Chicago, IL

Illinois Institute of Tech DGC

2.335(based on 36 reviews)
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2 0
jvidell
Experience: 5 played 2 reviews
2.50 star(s)

Fun Little Course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Sep 6, 2020 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

Fun, short course, can get in a really quick round, or even two.

Cons:

Students. Weekend days seem to be best, not too many students around. There are picnic tables and benches scattered around, some really close to holes and on hole 9 on the fairway. If there are more than a few students scattered about best not to play the hole. The par numbers are really messed up. For example, hole 9 is 370 feet, with a lot of obstacles (two sculptures, multiple trees, picnic table) and it is listed as only a Par 2. For beginners and intermediate players I would count everything as a par 3 and make hole 9 a par 4.

Other Thoughts:

Students can be iffy. Most that I have encountered were really cool when you called out that you were throwing. They paid attention to you and tracked the disc to make sure it was not going their way. Some few, though, will ignore you, no matter how many times you call out to them.
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8 0
goatchedda
Experience: 11 played 7 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Beginner friendly Inner Chicago course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 19, 2020 Played the course:once

Pros:

For Reference: I'm a 34yo beginner having played 10 times.

I had planned a round in the burbs before rain changed those plans and finally decided to try my closest course in the afternoon after the rain passed. Course is located on 35th street right on the other side of the highway from the White Sox stadium. Go Sox! I parked on 35th by the pay to park which is free Sundays and has a Starbucks, pizza and froyo place there. Chinatown also isn't far if craving Chinese food. I hear the L stops right by the course as well. I took a trip west down 35th after 2-3 miles for Antique Tacos which I highly recommend!

The course plays VERY short on a college campus that I hear can be frustratingly packed when school is in session. Playing July 19th, 2020 during a summer session and unfortunate pandemic the course was empty and was able to play and test several discs with no one ever queued up behind me. With most of the holes playing short and open I found it very good practice for upshots and putting. On hole 5 I nearly had my first ace hearing a ting of the chain as the disc brushed past. Course would make an excellent ace race for advanced players.

Cons:

Mostly all holes are short and open with not much variation. Only dirt tees that were muddy when I played with the recent rain. Some bigger roots around dirt tees also made footing awkward. After hole 9 it's a 5 min walk back to hole 1 which isn't too bad.

Other Thoughts:

It's great to have a close option in the city and would love for a more challenging course inner Chicago to develop but big fan of this for testing new short-mid discs and practicing upshots and putts.
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9 0
jdude97
Experience: 14.4 years 3 played 3 reviews
1.00 star(s)

It's open but not good for much 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 27, 2020 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

- Biggest pro is that it exists. It's the only course within the Chicago city limits, and pretty much the only reason this isn't a 0.5 or 0.
- It's a 9 hole course that plays through various quads on the IIT campus.
- It was unplayable for awhile as 4 holes were knocked out by the construction of a new building, but persons unknown (I'd really love to know who's responsible for this course) rearranged some holes so there are once again 9 holes.
- There is a course map near the 1st tee and tee signs by every tee (although why they removed the IITee pun I cannot say)
- Easily accessible by public transit (red line to White Sox-35th, green line to 35th-Bronzeville-IIT, State St. #29 bus) and is a short drive or ride from downtown Chicago (15 min)
- Ample public street parking on 35th just west of State, walk 2 blocks north to the 1st tree (metered, $2/hr)
- Baskets are in good condition and marked with the hole number
- Good security, there are IIT university police near almost every hole keeping an eye on things
- Bathrooms and vending machines in Hermann Hall, enter by the 8th tee, although may be closed in summer/weekends. Otherwise, best bet for a bathroom and cold drink is the Starbucks or Jimmy John's at 35th/State

Cons:

