It's Disc Golf in the South Hills... seriously, I think it's the only one unless you count the poorly rated course at CUP

This course is an easy 30 minute drive from downtown Pittsburgh, so it's one I end up playing often. I've come to appreciate the course for what it is - an intermediate level course. It's mostly birdie golf for better disc golfers but in a world of increasingly challenging courses, I'm all for that now and then, too.

The best parts of this course are the back 9. It's here that the course gets off the unused hillsides of the larger park and finds its' own place in the woods down below. 11 has changed a few times but is now a really fun birdie run off a parking lot down across a retention pond to a basket on far side. 13 is a nicely designed hole that needs a good hyzer flex drive then an uphill approach to a Par 4. 15 in a cool putter run down across a creek. I love the 18th Hole here. Some don't but I find it the best example here of placement golf and it's no easy par.

The course is in a nice community park that is well-used. If you catch it in the right summer season, there is a well-supplied refreshment stand at the park with plenty of food and drink. There are picnic shelters all over the place. You need reservation I'm sure but they are often unused. There is a real restroom onsite and plenty of parking.

The course has concrete tees on the front 9 only. From 10 on, it's a mixture of decent mats and carpet that's becoming part of the landscape. That doesn't help when this course gets muddy either. There are white and red tees here, no Blues yet.

If you're looking for elite disc golf, this isn't it, like I said most of the holes are in range of birdie for good golfers. The entire front 9 is mostly generic disc golf. 2 is a putter shot uphill. 3 is a mando that could almost be jump putt. The next 3 holes play just generic field shots with some brush on your left.

The design could have been done better here. There are a lot of holes crammed into that front 9. You walk forever from 6 to 7 just to set up an uphill birdie run, then backtrack the same path to get back to 8 that throws down onto 5th fairway. You finish 18 fairly far downhill from your car, so possibly the biggest elevation walk of the entire course is that long walk from 18 basket to your car.

It's never going to be a championship course, but it looks a lot better than it did two years ago. A lot of work has gone in here and it shows. You can show up here almost any time and get most of the course to yourself. Not a bad alternative to Knob or Schenley for a morning.

Sure some of the holes are more exciting than others, but there isn't a bad hole other than maybe #7.
Each 9 returns to the parking lot so you're never very far from your car.
The course gets harder as you go, but without crushing your will to live. In fact, it gets more exciting.
Most holes have multiple ways to play them.
It's unlikely you'll lose a disc unless you are way way off line.

The front 9 might not be as glamorous as the back
The grass where the gas pipeline is located is not maintained nearly as well as the rest of the park, which affects numerous holes, mostly on the front. You'll need to keep a close watch.
To get close to a couple of the baskets, you pretty much have to throw it down a walking path which can be both busy and blind from the tee.
#15 could be a great short hole, a little downhill par 3 to what basically is an island green in the woods, but there are far too many trees in the way. Your path to the island is barely wider than a disc.
The back 9 mostly doesn't have cement tee pads. Carpets on dirt instead, but they're actually pretty good.
Front 9 can be a bit swampy
#7 is an OK enough hole, but it's a pretty big distance away from 6 green and 8 tee. If this course was 17 holes, and you skipped 7, you wouldn't be missing much other than 2 long walks and a wide open, uphill par 3. The walk from 7 to 8 is kind of pretty though. The walk from 6 to 7 is not.

I enjoyed this course. It has some steep hills, none more demoralizing than the hill from #18 basket up to the parking lot. This is a great course for beginners because there is some room, and there's time to warm up a bit on the first 10 holes, before the real drama starts on #11. #11 to #18 have more trees but for the most part aren't wooded. You're still on maintained grass almost the whole time. #13 normally is an uphill par 4 but was closed and a temporary par 3 used instead which was still a good hole, but the par 4 looks better. The course ends on a perplexing par 4 that takes a few times playing to find the lines. You might want to go for the gap in the woods, but if you don't make it, you're looking at a quick bogey. Probably better to lay up for position short of the woods, then fire one down the gap.
I think this course would be better if it finished on #11 though. When you finish #18, you walk through #11 to get to your car. It'd be better to skip #11 and play that as the last hole, that way you're not walking through other holes when you finish. And going from 10 green to 12 tee would be much easier than going from 10 green to 11 tee which is lot farther away. #11 is a dramatic hole too, a 315 foot downhill throw over a retention pond to a basket perched on the brink of a hill. A very fun hole to finish on.

