Top notch, beautiful, all experience levels, challenging

None

Negaunee's disc golf course is exactly what one should be; challenging for all experience levels, well maintained, awesome visuals and hole layouts and can be completed within a reasonable time frame. Unlike the awful Al Qual course where only The Incredible Hulk could possibly make par, this course will keep the excitement amongst your friends and foes as you challenge one another on each hole.

Old Town DGC is located in Negaunee, MI which is a town about 10 miles west of Marquette in the Upper Peninsula.

The front nine holes of this course (now numbered A-I) are located on what is literally an abandoned mining town. Holes play near, and in some cases over, crumbled relics of the past. It feels kind of like you are playing disc golf in an outdoor museum exhibit. Most of these holes are quite short (holes B-H each measure between 150' and 200') but they are interesting. Hole E plays over a building foundation, and if you were to land within the foundation it is OB. Hole F plays down what looks like a terrace, with several large steps spaced out by 30'-40'. These holes are not completely devoid of challenge either. Trees have mostly taken back the land that once was covered by the buildings, so there are some obstacles to think about on each hole. The terrain is fairly hilly as well, affecting the effective distance on several of the holes. Several baskets are perched on the edge of slopes, so if you try for the ace and miss you may find yourself scrambling to save par.

If the short A-I holes are not your thing, there are now 18 additional holes of simply solid disc golf. There are fewer ruins on this part of the course, but much more disc golf challenge and a few more memorable holes mixed in. The distances here are much longer, with two holes above 400' and three more above 300'. The layout is mostly technical, with a mix of left-turning, right-turning, and straight fairways cut through the trees. A few of the longer holes are moderately open, offering the chance to tee off at full power without worrying too much about your disc being cut down by a tree right away. The terrain on this side of the course is still quite hilly.

Some highlight holes:
- Hole 2 (formerly #11) starts along the top of a narrow ridge with steep drop-offs and thick woods on both sides. Eventually it plays down the right side of the ridge to a basket dug into a small pit. The chains are at ground level for this one, which I thought was an interesting change of pace. It's a 330' hole overall.
- Hole 5 (new) has fairway that plays down into a rugged valley, then back up. From the tee pad it basically looks like you are throwing off a small cliff - and indeed, once I got down into the fairway I turned back and saw that there is a 4' high wall below the tee. The basket is "guarded" by another pit that used to be a building foundation. I hope they sign this as OB eventually! This one felt like the letter holes on "hard mode".
- Hole 8 (formerly #13) is only 210' but has a nasty little right turn in thick woods playing up and over a hill. The terrain slopes down sharply behind the basket, making for a great risk/reward opportunity.
- Hole 14 (formerly #17) is the longest one here at 485'. It's a long, sweeping right turn playing slightly downhill. The fairway is relatively wide, but the right side of it has another steep drop-off.
- Hole 18 (new) has you teeing off through a narrow gap with tree trunks that angle away from the fairway in both directions. It's almost as if some giant walked through the area and bent the trees out of the way to make a narrow line for discs to travel through. 300' later there is a steep uphill approach to a closely guarded hanging basket. This is a nice finishing hole.

As an added bonus, the letter holes and other eighteen holes each loop back near the parking lot. If you are a beginner or looking for ace runs, there is a really cool and approachable front nine waiting for you. If you are a serious disc golfer looking for challenge, you could easily just hit the "advanced eighteen".

The baskets are Chainstars, all in good shape. One per hole. There is a practice basket across the street from the parking lot, near the first letter hole tee. There is a picnic table and a kiosk near the practice basket, the latter of which has a large, color course map.

The tees are decent. The tee pads are arrays of patio pavers in wood frames. They are flat, but unfortunately some of them are not level (i.e. they are slanted upward or downward). The slant was pretty significant on a couple of the letter holes in particular - I don't remember any significant issues on the back eighteen. The tee signs have been upgraded in 2023! They now have a satellite map of the hole, along with the hole number/par/distance and an indication of where surrounding holes are.

There are benches and trash cans spaced out periodically throughout the course. There is also a "rest area" with picnic tables that you walk past twice on the "advanced 18". This is a nice spot to sit down and take in the woods around you.

There are a few Next Tee signs in the same style as the tee signs, but many more are needed - and the existing ones are also not yet updated with the new hole numbers which will add confusion if it is your first time here. Right away, finding the first letter tee is a little tricky. From the practice basket, you have to double back towards the kiosk then turn right at the picnic table and walk up the hill. I could also see adding a sign that points to hole 1 from the kiosk, so that experienced DG'ers who visit can skip directly to the trickier 18 holes. The flow is not awful, but confusing to navigate overall. If you use the map (or UDisc, I assume) it should be doable for you, but more arrows would go a long way here.

