--Concrete tees
--Good use of guardian trees, with many more trees planted
--Excellent course for beginners and wild throwers. It's pretty much impossible to lose a disc except in the water.
--Significant tree planting in progress, obviously a multi-year effort with positioning definitely focused on DG as opposed to just park beautification

--Course begins and ends along side tennis/pickleball courts and pool. Potential for noise.
--Not obvious from available tools where one should enter this park (West Side, at intersection of Adams St and 11th Ave)
--Minimal signage on tees, some "next tee" signs, but you need GPS navigation your first few times through

As it currently stands, in the fall of 2023, this is a good beginner/intermediate course laid out over a large parcel of relatively flat open land, dotted by some middle aged conifers, oaks and some faster growing deciduous trees. Most shots are open, with the baskets clearly visible from the tee, and little opportunity to lose a disc.

Elevation is not a factor at all, with the singular exception of a downhill shot off the tee of 13, atop a conical mound which appears to be a grassed over pile of excavated soil from the nearby pool and tennis structures. I should have used my Apple Watch to measure its height but did not--I would place it in the 40-60 ft range, with a 230 ft shot down into a copse of guardian trees surrounding the basket. An ace would be possible, but very difficult. I (dx) Buzzzed by it hotly on my second round and was still stuck with a par.

You throw over a cat-tailed pond on #7. I am a late middle-aged beginner with less than 20 rounds under my belt, throwing max 250 at this point. I turned over a Dragon on my first 18, but there's a beast who floats, so I got it back with a 16 ft retriever and a pair of wet calves. On my second 18, I cleared easily, and sent it long off the basket. The short tees avoid this cross, but still keep the pond in play on the left side. #8 runs along the long axis of this same pond, and may grab an occasional errant shot. #17 uses a smaller pond similarly,--a par 3 off a low-ceilinged tee with the pond not crossing, but close to the green on the right side.

Roughly 1/3 of the course abuts the main public attractions of the park--an aquatic center, playground, tennis and pickleball courts. I played on a weekday, relatively early in the morning, when school was in session. Under these conditions, the park was nearly empty. 2PM on a hot summer day would likely yield a different experience.

The other 2/3rd of the course drapes itself over open land interspersed with some trees, predominantly oaks and some conifers. An asphalt walking path traverses the course, populated mostly by dog walkers and other casual exercisers, who mostly ignore disc golf play, but some stop to watch occasionally. Their presence is minimal, but the opportunity exists for a rare shot to land on asphalt. Besides that walking path, no other park feature exists on this land. This is important: the city looked at their resources and decided to dedicate a sizable parcel to disc golf AND NOTHING ELSE. I would love to see the whole course design tweaked to place all 18 holes on this southern area of the park, getting away from the higher traffic areas. I think the available land would easily accommodate that re-design without loss of length.

The mature trees on the course are smartly used as guardians. Several holes encircle the basket with trees, sparse enough to make the target accessible, but calling for creative shot shaping.

This is where it gets good: the city of Shakopee is planting new trees all over the course--I estimated 5-10 per hole--almost exclusively oaks. Some are obviously recent--three to five feet high, but others are already above 10 and starting to fluff out. It takes oaks a while to develop their root system in the harsh Minnesota climate, but once they do, their growth can shift from barely noticeable to 3-5 feet per year. I think this course will play differently year over year into 2024, and by 2030 will be an entirely different fanged beast of a challenge.

Is it going to be the destination course of the area? Well, no, but it will be quite excellent for what it is, a free public park course in a third-ring suburb of Minneapolis on mostly flat ground. It's already excellent for beginners and intermediate players. I think eventually it will provide a draw for those of a higher level.

Good holes with reasonable amount of obstacles, Bombers and semi-technical holes, water is shallow enough to retrieve OB discs in most spots, difficult to lose a disc, multiple tees on most holes, plenty of parking, water park on-site to send the family too while you throw, permanent restrooms, close to the highway (1 min.)

Park course with non-discing patrons regularly holding you up, a few holes throw over a parking lot or right next to the road, not very technical, some holes are so close together that you might have to wait to throw, no convenience stores nearby,

This was my home course for 5 years, so I became accustom to liking it. This is a course you can go to and enjoy your time and not have to worry about losing a disc or ending up with those double bogies. As an easy course to get to with multiple parking lots, you have to try it out. I know people that love it and people that dislike it; none that hate it. Bring shorts in case of landing in the water. Nothing spectacular, but one memorable hole from a hill top.

