Wakefield Marenisco School is located near the western end of Michigan's Upper Peninsula - right where the two main roads across the peninsula (US-2 and M-28) finally come together. The school has installed nine yellow banded DISCatchers all around the school grounds, allowing players to circumnavigate the school while throwing discs. The distances between the baskets probably range from about 250' to 400'. The baskets all look brand new.

Hmm, where to begin? I guess the first issue is that those 9 baskets and a cautionary sign "Disc Golf: Flying Discs" at the entrance to the parking lot is all there is. The tee pads are natural and unmarked, so I played this one basket to basket. There are no other course amenities. As of this writing, there is not even a UDisc layout. The baskets aren't numbered, so I actually don't know if I played the whole course forwards or backwards. My GUESS is that I did it as intended, by starting near the caution sign and throwing first along US-2, at the basket next to the school sign. The hole numbers referenced below assume that this is the correct direction to play in.

That brings me to the other major concern, which is the layout itself. In my usual form, I'll talk about the safety issues first. The basket that I assumed is #3 is literally on a playground. As in, if you want to try something different maybe hang off the monkey bars with one hand and see if you can sink a 10' putt with the other hand. That close. The main obstacles on this hole are the tall fence surrounding the playground area, and the playground equipment itself. Thankfully, the place was completely deserted for my visit on a Friday just before sunset. On the next hole, the basket is right in front of the fence and if your disc sails over the fence it will land on M-28. M-28 is arguably in play again on #6 and 7, and US-2 is arguably in play on that first hole. Holes 1, 2, and 6 also play near/across various school drives.

As mentioned above, there are some tall fences in play. The areas where baskets 3-5, and 7-9 are installed are enclosed in these fences. Fortunately, there are gates convenient to all four spots where you need to enter and exit. If any of these four gates were ever locked, it would have a huge impact on being able to reach all of the baskets. I did take the liberty of going around the fence before teeing off on both #6 and #7, versus actually teeing off from right next to the previous basket.

Other than the man-made obstacles mentioned so far and a few others, the entire course is essentially wide open and flat. Holes 7-9 play near/across a football field. Hole 6 is the only one that has a couple of natural obstacles to work around. You are playing across the back entrance loop of the school, but also around some pretty apple trees.

The playground fence has some signs for "Cardy's Cardio Circuit" where the school mascot encourages students to perform different cardio activities like jumping jacks, etc. I don't think that "dodge flying disc" was one of the signs though!

I just don't understand the thinking behind installing baskets in an arrangement like this. The course is basically unplayable for students due to safety issues, multi-use issues, and long-ish distances between the baskets. The only reason I'm giving a 0.5 is because if non-students visit when the place is deserted as I did, it's not a terrible place for field work and practice. Still, Norrie Park (less than 15 minutes away) offers a nice 9-hole course that I would play ten times over before stopping here again.