Any college which can proudly call their sports teams the Banana Slugs can certainly embrace disc golf on their campus. The course at UC Santa Cruz is set in the their physical education complex. This area with swimming pool, a very popular jogging track, soccer/lacrosse fields and open space offers panoramic views of Monterey Bay which are pretty spectacular.

I played on a beautiful January day and the jogging track was busy and the coeds near hole 1 were sitting out enjoying the sun. There were a couple others out on later holes that I had to throw around or skip the hole.

The course starts just past the softball field. The signs are the old school fiberglass ones. The tee pads are either natural or play off sidewalks. The baskets are a pretty blue DGA models with a number plate that says Santa Cruz Disc Golf. The signs list both a Pro and an Am distance but I was never able to locate the second tee pad.

The course is actually kind of bland. # 1 is just a simple 231' up the hill shot. # 2 is a basic, easy downhill hyser throw. I had to skip # 3 due to a couple studying right in the flight path. # 4 plays 300' or 438' over a small gully. 5 & 6 are both downhills. # 7 uphill and open. # 8 has you starting back towards to the start. # 9 then plays slightly downhill towards the East Remote parking lot. I chose to skip this hole as they were three deer happily munching on grass near the basket while countless students walked by. I didn't think it would be a popular move to skull a Bambi with my driver in front of 10 startled student witnesses.

One reason, I don't look forward to playing campus courses is because of the parking hassles. UC Santa Cruz is no different. I found a lot near the pool with metered parking which was reasonable.

Course lacks the wow factor. Kind of wide open.

Wind is certainly a possibility although it was calm when I played.

Natural pads are OK but not great.

Had to skip 2 of 9 holes due to coeds and Bambi's.

I think I remember that The Banana Slugs have a competitive disc golf team. I bet they leave this course to the student one disc wonders and get their serious practice in at DeLaveaga which is just three miles from here. Between the parking hassles here and the mediocre golf, I'd recommend skipping this course and concentrating your allotted disc golf time for the iconic DeLa. Dela has majestic views, too.

- not crowded at ALL, at least with other disc golfers. I was the only one using the course.
- varying hole lengths and elevations
- fairly open course - near impossible to lose a disc
- baskets are in good shape and are easy to find

- expensive and complicated to park
- not a circular course - you end really far away from where you begin
- no tee pads - just flattened dirt near each sign
- it says there are two tees for some holes, but only one is marked with a sign. and it doesn't tell you whether it's the "Am" tee or the "Pro" tee.
- there are lots of other people walking and running in the area, so you have to avoid them
- there are deer that hang out in the fairway of hole 9, so unless you're careful, you may hit a deer
- there is no sign for hole #2, so I just had to make my own tee area
- only one pin placement for each hole

I had never played this course before, so I was excited to try a new one. I went through a lot of effort to be able to play this course - finding where to park, figuring out how to pay, finding each hole. And once I was done, I didn't think the effort was worth the fun of playing the course. Especially since there are much better courses close by (though the other courses can be more crowded). Will I come back? Maybe. I'm not sure...

Baskets vs. 6x6 redwood posts of the past.

AM and PRO tee pad location for 7 of the 9 holes to make for 18 holes.

Never found tee pad/sign for hole #2. According to the course map, the tee pad is on the path at the corner of the community garden.

Tee pads are natural and other than the signs not very well marked.

$4.00 for two hour parking pass and $8.00 for a day pass.

Hole one starts at the north end of the sports field, east of the pool/workout facility. Hole 9 finishes at the parking lot to the south of the sports fields. For parking, either park at the hole 9 for a short walk back to the car, or park near the tennis courts with a short walk to hole 1 for a long walk back to the car from hole 9. If it were me, I would park in the south lot and take a warm up walk up the hill to hole 1.

9 holes, 7 of which have AM and Pro tee locations. Playing the Am tees followed by the Pro tees makes a nice 18 hole course. The holes may seem short in distance, but each hole is up hill or down hill. With no trees to block the wind, the wind definitely plays a factor. The views from this course are fantastic, you can see the ocean and Monterey bay.

Each hole has 1 tee sign listing both the Am and Pro distance to the basket. (I never did find the sign for hole number two.) Sometimes the tee sign is in the AM location and sometimes in the Pro location. The second tee for every hole was marked with red flags. A tee sign at each tee location would be nice.

There are little to no trees or bushes between the tee and basket on each hole. The "Challenge" was playing up or down hill and dealing with the wind. I played in the early morning. There was little wind most of the time, but each time I got near hole 7, gusts of wind would be strong enough to moved my shirt sleeves around. As a new player with a 744 PDGA rating, I found this course challenging, without punishing me too much for bad shots. If I lived closer to this course, I would play it often.