Mattawan High School is located west of Kalamazoo, MI. The high school, middle school, park, and presumably also an elementary school and senior living center are all on site. However, there is still room in a wooded area on the edge of all that for a 9-hole disc golf course.

This course plays entirely in the woods, and there are a decent mix of technical holes here. The fairways throughout are tight, but fair. Some curl to the left, some curl to the right, and some are straight.

I really liked that this course has two tee pads per hole. The long pads offer a fun round for recreational disc golfers. The short pads are very short, offering a clear look at most baskets and some different angles overall. The short pads are PERFECT for high school students who don't know a driver from a putter. This course is at a HIGH SCHOOL. Finally, we have a match between course design and target audience!! I also noted that the shorts required more right turns/straight throws than left turns, so good for teaching the RHBH kids to not just "noob hyzer" every hole. High schoolers that catch on to the game can easily try the longer tees. I threw a very poor round from the long tees, and decided to follow that up with a second round from the shorts which was much easier.

The baskets are DISCatchers that are painted in the maize and blue school colors. Along with the block M logo on the yellow bands, these are 100% ripped off from the University of Michigan about 100 miles east down I-94. Why do so many primary/secondary schools do this? One basket per hole.

The tee signs are basic and mounted on blue painted wooden posts at the long tees only. They do show the distance and flight path from both tees. They do the job for a course like this.

The tee signs also point towards the next hole, which is better than nothing. And there seemed to be white painted lines on the ground to help with navigation as well. Overall, I didn't get lost.

There is clear signage at the front of the course stating that the place is closed while school is in session, and that alcohol and tobacco are not allowed. These things should not have to be said, but unfortunately I agree that they need to be! There is also a kiosk next to these signs, although no map was posted on it when I visited. A couple of trash cans were scattered around the course. There was one bench near the first tee, although it was in poor shape when I visited.

The worst thing about this course is the rubber tee pads. Both of the pads mentioned above are different kinds of rubber material. They are all lumpy, falling apart, and very slippery. I slipped on the first three pads in a row, after which I gave up on trying to do any footwork and just stood and threw. I was wearing tennis shoes that were not super grippy, but the same shoes that I usually play in during the summer months and don't usually have a problem in.

Holes are too short for better players. And there isn't really any elevation change to speak of.

No practice basket or restroom in sight.

This is honestly one of the better 9 hole courses I have played in recent memory. Decent course with two layouts appropriate for the most likely visitors, and no real safety issues. I would have given a 2.5 rating for sure if the tee pads were concrete, or even well-laid patio pavers. Out of all eight (!) school 9ers in the greater Kalamazoo area, I have now played six of them and this one is the best out of those six IMO. A highlight of Kalamazoo Area School 9 Hole Disc Golf Courses 101, for sure.

- Mattawan HS DGC plays through a pretty nice section of wooded land on the school's property. The area is disc golf exclusive. Most holes are a perfect length for a moderately wooded high school course: only two stretch past 300', and not by much. The rest are somewhere in the 200' range. All holes have a second set of short tees, which range closer to 150' on average. Nothing is shorter than 140'-ish. This course is well designed, and was a pleasant surprise. Everything to make this a "real" disc golf course is here: good hole design, dual rubber tees, above average signage listing both tee locations and distances, obvious navigation with a good flow, holes being given enough space to not create hazardous conditions, etc. In fact, this is clearly the best 9-hole school course I've played. It just looks, feels, and plays like real disc golf, not some cheap semblance thereof.
- The woods are thick enough to punish errant shots and force some creative scrambling. Most of the undergrowth isn't thick enough to lose a disc in, but could be a bit annoying in the depths of summer.
- The distances to the basket make this the ideal course for practicing putter (or mid) drives. The line shaping is reasonable but not necessarily easy, with the exception of #9, which has a wall of trees and offers a very difficult (for this level of course) gap to hit on the longest hole of the course. Finish strong, Mattawan!
- The long pads are slightly beat up but mostly okay for this length of course. The longs are long rubber pads that have seen better days but still function; however, the shorts are made out of rubber octagons, and are in pretty bad shape. Most are very lumpy and uneven. Still, gotta give props for having signage that matches the tees, and going to the trouble of having two sets installed.

- My biggest gripe here is hole #6. One of the longer holes, with a fairway that doglegs slightly to the right, a big patch of thorns lurking just off the fairway to both sides where the dogleg occurs. These might have not been part of the original design, and maybe have grown up over time. But these need to get trimmed back because it's a tough punishment for a school course (who wants to rip their clothes playing dg at school...well, we all would, but we're weird to begin with). Even if they just cut up the left side so that stalled anhyzers don't fade out into the thorns, that would improve this hole greatly. Overall, though, this is a pretty small issue and easily rectified with 15 minutes and a weedwhacker.
- Hole #9 looks like it belongs on any above-average course. The gap between the wall of trees off the tee is fair but very tough for this level of a course. While I find this to easily be the best and most enjoyable hole on the course, it felt just a bit too difficult for the rest of the holes. So, not criticizing the actual hole: it's awesome. Just questioning if it matches the difficulty level of the rest of the holes. After having to hit the gap, the hole remains wooded for about another 260' and finishes out in the open by the parking lot.
- The baskets' chains are all very rusty.

