-Nice Park with ponds and a cherry orchard
-Another course in the Leelanau Penninsula

-Design and layout need improving
-Plays and crosses walking paths, sometimes blindly
-Bugs and wet areas can be an issue
-Missing Basket 9
-Inaccurate and confusing signs
-Design and layout NEED improving

I agree with other reviews that it is nice to have another course in the area. However, with a poor design on a really nice park, this course is somewhat of a let down. I played here in early spring and more than half of the course was flooded (fields, woods especially, and cherry orchard section). Hole 1 has you walking back from the parking lot to the entrance of the park. The signs are nice quality, but distances seem to be misleading. There are a few holes where it would be very easy to shoot to the wrong basket. A few shots maybe a little too close to the walking path, especially when your shooting blind. The flow of the course is not great, you cross back and forth quite a bit. If your in the area visiting, go play Myles Kimmerly or TC instead.

As another reviewer said, it is nice to have a course up there for play on vacation, but its mere presence does not merit high marks. A number of long holes add fun factor as you are able to throw some bombs. I'm sure if it wasn't so windy when I played that I would have enjoyed these open holes much more.
Cherry orchard section was nice, but grass was TALL and the landing areas were quite small.
Flow ( read: not hole layout) was generally good until about hole 15.

Layout is problematic, and it was (in my experience) made more confusing due to tee maps that were not accurate in terms of scale and distance to obstacles. As a course likely played by many people visiting the area, it could be made more enjoyable/playable for novice/intermediate level players with a revision of course mapping. Again, as was noted by another reviewer, the last 3-4 holes are generally unplayable. Fairways through the wooded holes are 4-5 feet wide through heavy, bug-infested undergrowth. Combine this with blind shots that dogleg back on themselves, and you will likely spend time searching for discs. Novices will NOT enjoy this course, as there are ample opportunities to lose a disc on practically every hole be it into water, woods, tall grass, or massive brush piles.

Bugs, bugs, bugs...

It seems the course designers tried to work w limited space, but the difficulty of wooded holes seem gimmicky in that you were forced into throwing lines that I'd wager a large percentage of disc golfers can not/do not throw, with extremely limited margin for error.

Bottom line: Go to the beach instead.

Hey - it's Sutton's Bay, and it's the only course on the Leelanau Peninsula. So, I think this is a pretty good course. I found lots of variations of shots, and lots of open play, which I like because it allows you to bomb shots. Given the few courses up this way, and the incredible scenery and availability of locations, I really liked this course and will play it again.

The last three holes ARE completely unplayable. Not only are they over-grown and extremely wet, when I was there the poison ivy was out of control. It's a shame because up until that point, I was having a great day and a great time.

The fix on this is EASY and I hope whoever is in charge reads this, because if they fix it, the ratings will surge. At the hole with the large brush pile (14th, I think), rather than turn into the swamp, the course should head back out through the Cherry Orchard. You could easily map three additional holes in that direction, bring the lovely pond back into play, and still have the eighteenth basket location. I hope they do make this change because let's face it, playing the last three holes in what is effectively a swamp, really stinks.

I love Sutton's Bay - so I hope they make these changes. And, if you go: play through the 14th - the Brush Pile Hole. You'll have a great time.

A course is now in Suttons Bay. The 2 holes in the cherry trees almost made this course worthwhile.

Poor signage of where the starting hole/next holes are. 1st tee is back by the park entrance away from the parking lot. Hole 2 easily plays to the wrong basket which is plain sight on the 2nd shot (good luck perfectly placing your drive to prepare for the 90 degree turn). Then be prepared for every wooded hole to be completely under water. I played this course after a very warm & dry week and it was like playing in a swamp/bayou. The woods are extremely thick with shot lines that are far too tight and unrealistic. The open field holes lack creativity and the "fairway" grass was so thick that it was extremely challenging finding a disc even in the open. With some baskets being near each other, it was far too easy to play to the wrong basket. The hole with the brush pile is so penal that you may as well forget about retrieving your disc if you go into that monstrosity.

Overall this course fell far short of its potential. I was extremely excited to have a course come to Suttons Bay and will give it another chance but this course is currently not worth a trip up the Leelanau Peninsula.

+ Brand new for everyone, so the course is an adventure
+ All the water holes add extra risk vs reward in ways that made them REALLY fun
+ Pond water was super clear, also with lifebuoys! (no swimming, though)
+ Mixed design of open, wooded, sparse trees, natural obstacles, and water holes added great variation
+ All holes have signage
+ Lots of trash cans, course was perfectly clean
+ Tee pads and baskets are perfect (the two circular tees were not really an issue for us, and actually kind of reminded us of the roots of powerful disc throwing)
+ Groomed and mowed
+ Nine 300'+ holes, a few eagle opportunities
+ Shorter holes had water or thick woods involved
+ Long branches trimmed and placed next to ponds to be used to retrieve discs
+ Suttons Bay and the attractive setting of the course
+ Change of pace from the very hilly courses in the area

