This is one of those courses that had holes added to existing ones. So it's not really a redesign, just an add on. It used to be 12 holes apparently. It is currently 18. And my lord is this one a thing of beauty now.

Let's start with the tee pads. Two sets of concrete tees on all 18 holes. These are all well done. Brushed, level, grippy. Check,check, check. These aren't your standard alternate tees either. There's a good bit of difference between the two sets. Some holes the the short pad is just fifty feet closer, on others it's 100 feet closer but way off to the right. Well designed, well thought out.

The tee signs are fantastic. At least from the longs. They have all applicable info on them. Hole map showing any OB or hazard areas (usually marsh areas), par, distance and hole number. Couldn't ask for anything more. The shorts I didn't get the best look at, but seemed more basic.

The baskets are Mach III's it looked like. These are either really new or just some of the most durable models I've ever seen. All are in excelllent shape and catch great. Not sure about pin positions, but I'd assume only one.

The course is free to play and looks to be taken care of tremendously. Beautiful park and surrounding area. Scenic views of the lake on numerous holes.

Shot shaping. I haven't played a course that's had this amount of different shot shapes required in a bit. Very well balanced design. I'm talking top tier stuff here. The mix of wooded, open, left turning, tight tunnel, right turning...you get the gist. This course has it all.

The flow of the course is very easy to follow. The design here is top notch. You'd have a hard time getting lost or even turned around at this course. Next tee signs abound everywhere you would need them. And they're present even when it's not needed.

The elevation here was a pleasant surprise. There's not really a dead flat hole to be found. Almost every hole, if not every hole, has some kind of elevation deviation. Some just down, some up, but many that have some of both. This forms some truly unique shots that require going for it and executing perfectly or playing for the intended landing area and getting the par. Risk/reward. Good stuff here.

There's a great mix of distances required too. The majority play in the typical 250 to 400 range but there's some sneaky par 4's that will eat you alive if you get greedy. And there's a 295' tunnel shot that'll eat your lunch if you get greedy. I got greedy. Took a 7. This is a pro. Just not for my scorecard today.

The course doesn't start right by the parking lot. And it ends even further away from the lot.

If you don't like water carries, well, not so much carries. There are some water carries but it's more hitting a landing area or landing in a marsh kind of deal. There's a ton of water in play. Unless there isn't. Depends on the time of year. The course plays very much in a marsh.

So speaking of marshiness. It would seem that this course may be borderline unplayable at certain times due to flooding/water retention issues. Worth noting. And being set in a marsh, I can only imagine that the bugs can get horrendous out here, even by MN standards.

I've played a fair amount of courses in the twin cities area. This one is a must play. There are a handful of better courses but not that many. It's all personal preferance, but In my opinion you'd be hard pressed to beat this course.

It's a bit north of the twin cities proper, but that gives it a bit of it's charm. It's got more of a northwoodsy vibe than some of the more metro gems do. I've played a lot of excellent MN courses, but this one instantly just jumped to the top of them. Personal preferances and all, I'd probably play this one over BRP or VQ. This is a 4 rated course all day, every day. Probably closer to 4.25. It's that damn good.

Is it a must play? Yeah, it kinda, sorta really is. I would go a considerable distance out of my way to play this one. And to make things better. It's not even that far from the 2 top rated courses in MN.

Cement Tee Pads.
Nice Baskets-Mach 3-Still with the new "stiffness" however.
Great navigation signs throughout.
Course map and scorecard @ beginning.
Practice Basket.
Funny names for holes.
A few Picnic Tables throughout.
Dual teepads on most holes.

No garbage cans to be seen.

To be honest, even though I have played miggidy-Mackey designed courses I didn't expect much here. I fumbled around these two new courses on dgcoursereview on Friday morning, and as a Cambridge native, I scrambled back to play them this morning. My dad joined me-he lives in the area and at 62 years of age has only played a few (5 or so) rounds in his life. After we played here and the Isanti Middle School, even he agreed that this was a much better, and much funner course to play.

We had a good time from the start. The parking lot has enough size to support 30-40 cars or so-and it seems like this 211 acre park is mostly used for the walking trails. Walk towards the Red sign, take the fork to the left, and about 75 feet away you will find the Disc Golf Course sign. Either snap a picture of the map-or grab a scorecard to keep track of where you are. Navigation was pretty easy throughout, there are signs pointing you in the right direction. There is a spot or two (between 4/5 and 8/9) where you do travel a bit between holes so be prepared for that. In fact, there is a chance that the course is expanded to 18 holes in the future, so take care of it so we can have nicer things.

Hole 1
A tight shot over a dry creek and back up the opposite side to a basket that sits on the edge of the woods. Pretty straightforward if you hit the gap. IF.

Hole 2
A pretty wide open hole that opens up from L to R towards the basket. Slightly downhill.

Hole 3
Another pretty open hole-hyzer friendly for both. The grass on the right (as well as on hole 2) can get a bit thick-I could see some discs becoming lost here. Keep an eye on your shot and keep your disc in the fairway.

Hole 4
A short (200 feet) walk to this teepad and you're shooting back towards Johnny's Lake. Slightly downhill, wide open, the first short hole-and best chance of the first four to birdie. The basket looks to sit close to the lake-but it's about 30-50 feet short of it if you care to run it.

Hole 5
A bit longer walk (300 feet?) through the woods and you come up to 5's teepad. A scorecard described par 5-which is at 500 feet-is almost a true par 4. Most pros would take a 3-but a 4 is a pretty solid score here. This is the first hole on the course that excited me-as you throw through a group of trees, into a small opening, and back up the hill on the opposite side with a shot that breaks right. Fun.

Hole 6
ACE RUN! 200 feet over a depression (swamp? wetland?) and straight away. There is a tree front right of the basket that may block your shot.

Hole 7
Another hole that I had to take a few looks at-just a cool, fun hole. If you play from the long teepad, take a second to walk towards the short to see where the basket is-I would have played my shot differently. The sign shows the basket straight ahead, so I played much more to the left (my shot flew straight) and the basket was a bit more to the right than I anticipated. A bit of length here also, just a fun hole with some accurately placed trees (thanks God!) to make it interesting.

Hole 8
Wide open again, across a shallow valley. Not too much in your way, some longer prairie grass here again. A bit more distance than a typical ace run hole.

Hole 9
Mini Blue Ribbon #4-with a left break at the end. One teepad.

Hole 10
This is where I knew this course was legit. The rest of the course was fun, with a few exciting holes, a few ace runs, etc., but this 600 footer, even though it was a straight shot, showed me that Isanti County was all in for disc golf. Down and back up, with some grass on the right, trees on the left, and a birch in front of the basket make you plan out your shots.

Hole 11
Another fun Ace Run! 155, for me a standstill and throw-across some damp (swampy? wetland?) land. One teepad.

Hole 12
Wide open, kind of a top of the hill shot (but not really) back towards the teepad for hole 2. This basket was bent-maybe it was defective/damaged/or a deer was excited. I hope it wasn't the "V" word that rhymes with candlekism.

Like I said, I didn't expect much and I was very pleasantly surprised. After this course my pops and I played the Isanti Middle School course and this was by FAR the better, more challenging, more well groomed course of the two. I snickered when I read that Mackey suggested that this course could hold a tournament but it's the truth! I also heard they may expand to 18-so let's take care of it. A great course reminiscent of Millstream for multiple lines, pretty wide open shots, slight elevation changes and some wetland areas make for a course worth traveling to. I'd rather group this course w/ Riebbe in Princeton than Isanti, but this has to be East Central Minnesota's premier course at the moment (not including Ray's). After returning home, I already look forward to the next time I get to play here.