• Discover new ways to elevate your game with the updated DGCourseReview app!
    It's entirely free and enhanced with features shaped by user feedback to ensure your best experience on the course. (App Store or Google Play)

Bloomington, MN

Hyland Hills Ski Area - 18

3.645(based on 7 reviews)
Filter course reviews

Filter reviews

Filter reviews

Hyland Hills Ski Area - 18 reviews

Filter
1 0
Breh
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 13.9 years 191 played 189 reviews
3.50 star(s)

2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 25, 2019 Played the course:once

Pros:

Hyland ski resort has a short 9 and then the main 18. Overall a solid day for disc golf. The main 18 starts with a couple wide open shots making your way up the mountain. The grass was freshly mowed when I played their and in great shape. There's a giant map with scorecards that has a map on them that comes in handy. The baskets were in good condition and most had the hole number on top of them in gold as the 18 is the gold course. Hole 18 is the signature hole and is an incredible 700 and some foot downhill throw. The views here are probably the biggest pro as being on the mountain gives you gorgeous look of the city. There's actually a lot of fun holes and good mix of wooded to open

Cons:

The open holes our kind of boring, a couple of the baskets were off 9 gold was mixed with a short course basket, and a couple others didn't have the number on them.
Hole 6...it's just a really bad hole design and there's no direct line to the basket. You're just playing for your 3 and even then it's just not a good hole to me personally.
A couple holes could present safety issue if it ever got super busy. Long tiring round bring water, As you play all the way up the hill and backdown. most ski resorts start at the top and work way down but not this one.
Pay to play which combining the short course is worth it for the day, but neither one by themself is.

Other Thoughts:

Begginers won't have as much fun, and this course will tire you out. Overall it was a good course and place to come to play for the day.
Was this review helpful? Yes No
5 1
SethH
Experience: 12.6 years 42 played 2 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Good, but not Great 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Jul 1, 2018 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

-Good sized tee pads

-Quality baskets at every hole

-Generally good landscaping

-Hole 18 is certainly a sight to behold.
-Some holes are nicely designed.
-I especially enjoyed hole 5, a nice placement shot in order to be in a good position for a blind hyzer around a line of pine trees to the basket. A very aesthetically pleasing hole.

Cons:

-Hard to navigate your first time. If a first timer didn't bring a scorecard from the pro shop, they would likely either get lost or end up teeing off from one of the short course tee pads by mistake.

-Tee signs are passable, but not great. Most of them seemed a little dated, but they did the job well enough. Not bad enough to lower the rating, but not good enough to raise it either.

-Some hole setups are quite dangerous, most specifically hole 16. The shot from 16 is a steep downhill dogleg right. Overshooting the basket usually leads to a disc screaming towards 17's tee. Since the tee shot for 16 is blind to both the basket and 17's tee pad, a first time player wouldn't even know to yell "Fore" if they overshot the basket. Other holes throw across walking paths that are frequently used by hikers, which could possibly lead to other safety issues.

-Hole 11 is also a problem. A blind tee shot where most people would take a big hyzer over the trees, it requires a 150 foot walk just to be able to see the pin to verify that the hole is clear. Adding to that, if someone with a big arm plays the hole, it is quite possible for them to overshoot and reach the teepad for the next hole. I actually really enjoy the shots that 11 and 16 make you take to try and grab a birdie, but the safety issues remain nonetheless.

Other Thoughts:

-Holes 1 and 2 are mostly just wide open bombs. The elevation change and wind add some challenge, but for "good" golfers there won't be much scoring separation.

-Hole 4 is a decent design. It is fairly easy to be pin high with a putt if you have the distance, but being parked under the basket is much more of a challenge due to the basket being tucked away in a corner.

-See "pros" section for hole 5.

-Hole 6 is one of the worst holes on the course. The tee shot consists of trying to throw a shot on a downhill dogleg right, and get it to sit down on a slippery dirt path before it skips off into the woods. The very best case scenario on this hole is a 3, which can really only happen if you manage to luck out and land a perfect drive. Otherwise you are probably going to be somewhere in the woods, and will have to lay up at least once to get to a spot where you can reach the basket. Whoever designed this one was probably going for an exciting "challenging" hole, but missed the mark and instead designed a hole that isn't really fun for any disc golfer to play.

