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Niles, MI

Jones Park

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1.755(based on 2 reviews)
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Jones Park reviews

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Jukeshoe
Diamond level trusted reviewer
Experience: 14.8 years 316 played 268 reviews
1.50 star(s)

Jonesing for a Safety Meeting 2+ years

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:Jul 3, 2021 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

-In a vacuum, there's nothing inherently wrong with this course's layout. Unfortunately, Jones Park is a miniscule affair with two ballfields, playgrounds, multiple port-a-johns, shelters, access roads, and random park infrastructure (e.g., such as fences and diesel tanks[?!]) all crammed in; upon which, a new nine hole was plopped willy nilly in relation to the rest of the park. With anyone else at the park, this course borders on dangerous. Crowded, and skip immediately, don't even try.
-The park itself is well maintained, with a few reasonable, albeit dated, amenities such as the playground.
- The designer did what pitch n putt magic they could, using the wooded edge of the property to decent effect on hole #'s 5-9, adding a hanging basket, and trying to scrape just an inch or two of elevation from the flatness by installing a raised, wooden, deck-style tee on #2. Nice new baskets, Mach VIIs, and neatly landscaped "sand bunkers" add a bit of visual interest without really affecting play.
- Signage in progress, posts up but not set, no hole info as yet. Looks imminent.
- Finishes strong. A few nice looking aspects to the back half, as it plays alongside the wooded edge of the property. Hole # 9 is an actual disc golf hole at 282' and woods. Unfortunately, much of the course is simply too short for any of the "hazards" to come into meaningful play.

Cons:

- Safety here is ridiculously lacking. Throwing between two close baseball outfield fences to #3's basket is a new one for me. No gates in the fence means you walk around. #4 throws directly over #5's tee and the ballfield, trying to mitigate the chance of death with a triangular orange flag "backstop" sort of thing. #8 "whizzes" one past a Joy's Johns smack in the middle of the fairway, over two sets of fences, a gravel road, and a couple of trashcans. Neat! #1 sets the tone for the round by zinging it toward a pavilion.
- Often, the baskets and the next tee are fairly close together, or are thrown over.
- So, there's probably two schools of thought on this: either, no course at all -or- cramped course gets crammed in little used (??) park but is a nightmare if anyone IS in the park. So kudos for trying, I get it, and what they have isn't terrible, if it were more disc golf exclusive.
- Rusty barbed wire fences line the property edges, which the course plays alongside on #2, then #'s 5-9. Never a fun time. And you just know noobs are going to be hopping those.

Other Thoughts:

- The raised basket adds a nice touch, but might be set just a *tich* too high; I'm six feet, and still had to tippy toe to get my disc, WITH the footstool. Someone short like my wife (5'), is probably having more of an issue. Ditto kiddos. Likewise, you can tell they're trying hard with the raised deck tee, but it adds little to the hole other than slipping concerns. Even the top "step" is labelled "NOT A STEP" in black sharpy. With the short nature of the deck, it's almost natural for people to step back, still watching their throws, only to slip on the top "NOT A STEP" step. The hole would be better served with a good fine paver tee like the others.
- Would probably fall into the 2.0 range if it weren't the blatant safety issues. Full disc deduction for just for lacking general awareness of safety or concern for other park functions/goers.
- Update (9/25/21) Brick pavers and tee signs installed. Brooms and bag holders at each tee. Mando signage installed, helping to mitigate a few of the worst 'conflict' areas. Double mando on #2. Single mandos on #s 4, 6. Dropzones clearly marked with red, white, and blue bricks. Adjusted rating upward 0.5 discs to reflect changes.
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