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.

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.

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

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!