A dual pad 9er with good variety and a preponderance of grass and trees.

-Amenities: Concrete tees, signs with all info and map, Mach X baskets. Brooms, bag hooks, and trash cans at most tees. Practice basket and course kiosk/pay station.

-Foliage: To me, Mast sticks out most for the relatively high quantity of trees in play. Most holes have at least two hands of trees in play. This is a feature that I have found lacking in some desert and/or Southwest courses, which often feature more scrubby trees. Here though, there's a medium amount of shaping with plenty of grass.

-Dual Pads/Multi-Pins: Two pads per hole are a mixed bag of different shape, extra distance, and no real difference on one or two. The rotating pin positions will do a good job of keeping it fresh for repeat players. One small con is that I didn't see any system for indicating which pin positions were in play.

-"Friendly": Easy to navigate, well kept, beginner friendly, hard to lose discs.

-Shot Shaping/Gameplay: A good variety of par -3s from ace runs to strategic placements. The course plays perfectly for someone with about 300' of distance, as this creates some placement holes, some easy birdies, and lots of throws on the edge of their range. Trees are used almost constantly - some tunnels, some crashing through the canopy shots, and some tree lines creating a fairway border. A dry creek bed would also be a great addition to (5)-(8) if it filled up. The lines required range from simple to very nuanced. As an intermediate player, this was a lot of fun to have some holes that needed dissection but also some relief via shorter holes.

To be honest, this is one of the few 9er s I can think of that doesn't feel like it needed more holes. Nonetheless, there are some clear limitations.

-All 3s: I've said it many times and I'll say it again - a course with some multi-shot holes is almost always superior to an exclusively drive and putt course. Mast offers a solid variety of distance and shape, but it doesn't offer true par-4s for anyone at MA3 level or above.

-Difficulty: There's a ceiling to the skill level of those likely to enjoy Mast, and I think it might exclude MA1. Someone with a clean 350' drive can dice this course. On the other hand, it hits a sweet spot for skill levels just below that.

-Capacity: As a 9er that gets played twice by many in one go, I don't see Mast holding a large number of groups successfully. There's usually some navigating around groups for me on a weekday morning.

-Basket Visibility: The grey DGA baskets need some neon to stick out amongst the trees. Pin position indicators would be a valid substitute.

-Fee: $4 per day fee. As far as pay-to-play goes, I'm happy with that.

Mast is my go-to out of the San Diego trio of Morley, Greg Rogers, and Mast. This could be due to its more treeful nature, since it reflects my original southeastern courses better than a lot of other courses in California. On the other hand, it could be because it struck a chord with me on my first play, and has solid and reasonably challenging lines. The definitely correct reason is that it's not the 2nd busiest course in the world (unlike Morley).

Is it a better course than Morley? Definitely not. It's also inferior to Kit Carson in Escondido. Overall, it rides right on the line between Typical and Good. But it should be a satisfying day of golf for most throwers, and it's an asset to the community.

~Similar Courses: Wills Park (Alpharetta, GA); A miniature MetCenter (Austin, TX); Steeplechase Park (Kyle, TX); Rob Wallace Park (Midland, NC).

Beautiful! It's obvious the city has put a lot of money into making and maintaining this course

Short enough holes that beginners won't be overwhelmed, but enough trees and interesting angles to satisfy the intermediate player

Excellent signage - there is no confusion about where the pin is or the distance

It's a 9 hole course so if you're looking for 18 you have to play twice. There are 2 tee pads for each hole but they don't always change the hole very much

It can get a little crowded. Since it's a newly remodeled course a lot of people play it, and the wait times at each hole can add up

Overall this is a super fun little course, and for 5$ i can't find much (if anything) to complain about

I consider the aesthetic appeal of a course to be one of the most important factors in rating it. After an 18 month closure and $10 million renovation, I'm pleased to say Mast Park has successfully transformed into a lovely piece of disc golfing property.

Native grasses now line the fairways. Landscaping enhancements have resulted in more elevation changes, and the removal of weeds and decaying trees improves the experience.

Additional amenities/upgrades include brand new Mach X baskets, 2 concrete tee pads per hole, and full color tee signs on both pads.