- Dirt tees, which aren't even well delineated/clear on most holes (because the holes are new) and are full of tree roots everywhere
- The key to a good urban course is a well placed tree or two on a hole so it's not just throwing in an open field. But unfortunately the new course layout has mostly open field holes. Hole 7 (formerly 4) went from a nice hyzer approach with 2 large pines to just an open field, sadly.
- The footages and pars are clearly wrong on the course map and tee signs! For instance, hole 9, perhaps the only par 4, is listed as a par 2!
- 5 min walk from 9th basket to 1st tee
- Doesn't have scorecards anymore by the 1st tee like it used to
- On a nice weekend or afternoon during the school year, expect the greens to be full of students lounging, and some may be properly closed for official functions or intramural events. There are picnic benches on 1 of the fairways. You're best playing in the summer or during the day the rest of the year (be prepared to pause your round for passing periods).
- There's a risk of losing in a disc in the 2 fenced off areas on the fairway for holes 4/5.
- Two fairways cross (1/2, 4/5) which is a hazard

Other Thoughts:

- There's a hole P, which I guess is meant to be a practice hole or maybe a playoff hole (it comes after hole 9 and is 5 min from the 1st tee)
- This was the first course I ever played and the only one I played for a few years as I was learning due to its proximity to the city, and there is a place in disc golf for short urban courses, but after some of the better/longer holes were knocked out, this went from a decent urban course to a mostly pointless course. Good for absolute beginners or if you're dying for a round, but be sure to come on an empty day and don't expect much. If you're in the city and want a short course, you're better driving north to Lincolnwood for the North Shore Channel Trail DGC.
- My suggestion to the course administrators is to try to use the land to the east of State street to add some better holes.
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0 1
ragarwa6
Experience: 5 played 5 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Great Urban Course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Sep 2, 2018 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

Each hole has a different shape, with a variety of obstacles. Obstacles range from trees to buildings, streetlights, and art installations.

Holes vary in length very well.

Each hole presents a unique challenge and setting, in this college campus with notable architecture all around.

Hole marker boards and baskets are in great shape.

Cons:

Course map board is faded.
Scorecards are no longer available at the course.
Tees are just grassless patches of dirt, and can be very slippery and muddy when wet.
Students and events may be in the way of playing.
Course is flat.

Other Thoughts:

A great and very convenient course in the middle of Chicago, easily accessible by multiple city trains and buses. Most courses in the area are set in public parks, so this course between the buildings of a college campus has a very different feel as you play. It is very well designed with great variety of hole style and length; despite being only 9 holes, there are a couple of interesting hole-in-one opportunities, as well as a 400'+ par4 that i always bogey.

A new building took out holes 6-8 (hopefully temporarily!) but the remaining holes are still a fun and unique challenge.
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5 1
ajbova
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 18.6 years 112 played 95 reviews
2.50 star(s)

Quick play right off the highway 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Dec 31, 2016 Played the course:once

Pros:

Course is set on a college campus in the open green space and weaves in and out of buildings. It is aimed towards beginner / intermediate level players.

Baskets - 9 Innova Discatchers. Although rusted, they are highly visible and very grippy.

Tees - 1 natural tee per hole. Course seems to get played frequently based off of the lack of grass. Tees are mud and easy to spot.

Signs - Billboard at start of course with rules and a map. Individual holes have signs with map, distance, par, and hole number.

Variety - Course is mostly flat with slight elevation on holes 1 and 2. 8 out of 9 holes have mature trees as obstacles. Hole one is the most open, while 4-7 have the most. 5, 6, and 7 are the signature holes of the course. These are the most trees and are tunnel / technical shots.

Benches and trash cans throughout the course.

Easy to navigate.

Right off the highway.

Course is more challenging than it appears. I wanted to give it a 2.25 but that's not available so the challenge gave it the benefit of the doubt.

Course seems to avoid buildings with exception of 4 and avoids the walking path with exception of 9.

Cons:

For a course this close to the city, I felt that it accomplished its goal of introducing disc golf to students at the school.

The noise from the highway was extremely loud. Might be a turn off if you enjoy the quietness of courses in parks.

It could use a few next hole signs; after 1, 3, and 4.

Hole 7 sign was missing but I was able to find the muddy tee.

There are a few safety issues with the course...
During school hours, course could be unplayable. There are several picnic tables in the middle of the course. I would recommend weekends and evenings.

Hole 1's tee has a big root in the middle of it.

Didn't exactly know where to park. Ended up parking between baskets of 3 and 7 and walking.

Only 1 tee per hole. They are natural, so I would imagine it would not be too expensive to add a 2nd set of tees and a sign to go with it...