Well maintained...fairly easy to navigate.
Cement tee pads and most have two boxes.

Somewhat of a short course.

Great course for beginner and average players. Advanced players will find this a good warm up course.

The course is in good condition, with quality tee pads and average baskets. It's a great course to work on your drives, as there are not very many trees to contend with.

The course is often very busy, especially since it is located at a popular recreational park. Some wood chips around the baskets would be nice as well in order to cut down on the dust.

The course is pretty average, but if you can play there on a day with no wind, it can be torn up. They have recently added a bunch of smaller trees, so it will be interesting to see how this course plays down the road.

Multiple concrete tee-pads on most of the holes.
Good mix of open area, trees, water, and other OBs.
Free!
Clean and well maintained.
Some fun holes, throwing over and around water also down a nice sized man-made hill.
Park and pool right by course (pretty much play around).

Can get crowded.
Layout occasionally crosses fairways, inevitably causing back-ups.
Nearby traffic can get pretty busy.
Windy!

I traveled from Wisconsin to play a tournament at Lions Park, made a weekend of it. The course was nice, I enjoyed it all except the wind. It was 25-35 mph winds that weekend, but all the locals said it was normally quite a windy course. I thought the design was fun and challenging, but if it's crowded there are going to be back-ups. All in all, a good course and I'll play it again someday.

1) Nice dual concrete teepads (not all have two tees however).

2) Rules sign near #1 basket which also indicated an arrow towards the first tee.

3) Mach baskets in great shape with the number plate facing the tees.

4) Hole, Par, and Distance indicated on the tee signs, but that is all. Not really an issue not having a map because the courses is all out there in front of you. You can see all the baskets and you can easily decipher where you want to throw.

5) There is minor elevation change on a handful of the holes and the coupe de gras . . . #13 bomb off a big sledding hill? That has to be the only reason they have that large hill in the middle of the park, and perhaps they didn't want to haul the soil away when they put in the pool so they just made a big pile and planted grass on it.

6) There are a couple picnic tables located near a few tees that can be used, but nothing consistent at each tee.

7) This course is very clean (no garbage) and nicely maintained turf. There is very little turf damage on this course so it is also visually appealing in that regards.

8) It is refreshing to have a course with some intentional water holes designed into the layout. There is one throw across water, and another throw mostly along water (but you can take a more direct line at the basket if you want to go at the second basket. I cleared the pond by only a few feet from the short, so the long tee forces a more conservative shot unless you can bomb it!

9) Because of this courses southern exposure . . . it is most likely always the first course to dry up in spring. I played right after the thaw and the only bad areas on the course were around 6 and 7 where the construction has occurred.

10) Plenty of pavillion space and bathrooms near the beginning and middle of the course. The pool looks fun and there are tennis courts too.

1) The flow is confusing and somewhat disjointed in a couple places. Hole #1 was not evident where it was immediately because I parked over by #12 instead. I walked around and decided to play #13 through 18 (which I figured was the hole along the fence by the pool which was actually #1) in hopes I would find #1 Hole #17 is not obvious other than you have played through the entire corner of the park. Hole #18 is also not obvious because you have a long walk between some trees and the pool fence. There are also some strange walks depending on the tee you are playing.

2) This course is mostly open and I much prefer wooded courses. It isn't a bad design or a bad course by any means, but I just prefer more trees to force you to throw different shots and be more consistent.

3) The course plays across the sidewalk a few times during the round. You can see the walkers and they can see you, but it is something to be aware of. Do not throw if you aren't clear!

4) I don't think I saw a garbage can on the entire course. You would have to go by the pavilion or parking lot to dispose of anything.

5) No mulch was used around the baskets and tees where the traffic is taking a toll on the turf. It would help make the place look so much nicer, and also play better in poor weather conditions.

6) There didn't seem to be enough variety of shot here. There was a high amount of hyzer shots and you have whatever option you want on many holes. I prefer it when some holes force a certain shot and others force the opposite shot rather than giving you an option everytime.

7) #6 was moved because of the construction of the Fire Station and unless the basket gets moved again, the tee does not line up at the basket at all so the throw is awkward.