Update! They have cleared out a few trees on both 15 and 18 since I was here last and both are now superb holes. 15 is a fabulous 200 foot hole to a peninsula with 2 clear lines . They aren't wide but it's not a hopeless plinko shot anymore. 18 has also been cleared out and widened. They are the 2 best holes now. The front 9 is better mowed than it used to be.

The main problem with the course remains the front 9 which is really about 5 good holes broken up to create 9 so-so holes, one of which is a long ways away from the rest. I'd keep number 1, 8 and 9 , eliminate 2 and 7, and combine 3/4 and 5/6 into par 4 holes. If you want an 18 hole routing, play the 5 hole loop and then play it again, skipping one of the holes (probably 3/4).

Or just play #1 and the back 9 twice. That's 20 holes of really fun golf.

The tee situation is still the same, the front 9 has all cement pads and the back 9 is mostly carpet on dirt. But the carpets worked fine.

This is a very nice course with only a moderate level of difficulty that makes it quite enjoyable for many different levels of player. For the more advanced player, there are a number of holes where you will feel like birdie should be a real opportunity, whereas for intermediate players, a bad drive won't kill your par. Also, it is quite clear that work is continuing on this park, so I expect that the course will continue to improve over time.

I would say the course presents a real nice variety of shots both to make and to practice with, really letting you break out a lot of the discs in the bag. There are a fair mix of short and long holes, and a fair mix of shapes that overall presented a nice balance. Additionally, because of the courses location on top of a hill, wind can be a factor too. I see this as a positive because wind play is a common part of midwest disc golf, but we tend not to see it as often here. This courses gives you that practice, along with the opportunity to practice many shots.

A great player could be quite a bit under par at the end of a round here, which is always good for the ego too

Some of these have been mentioned before and I understand the park was a bit tentative in helping the designers so these are likely out of the hands of those who built the course.

1) The front nine concrete tees are shorter than most. I do not have a larger run-up, but if you do you will notice it more.

2) The back nine tees are not concrete yet, except for 18. This presents a challenge on a couple of holes where the tee-boxes are carved into spaces that barely fit them.

3) The course is a muddy one. Not a real problem until you hit those muddy hill sides. Some creative work with some pavers would go a long way here.

Overall I really enjoyed this course. I have been waiting for four years to finally go here, and now that I have gone, I will be looking forward to returning to see the improvements. Great work!

Technical course with lots of challenging yet rewarding shots. Lots of rolling slopes that make it challenging. Great facilities and beautiful park location. Overall its a very fun course to play. This course has a lot of character!

Several of the holes you cannot see the basket from the tee. I guess you get used to this after a while. The tee pads on the back 9 are not yet in, which will help some of the poor footing now once they are in.

Definitely a course that you need to play. I look forward to going back!

The course is set in a nice community park with playgrounds, baseball fields, an pavilions. There are many amenities for non-disc golfers, and a pretty nice course for the disc golfers. The course flows nicely with #1 starting near the parking lot of the McClelland Pavilion, and #9 finishes up near the same lot. The course is laid out nicely with short walks between holes, and a nice flow from one hole to the next. Each hole has two sets of concrete tee pads and nice bright yellow Innova baskets.

Hole#1 is a 320-foot par 3 looping from left to right along a hillside on the right. For right hand backhand throwers this is a tough anhyzer throw, or time to break out the forehand. This is a nice open starter hole with the distance bordering a long par 3 or a short par 4. I'm actually thinking this should be a par 4.

Hole#2 is a 240-foot par 3 uphill through a thin wooded fairway, running right to left with the basket in-between two guardian trees.

Hole#3 is across the walking path from hole #2 basket. Hole 3 is a short downhill 260-foot par 3 with a mandatory tree near the walking path, which you must go around the left side of. This makes right hand backhand throwers switch to the forehand throw. I wasn't so sure about this hole the first time I played it, but the mandatory tree is growing on me.

Hole #4 is straight across the gas line through the thin woods a 263-foot par 3.

Hole #5 is a 270-foot par 3 running straight across a field. There is a narrow window from the tee pad and a bush about half way down the fairway, which will play havoc for right-handed throwers. The basket has a few guardian trees, which give the hole some character. You want to try and stay on the right side of the fairway, as it's pretty rough on the left.

Hole#6 is a short 190-foot par 3 with a ton of character. The tee pad sits between in-between bushes, and the fairway has several trees, which may impede your discs flight. Three fourths of the way down the fairway is a small ravine with the basket perched low to the ground on the other side. If you manage a perfect throw this hole offers hole in one potential. Many comment, including myself that this is there favorite hole on the front nine.

