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LakeShore Disc Golf Complex reviews
10
0
Good opportunity to test those Gore-Tex Shoes 2+ years drive by
Reviewed:
Played on:Nov 29, 2019
Played the course:once
Pros:
You know those old-school video game RPGs that had a "Water Town" characterized by numerous dinky streams of water you'd navigate by short bridges? Yeah, that's this course.
The course is on a beautiful piece of property that has a very "nature preserve" feel to it. A few holes butt up against some homeowner property but generally it feels very private, isolated, and natural. It's very calming. Numerous streams cut across the property as well as small ponds/puddles.
Pads are all concrete and in nice condition. Length varies, but the short pads are one you're probably throwing a standstill on any way.
Benches present but that's about it. There are some somewhat crude sign posts that give a distance and a line on most holes. They work and are probably 90% accurate.
The course has a feel that it is being worked on, improved and maintained.
Personally I love "S" curve fairways even though it seems like I rarely see them on courses - there are two here! You can throw up to the break or see if you can flex a shot all the way down - love it!
Course was an absolute blast to play. Not sure if it's because I was hitting my lines or what but had a ton of fun throwing here!
The course is on a beautiful piece of property that has a very "nature preserve" feel to it. A few holes butt up against some homeowner property but generally it feels very private, isolated, and natural. It's very calming. Numerous streams cut across the property as well as small ponds/puddles.
Pads are all concrete and in nice condition. Length varies, but the short pads are one you're probably throwing a standstill on any way.
Benches present but that's about it. There are some somewhat crude sign posts that give a distance and a line on most holes. They work and are probably 90% accurate.
The course has a feel that it is being worked on, improved and maintained.
Personally I love "S" curve fairways even though it seems like I rarely see them on courses - there are two here! You can throw up to the break or see if you can flex a shot all the way down - love it!
Course was an absolute blast to play. Not sure if it's because I was hitting my lines or what but had a ton of fun throwing here!
Cons:
Navigation wasn't ideal. Some of the holes have a little distance between them and not much in the way of signage pointing this out. With dead foliage the paths weren't always clear. Additionally, paths were sometimes washed out or flooded.
Brush is thick. Thankfully there doesn't seem to be much in the way of brambles, but the pine and shrubs make anything off the fairway a dicey proposition at best. Couple of times one of us took a stroke to walk out to the fairway when we were only 5' off of the fairway. The shrubs also seem to be made out of some sort of screwunium material because the damn things stop discs dead if you hit one - no flex at all. I can't imagine what this is like in the summer when there's actual foliage.
Some of the fairways are dreadfully narrow and at least a couple are poke-and-hopes. Again, I can only imagine how difficult it would get in the summer when the foliage grows in. They really need to cut back some brush and knock down a few trees. Challenge is good, random is not.
We had a devil of a time navigating the course while keeping our feet dry. Efforts have been made to help with this but the course is damn near "swamp" territory.
Brush is thick. Thankfully there doesn't seem to be much in the way of brambles, but the pine and shrubs make anything off the fairway a dicey proposition at best. Couple of times one of us took a stroke to walk out to the fairway when we were only 5' off of the fairway. The shrubs also seem to be made out of some sort of screwunium material because the damn things stop discs dead if you hit one - no flex at all. I can't imagine what this is like in the summer when there's actual foliage.
Some of the fairways are dreadfully narrow and at least a couple are poke-and-hopes. Again, I can only imagine how difficult it would get in the summer when the foliage grows in. They really need to cut back some brush and knock down a few trees. Challenge is good, random is not.
We had a devil of a time navigating the course while keeping our feet dry. Efforts have been made to help with this but the course is damn near "swamp" territory.
Other Thoughts:
The course had a TON of standing water when I played in late November. It's not what I would consider a "wet" season in Michigan nor was there a ton of rain prior to my visit. Judging by the permanent bridges/semi-permanent bridges and fill that's been brought in I have to assume water is a course...feature. I don't think there were two holes where some sort of stream or puddle wasn't on the fairways.
It's hard to say whether this is a pro or a con. It would be a brutal but fun round if you played all water as OB. It's definitely a nuisance to navigate. Either way, it gives the course character and I think there's something to be said in the positive for that. The water isn't really such that you're going to lose a disc (with one exception). It also makes use of some very marginal land that wouldn't be good for a lot of other things I think.
Strangely absent from the other course reviews and description are holes 7 and 8, which bring a small pond into play. 7 asks you to make a dead putt into an elevated basket with the pond a couple of feet behind it. Hole 8 requires a water carry over the pond.