Other Thoughts:

I was a big fan of this course. I have been to Chicago a few times and I have passed the signs off the highway knowing there is a course here. Finally I took a trip and had enough time to play it. Took about 30 minutes. I was pleased. Although it is not a destination course, it was nice to play a course near downtown Chicago.

If I could change anything about it, I would shorten hole 5 and move hole 9's tee so that they don't cross. I would also add a few holes. Not too familiar with the land that belongs to the college but there was room to expand.

If passing by, I would recommend it. It's a quick and easy play. If I had extra time, I would play it again, however, next time I go to Chicago, I would like to try some of the courses in the suburbs.
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3 1
SpartanDisc
Silver level trusted reviewer
Experience: 22.4 years 247 played 28 reviews
2.50 star(s)

Easily accessible and better than expected 2+ years

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 10, 2016 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

- In the middle of Chicago and extremely easy to get to by public transportation.
- For a college campus course in a city, there is surprisingly limited threat of hitting a building, car, or pedestrian on just about every hole. However, I have mostly played at non-peak times for students to be out and about. I could see if you play during the day between classes it could get tricky as you throw over a few pedestrian walkways.
- Four holes at 350+ is very impressive for the type of course this is and the location it is at. On most 9 holers like this I wouldn't expect to throw a driver, but here I get to use one on almost half the holes.
- Course design makes the absolute best possible use of the given land. On a city college campus there obviously aren't forests or many trees, but the course makes great use of what is there for a couple surprisingly challenging drives. On a course like I was surprised to throw multiple drivers on a fairly wide variety of lines on the long holes
- Good signs at every hole and a course map at the start of hole 1

Cons:

- Obviously, this is a short little 9 hole course in the city so don't expect any stunning holes or forested tunnel shots. For the most part it is quite open
- Quite a few very short holes. While it is fun to use my putter for multiple ace runs in a 9 hole course, they don't offer a huge challenge
- No signs indicating the next tee make it a bit difficult to navigate the first time through. Take a picture of the course map at hole 1 so you can refer to it later

Other Thoughts:

You have to take this course for what it is... a small 9 hole course on a college campus in a huge city. I was not expecting much from this course... I only played it because I don't have time to rent a car and drive to the suburbs every time I get the urge to play disc golf. However, I was pleasantly surprised and enjoyed this course a lot more than expected. A course like this will never be my go-to course when I really want to play, but it is very nice to have around to scratch the itch every now and again

Note: anywhere else I probably would have given this course a 2. But the prime location and fact that there is nothing else easily accessible to play in the city gives this course that extra half a point.
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0 2
cander49
Experience: 1 played 1 reviews
2.00 star(s)

Too easy 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Oct 18, 2015 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

A couple of the par 4s offer interesting lines. Not busy at all on a Sunday morning.

Cons:

Extremely easy holes. All the 3s feel like 2.5s and all the 4s feel like 3s or 3.5s.

Other Thoughts:

I'm a very average player and I shot -7 my first time here. I made two poor drives; otherwise, I'd have birdied every hole.
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2 1
Old Crew
Experience: 12.2 years 31 played 2 reviews
2.00 star(s)

Decent little city course... 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Mar 28, 2015 Played the course:once

Pros:

I had a 7 hour stop during a recent Amtrak trip and found this little 9 hole to be within a reasonable distance of Union Station.

The course surpassed my expectations... although I have only played two other 9 hole courses to compare against and both were VERY short. Several of the holes are longer than a couple hundred feet with a few interesting guardian trees.

Nice area with not nearly the pedestrian traffic I was led to believe would be there. I never had to slow my game. I was able to play 2 rounds in just over an hour.

With par at 31 this course is an ego booster!

Cons:

Only a few shots where I COULD have used my driver....but didn't need to. Played the entire round with my mid.