8) Bathrooms were locked on the weekend . . . probably because the park is normally not busy this time of year but it was beautiful out and I needed to pee. No trees to hide behind either.

There isn't much else to say about this course. It is decent but not flashy, no real exciting shots or signature holes to make you feel like you have to come back someday, but it is well maintained and nice and open for beginners so I would guess it sees a bit of play. It is not overly challenging, but there are some tougher shots and some longer holes depending on which tee you play. Will I come back no, but if I lived nearby or wanted to work on my drives I would play there. There just isn't enough interest in the holes out there for me to feel like I am missing something not coming back there.

This is a course located in the Lions park right next to a giant man-made pool. The park is kept well. There are multiple tees for a lot of the holes.

There is a little risk/reward on the water hazard holes, adding some fun. There is one hole that starts on top of a man-made hill (with a picnic table to relax if you're tired after the climb), which is a nice short shot. The hole is guarded by two large evergreens (had to get my girlfriend's disk out of one).

There are bathrooms and a drinking fountain near the beginning of the course, and a nice parking lot with shade trees.

Multiple holes go over paths, and one goes over a road, so watch out for pedestrians and vehicles.

Almost all holes are wide open, making for a pretty bland round of disc golf.

There are very few benches and trash cans.

Perhaps a good course for beginners because it's so open, but I will not go out of my way to play this course again.

Lions Parks I is a large expanse of mostly flat, mowed grass with scattered small to mid-sized trees. The course starts by this huge man made pool complete with beach and water slide. There are two concrete teepads for each hole. The longs add 200' to some holes greatly adding to challenge here. The baskets are nice Mach III with the red numbers. There are simple little tee signs. Navigation is fairly easy.
# 13 is easily the signature hole on this course. It sticks out as it's the only hole where elevation comes into play. You're teeing off from the top of this man-made little hill. I've seen these little man-made hills in other Minnesota parks? Do they serve a purpose? Why are they here? Anyway, they make great disc golf launching pads. The # 13 hole is just a short (220') touch shot down to a basket guarded by two large evergreen trees on the sides and a smaller deciduous tree of some kind (maple?) in front. Fun hole!
This course was made for rollers. If you don't role, learn, practice, master it and then get it down to a science. A good roller will save you some strokes here.
The holes by the pond also add to the challenge and liven things up a bit.
The park is extremely clean and there were quite a few players playing the day I played.

I was lucky the day I played. No wind. Some of the longer, open holes are fairly boring and would get pretty repetetive. You need to be careful on #'s 17 and 18 over by the street. This course is big enough and spread out enough, I think it could handle many groups of players without a feeling of being crowded.

I don't see this as a beginner's course just because of the length. It's a nice rec course because other than the over length, there isn't much in the way to challenge you. Errant shots are usually not penalized at all. I could see a howling wind playing havoc with anyone's score here. I don't think that would be much fun to out here in this vast open area fighting the wind for 18 holes.

nicely groomed
hard to lose discs (unless you throw it in the ponds)
bathrooms on site
not a "pay to play"
some elevation changes
hole 12 is unique
mosquitos are much more tollerable here than on wooded courses

fairly open
can get crowded
alot of the holes seem to play the same with the exception of 1, 7, 12, and 18

over all its a good course worthy of a play thru if your in or around the area. its located within a nice park with a fancy man made beach/pool area and basketball/volleyball courts...keep an eye out for the caged heat. a womens penitentiory is close by

The course is very wide open with a fair variety of shots and some longer holes. Some elevation changes which are fun as long as you dont accidentaly land your disc on the top of hole 13 when not on 13 and have to walk all the way up again. Also this course can get in your head a bit with both the water hazzards and two holes being right next to a fairly busy road...

My friend and I found it a little hard to find the next tee from the hole before and sometimes found it hard to find where the basket was from the tee. Better signs and direction would be nice out there.

Be careful coming to this course on either an extremely windy day OR an extremely hot one.. It is a very wide open course.

-Open course, hard to lose discs.
-Good place to learn new discs
-Changes in elevation
-Water hazards

-Often very windy
-Can get crowded
-Dust/dirt around baskets sticks to discs
-Water hazards

Good place for new players due to the openness. Great place to learn new discs or just to have some good fun with friends.