Whoever built the basket tower for 7 did a nice job. It's aesthetically pleasing. I don't like the hole setup though. It more or less demands you lay up because if you run the chains you're going to lose a miss in the pond. Not sure how deep that part of the pond is, but it was dark and cold-looking when I was there. The pond does look like it has a sandy bottom so maybe it's not so bad - I don't really mind a water hazard with easy-to-retrieve conditions. This looked dubious though.
As I mentioned, 8 is a total water carry. It definitely took us by surprise. It's about as kind a water carry as you can ask for The tee is pretty darn close to the shore and it gives you a wide open window for a 120' or so stretch of water. The far shore offers a generous landing zone with only a couple of small pine shrubs to interfere with a short throw. The far side of the pond looked shallow and sandy so if you did end up a little short you weren't going to be punished too bad. Water carries make me nervous, but this is a nice one and doable for most non-beginner players. There were some pink flags on the far side of the pond that is maybe a short tee for players who aren't confident in their ability to clear? Or a drop zone maybe? I don't know.
This was a tough course to rate. I really did have a lot of fun throwing it. If it were based on fun alone I'd probably put this at a 4. There were some real problems I took points off for though.
1. Sharpie signs are effective but the course is old enough for real signs I think. Some of them being missing (particularly on the back 9) also didn't help. Navigational signs probably necessary for a few spots.
2. Fairways need to be pushed out a little bit. There are several that are frankly too narrow for reasonable play. A couple of them really need to be defined more as well, either by cutting trees down or tearing out brush. Some cut paths for finding discs in the rough would have been good.
3. There was at least one spot where there wasn't a path through the water to the next hole (12 or 13 I think). We ended up trying to balance on some very rickety logs to make our way across several spots and at least once somebody stepped into water deep enough to get over the shoe top. I find the water charming, but it needs boardwalks or fill brought in for permanent paths regardless of the water level.
Bottom line, I enjoyed the hell out of it but there's some needed work that needs to be done, and unfortunately it's not the easy or cheap variety. Boardwalks and/or many trucks of fill aren't the easiest thing for a club to swing, but maybe they'll be able to work with the local government to get it done.
It's hard to say whether this is a pro or a con. It would be a brutal but fun round if you played all water as OB. It's definitely a nuisance to navigate. Either way, it gives the course character and I think there's something to be said in the positive for that. The water isn't really such that you're going to lose a disc (with one exception). It also makes use of some very marginal land that wouldn't be good for a lot of other things I think.
Strangely absent from the other course reviews and description are holes 7 and 8, which bring a small pond into play. 7 asks you to make a dead putt into an elevated basket with the pond a couple of feet behind it. Hole 8 requires a water carry over the pond.
Whoever built the basket tower for 7 did a nice job. It's aesthetically pleasing. I don't like the hole setup though. It more or less demands you lay up because if you run the chains you're going to lose a miss in the pond. Not sure how deep that part of the pond is, but it was dark and cold-looking when I was there. The pond does look like it has a sandy bottom so maybe it's not so bad - I don't really mind a water hazard with easy-to-retrieve conditions. This looked dubious though.
As I mentioned, 8 is a total water carry. It definitely took us by surprise. It's about as kind a water carry as you can ask for The tee is pretty darn close to the shore and it gives you a wide open window for a 120' or so stretch of water. The far shore offers a generous landing zone with only a couple of small pine shrubs to interfere with a short throw. The far side of the pond looked shallow and sandy so if you did end up a little short you weren't going to be punished too bad. Water carries make me nervous, but this is a nice one and doable for most non-beginner players. There were some pink flags on the far side of the pond that is maybe a short tee for players who aren't confident in their ability to clear? Or a drop zone maybe? I don't know.
This was a tough course to rate. I really did have a lot of fun throwing it. If it were based on fun alone I'd probably put this at a 4. There were some real problems I took points off for though.
1. Sharpie signs are effective but the course is old enough for real signs I think. Some of them being missing (particularly on the back 9) also didn't help. Navigational signs probably necessary for a few spots.
2. Fairways need to be pushed out a little bit. There are several that are frankly too narrow for reasonable play. A couple of them really need to be defined more as well, either by cutting trees down or tearing out brush. Some cut paths for finding discs in the rough would have been good.
3. There was at least one spot where there wasn't a path through the water to the next hole (12 or 13 I think). We ended up trying to balance on some very rickety logs to make our way across several spots and at least once somebody stepped into water deep enough to get over the shoe top. I find the water charming, but it needs boardwalks or fill brought in for permanent paths regardless of the water level.