Other Thoughts:

Just learning or need a lunch-time round? Perfect!
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8 0
Qikly
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 12.3 years 181 played 150 reviews
2.00 star(s)

City-friendly 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 9, 2015 Played the course:once

Pros:

While what makes IIT's DGC truly stand out is its accessibility via Chicago public transportation, this doesn't mean the course itself doesn't have something to offer. I was pleasantly surprised by the design, which sports the ace runs (2, 4, 6) that are typical of small 9 hole courses but balances these with a few much more challenging and interesting holes. 5 would be a solid hole on any course, with a contested hyzer off the tee that leads to a low-ceiling approach for a challenging try at a 3. A roller comes in handy here. 7 forces a wide FH hyzer/BH anhyzer and would make for an impressive 2. Holes like 1, 3, and 8 are less complete but still solid, with obstacles to shape your shot around and/or well-guarded pins. Road OB comes into play throughout and is both intuitive and reasonable in its challenge.

There's a decent diversity of lines here relative to the presence of some short holes and the fact that there's only nine in all: buildings, trees, and OB offer lines, landing zones, and low ceilings to contend with. The course is beginner-friendly but offers enough to keep more experienced players interested. I thought it made for a fun and very quick casual round. One could play it solo in 20-30 minutes easily.

Navigation isn't perfect but is largely intuitive. The course plays in a compact area but avoids feeling jammed in (this might change if the course fills up; when I visited there were only a few others playing). I found the course to be easy to find on campus. Grooming was great when I visited even though school was out. There's little chance to lose a disc as long as you don't attempt to throw a thumber near a building like I did (doh).

Cons:

The design is solid considering the surroundings - I especially appreciate the fact that the designer didn't try to jam more holes in - but it's still limited. Four of the nine holes are 209 feet or less, and three of these are just straight runs at the basket. The OB in play on a few of these holes helps, but it's hard not to run such simple holes in a casual round. Overall the challenge factor is lower than you'd like, with the few exceptions noted above. It's simply hard to squeeze more out of surroundings like this.

This course plays through the heart of a college campus, meaning there's every opportunity for conflict with pedestrians. I played at 10 am on a Sunday morning in early August and it was mostly clear, but still had to wait for what was either a maintenance crew or campus police on a golf cart to pass by. Hole 9 was also unplayable due to a temporary fence. These kinds of obstructions are pretty unavoidable given the course's presence in the heart of campus.

Hole 7's tee sign was missing when I played, and it was hard to find the tee (though we managed). The tee boxes are natural and can be unfriendly to footing, with roots and the like. It's manageable but not ideal and would be rough after a rain.

Other Thoughts:

I played this course to bag a new state and take an hour off from what was otherwise a business trip, but was pleasantly surprised. For a short 9 in a public setting this course offers more than what I'm used to from comparable surroundings. Definitely worth a stop if you're in the city and want to catch a round!

Also, while you're in town, do yourself a favor and go to the Pork Shoppe.
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1 0
nivek1385
Experience: 34.7 years 38 played 9 reviews
1.50 star(s)

Engineers Engineers Everywhere but not one to Design it 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 20, 2014 Played the course:once

Pros:

Good course to show the sport off to new players and it is accessible via both the green and red lines. Right in the middle of the IIT campus, I wish this had existed when I attended IIT. The tee signs are well designed. In addition, there is a full course map displayed near the first tee. There is also a box for scorecards to use, complete with a map of the course (see images for the scorecards).

Cons:

There are no tee pads so to speak, just bare dirt. Many of the "tees" haven't even cleared surface-level tree roots to smooth out the tees. Without the map on the scorecard, I would have played hole 8 by accident instead, though that may have just been me (5's tee is the closest tee to 4's basket). Hole 6's tee is currently inaccessible. Being familiar with the IIT campus, I would have liked to have some holes on the other side of State St. and maybe even a hole or two over by the Stuart Building and soccer field (across 31st). Holes 5 and 9 cross each other which can lead to issues if the course gets busy. Being on a college campus, I would imagine that it is nearly unplayable during the regular school year because of pedestrians.

Other Thoughts:

The course uses the land it is on quite well, but I think that it could have been designed a little better. It really needs better tee boxes, especially after the rain from the last two days.
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2 0
Bltsandwich1
Experience: 13.4 years 5 played 5 reviews
1.50 star(s)

City Course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jul 26, 2012 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

This is a nice(ish) course that is in very short walking distance from both red-line and green-line CTA stops along with numerous buses. It is located in the heart of the IIT campus (though this is mostly a negative).