Good length to many of the holes, was surprised on how many they put in this park. loved the two water holes. one short over a corner and one longer one. the trees really didn't get in the way too much but got in the head a bit.

Lot of back and forth play with other hole in close proximity. pretty wide open.

It was fun for the group that I went with for we play a short course in our area. very clean park and easy to navigate.

This is an okay course it is very easy to find your way to every hole a lot of small trees have gotten quite large in the last few years adding an extra challenge, and I personally think that a water hazard on a few holes makes the course a little more interesting and fun. The baskets are easy to find on nearly every hole so there shouldn't be to many problems not knowing where you are aiming.

There are a few problems with this course though, one is it is usually terribly windy because the course is so wide open, a good many of the holes cross with the walking/biking path and three holes are right next to the road.

On a nice day with little wind this is a pretty nice course to play there is a good mix of long and short holes for begginers and people who are a little more experienced.

Nicely marked concrete tee boxes, arrows on baskets direct to next tees and marked footage at the red tee box, sometimes on the blues

some confusion starts at tee 8 - basket 16 appears to be on-line with the box, several baskets are situated near each other, some basket markers have been spun out of position

Nice girl watching on the holes near the pool/beach!

- Full 18 holes with multiple tee boxes
- Nice mix of long and short holes
- Not a ton of trash
- Water hazards and well placed trees
- Sneaky mix of elevation. Nothing to major in terms of hills but there's enough to knock your shots up or down about 5%
- Usually not too busy
- Concrete tee boxes and distance markers

- Hole 2 plays through the parking lot. Watch for cars and try to avoid tearing up a disc on the pavement.
- A little too open for some holes. Wind is big.
- When it's busy on the weekends, there's a lot of people using the trails through the park.
- Holes 17 and 18 butt up against a city street. Watch for cars.
- Some baskets and long tee boxes not obvious

I like this course. I play it the most. I just started playing disc golf recently and I feel this course allows me to work on my game, but seems like it's a decent enough challenge for others I've played with with more experience. Overall its a solid course and worth the drive.

**There are currently a couple changes going on at the park. The pin for hole 6 has been moved closer to the tee and there is a construction trailer near the hole. All the trees surrounding hole 2 have been cut down. Not sure what the big plan is, but there's definitely some sort of change coming.

There are a lot of holes, and a water hazard is always fun.

The whole course is pretty wide open so you really just sit back and through until it comes time to putt.

Signs with par to go along with distance would be nice.

Nice teeboxes and baskets. 18 hole layout. Nice mix of short and long. One small water hazard that comes into play on 2 holes.

No difficulty really. No tight holes, most of the trees are very young, course is wide open so wind is an issue.

really just nothing special as far as courses go. I've played worse, but I've played much better. Multi-use park and a few of the early holes go across a path that was being heavily used when we played. I would not make any special effort to play again.

1) Good mix of short and long holes
2) Concrete boxes
3) Many challenging holes
4) Clean for the most part
5) Pretty good bigger course

1) Little too open. Can get windy
2) Pretty flat. Only hole 13 is hilly
3) Gets busy on weekends.

Fun course for a to start out on. Only major down side is if its windy it gets very frustrating.
Also can be a little dangerous for other people. Hole one is by the pool very close to fence. Hole two is over the parking lot. Hole 9, 17, and 18 are along the road.

good beginer course, maybe in a number of years when the trees grow up this will be awesome...

not really challenging, just straight drives some far, some close, some have a few trees you might hit, but there were numerous times were i felt the course was "unsafe" like hole number 1 runs along the pool fence, it would be easy for a beginner to put it over the fence and hit a little kid, #2 the long tee is across a parking lot, the short tee is under a power line.... a few holes border the road that runs past it...

when this course matures it might get better and more challenging

Lions park is overall a fairly decent course. Lots of open fairways and many holes with obstacles as well. Also has a good mix of holes with a few water hazards as well as shots down hill. Lions park also has a few holes over 500 feet.

Not a fun course too play when windy out..very hard too par...If you get to the course earlier in the afternoon you shouldn't have too worry about big crowds but later in the afternoon can become very busy...also be careful on the water holes..everyday i drive by and see people looking for their discs

If the course has any signature holes it would be hole 13 at the tope of the hill..nice down hill shot in between two tall trees..watch your disc in the trees as well!!!! Overall lions park is a great course too play on a nice day.