Bottom line, I enjoyed the hell out of it but there's some needed work that needs to be done, and unfortunately it's not the easy or cheap variety. Boardwalks and/or many trucks of fill aren't the easiest thing for a club to swing, but maybe they'll be able to work with the local government to get it done.
6
0
2+ years
Reviewed:
Updated:
Played on:Apr 20, 2014
Played the course:5+ times
Pros:
Has some interesting tunnel holes through dense lowland forest. Hole 8, a course highlight, opens up across sandy lowlands (resembling a water hazard), with a short tunnel at the end. Many paths are very narrow, resulting in some challenging drives. Many tunnels appear to have been cut through brush with hedgehogs, effectively creating a course where one wasn't possible before.
Parts of the course wind of out lowlands into pine forest on the back nine, with short but fairly tough Coldbrook-like driving lanes. Has some straight paths as well as right and left doglegs and sharp turns. Hole 18 is the longest, a 420 foot tunnel hole through lowland jack pines and brush back to the parking lot.
Buffeted winds and shelter areas should make the course acceptable in inclement weather, provided there isn't too much rainwater. Has a number of signs that help navigation, but the tee signs are very basic with distance and hole layout information.
Sunday league play at 1PM appears to be popular and well-organized. Free course!
Parts of the course wind of out lowlands into pine forest on the back nine, with short but fairly tough Coldbrook-like driving lanes. Has some straight paths as well as right and left doglegs and sharp turns. Hole 18 is the longest, a 420 foot tunnel hole through lowland jack pines and brush back to the parking lot.
Buffeted winds and shelter areas should make the course acceptable in inclement weather, provided there isn't too much rainwater. Has a number of signs that help navigation, but the tee signs are very basic with distance and hole layout information.
Sunday league play at 1PM appears to be popular and well-organized. Free course!
Cons:
Massive potential for disc loss, from the very first hole though most of the lowland holes. Brush and tall grass leads to frequent disc searching. The brush is so thick in some places that you can be right on top of a disc and not see it. Marshy lowlands on several holes are still wet after other area courses (such as Whitehall) are dry.
Poor tee pads for the most part, though the distances needed for most of the drives make this a minor issue.
Many tire tracks and sawed-off stumps create walking hazards. Course is closed during rifle season (11/15 to 12/1), with hours restricted to 10AM to 4PM during bow season.
Poor tee pads for the most part, though the distances needed for most of the drives make this a minor issue.
Many tire tracks and sawed-off stumps create walking hazards. Course is closed during rifle season (11/15 to 12/1), with hours restricted to 10AM to 4PM during bow season.
Other Thoughts:
This is a sorely-needed addition to help the relative lack of courses in the Muskegon/Grand Haven area. Course is on the south side of Wilson Rd., (Muskegon/Ottawa county line) just west of Grand Haven Road, south of Pontaluna Rd.
3
1
Lots of potential 2+ years
Reviewed:
Played on:Oct 5, 2013
Played the course:once
Pros:
---
-high fun factor
-great design. There are some really high quality holes. Designers did a great job when designing.
-course is fair to all types of throwers
-signature holes present on this course that makes it unique
-high fun factor
-great design. There are some really high quality holes. Designers did a great job when designing.
-course is fair to all types of throwers
-signature holes present on this course that makes it unique
Cons:
----
-overgrown
-new
-very easy to lose discs
-lacks good signs
-lacks cement or comparable tee pads
-lacks trash receptacles
-lacks huge distance holes
-overgrown
-new
-very easy to lose discs
-lacks good signs
-lacks cement or comparable tee pads
-lacks trash receptacles
-lacks huge distance holes
Other Thoughts:
----
This course has high potential for a better score in the future. I also plan on playing the course as it gets worn in.
It had a high fun factor and there were some really good holes.
Some of the holes had robert morris, three rivers, and even idlewild characterstics. These are just some courses that some of these holes reminded me of.
As of now its very rough. To easy to lose discs even a foot off the fairway. When it gets thinned out it will be an easy 3.5 rated course.
A great addition to Northern Michigan disc scene!
This course has high potential for a better score in the future. I also plan on playing the course as it gets worn in.
It had a high fun factor and there were some really good holes.
Some of the holes had robert morris, three rivers, and even idlewild characterstics. These are just some courses that some of these holes reminded me of.
As of now its very rough. To easy to lose discs even a foot off the fairway. When it gets thinned out it will be an easy 3.5 rated course.
A great addition to Northern Michigan disc scene!