The course weaves through the central part of campus with most obstacles coming from trees, although the placement of tees also makes some statues viable obstacles

Cons:

IN THE HEART OF CAMPUS forget playing this course during the school year. I had the blessing of being able to play over the summer when students were few and far between, and STILL I had to adapt my shots not to the course, but to avoid pedestrians. This took fun out of a course that was already just OK.

Navigating the course can be a challenge, but there are signs at every tee which is nice.

Other Thoughts:

If you have a chance over the summer take a train down and visit. It's worth the fare to experience once. but avoid during the school year.
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1 1
Furry Lint Trap
Experience: 21.5 years 4 played 4 reviews
2.00 star(s)

Decent 9 hole city course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Aug 8, 2013 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

- Only course in Chicago

- Close to public transit/easy parking

- It is on campus, which makes use of buildings, crosswalks, sculptures...pedestrians as obstacles

- Nice baskets, Tee markers with hole info

Cons:

- Short and can get repetitive

- Can get busy during school, which makes peds a real problem and hazard

- Natural tees...and only 1 set

Other Thoughts:

A solid, short, urban course. Reason I love it is I work in the Loop and can get in a round or 2 after 5pm no problem. Although this is a beginner course, use caution newer players as if you go long, you can very easily hit buildings, peds, parked (and moving) cars. Played here a couple weeks ago and friend pegged a lady sleeping on a bench. She was not happy. To our credit, we screamed FORE, and she WAS in the middle of a course. Can get a little repetitive, but good practice for your Mid-range/putter. If you have a bit more time, make the drive to Katherine Legge Memorial Park in Hinsdale. This course will continue to be my practice, after work course until something better comes along to Chicago.
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1 2
jnskender
Experience: 15.5 years 44 played 2 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Great!! (For the Area) 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 16, 2013 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

-In downtown Chicago
-Great practice for approaches
-Not a lot of foot traffic in the summer
-A couple of holes to use a driver and let loose
-Technical OB's that can punish
-Very cool urban feel

Cons:

-Flat
-Open shots do get repetitive
-Tees could use some kind of marker or better yet concrete

Other Thoughts:

I love this course do to it basically being in my backyard (About a 5 minute bike ride). That being said, it is not artfully designed but is adequate to get a quick round or two to get your fix in for the day.
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3 1
Mark R
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 22.4 years 118 played 90 reviews
1.50 star(s)

2+ years

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Jan 19, 2013 Played the course:once

Pros:

Free course with decent signs and baskets. Holes are of respectable length and challenge. Hole 5 at 446 feet allows a chance to air it out. Small trees are often difficult to drive through. Also has a number of obstacles made from campus buildings and other objects. A driver is handy and often necessary, particularly on windy days.

Cons:

A flat course in an enclosed area. Parking is a fairly long walk from Hole 1 and is costly. Dirt tees are in poor shape. Signs are parallel rather than perpendicular to the fairway, which may have you looking in the wrong direction for the basket. Several holes overlap, and there are only nine of them to begin with. Small area has little opportunity for improvement. Students and windows are often within striking distance, inhibiting course play level.

Other Thoughts:

Course winds through the campus of the Illinois Institute of Technology. Hole 1 is located near the corner of 33rd and State St.
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3 1
steven2361
Bronze level trusted reviewer
Experience: 16.5 years 286 played 55 reviews
1.50 star(s)

Right by Cellular Field 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jan 11, 2012 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

It is one of the only courses around in Chicago. It's pretty fun playing between all the campus buildings and art sculptures. The sidewalks and roads add some challenge when you play them ob. The signage is good along with the baskets being decent innova discatchers. It does have a few holes with some real distance.

Cons:

This course is mostly short and open. Be very wary of pedestrians. The tees are poor being just dirt.

Other Thoughts:

A fun lil course in the middle of a big city. Good for beginners and the family to play. Make sure you park in a legal space to avoid tickets!
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1 3
Shogun
Experience: 17.6 years 14 played 12 reviews
1.50 star(s)

Tight, Tight, Tight 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:May 5, 2012 Played the course:once

Pros:

This little 9 hole is a technical shooter for sure. The tees and grounds are super well maintained. Great atmosphere for a course being in the city, giving it that uber urban feel (it is a campus course after all). I liked throwing out across statues and different obstacles beyond trees and bush.

