course due to the amount of shade here. the 100' markers on hole 7 were a cool touch too.

Teesigns-- basic. with length and a crude map. instructive enough I suppose and lengths seem appropriate.

risk v reward-- none to speak of on the new 9. the rough is a bit rougher on the original 9 course but still not an issue if you have an errant throw.

Challenge-- quite short. hole 1's white tee is 135' long :. has one long hole that almost seems out of place on this course.

Wasted opportunity-- I think the hill in the back of this course coulda/shoulda been used a lot more than it isn't. the hill only has a tee pad on it. no baskets.. kind of disappinting really.
this course has a complete lack of elevation.

I really liked this course. it was a nice warm up for the big house on the hill.

+ Full 18 holes playing through some woods, then fairly open holes
+ Very nice dual concrete tees: white (beginner-friendly layout) and blue (average, full layout)
+ Low mowed grass shaping fairways
+ Easy to navigate with blue directional signs and mowed walking paths
+ Treacherous un-mowed rough
+ Effort to remove trees to define lines is appreciated
+ Preserved trees to add challenge is frustrating
+ Tee/basket location for line of sight variances
+ Convenient! Really, this course is a great compliment to the PDGA course on-site
+ Clean and well-maintained
+ Brooms at the tees, a couple trash cans
+ Uprooted trees blocking #3's basket was surprising

- Wooden baskets are too wide at the base and catch shots that normally wouldn't go in
- Back nine plays fairly close to the loud highway
- Hole #17/18's field is popular amongst dog-walkers and other pedestrians

Pine Knoll was once a 9-holer with single, "short" distance tees. In the past year or so, wooden baskets have been added to round out the full 18 layout and then blue tees were cemented in that really added the necessary distance and challenge to bring it up to par with other courses.

Pine Knoll serves a noble purpose. It's the humble younger brother of the PDGA Course. The PDGA Course is much larger, grander, more challenging, more technical and diverse, scenic, and honestly way more fun, but Pine Knoll is thoughtfully designed and completed wonderfully. Beginners, less able-bodied disc golfers, people low on time, anyone whose been beaten up by the PDGA Course, or anyone really in the mood for a solid round of birdie opportunities will be very satisfied with Pine Knoll. Like the PDGA Course, it's very well-maintained with nicely groomed fairways, multiple lines to choose from, and great signage.

I always consider playing this course on the way up or down I-75, especially if I don't have the time or energy for the PDGA Course. The first time I played it with my wife, we played the shorts and while I was underwhelmed, she had a fantastic time staying close to par. Thankfully, the Blue tees add the perfect amount of challenge in distance and line shaping. Advanced and above will appreciate the way it compliments the PDGA Course, as a great way to warm up or cool down. Playing both courses can take four hours and is well-worth the drive and time. I highly recommend playing both. If you have the time and energy, play the big one. If you are just passing through, play the short one. Even if you just play 1-6 and 17/18!

Thanks for reading!

- Good smart design with many different throws, most holes allow alternate routes but a few get quite technical
- Nice tees on the original 9 part, carpet tees on new 9 are good though
- well marked, groomed, easy to navigate, all amenities, etc!
- Not very rough easy to find discs, etc
- No poison ivy
- Very scenic back extra holes feels like NorCal
- Awesome uprooted tree
- WOOD baskets

Not much really, just insanely short for the original 9 short tees but they're just fine for the beginners, much needed even.

Worth playing but if you have time for ONE course, play the long one instead, unless you're a noob.

This course was recently expanded with 9 more baskets made out of wood (catches discs very well and look great) with carpet teepads for a total of 18 holes. I didn't see any permanent signage yet, but the Holes were labeled Hole A through Hole I and started after Hole 7 and looped into Hole 8.

The original 9 holes with metal baskets have two sets of concrete teepads Blue(Pro) and White (Am) with excellent signage.

This course has a good mix of holes which will have you throwing through some tight technical tree sections to airing it out on a couple longer stretches near the end of the round.

There are plenty of benches on this short course which is fairly flat and stroller (family) friendly.

It was a little tough to navigate in a few spots on the new 9 holes added, but I was lucky to have some locals show me around.

This is a great compliment to the PDGA Championship Course located on the big hills.

Definately worth the trip to check out the Hanson Hills Recreation Area.

This place gets better every time, Great signage and course markers makes navigating very easy.

Dual concrete tee pads is always a plus

Covers a wide variety of shots. This is a great course to learn and hone your skills.

NEW 9 holes recently added to Pine knoll course. Carpet Tees and wooden baskets that look amazing! Kudos to who built the baskets. This just adds value to this already wonderful disc golf course.

Nothing really comes to mind besides no elevation and no signage on the back nine yet.

This place is well maintained, you can tell the locals really care about there facility here.

Between 18 hole short course and the championship course I will be coming to Hanson hills more frequently that is fore sure!

For being an afterthought, this course has great variety. It starts with very short heavily wooded holes. As you progress through the course, the holes gradually open up as the distance increases. Pro lengths range from 150-525'.

Each hole requires something a little different, mostly in tight approaches, and one hole is all about warming up the Big Gun. Baskets are tucked away and heavily guarded. Whether it is a open tee that closes up at the hole, or a tight tee with an open fairway, there are challenges for RH and LH players alike.

While the Am tees are mostly not that much closer than the Pro tees, the skill required for the Ams is measurably less than the Pro. This often allows mixed groups to tee off together while matching challenge levels with abilities.

Although this course is very short, there are still benches placed about every third hole, and all of the tees are easy to find except the last.

No elevation. This course lies in the flatlands that lie before Hanson Hills. It intermingles with a CC ski trail and a baseball field, so don't expect any peaks or valleys. The 5' high ridge at #7 tee is the best there is.

Natural tees. This area is lousy with sand, and the tees show it. They are serviceable now, but it has only been in the ground for a month or two, and a season or two of rounds is all it will take to destroy them. Cement tees aren't really needed for a course as short as this, but some kind of reinforcement is really needed to keep these tees from becoming boar wallows.

Terrible signage. The original signage on the main course wasn't much better, but currently the tee signs are nothing more than laminated pages that will last through a storm or two and be gone. Here's to hoping better signs are in the works.

No water hazards. No OB

Hanson Hills is approximately 90 minutes from my home. Whenever I have played it, I have always felt very tight and not on my game, even when I have used the driving range to loosen up. I was planning to play a Cadillac course right after this, but I felt so good after my round I immediately played the long course, and scored my best there ever.

Since Hanson Hills - Long was designed as a PDGA championship course, it makes sense to have a short 9 to complement it. Competitors are able to warm up in something other than a field, and people who travel to a competition, but don't participate, can whittle the time away on this course while the tournament is happening.

While the growth is still heavy on the shorter holes, this will naturally recede with play, and I believe leave behind a well designed, mildly challenging 9 that will allow us to get all the cylinders firing before we tee off for the big prize.

Short, but pretty sweet. I would definitely suggest you play this prior to the long course so that conquering the terrain doesn't hamper your game.

While there are improvements that I would like to see on the main course, surprisingly, the addition of this little 9er significantly improves the Hanson experience as a whole.