- Dang. I'm straight up jealous of these high school kids. This course is awesome and largely hits the mark for a high school course. I'd be here before AND after school every day if I was a student at Mattawan.
- This seems a really fun ace run, deuce-or-die sort of course for more talented players. It provides a good practice area for teeing off with mids and putters for experienced, but not necessarily skilled, discers. And it's a good gauntlet for beginners: wooded enough to give an awesome disc golf vibe, but not too wooded to be unplayable or frustrating.

The Mattawan High School Disc Golf Course plays through the woods to the left of the road as you enter the school. You can see right away that these folks are seriously into school spirit. Everything in sight is painted in Michigan maize and blue. There is nice little kiosk, well built by Seth as an Eagle Scout project. It's Maize/blue. There is a Maize and blue garbage can. There is a bench painted Blue. The tee sign is maize/blue. The basket down the fairway is maize/blue. And most of them have Big "M" on them.

The course has rubber mats. They're black. The small, blue tee signs have the hole # and a route. There are shorter tees at each hole.

The course loops back with the # 9 basket just a few feet away.

This is a great design for a high school course. Although straight and repetitive, there are open lines on each hole. The holes are high school short with most in the 225' range . Two stretch over 300'. The rough is open enough making finding your disc fairly easy. Accuracy off the tee is the key here.

This course is more of a beginner course although rec players will enjoy trying to stay on the fairways.

# 6 was a fun little throw of 226' straight but the challenge here is too hit a six foot gap about halfway down the fairway.

The holes all have the same feel, 200 to 300' and straight. Pretty repetitive.

The course plays more as a beginner course than a recreational course. And that's probably OK.

Some of chains have rusted. I don't know if that affects their catching but it's pretty sad looking.

Today, I played the high school foursome of Paw Paw HS, Mattawan HS, Lawton HS and Kalamazoo Central HS. My opinion is the first three are a step above Kalamazoo Central for a variety of reasons and are so very close together. I could probably change my opinion each time I played one. My ranking based on my own personal fun factor would be:

1. Lawton HS
2. Paw Paw HS
3. Lawton HS
4. Kalamazoo Central.

The bad news is I just missed qualifying for the high school Girl's District Tournament by 9 strokes. I probably need to work on my game.

- Nice tee signs. Homemade but certainly informative with more than enough information.
- Baskets all there and accounted for. Very old Innova Discatchers but they still catch just fine.
- Tee pads are rubber mats but are okay for being rubber mats.
- Course flowed naturally from one hole to the next. For once, I didn't need a map to find my way around...
- It's an easy course to be sure but did seem to make use of the available land quite well.
- It does look like someone or somebodies are keeping up this course. Wood chips have been placed on the fairways and shule is somewhat under control. Errant shots are easily found.

- While I did say the baskets were in good shape they are VERY old and the chains are really rusty. They just don't make the satisfying "ching" when the putter hits them like new chains...I know, I know...picky con.
- Was not a fan of the #9 layout. It's a bit of a poke -n- hope hole with the tightly spaced trees about 100' down the fairway.
- There are short tees on this course...why? It's such a short course to begin with so - seriously? We need shorts here?
- The biggest thing for me holding this course back is the lack of challenge. Most ams are going to score in the 27-25 range.

It's really not a bad as a beginner course. More experienced players could easily use this course for putter only practice. I mean even a noodle arm like me could easily get by with just a mid and a putter with little to no impact on my score.

Keep in mind this is on school property so that means absolutely no tobacco or alcohol is allowed and play here is restricted to non school times.

NOTE: Previous review indicates rubber octagons were used as tees. All of the tees are now the rubber mats. I did see some of those octagons sitting in random spots near some of the tees so someone must be in the process of getting rid of those monstrosities....They look horrible to tee of off.

Aesthetic-- plays on a nature trail in the southwest corner of a high school campus. I'm sure you'll see some non-dg'ers here so watch your plastic.

Teesigns-- nicely done, shows short and long distances, basic shape of hole and are well protected from the elements

Teepads-- Longs are great, rubber (flypads) and are nice and grippy. The shorts are another story, see negatives.

Baskets-- Innova DisCatchers painted school colors are nice and visible in this semi-thick wood

Variety-- the variety mainly comes in the form of trees and design. The short and long tees give distinctly different looks which is great. hole 8 and 9 both carve interesting lines which aren't your typical straight shot in the woods

Length-- very short course. Bring a putter and a mid. no drivers necessary. Topping out at a little over 300' it's silly to bring your whole bag.

Short Teepads-- at about hole 5, the fly paper pads go away for the shorts in favor of spongy rubber octagons. These are TERRIBLE. they are tore to hell on every hole and seem to more get in the way. If this is your choice for monetary reasons or whatever, leave them dirt and somehow mark them.

My worry, as with any short course on school property, is the huckers. Although I didn't see any beer cans or cigarette butts it may be a problem in the future.