Now with MORE danger
10 Helpful / 0 Not
Pros: -Located in a nice large city park
-Layout utilizes terrain well
-Nice signs with alternate pins listed
-Mostly good tee pads, good size, most are flat
-Good challenge for a city park
-Facilities on site, multiple benches
Cons: -Park features have been added in the middle of fairways 8 and 9 (Zip line feature on #8 and sand volleyball and basketball on #9)
-Walking path comes into play on most holes
-Busy park, have to keep an eye for others
Other Thoughts: Evans Park is located in the SW part of Adel, IA. A large city park, the disc golf course appears to have been a project by the local Rotary Club. The layout makes good use of the moderate elevation, plays over a small stream (#1, 2 and 4) and over/near a small marshy area (#6 and 7). While the original layout appears to have been decent, it appears later additions to the park have created some dangerous conditions. This was the second time I had played this course and remembered the basketball court in the throwing lane for #9. I had not remembered the sand volleyball court, just off the basketball court and in play especially for RHFH players. Also new was a "zip line" contraption (which spelled accidents ready to happen / lawsuits to this old fuddy duddy) taking up a large chunk of the #8 fairway. I'm all for mixed use parks, but these make it near impossible to play those last 2 baskets with safety in mind. A redesign of the last 2-4 holes may be necessary for safety among the others in this park. There is also a busy walking trail that could be in play on #1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 and 9 with some of these a throw right over the path. Visibility is good, you can avoid, but this adds to the potential for danger. Without the hazards, this would be a solid 3 to 3.5 course. It is a shame that this will be a dangerous course to play and I will probably not play it again.
10 of 10 people found this review helpful.
Fun, with distance variety
4 Helpful / 0 Not
Pros: - Nice location for a course, that uses quite a bit of the park.
- Basic tee signs, concrete pads, and good DISCatcher baskets.
- Two pin placements for all holes. It's unclear how often they're moved, but it's a nice option.
- I was surprised by the amount of elevation on the course! The design uses it well.
- Also a surprising amount of length available on this course. Some typical ace runs, but also some 400 and 500 ft options. You don't see that on most 9-hole community park courses.
- Good use of water hazards on the course as well. In general, though, you won't be penalized by an OB stroke or lost disc, but instead be penalized by your time looking for your disc in all of the tall grass and cattails that make up the wetland areas.
- #4 and #8 are parallel bomber holes - one uphill and one downhill. Great use of the wide open space. A few well-placed trees would enhance the difficulty just a little bit, but they're still fun to have on a 9-hole.
- #7 is a great looking hole that drives across a wetland of sorts, to a tree-protected basket. Just 271 feet, but if you elect to avoid the wetland, there are longer options to go out and around.
Cons: - Tee pads are solid, but many slant uphill and downhill, which is a little undesirable.
- While there's a variety in hole design, there's not a lot of forced variety in drive type. Just about any type of drive can get you through the hole course. Great for a smaller recreation course with beginners, but certainly results in a plateau of sorts for challenging intermediate players.
- Some baskets were installed a little low in the ground, and #6 probably was hit by a mower, and was no longer near plum.
- Some fairways overlap, but pretty minimal. Wayward shots and drives can end up in other fairways and near other tee boxes. #1 and #2 pins must obviously never both be in their 'A' pin positions at the same time, as they would probably be 50 ft apart.
- Walking/biking paths come into play throughout the course, but sight lines are always available to see oncoming pedestrians.
- Somebody at the city or parks department thought the park absolutely needed a basketball court, and that the only place for it was right in the middle of #9's fairway. At least, that's what it looks like. If not, then shame on the course designers for designing #9 to drive over it. An inexcusable safety hazard, really.
Other Thoughts: - If I lived in Adel, I would be very pleased to have a 9-hole course of this caliber just around the corner.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.
Nice 9 with a horrible ending.
3 Helpful / 0 Not
Pros: a good started course for groups of mixed level players. It is easy enough for new players while still fun for intermediates.
Course is in a nice neighborhood. There is a playground on site, very nice houses to look at while you play, clean maintained bathrooms, and well maintained grounds.
This is probably the best course without driving more than 30 minutes. I rated Waukee slightly higher.
Hole #7 has a "water hazard" which is just a soupy marsh that you can retrieve your disc from, but try hard to avoid. It is less than 200 feet across.
Cons: This course is a lot of birdie runs, expect a lot of easy 2's and 3's even for beginner players.
Hole 1 starts too close to the playground.