100% leveled teepads would be a nice improvement. It's a little bit comical how slanted these are on some of the letter holes.

Because it's located on the ruins, the footing in many places is uneven and there are trip hazards underfoot. Wear hiking boots or other closed-sole shoes with good grip, and step carefully. Stairs would be a nice improvement in a couple of spots too, and again do NOT try to climb down from hole 5's pad directly to the fairway.

A couple of holes play across RAMBA mountain biking paths. I did not encounter anyone using these paths, but throw carefully.

No porta potty.

Getting here is a little confusing, mostly because Google Maps doesn't recognize the narrow streets of the old town as actual streets. I updated the directions on the course info tab so hopefully future first-time visitors have it a little easier. As of this writing, on Google Maps itself the location of "Old Town Disc Golf Parking Area" is correct and the location of "Old Town Disc Golf Course" marks the approximate location of the first letter hole tee.

I would like to see the designers lean into the "old town" aesthetic a little more by adding some more plaques, props, etc. next to the fairways.

The Marquette area is becoming a nice mini-hub for disc golf, with four solid 18-hole courses plus a couple interesting 9-hole options within a 20 minute drive of downtown, and other solid 18+ hole courses within day trip distance. I recommend staying a few days and playing all of the courses, but if you only have time to play one round in the area Old Town gets my recommendation. Powder Mill and Al Quaal are a little tougher and Silver Creek is a little more family-friendly, but overall I think I enjoy this course the most. The letter holes are unique and have a high fun factor, whereas the advanced eighteen has really solid disc golf and some nice views.

If most of the Cons above were addressed, a 4.5 rating from me isn't out of the question. This course is a lot of fun, but the navigational signage definitely could use some work.

UPDATE October 2022/August 2023: Many updates to review above to reflect the addition of nine more holes, and subsequent renumbering. The renumbering of the original front nine to A-I makes a lot of sense. No change to my 4.0 rating, although I maintain that this course could be a 4.5 if it were perfectly dialed in.

I believe that when I visited last fall, I played a "beta" version of what is now hole 5 that was even more challenging. The basket was off to the left more and maybe another 100' further away across another foundation. I liked the old basket placement better. The new placement brings the thick rough off to the right side of the fairway more into play, but also makes the hole easier. Put it back there please! I enjoyed my punishment!

There are a few really nice holes. Hole 10 and 17 are among the best in the area, honestly.
The terrain is entirely unique being among the "ruins" of the old mining town. There are some really unique old structures and history there.
The setting is great, nice secluded and generally peaceful and quiet.
Course has been slowly expanding and now includes 21 holes. Plan is for 27 I think(?).

The cages/poles on the baskets are incorrect. It seems like the poles are drilled for the new "deep" cages, but the short cages are installed and therefore the top of the cage is too low beneath the bottom of the chains, making the opening too tall. Discraft should be contacted about this and send the new deeper cages, or send new poles, or give the club a discount to redrill the poles with new mounting holes for the cage.
Some of the tees seem like wasted effort. With all the work and effort into the framed paver style tee pads, some are still installed at steep angles or high above the surrounding grade which could lead to injury like a rolled ankle.
There are a few really bad holes that seem "choppy" and I just don't like the available flight path options: 3 & 11. IMO, it would be neat to play from pad 3 to pin 4, and the green area on hole 11 is great terrain but the throw off the tee is just something I can't accomplish. Maybe its just my skills.
Pretty sure, based on age, that the tiles on hole 5 are asbestos. Be cautious.

Playing here in the spring is an excellent time. It generally dries out quickly, and without so many leaves on the trees, the views of the holes open up tremendously.
I really wish this course had "bought into" the goals other groups have had for the region - that idea being to develop courses that promote newcomers and beginners with a solid set of beginner style tees, and a set of advanced/pro level tees that showcase really good holes, attract traveling players and increase tourism, and be used for high quality tournament play. Here you get one tee and one pin location, and the diversity of holes range from mega extreme (and odd) like the fairway shape of hole 11 without a reasonable flight path, to the chunky weird short hole 3.
I HIGHLY prefer two sets of tees on a course, as part of a goal to both let newcomers and beginners fully enjoy and not be frustrated with the course from short tees, and to let advanced players really air it out and fully challenge themselves on long tees. Short tees are a great simple addition to a "regularly" designed hole
The course is smack in the middle of a bunch of wonderful singletrack mountain bike trails from the RAMBA group.

Challenge - tight technical fairways through thick woods with usually one obvious opening force you to hit the line or suffer the consequences - the rough is thick...

Variety - up, down, left, right, and straight fairways are all here.

