Raytown, MO

Minor Smith / Southwood

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2.755(based on 6 reviews)
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Minor Smith / Southwood reviews

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Pevio
Gold level trusted reviewer
Experience: 12 years 189 played 120 reviews
1.50 star(s)

The two shall become one course 2+ years

Reviewed: Updated: Played on:May 23, 2021 Played the course:2-4 times

Pros:

This course features a variety of shot shapes, elevation, and choices between multiple lines. There are uphill holes, downhill holes, sometimes trouble to either side of the fairway, and several low ceilings. The tee signs are easy to find, and while the tees are natural, I didn't miss a better surface.

The three par 4's are all pretty fun. While they are certainly on the easy side to be labeled par 4 especially holes 4 and 9, they are some of the better holes on the course.

Even with little room to work with, this course manages to get some decent length into several holes. In addition to the par 4's hole 8 is also decently long and will take a powerful shot to get there in one. If you play sidewalks OB, they add a pretty decent challenge to hole 5, which has the path on the right and the creek and treeline on the left, and still offers left-to-right and right-to-left holes.

Cons:

The course is split between two parks. If they were directly across the street from each other, I wouldn't care. But it's around a two-thirds mile to walk or drive, and it involves crossing a rather busy four-lane road. I fail to see how this can legitimately be labeled as one single course, not two courses that both have fewer than nine holes and happen to be near each other.

Safety is abysmal. Every single hole, except hole 3, plays near or over walking/biking paths, basketball and tennis courts, playgrounds, backyards, and even over the road into Southwood Park. If it was once or twice, I would understand. But constantly, you must be watching to see if anyone is near, and quite often, you won't be able to tell and will just be throwing and hoping no one is near.
The worst is hole 4, which plays over - yes, I mean over, a basketball court. The tee is elevated so it doesn't take a powerful shot to get over, but even the light poles get in the way. In my opinion, even just one person on the court would make that hole unplayable. It's possibly the worst DG hole I've ever played. There is a sign saying the court is not for public use, but the basketball hoops are still there.
The point is, whoever designed this course seemed to have no regard for the inevitable clashes of Disc Golf and everything else, and assumed that everyone will perfectly be on the lookout for each other; this is clearly not the case, and the design of the course is just a disaster waiting to happen.

Other Thoughts:

There was certainly room to make nine okay holes between these two parks and, for the most part, avoid the other park functions. The hillside of hole nine could have been used more, as well as the hilltop around hole 3. Sure they would have been shorter holes and not as exciting, but when a course introduces so many safety concerns, there's really no excuse. Are there few enough non-discers that it's mostly not a problem? I don't know, but whichever is the case, significant parts of both parks (either paths, or the course itself) need to be taken out to make sure the Disc Golfers stay away from everyone else, and vise-versa.

But, it is true that this course has some decent holes and isn't a bad one to come play if you have a little extra time and you know there won't be many others. If you only make one of the two halves, you won't be missing much - I would recommend Southwood above Minor Smith, even though it only has four holes.

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