Cons:

Tight!! Man this course is squished together. If you have ever wanted to see a person get hit with a disc, this is the course its going to happen at. On some fairways, you are literally crossing huge walkways for students. You almost have to yell FORE for every throw thats not a putt.

Other Thoughts:

For practice on your tight technical shots, this course rocks, but due to the traffic, there are times you just dont know if you will get to throw....
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3 0
alexjensen
Experience: 16.2 years 42 played 11 reviews
2.00 star(s)

Everybody DUCK!! 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 11, 2012 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

Living in Chicago this is really one of the only options in terms of a free course located within the city. This leads to definitely the biggest pro of this course...Location.

Other things I like about this course include its surprisingly wide array of shots you will likely encounter. Pretty much every hole but two are very reachable with a driver (or putter for that matter) but holes 5 and 9 are challenging bombs over the tops of low trees and bushes. Holes 2,4,and 6 are fairly short straight shots that you can certainly make a good ace attempt at. Hole 1 is a mild left-hooking shot just under 300ft. Hole 3 for me is a short but fun Hyzer around a giant pine. Holes 5 and 9 are 400+ foot bombs accross walking paths and over trees (watch for pedestrians) and holes 7 and 8 are fairly straight forward left-hooking shots around 350 ft.

I think the course designers did an excellent job working with what they had, a college campus with enough trees to make a fun 9 hole course that is great for beginners and pros alike. I'm actually living on the IIT campus this summer so I'm sure I'll be playing this course on a weekly basis.

Cons:

The biggest negatives about this course are pretty much unavoidable consequences of an urban course. TONS of foot traffic around the campus, and actual traffic on the streets surrounding. Playing this course you have to be VERY careful not to overthrow your shots. Hole 1 I hit a window on the building behind on the pin, hole 2 I put my drive into the middle of the street behind the pin almost hitting a police officer, and you will encounter similar situations on virtually every hole.

Another con includes the fact that the tee pads are dirt, and some have roots sticking out of the ground which look to be good ankle twisters if you're not careful. Also people like to hang out on holes 1 and 7 so sometimes you are not able to play these holes without being a jerk. I have had to skip hole 1 because of people sitting by the pin on more than one occasion now.

Other Thoughts:

This course is actually a pretty fun little niner inside the city. If you just want something to play a quick nine holes on without driving out to the suburbs this course is a great option. I would recommend not throwing drivers on the majority of the holes just to reduce the risk of overthrowing into the streets or people on the sidewalks. As long as you're aware and polite to the people around you there will be no problems and it will certainly be worth your time to play this fairly unique urban course. Happy discin!
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6 0
axiom
Experience: 3 played 3 reviews
2.50 star(s)

Urban discing 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Jun 8, 2012 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

-Right off the Red and Green lines, and State St buses
- Very scenic by south-side Chicago standards
-excellent signage, with a clear map at hole 1

- Good variety of holes:
--Holes 2, 4, 6 are aceable (almost aced 6, myself... maybe next time)
--Holes 5, 7, 8, & 9 offer a chance to practice your long drive

-Almost impossible to lose a disc, unless you throw a really high drive and it ends up on a roof (happened to me once on 6), or in a tree
-Bathrooms, vending machines, and air-con in every building on campus, and as long as you're not shoeless, you should be able to pass as a student.
-Pretty close to the lake, Comisky (yep...still Comisky to me) and the nice neighborhoods of Bridgeport and Chinatown
-Upkept fairly well, and ample private campus security (if you're worried about the neighborhood)

Cons:

-In the middle of a city, so, even when class is out, there can be a lot of foot traffic
-When there are classes, it can be impossible to play, with people everywhere, and occasionally laying in the fairways on warm days (weekends are best, and summer is pretty good too)
-Frequent functions make hole 6, 7, 8 unplayable
-Fairways 5 and 9, as well 7 and 8 cross
-the Robert Taylor Homes have long since been demolished, but there are still housing projects to the north, and dodgy neighborhoods to the east and south
-dirt tees that aren't very obvious as to where you need to throw by (come to a group consensus)
-sprinkler systems occasionally in use, and last time I played, all the grass was treated with a lawn-growth chemical
-If you're driving, parking is a problem. Expect to pay, or walk a half mile or so from Bridgeport... if there's a Sox game, don't drive.