Navigation has always been intuitive, but now I feel the course layout is even better with a couple of the changes they've made, with a few holes being lengthened and others shortened. One of my favorite changes was to hole 6, which now requires a 400' anhyzer for birdie. Incredibly fun shot.

Due to the novelty of the course, this is easily the most popular course in San Diego county. Hordes of people descended here over the holiday weekend, resulting in lengthy wait times. I'm sure the popularity will wane, but I expect this will be a very popular course for some time.

Mast Park used to be free to play, but it's now pay-to-play, $4 weekdays and $5 weekends. The rationale to charge players is understandable, as the fees are being used to offset course maintenance costs.

Many of the cons that applied to the previous version of the course still apply: Mast Park is a small piece of property with only 9 holes, and there are still too many short simple hyzer shots for those of us looking for more challenge.

There are also no trash cans located on the couse and only a few benches. More benches would be really appreciated because of the heat and the amount of waiting at each hole.

Prior to construction, I had played Mast Park about 7-8 times and was never particularly fond of the course; it was a barren, dusty, weed-infested course with mostly short holes, minimal elevation change, and mostly unimaginative lines. If I had to give the previous version of Mast Park a rating, it would probably be a 2.0, so a 1.0 point upgrade to a 3.0 is significant, and is a testament to the changes made to the course. Well done!

10/16/21 UPDATE: After playing some excellent California courses recently, I've come to the realization that my original score of 3.5 was perhaps a bit too generous and I'm lowering the score to a 3.0 (Good), which I feel is more indicative of the quality of the course. I still feel that this is a much improved course after 18 months of construction and well worth a visit.

I am an older golfer at 62. Played before the remodel, it was a short but fair course, not the prettiest gal in class but she was fun to play.

Very nicely landscaped with new DISCatcher baskets.

1) The fairways were planted with clumps of grass about 12" apart. Terrible unsafe footing, can't run up with out fear of twisting knee or ankle. Discs getting stopped pretty quickly when you hit the clumps in the fairway. The park reopened early 2020, but the DGC was just re-opened while this "grass" grew in.

2) No trash cans anywhere on the course. Each hole has 2 tee pads, most holes don't have benches, the ones that do have just one bench at only one of the tee pads. No bag hooks or brooms. It gets hot in Santee, some shade would be appreciated at the tees/benches, there are none now.

3) Some of the holes require a far stronger arm than I have to either get over the trees or throw a hard low shot that is stopped by the clumpy fairways.

4) Each hole has 3 basket locations, most all of them are pretty close together, limiting the variety of pin placement.

5) Used to be free, now pay to play, $4 or $5 per day or monthly pass available. Morley is priced the same, is closer to my house, and it has 19 holes and a ton of variety (and players)

I was very disappointed by the 10 million dollars spent to remodel this facility (the entire park which is very beautiful and clean) pretty much destroyed my joy of golfing there.

San Diego city and county have few disc golf courses, we have a huge county with a large population that needs more and better places to play the game we love.

This course is unplayable for me, an older golfer, as is...

-small area used to good effect
-nice rubber tees, 2 per hole
-signage on large wooden posts help locate tees, also have bag hooks
-discatchers in good condition
-three pin locations, great replay value for locals
-navigation is pretty straightforward once you walk from the parking lot past the playground
-a number of trees to contend with on most of the holes, various lines to navigate the fairways
-only free course in San Diego **edit** pay to play now

-mostly short, only one or two holes to open up a drive
-no particularly memorable holes
-pedestrian trails parallel most holes
-can be tricky to find; enter the park from Carlton Hills Blvd

Mast Park is a fun little course that makes the most of the small area it occupies. The first 2 holes feature a number of trees to navigate while the next 2 are pretty wide open. Hole 5 is an island hole with one tree to avoid and the remaining holes play through a sparsely treed area with various routes to the basket. It's a quick play with enough challenge for the beginner to intermediate player to keep it interesting.

The course offers two tees per hole as well as three pin locations. A great amenity for locals on such a small, unassuming course. That said, it's still pretty basic and anyone that can throw 300' will be driving the green on every hole (except hole 4) from either tee to any pin position.

