The Canyons is a 27-hole course that snakes through the woods, fields, hills, and canyons (of course) of Dellwood Park. This course might be familiar to folks who have watched coverage of the annual Clash of the Canyons tournament, which regularly attracts pros and has been a silver series event in the past. This course is widely regarded as one of if not the best in the Chicago area and Illinois as a whole and is certainly one you should add to your wish list to play.
Location of The Canyons is within Dellwood Par, which is on the southern side of Lockport along State St./Route 171. For the disc golf course, you'll actually want to turn on Dell Park Ave., a bit south of the main park entrance. There are signs to point you in the right direction from 171, and the parking lot will be at the end of the road. There are plenty of gas stations and restaurants nearby, as well as a pro shop on site with some drinks and snacks on site, including Dippin' Dots, the ice cream of the future since 1988. The pro shop on site, Dellwood Disc Golf, also has plenty of disc golf brands, even more than their site says. For those making a trip out of their visit, southwest Chicago has arguably the strongest collection of courses in the area, giving you plenty of options when deciding what courses to bag. The jail from the opening scene from the Blues Brothers is also just down the road, so if you're a fan, be sure to go get a photo!
Amenities are robust across Dellwood's 150 acres. Nice playgrounds shelters, a skatepark, ballfields, and an amphitheater are just some of the things this park provides in addition to disc golf. There are also bathrooms near the course as well as more trash cans, benches and tables than you could ever ask for.
Course Equipment might be better at The Canyons than any of the other 138 courses I have played to date. Each hole varies between one to three tee pads, with each being concrete and in fantastic shape. Each tee pad also has its own sign, showing which tee you're at, the distance and par, a nice graphic of the hole layout, and directions to the next tee. There's also some additional signage on 11 asking to respect neighbors' privacy, a nice touch for a course trying to maintain good relationships with nearby homeowners. Outside of that, there's enough directional signage throughout the course that I never had to check udisc for directions despite some longer or awkward routes between holes. The course has Mach X baskets and has numerous holes with multiple pins to choose from, a welcome discovery as I tried to figure out on hole 2 why they wouldn't have a way to show which pin was in use. Outside of that, there are also various infrastructure touches include multiple large staircases that make navigating this course very easy despite the elevation changes. There are also 3 practice baskets around the pro shop and parking lot, making it easy to avoid stepping on other people's toes when warming up.
Course Design at The Canyons is a delightful mix of wooded and park style holes, many of which use the Canyons and large hillsides around the Fraction Run Stream that shoots off the nearby Illinois and Michigan Canal. These features make for a nice mix of elevation changes as well as some beautiful scenic views from the tee pads that complement the great mix of fairway shapes you'll find here.
Elevation is the biggest aspect of the course design that comes to mind for me. Having one hole on a course that is a big downhill shot is a huge plus for me. The Canyons has four of these, with two from the blue tee, 4, 6D, and 16 all having significant drop-offs from the tee and make for very fun shots you'll want to empty your bag on. There are other holes like 3, 6b, and 10 that have more uphill fairways. A lot of the remaining holes play relatively flat but have plenty of slopes for roll-aways or tricky lies.
Shot-Shaping is a must for this course, as you'll need just about every shot in your bag whether you're laying 9, 18, or 27 holes for your round. Righty Backhands will have a fun time with left turning shots on the left pin of 2, the left pin of 6, the left pin of 10, and 15. This course had a surprising number of right turning shots as well, including 3, 5, the long tee of 7, 9, 16 (unless you're a thrill seeker, and 18 if you're playing the right pin. Outside of these holes, plenty of others will require particular lines for your best chance at a birdie or will require you to navigate guardian trees. The downhill shots will also test your skills of managing your discs flight if you're unfamiliar with such a shot, especially on 2 and 4 with the stream going along at least one side of each fairway.
Level of Openness/Obstacles also provides plenty of variety, as this course transitions nicely between more open park style holes and tighter wooded shots. The two loops around 6 and 8 provide some nice woods, along with 5, 6, 9, and the long pin on 13. Other holes 7, 8, 10, 11, 14, and 17 are much more open but still provide some variety in either fairway shape or distance. With the remaining holes falling somewhere in between, there's really something for everyone here.
Distances range from under 200 feet on holes 6B and the red tees on 14 and 15 to 678 feet from the blue tee of 17. Most of the holes play between 250 and 325 from the white tees and go into the 300s a bit more from the blues, with some 400 to 500-foot par 4s thrown in. Overall, the course is actually fairly birdie-able from a distance perspective, with most of the holes playing on the short side and shot shaping being where the fun and trickiness comes in.
Difficulty Level of The Canyons casts a wide net, with the red and white tees playing pretty forgiving for novice and intermediate players respectively, and the blues providing more challenge from either a distance or shot shape perspective. Pro-level players will likely score pretty low on this course, as evidenced by the Clash At The Canyons results, but from a rec to advanced player perspective, there are enough options with tee pads and pins to either find a combo that works best for your skill level, or to work your way up overtime.
Course Highlights include a few holes that immediately come to mind. Hole 4 is an absolute beautiful sight from the tee with the height along with the stream the runs along the right and rear of the fairway and green, and is an immensely fun hole to throw from whether you're playing it safe with a righty hyzer or running the basket. Hole 6D has a lot of similar attributes to hole 4. Hole 16 is an interesting one with tree protection at the green, extreme downhill elevation, and a short distance, requiring a touchy drive to not require a scramble for a par. Hole 17 is gorgeous with the canyon setting. Hole 18 is one of the more interesting and fun finishing holes I've ever played, throwing under a bridge and over the stream to the green. One of the best uses of in place park land and infrastructure I've ever seen on a disc golf course.
Setting/Aesthetic isn't something I typically make note of, but I will here. This is one of the most fun settings I have every thrown in. The Canyons, the stream, the older bridges around the course – it's one of the prettiest courses I have thrown at, especially the west half of the course. 17 and 18 are sublime and will have you question if you are actually in the Chicago suburbs.