Other Thoughts:

The first course I've ever played (as I'm a student), so I can attest that it's actually pretty beginner friendly.

Some of the holes might seem rediculously easy, but if you play all concrete as an out-of-bounds penalty (instead of just main streets, like the sign at hole 1 suggests), then holes 2, 4, and 6 will be significantly more challenging.

Play hole 3 with a mandatory left around the middle trees (which seems to be how the tee-sign suggests) for an added challenge.
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7 0
ohtobediscing
Silver level trusted reviewer
Experience: 45.1 years 401 played 41 reviews
3.00 star(s)

Touched By An Engineer 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:May 19, 2012 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

This course is the closest to downtown Chi-town. Amtrak gave me 5 hours to kill, so I jumped the #29 to IIT, played 3 rounds and bussed back with an hour to waste on a deep dish slice, a bomber and the Tribune.
Its a sweet, technical little 9, with 4 holes amazingly in the 400+ range, one 167 ft. ace run and the rest 250-290'. The various species of trees range from 15 ft. to mature, but except for #7 are scattered singly or in loosely open groups. There are no elevation changes and no undergrowth to lose discs. The course travels in a tightly-wound infinity symbol, which surely seems like blasphemy to the mathmatically precise.
#1 crosses an open depression to a basket surrounded by small maples.
#2 throws over a 3' wall to a basket backed closely by mature oaks.
#3 throws from under the same oaks to a similar stance across a field, but with one big spreading fir in the middle.
#4 is a shorty ace hole, with a large overhanging tree just right of the basket.
#5 is 446' right hook with tallish shrubs and a cabin-like sculpture in the 1st half, and high-canopy mature trees in the 2nd half.
#6 is shortish, again throwing to a basket under mature oaks.
#7 is long, and traverses entirely under low-canopy oaks with no discernable line. The best route is in from the left.
#8 is long, but crosses an open field in its middle 3rd before entering the mature trees at the end.
#9 resembles #5 in length & vegetation, with the added challenge of a long left hook.

The signage is beautiful but the tees are natural, and a few are very rooty. Benches or tables, and garbage cans on every hole.

Cons:

Its in the middle of all the IIT buildings. If class is changing, you might as well sit down. If classes are in, you might play with frequent stoppage for pedestrians. Best to play weekends.
No C2H6O or C21H30O2.
The only bathrooms are in buildings, which are locked late/weekends, to keep the nerds' yankfests to pictures of the Mars rovers at a minimum. Absolutely no place to pee outside.

Other Thoughts:

The NATO summit was in full swing downtown while I was there. K9 units swept the train 40 miles from Union Station, and hoodied, bandana-ed anarchists with garbage-can lid shields and foam swords roamed around State St. and the Sears [watchu talkin' 'bout, Willis?] Tower. Thank God I could disc.
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#19325
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 23.4 years 351 played 178 reviews
2.50 star(s)

Unique Chitown Location 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Apr 23, 2012 Played the course:5+ times

Pros:

This is one of the most unique urban settings I've ever played disc golf in. Every person that stops and plays seems to be amazed by the course. It's really fun. The course is located a short walk from US Cellular field. It plays in small open areas and between buildings. It has several obstacles that make holes creative. If you play sidewalks and others areas out of bounds it makes it much more challenging.

Course has nice Innova Disctachers and tee signs.

It's one of the few courses located within the city limits of Chicago.

Great exposure for disc golf as hundreds are exposed every day.

Excellent beginner course. Pretty much impossible to lose a disc unless you throw on top of a building. Nice walk on campus.

It has a handful of holes where you can let them rip.

Cons:

Tee pads are natural and worn. Can be muddy after rain.

Can be very very busy with traffic.

Hard to navigate with a few longer walks. Bring a map. There are next tee signs that help.

Couple of fairways cross.

Other Thoughts:

Access from CTA (Bronzeville)
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