Hole#7 is a nice follow up to #6 it is another short 215-foot par 3 with character. It plays over a small ravine with several small trees in the fairway making you throw a good shot off the tee. The basket sits out in the open on a steep incline, be careful you don't miss, as you will learn the term roll away.

Hole#8 starts your way back to the start of the course. This is an open 285-foot par 3 with a hill running along the left side of the fairway. The basket sits on a nice open peninsula just down from the gazebo.

Hole#9 is another favorite on the course. It starts along the walking path and is a wide-open 515-foot par 4 the first on the course, even though I think #1 should probably be a par 4. This is a great opportunity to take out your favorite driver and see how far you can throw. The basket is at the end of the well-manicured field near the parking lot and hole #1 completing the front 9-loop.

The front 9 holes are relatively short, most under 300-foot with two tee pads per hole, but only one pin placement. It would be nice to see multiple pin placements some day, but I would rather see the back 9 finished first.



I got the chance to play the back 9 with the baskets in place and markings where the concrete tee pads will be in the future. The back 9 will be set up with the same format of the front 9 with two tees and one pin placement per hole.

Hole#10 is across the walking path from #9 just up the hill from #3 tee pad. This is a short transition hole, and as it is set up needs something, as it would make a good par 2. It would be nice to see something done with the basket, maybe something like hay bails or railroad tie tiers.

Hole#11 plays downhill across the pipeline. It's kind of short but the elevation change adds to the character. I threw a 2 on the hole as the drive bounced off a stack of trees at the bottom of the hill.

Hole#12 plays out of the woods across a creek and up a hill to a basket on a plateau. I really like the layout of this hole, but it looks like the fairway could use some work. My drive ended up in some thick bushes killing my score on this hole. The basket is on a plateau, and if you overthrow it you will have memories of hole#7 but this drop off is even steeper, which makes this a very challenging hole.

Hole#13 tee pad is a rock formation on the side of a pretty steep hill, with the basket hidden at the base of the hill around a bend. Talk about a hole with character, this one plays down a steep hill, and the basket is built up on a rock formation, something that would be good for hole #10. The only problem with this hole is the route down requires some mountain goat skills, or a good rolling technique.

Hole#14 plays into the woods #12 played out of, and it is a gem playing over a wooded ravine with a creek at the bottom. The hole is around 300-foot and has different elevation changes through thin trees. I feel it will become one of the favorite holes on the course.

Hole#15 plays out the other side of the woods with the basket in the open. There's nothing too exciting about 15 &16. I'm wondering if more will be in the works here.

Hole # 16 plays uphill and is fairly wide open, too exciting about this hole other than the elevation change it's pretty vanilla.

Hole#17 is open and long one of the longest on the course, and another great chance to air out your favorite driver. The tee pad is next to a drainage pond and the fairway is a sloping rolling hill with the basket at the bottom in the fringe of the woods. I really liked the design of this hole, and it is sure to be another favorite.

Hole#18 I believe this is going to be the signature hole for the course, but I'm not sure if I'm crazy about it. To get to the long tee pad you need to go up the steep hill to the tee pad along the road. From the long tee pad you feel like you're going to throw over the road as it winds in front of you to the parking lot. It's inevitable that you'll end up at the bottom of the hill with another trek down the steep hill, no fun. It was windy when I threw from the long tee, and I watched my disc bounce up and down, as I wondered if I would ever see it again.
On contrast I really like the placement of the short tee, which is just up from the #17 basket, no hill to climb. I feel it would be nice if the long tee was at the same elevation as the short tee, but further back closer to #17 basket. From the short tee the wind didn't have the same impact on the disc as the hillside blocked most of it. Maybe have 3 tee pads on this hole with the one at the top of the hill being an extreme tee. The basket sits on the other side of a dried up pond, which has OB at the middle of it. You have to be extremely careful not to overthrow the basket as it sits on the edge of the gas line hill. I overthrew the basket and my disc rolled 50-feet into the middle of elevens fairway.
Playing from the long tee along the road this hole was one of the toughest holes I've ever played, along the lines of #18 on the black course in Moundsville.

The designer did a great job on the entire course. Now that the front 9 is complete, and you can play the back 9 to get a feel of how it will be. I'm excited to see the continued growth of what is becoming a great course.

The course will never be the size of Moraine or Deer Lakes because of limited land in the park, but with the back nine it has potential to be a fine course in the south hills of Pittsburgh.