There are so few course in San Diego so I'm sure the players in the area love having a course closer than Morley. It's nothing to drive out of the way for but it's worth playing if you are in the neighborhood. It's another option if you despise the huge crowds you'll find at Morley.


**Like this review? Hate it? Message me and let me know why! I want to make them better!**

Mast Park in San Diego is a great example of placing an accessible, easy to place disc golf course in a small community park. I was looking for a place to play a quick round as I traveled from the airport east into the desert, so this course stood out because of it's relative close proximity to Interstate 8.

First, it took me a minute to actually find the entrance to the park. If you're visiting for the first time, come in off the east side via Carlton Hills Blvd. The course itself is deep in the park past the playground. Once I figured this out, everything was smooth.

The course itself is only 9 baskets, but there are two permanent tee pads on each hole. The tee pads are not directly aligned with each other, so you get a true feel of playing 18 if you run through twice.

Some of the holes force you to throw between trees and shrubs, others are wide open across the park. You'll throw a good mix of hyzers, straight shots, and maybe a tomahawk or two.

The park was surprisingly pretty busy on my Monday afternoon when I came through. There were a consistent line of disc golfers throughout the course. I ended up playing through two groups in my quick 9 hole round.

Summary of pros:

- Ample parking
- Covered pavilion and water fountains
- Well maintained park
- Multiple tee pads on each hole
- Baskets in great condition
- Variety of lengths and angles with shots
- Decent elevation to contend with
- Quick round

Like I said in the pros, finding this one was a challenge. Using the maps, I thought I could park right outside the tee pad for hole 1, but this was an apartment complex with a big fence between me and the park. I quickly realized I needed to use the lot on the west side of the park, then walk through the park to actually get to the first tee. Once you figure this out it seems probably pretty normal, but I hit a lot of courses and this one just confused me a little bit.

Then of course it's only 9 holes. There isn't much more room in here to add more though, so they really did a good job mixing in what they could.

Some of the baskets were hard to figure out from the tee pad. Many of the holes play pretty close together, so it took me a minute to figure out which target I was shooting for when I stepped on each pad.

Final thoughts... if you're in San Diego and you're looking for a quick, fun round... this place is great. I wouldn't go way out of my way to make it a destination or anything, but I don't think it's intended to be that. It fits the role of quick 9-holer perfectly.

Park in the lot on the west side of the park off Carlton Hills Blvd, then walk past the playground to find the first tee. Keep the DGCR map with you because it will come in handy. Have fun!

Two different tee positions for intermediate/beginner players and multiple basket positions, a variety of wooded and wide open shots, many chances throughout the course to practice into different wind conditions, not very crowded ever, rubber pads on the tee boxes and also some of the tee pads have a broom stationed next to them to wipe of the tee area.

Very sandy, rollers don't really work on any part of this course (makes it interesting though), no real signs delineating which way the course goes and no information about the holes or the positions of the holes at the tee boxes. Lots of red ants, be careful setting your bag down! No actual out of bounds areas, although there should be. Watch out for guys walking their dogs through your line not knowing that this is a disc golf course. Could use a pro shop, but the liquor store across from the 7-11 on the corner of Carlton Oaks sells a small selection of discs.

All in all a pretty fine course. For the intermediate to beginner player, advanced players might find this course a little easy, but still fun to work on your aces and midrange shots. It's never really crowded here, except right after work on the week days and a tiny bit on the weekends. It's an easier course in San Diego than Morley Field, but it's almost about 70% less crowded. The wind picks up pretty good on the open holes and tends to head in multiple directions around the course as you play it.

They really did the most they could with the space, I have played it twice in the last couple of weeks and it was exactly what I was looking for.
- All tee pads (two per hole) are rubber and have been in good condition (it seems they have been updated in the last year or so since other reviews)
- Flat, easy to walk terrain.
- Good baskets with multiple pin locations
- Variety of approaches, at least considering the environment
- Not crowded...easy to play
- Wood posts easily identifying each tee pad. Some have hooks to hang your bag
- Easy to find the next hole

- Very simple course, more in the beginner to intermediate range
- Not a whole lot of variance (as compared to say Morley Field or Bengle Terrace) in terrain, but like I said, they make the best of it
- Short holes, especially the short pins

My cons above are purely subjective...the course does not try to be anything that it is not. Play it for what it is: a quick and easy 9 hole-er, turn it into 18 by playing the short tee for the first 9 and the long tee for the back 9.

