Mecosta DGC is a 9-holer that plays around the grounds of Mecosta Township Hall just south of Big Rapids, MI. It is only about a 5-minute detour off of the US-131 freeway.

The holes here are not long - with only one exceeding 300' and four shorter than 200' - but there is some good variety and technical challenge to be had. The first hole is mostly open but plays to a basket raised up on a mound. Holes 3-5 are tough thread-the-needle throws in the woods. Basket #5 is also guarded by several trees directly in front of it and is at the top of another small mound, adding some potential risk/reward. Holes 7 and 8 are two more fun throws with several trees to work around.

The baskets are all yellow banded DISCatchers in good shape. There is also a practice basket next to the parking lot, along with a porta potty.

There are a couple of poorly designed holes here. Hole #2 plays across a parking lot. If there were cars basically anywhere in this parking lot, I would feel uncomfortable playing this hole. Hole 9 plays over the outfield area of a softball diamond. Obviously this would be unplayable if the softball diamond were being used. There were a large enough number of "No Trespassing" signs just off to the left of hole 6's fairway that I felt a little bit uneasy when my RHBH drive faded a little bit off the fairway in that direction.

The tee pads are natural. The tee signs are just laminated pieces of paper mounted about 2 ft off the ground on short metal poles. They give the hole number and a straight line distance, as well as a "play distance" which is often slightly longer. A map of the hole or at least a rough line would be a nice addition to these. I played to the wrong basket on hole 6 because #8's is visible further down in an open area, and #6's is tucked in off to the right in the woods.

No trash cans or benches to be found at the tees either.

The navigational signage is nonexistent. You will need the map uploaded here, or some other navigational aid. A previous reviewer mentioned a mailbox next to the first tee with scorecards and maps in it. I think that may have still been present as of my visit, but I totally missed it.

With short holes, not much elevation change, and no water hazards, many better disc golfers are probably going to get bored.

After spending an afternoon at nearby Northend Riverside Park, I stopped here on my way back to Grand Rapids for a little encore round. After playing 36 lengthy holes at Northend, I enjoyed the shorter throws here.

This course is not a reason to visit the Big Rapids area, but if you are already in the area or passing through it may be worth a quick stop. I am up and down this stretch of US-131 pretty often, and can see myself stopping here again next time I am passing through and have an extra 30 minutes to spare.

Aesthetic-- plays around a small township hall, through the woods and around a baseball field. There are some areas where people could be walking (and the baseball field) but unlikely you will run into anyone else

Baskets-- New DisCatchers. Nice and visible in the thick woods.

Routing and Nav-- not great but not bad. It's pretty intuitive where the next tee is but as the tees aren't marked very well, it's somewhat challenging on #6 and #7 to know what is going on.

Tees-- Not marked for anything. A couple rocks maybe there to help to tell you where the tee is. #6 and #7 don't have rocks and thus are harder to know where to tee from and where you are throwing. #7 is impossible to see the basket from the tee so knowing where to throw is hard.

Variety-- heavily favors lefties and forehand players. Most holes finish right. The woods holes are SUPER tight and while short are challenging in that they are wicked tight.

Finishing over the baseball diamond-- not a fan. Not a fan of throws that ask you to follow a fence line to begin with

This course has potential and some very unique flavor. There is nowhere to go but up.