Beautiful teepads - long, wide, and made of beautiful brick

Sufficient teesigns with par and length, and general fairway direction

Very picturesque - as others have stated, the course plays on old foundations of Negaunee that have since been abandoned. It's really cool to see the old sidewalks, signs, and whatnot as you play through a forested dg course. One hole has an old concrete basement pit as OB right before the basket, which is both cool looking and a neat hazard. Another hole has the basket on the bottom of a run of flat concrete foundations that continually steps it's way down the hill.

Plenty of ace runs, as well as a few placement par 4's and challenging long par 3's.

Nice new Chainstar baskets.

Practice basket on site.

Difficult to find - the address listed doesn't really have a street sign, the street seems to be one of the old abandoned ones, and the course is off in the woods across a bike trail with just a small gap in the trees where you can see the welcome board for a split second if you are keeping a sharp eye for it. Very easy to drive by and not even know.

Flow - the front 9 and back 9 feel like completely different courses - the front 9 is almost all short ace runs in the 150-220' range, and the back 9 features mostly all longer par 3's and even some short par 4's. Would've felt less awkward overall if they mixed in some longer holes on the front and some more short holes on the back.

Teesigns - they're nice and provide length and par info, but a general direction arrow with no actual trees or obstacles on it for reference can make a couple holes confusing. They're good signs, but that vagueness can also make this a con.

A couple of the teepads are slanted a tad.

Navigation can be difficult in between a few holes (specifically between 17 and 18). I would advise taking a picture of the map on the welcome board.

Fresh, thick, and just not worn in yet - there are plenty of branches, bushes and leaves that could be taken out still to provide cleaner airways on some holes, and you can just tell the course is super new and a bit rough around the edges. I'm sure with time and local club work that it will get better, and it would probably be enough for me to possibly come back here and raise the rating a half disc.

Not many, if any garbage cans or benches.

Good to see another solid course put in in the area. This so far seems to be the tightest course out of the current three in the area, but it's hard to tell for sure because Marquette's courses are known (at least in my mind) for having some of the tightest tree lined fairways around. Definitely a great place to challenge you but also give you a fair chance at scoring low. Quite a unique setting with historic vibes, and an all around good time.

Aesthetic - Though you share the area with a mountain bike course, you will rarely run across another being out here. You are more likely to see people walking than bike riding. Front 9 (10) plays over the old foundations of Negaunee. It's a bit of a history lesson and a fun fun time to play through this old neighborhood. After a while the course jumps over to the "other side" after hole 11 and thing start to go downhill.

Teepads - OMG the nicest teepads (in theory). They used pavers with advertisers to make their teepads and they are BUILT UP in many places. On the downside, many are slanted front to back or side to side which is a bit distracting. Hoping that this course doesn't get a ton of play because some of the built up teepads look quite wonky and tenuous.

teesigns - eh, they're ok. Not overly descriptive but serve their purpose.

Baskets - discraft. Could be a bit more visible in the thick woods.

Remains - the first 11 holes do an absolutely amazing job of respecting and honoring the "old town" vibe. 12-18, not so much.

12-18 - leaving old town behind, these play mostly straight and long near an old quarry. Area is fenced off but it is seriously a cliff. These holes are not anywhere as technical as the first 11 and require more landing zone prowess than finesse. Some may find these more enticing. I was not impressed.

Baskets - could be more visible in the woods.

Amenities - this course needed more places to sit. It's a bit of a hike up to #12 and there is a rest area with two picnic tables (which was great). Garbage cans would also be welcome.

This course was sweet and a great start to our annual road trip. I wish I would have enjoyed 12-18 as much I did 1-11.

- The coolest part of Old Town was the fact that you are playing through an old town. I love history and it is oozing out of this place.
- The course has a great variety of hole types requiring left to right, right to left, straight, up, down, long and short throws.
- There are a lot of elevation changes - I can't remember if there were any completely flat holes, but there probably were.
- The teepads are made of small pavers and are level and grippy. One tee pad angles upwards, but I liked it and did not view it as a con.
- The tee signs are pretty basic, showing length and a suggested line of flight.

- There are no trail signs whatsoever. If I had not been playing with a person who was familiar with the course there is no way I would have been able to find a few of the tees, especially #18.
- Many of the teepads have a significant drop off on the front and sides. If you overstep the box when you throw you will be in big trouble.
- The 7 shortest holes all come in a row, holes 2-8. It would have been nice if these had been spread out.
- The walk from 18 basket to the parking area is really long.

When this course is 100% finished it will have a cool factor that other courses can only dream about. It plays through old foundations, sidewalks and assorted materials from a mining community that was abandoned over 75 years ago. Although the course was not completely finished it was a blast to play and will only get better as the rough gets cleared and the place gets worn in. The designer did a great job putting a course in a very non-typical location.

I am giving Old Town a 3.5 and will probably raise my score in the future once everything is finished and basic amenities are added.