There is birdie opportunity on every hole, even if you don't have a big arm. Make sure your tee shot counts!

-This course is in the back portion of a city park. The front portion is manicured with a playground, basketball, etc., but the back part is typical desert landscape. Few trees, and plenty of sand fill the landscape.
-Brand new Discatcher baskets (and a practice basket) and rubber tee pads. There were two tee pads per hole. The back one was strategically placed in shade on almost every hole.
-There were brooms on some holes to sweep the tee pad.
-The first few holes provide a nice contrast to the rest of the course, as they are very shaded and have some patches of grass. The course overall is well-designed, with forehand and backhand holes.
-Not very crowded.
-Nowhere to lose a disc.

-There aren't many benches to set your bag down on or sit on. You need some, as it could get very hot here. No trash cans, either.
-This place is animal heaven. I saw rodents, lizards, bees, spiders, but once I saw fire ants, that made me look before I set down my bag. I don't want to imagine what other critters could inhabit the place. Snakes, coyotes . . .
-The ground is very soft sand. I'm fortunate not to have played on a windy day. It would be a terrible dusty mess. Even if you scuff your feet you send up a cloud of sandy dirt. The sand, coupled with those little thorny things from scraggly grass, can really itch when you get some in your shoes.

-You can't plan for much skip with the sandy terrain. A "stick it" shot often works best.
-There's no sign for the park, and no signs showing where the disc golf course is. Walk past the playground and up to the left to the first tee. No tee signs either, not that the course needs them, but this place is seriously lacking in signage in all forms.
-This course has good bones, but definitely needs a few things: some TLC, something to keep the fire ants out, and a few more trees. Also, some grass. Maybe it needs a lot of work, actually. I understand it's improving, it is a new course, but as it is it wasn't a very enjoyable round.

- Free to play
- Bathrooms on site
- Multiple tees
- Multiple pin placements
- Tee signs
- New baskets

- some tee boxes were just wood forms filled with sand/dirt, the day I went a few were rutted and puddled
- Course fairways have little separation
- Tees to close to other fairways
- Short holes
- Simple fairways
- Park pedestrians
- Parking lot locks up at "dusk", whenever that is
- Bums

This short simple course had little to obstruct the open fairways. Flicking or backhanding a spike hyzer line with an OS driver was often the easiest and best choice for shot selection. The ground is a mix of soft dirt and sand which makes skip shots difficult. Long tees weren't much further away than the shorts and didn't force me to use different discs.

I was actually pretty impressed with the course considering the type and amount of land available within the park. Ultimately, the biggest thing that separates it from other short courses in the area is that it's free. San Diego is course starved, plain and simple. This course may not be the most challenging, but it will at least divert some traffic away from Morley Field.

Made good use of an area I'd assume was unused before. Not sure how fast the tress grow there but in a few years id should be much harder. I enjoyed myself

Long walk back from 9. Be nice to get a few holes in going back to parking lot

No crowds. I've played this course twice, both times on a Sunday. Both times I had the place to myself. My home course is Morley Field, probably the world's most crowded course so this was a nice change.

Great for beginners and kids. I've had my 4 year old with me both times and he was able to walk it and play with minimal complaining.

Nice flow, easy to navigate

Most tees are just boxed sand and kind of rutted. A few of the long tees have rubber pads. It's a new course so I'm sure we'll see some improvement.

A little on the easy side. I don't know if that's necessarily a con. It's a short course and pretty open.

Distance and basket placement signs at the tees would be a nice addition

I've been having a lot of fun on this course. No crowds, relatively close to home and it's good for the kids too.


Update: I've been playing here almost every weekend and the word has gotten out a little more on this course. Lots more people out here these days but still moves quickly. Tee boxes could really use some help. Most are rutted up so bad that it's better to throw from the side of the tee box, although that's getting pretty rutted up too. With the growing popularity of the course let's hope we get concrete tee pads soon.

