Durand, IL

Nick Saelens Memorial Park

3.55(based on 4 reviews)
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DeanMoriarty
Silver level trusted reviewer
Premium Member
Experience: 7.4 years 693 played 37 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Durand Creekside DGC

Reviewed: Played on:Nov 13, 2022 Played the course:once

Pros:

- Nice park that is maintained and the DG course is in it's own little area which is great. There is a walking trail that goes around part of the park but I didn't see too many people there in general when I played on a Sunday afternoon.

- The course now has nice, grippy cement teepads and looks like new signage which was very well done.

- Dual pins with short pins and long pins. I don't think both were in at the time I played and I believe the longs were in but wasn't paying enough attention.

- Layout is decent and flows nicely. I don't think I got lost a single time except after hole 6.

- Course has a good amount of water hazards including a creek in the front 9 and a pond in the back 9. Hole 12 you are throwing with the pond on your left and the creek on your right which the latter is hard to tell unless you walk up the fairway a bit. Hole 13 and 14 you are throwing over the pond which was extremely fun.

- Giant parking lot which would benefit tourneys being held here. Speaking of which, I would absolutely love to play one on this course.. and that's coming from someone who hates open park style courses like this.

- It seems like DG is not a huge thing up in this area as every single course I went to in this part of IL had nobody playing except myself. I'm sure they are a lot busier during the summer but still nice to not have to wait behind large groups of people.

- Disc return box located by teepad one. I like when DG courses have a safe place to return a found disc.

Cons:

- Not a whole lot of distance for such an open park style course. I believe 16 and 17 were the only chances you got to rip a disc more than 350 feet which to some might be a negative.

- Due to it being in the flat open part of Illinois, it is very possible for it to be extremely windy on certain days which isn't always fun when there's a lot of water hazards. The creek/river was moving pretty fast and I don't think a disc would be retrievable. The pond looked pretty nasty too but perhaps a disc would take a little longer to float to the bottom.

- Like others have said, it is a multi-use park so on really nice, warm days out I'm sure it could get extremely busy and you would have to skip a few holes if that was the case.

- I wasn't a fan of the layout for holes 7-10 where you're essentially just crisscrossing until you get to the pond holes 12-16.

Other Thoughts:

Overall, this course seems to have come a long way since it's initial few reviews. It now has cement teepads and way better signage. I wouldn't rate this one higher than any of the Anna Pages but I definitely liked this one better than Woodlands or Ingersoll Memorial.

If you happen to be in the Rockford area or in Beloit, I suggest coming and playing a round or two here. Seems like a good all-year round course and it's free which is always a great thing.
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7 1
perklc
Experience: 8 played 3 reviews
3.50 star(s)

Fun Park Course 2+ years drive by

Reviewed: Played on:Apr 21, 2019 Played the course:once

Pros:

This was a fun park style course with some very interesting challenges. The mando shot along the tennis courts is a nice early challenge in the round, the holes that play around the pond in the back are a fun challenge, and having water in play near some of the holes adds some level of difficulty.

Cons:

Some of the holes before the pond holes feel repetitive, but it's an open park with few trees, so there isn't much that could be done to help that.

It is a multi-use park, so I could see the course being difficult to play if there are a lot of people around. Also, the course plays around ball fields, so if there is activity on those fields, some of the holes should absolutely be avoided. I would recommend checking out the town's Facebook group before going to play.

Other Thoughts:

This is a really fun park course. The 3.5 rating is only because, while it is playable, it's not complete yet. Teepads still need to be poured along with tee signs need to be put up. The group seems to be working diligently to get these finishing touches going. Once those things are done, this course definitely moves up to at least a 4 star review!
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