- The layouts of the wooded holes seemed sloppy
- No tees in the woods, not even tee markers in most cases (some flags were there)
- Random pin placement around corners and in notches
- 13-18 were insanely buggy. I'm talking you ruffle up the rough and watch 30 mosquitoes wake up to destroy every bit of exposed flesh nearby (repelled decently by 98% deet)
- Roughest rough I've ever battled; fierce clearing of the rough with a weedwacker would be amazing (soccer socks or pants recommended)
- It looks like the park's construction of soccer, tennis, and picnic areas will eat up a lot of the space devoted to the course (there was already a picnic table sitting around the 90º curve of hole 2's blind fairway)
- Hole 1 playing over the road could be a problem if it's busy
- Wooded holes seemed cramped and still need some trees cleared
- Flow of the course hindered a little by the way 15-18 backtrack through ground already walked earlier in the course

Played by four intermediate level players on an 85º July afternoon. There was no one around at all. We were all super excited to drive up M-22 to Suttons Bay to play the course, and we had a good time (even though I was thwacked in the privates by a springy bush branch, red lower legs from the thick rough, lost a disc on 13, and almost eaten alive by mosquitos on 14-18 despite putting 98% deet on). Despite obvious problems with the layout, it's worth it. Plan ahead and you'll be happy: bug spray, a variety of discs, long socks/pants, and be prepared to spend a little time in thick rough and possibly fishing a disc out of one of the shallow ponds if you're unlucky.

The course is equalizing. There are some fairly tight woods that highlight accuracy, some creative line-shaping opportunities, as well as frustrating get out of trouble shots for sure. A few good drives of ~300' will give a couple chances to snag birds (along with possibly generous pars). Decently mixed with baskets placed left and right of the fairways, so not really righty or lefty-favoring.

Although the wooded holes seemed quite awful at the time, I do want to give them credit for clearing the super thick nastiness. That being said, the wooded holes weren't short and sweet, they were all a little lacking in one respect or another, and really pulled the rest of the course down. They were what I liked least about Herman. Specifically annoying was the way a few baskets were placed sharply around corners or in notches of woods. I know this is going to sound lame, but such gimmicky(?) placement added unnecessary challenge to the short/wooded holes to make up for lack of distance. I would prefer the fairways' do their own talking and dictate the placement of the pins. It felt like you had to use annoying "get out of trouble" throws that relied on luck rather than skill to birdie after what should be considered great throws off the tee.

That being said, in contrast, the open holes weren't just simple wide open easy holes. There are good distances to air out some long drives in the middle of the course, but there was always something to make them interesting. Some trees, some rough, or quite often a little risk of getting close to water with bad throws spiced things up. The open holes were also made slightly more challenging by lining some fairways with unmowed grass, but not in excess. The holes that significantly feature the clean and clear ponds were what made this course shine, though. The water was never too much of a challenge for even beginners to handle even when the baskets were placed mere feet from the edges (especially fun in my opinion). And if you lose a disc in a pond, a golden retriever or a long branch (thoughtfully provided) would get it back.

The course probably plays smoother in the fall/winter when the forest isn't fighting back with the full violence of nature. That was also when the course was completed, so some of the pitfalls may have been unforeseen. That's just an assumption, though. Rest assured, however, I believe this course is well worth your time even in the hot, buggy summer. Especially before the rest of the construction turns the park, currently devoted to disc golf into a combined recreation area with tennis, soccer, picnicking, and more. I'll definitely play here again and next time I'll be more prepared. I really want to play Herman this fall. If they keep the baskets in during the winter, I'd love to come up then, too!

Thank you for reading!!

Aesthetic--park seems to be newish with a lot of expansion planned for the future. For now there isn't much there besides disc golf. When we got there a family was flying an rc airplane.

Baskets--discraft, brand new shiny baskets.

Routing and navigation-- not too bad, pretty intuitive where to go except for 15 to 16.

Signage--great, except for the distances on a few holes (16?) Seemed way off.

Design--7,11&12 were great holes. 7 is a water shot with trees guarding the pin, 11&12 play through an old orchard.

Risk v reward--for all the things this course lacks, risk v reward is certainly not one of them. Plenty of risk to be had withthe water holes and the impossible rough through the woods.

Design-- lazy lazy lazy in a lot of places. 1,2,9,10 have to be some of the laziest hole designs ever. 1 plays across the entrance road to the park, 2 plays along the parking lot, then a sharp left and 250+ into the woods. 9&10 are huge bomber holes across a field where fairways and throws could certainly cross...

Teepads--the rectangle ones are nice. The two awkward circle ones on 9&10 are annoying as we are not throwing discus or shot put. The woods holes all had dirt (mud) pads.

Wetness--the woods holes were all very narrow with little chance to recover an errant shot off fairway, very wet playing across marahes. It is possible that wood chips are on the way in though.

Danger--when some of the other ammenities are in, this course could be very dangerous with proximity issues.

This was a good attempt but falls short of awesomeness, a few holes were cool, but the lazy and woods holes sort of ruined it for me. If you're in the area though, hit it up!