Update: Rubber Pads on all tees now.

For what it is, this is a great little course. It's placed in the back, unused portion of a park which, for me, was a definite pro for this setting. There were only a few holes where you had to worry about kids on bikes or people walking through.

For the area that they had to use, it's set up really well. There's no room really for massive distance shots but the pins are all placed in areas that require a little thought about approach and disc choice.

The A and B tee pad locations were placed well. We looped through the 9 hole course twice, playing both pads in the process. The alternate pads are all placed in areas where it changes the shot.

The course is mostly flat with sporadic trees for shade. I list this as a pro for this type of course because I don't see it as a "big play" experience but more "pleasant play." You're there to have fun and enjoy yourself, not physically condition your body for your next tournament.

The tee pads really need some work. Currently they are boxed with packed sand. A few of the boxes had rubber mats over them (which was way better), but not the majority. The packed sand in the boxes has been kicked and worn down from use to the point that the official tee area is really uneven. Most of the time I found myself taking my drive next to the tee box in order to get better footing.

Overall a fantastic short course! It's challenging enough to make a more experienced player think a little in order to get that "bird shot" and approachable enough that it would be a good place to take new players.

There are no maps anywhere but the flow of the course is intuitive.

If they could just get the tee pad situation figured out at this course it would be perfect.

Nice mix of shorter "tunnel shot" holes and longer open holes

Long and short pads are at different angles providing good variety.

Quiet area in the back of the park that people won't be walking through your games.

Three pin positions on each hole makes for interesting variation.

Very sandy and dry.

Most of the course there is no shade.

No signs or rubber tea pads (yet). Hopefully they will get these soon.

It would be nice if the city would plant some grass or something. Much of the course is like walking through a sandbox.

I really like the course design and the three different pin positions on each hole makes it a different course every time we play.

huge potential here!
course just went in, so is naturally a little rough around the edges. but in little time it should be a fabulous addition to SD dg!!
dual tees make for an easier and harder layout.
NOBODY there.
plenty of tree obstacles.
practice basket is a plus.

LONGish walk from parking lot to first tee.
sand can make for some arduous walking.
minimal elevation change.

whoray for SD Aces!!!!
another victory

Pros:
Not many spots for walkers/cyclists/joggers/children etc. to get in the way. This is in the back of the park and there's not much back there besides DISCatchers and tee pads.
Quick to play. I went through twice and it took me 24 and 28 minutes, respectively.
Not very tiring. I usually play Brengle Terrace and feel dead afterward. Not the case here. Mast Park's course is flat.
Long and short tee pads let you make a defacto 18-hole game (ex: first 9 from short, last 9 from long). Long aren't just behind short, they're typically at different angles.
For people near the trolley, you can take the Green Line almost all the way there. Also in the area is Twisted Manzanita if you need to get your craft beer fix.

Cons:
Very sandy and dry. I got lots of sand in my shoes. Lots of brush (tan discs could get lost easily).
No trails/footpaths from hole to hole but I'm sure after a few months they'll start to develop.
Teepads are soft dirt/sand. I played from a stand still the entire round. I think these are slated to get rubber mats soon, however.
No signs, though it's pretty logically set up. Look for the flags in the ground; it's not too easy to get lost.

So this course just opened up last week and I figured why not give it a try? After missing the parking lot (it's kind of hard to find, a small lot right before a strip mall), I parked and followed a concrete path past the basketball courts and BBQ area. The first basket you should see (on your left) would be the practice basket, with Hole 1 teepads nearby. All baskets are marked with their hole number.

Most of these holes are very short. I have a weak arm but found myself almost acing a couple (off the basket on #2 grrrrr). That said, I found them technical. Lots of trees on some holes calls for a nice, straight shot. The course itself plays quick, and I went around twice. My best score was a +2.

All-in-all, I like Mast Park. I'm looking forward to rubber mats and maybe some signs. I think the area around the practice basket could use some clearing out, too, but that's just me nitpicking at this point. Big thanks to the San Diego Aces and the City of Santee for making this course possible!