-Holes 7-9 are nice straightforward par 3's with a little bit of challenge thrown in. Nothing too special but they flow well with the course and make for good filler holes as a break from the more challenging stuff.

-Hole 10 is a nice uphill hole which is open at first then narrows as it flows uphill to a basket on a mound. A well designed hole that requires a good placement shot on the drive for a par.

-Hole 11 is quite a fun hole, although it does have some safety issues with the blind tee shot.

-Hole 12 is fairly straightforward, and does pose a nice risk/reward shot if you have the distance to go for the birdie.

-Holes 13 and 14 are pretty basic par 3s, not very challenging but short par 3s rarely are.

-Hole 15 is quite similar to hole 3. A steep uphill dogleg right that is near impossible to reach off of a tee shot. Seems like most people will grab a 3 just about every time on this relatively short hole.

-Hole 16 is a tough shot that requires quite a bit of touch. Difficult in the wind, it provides a nice challenge and makes a golfer really concentrate on getting the right speed and angle off of the tee. However, the wrong speed and angle off of the tee can result in some poor fellow on 17's tee getting nailed in the head.

-Hole 17 is a nicely designed uphill hole. A good placement drive followed by a decent upshot should net most players a 3, but a bad drive or an upshot into the trees can lead to trouble.

-Hole 18 is just really cool. Every disc golfer loves top of the world shots, and this one is no
different. My only complaints are that the grass can be long if you get off of the mowed "fairway," which many people end up doing. Also, between the hikers that like to climb up and down the hill, and disc golfers looking for their errant drives, it can end up taking a very long time just to play this hole.

Overall, Hyland is a pretty fun course, although it is quite a hike. You will certainly get your exercise here. I tend to avoid it during peak times because of the backups that can happen on hole 18, but during off-peak hours it makes for a nice peaceful round with a great view. If you live in the area, I would encourage you to play this course at least once. The $6 + tax is certainly worth the experience of throwing 700 feet down the ski slope for the first time.

*Review updated on 8/28/19*
Largest change since the last review is the removal of much of the brush on hole 3. Makes it a much nicer hole and a tricky but fair par 3.
Was this review helpful? Yes No
4 0
jademi13
Experience: 16.9 years 17 played 4 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Mixed Bag 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 1, 2016 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

Solid variety, a mix of distance, up, down, flat, wide open, a couple tight fairways/gaps through the woods.

Some good challenges and a great workout (as far as a disc golf course goes).

Hole 18 is a huge 700+ foot downhill that should be reachable for folks with a 300 ft flat land drive, that's just fun.

Cons:

A lot of people use this space for walking/jogging/hiking, it is connected to a larger trail system. There is no clear marking for the others that they are entering a pay to play disc golf course, and some of the pathways are essentially on fairways (Holes 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 11, 12, 14). I'm all about sharing the park, but it feels a little weird when its a pay to play course.

The tall grass on hole 2 is crazy, its deep and it's thick, if you don't land on or right off the fairway I wish you luck.

Mostly open, there are some pretty crazy tiny gaps on holes 3, 6 and at the end of 10. I love a good challenge, and a mix of open and tight, but these are to the point where it hurts the course.

Holes 13-17 are all RHFH favorable holes (some slight, some more extreme), just too many of those in a row, overall the course is pretty even up to that point, but that run throws it a little too far off.

They have a short course that this larger course wraps around and the holes 7 and 8 of both courses are right in the same vicinity, so first time players can accidentally switch, just make sure you keep to the yellow labels on baskets/signs and stay away from the blue.

Other Thoughts:

Overall this is a very good course (hence the 3.5) but it does have some drawbacks that make it a clear step below a 4 in my book, especially for a pay to play. I've never seen a pay to play that has so many non disc golf interlopers, it's been a mild annoyance in my couple times around so far, but there is a lot of negative/dangerous potential. That being said, it will definitely be a course I play again (though if I didn't have the TRPD pass probably not too often).
Was this review helpful? Yes No
Top