Pros:
- amenities: practice basket, porta potty, some benches
- well-maintained park with area mostly devoted to disc golf
- blue-banded Innova DISCatchers in good shape
- hole numbers on baskets
- generally straightforward navigation
- some decent elevation change on several holes
- decent mix of hole lengths, though generally on the shorter side
- rough is fairly manageable
Cons:
- tee signs are a bit on the basic/dated side, but do have maps
- rubber tees are just ok (but are generally flat)
- fairways for holes 4 and 5 cross, major safety hazard
- unclear on tee 3 which basket you are throwing to
- mostly open, not a ton of challenge
- would be nice to see more incorporation of wooded areas of park
Other Thoughts:
Lake Mills Park is adjacent to a high school but is labeled a "community" park; it does not seem like it is treated as part of the high school property and there seemed to be no issue with playing during school hours. While I was there it was dead on the course, just a few people wasting time in the parking lot here and there. I doubt this course ever gets very busy.
The equipment here is decent; baskets are excellent, tees and tee signs aren't incredible but both are very serviceable. I played in light rain and the tees definitely were pretty slippery. The park seems well maintained and was recently mowed. Navigation was easy enough to follow, aided by hole numbers on the baskets, a minor detail I find to be a huge help on more open courses. The biggest con to flow here was fairways 4 and 5 crossing. With the amount of space here, this seemed totally unnecessary and kind of nonsensical. I just don't get why decisions like this are made.
From hole 3's tee, it is also pretty unclear which basket you are throwing to. The basket for 3 is more or less dead ahead on the little hill. The basket to the right is hole 5. Elevation change was well incorporated on this course, but more obstacles or incorporation of wooded areas would have made for more challenge. There wasn't anything particularly unique about this course. I don't have many huge knocks on it besides the crossing fairways, and it's respectable enough for a quick round, but there's nothing to get excited about.
With all of the other phenomenal courses in the Madison and Milwaukee areas, this one felt underwhelming. However, if you want to play a shorter course, this is right off the route between Milwaukee and Madison, so it can be very convenient. It is relatively short and you probably won't have much need for a distance driver. Lines aren't particularly forced with the amount of open space here, so it's going to be a fairly "dealer's choice" sort of round. Of course, this would also be an excellent course for beginners getting introduced to some elevation change while still having lots of options after errant throws.
Overall, I definitely wouldn't come out of my way to play here unless you're looking to bag it, but it is just off a major highway route and will go quickly if you need a break from the longer courses.