Broken foot bridge on hole 4 is a safety hazard.
The flow is interesting. not necessarily bad, but the course has a paperclip shape where there is an outer arch then an inner arch that plays the opposite direction.
Hole 9 was the worst ending to a cute little course ever. You are forced to throw directly over the basketball courts. The volleyball court and walking path are in play as well. Major safety hazard. It is probably in my top 25 worst designed holes ever played
Other Thoughts: Playing this course is like eating a bowl of soup from a roadside diner. You know going in that the portion is smaller than normal, and you do not expect greatness. You eat your soup and some bites are very flavorful and remind you of the soup you wish you were eating. You are very satisfied with this soup until the final spoonful and you find the fake finger nail of the waitress ruining your last bite of mediocre soup.
This area of Iowa has a lot of weak courses, so this unfortunately is one of your best options, however if I were not staying nearby, I would not travel to this course. EVEN if the plan was to hit other nearby courses.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.
Great Fun!
1 Helpful / 1 Not
Pros: Great 9 hole course with a variety of terrain. We're a family of 4 and we just discovered disc golfing. We've gone 2x in the last week, playing 27 holes so far.
We enjoy the nicely laid out course, well marked baskets and the fact that as beginners, we might even get in a birdie or two if we have a good shot.
Nice path around the park, and generally, you aren't contending with other park activities. We drive the 15 mins from Urbandale to go to this park over the Saylorville one as we find that difficult given that we're new to the sport.
It has new tee/hole markers (different from the photos). We can play all 9 holes in about 35-45 mins.
The creek offers some 'danger' for us, but we aren't worried about losing a disc either.
We really enjoy this course!
Cons: Honestly, it'll be our go-to course for a long time. We enjoy it that much.
We did notice that the Par's have changed from the photo's. Hole 4 is now a par 4, Hole 5 is a Par 2 and Hole 8 is a Par 4 now as well.
Other Thoughts: Good, fun and challenging for beginners and its an easy drive from the west side over to Adel. We'll be back!
1 of 2 people found this review helpful.
Hilly City Park
4 Helpful / 1 Not
Pros: -Lots of elevation here. Some holes shoot up, down, or across the hill in various ways.
-Two pin locations per hole. Not sure how often they are moved.
-Nice signage
-Bathroom, shelter, playground at park with an adequate parking lot
-Clean, well mowed and maintained. A few trash cans on this course.
-Not too many chances to lose a disc although there are a few places where one would hide.
-Groups of trees make you shape your shots a few times. It is somewhat challenging on a few holes.
-I think that this course would be a good challenge but not too hard for beginners and it would be easy but still interesting for more advanced players.
-It doesn't seem like this course would ever be too busy.
-You can whip right threw this course unless you lose a disc.
-Baskets are in good shape.
Cons: -The flow isn't the greatest and it was kind of hard to find the next tee once but it isn't that bad and if you play more than once it will be very easy the second time around.
-Some of the signage is off. One of the holes told me that I threw about 400+ uphill.
-The last hole shoots almost too close to the shelter. A walking path is in range of the disc golf course. You probably won't hit it tho.
-Some of the holes are fairly open and the only obstacle is the elevation.
-Most of the park is bordered by backyards which is just kind of awkward in my opinion. I guess it did kind of give it that country club feel.
Other Thoughts: This course was a fun little one and it is a few trees away from being one of my favorite 9s. It is a good, average level of challenge and has a high fun factor. There aren't too many annoyances here but nothing to get super excited about either. I would stop and play here. It is the best course in this small group of towns west of Des Moines. Some courses in Des Moines are better, of course.
4 of 5 people found this review helpful.
Great all-around course
2 Helpful / 0 Not
Pros: -Well designed course with going through all different types of terrain.
-Baskets are in great condition
-Tee pads are nice and long for extra run up
-Signs are great. Tells you where the hole is and how far. Also tells you exactly where the next tee box is
-Well maintained fairways and great open area.
-Many obstacles so you can work on different parts of your game
-Not very busy
-More of a disc golf course then a park, so your don't have to worry about hitting other people or cars
Cons: -On hole 5 it is a little close to the timber so if you over shoot the hole you are searching for a while (makes a good difficult shot though.
-The "creek" has no water in it but all weeds so you are constantly searching for your discs in there.
Other Thoughts: One of my favorite courses I have been at because it works on many aspects of your game and helps you learn how to place your shots. Really suggest this course to everyone because it is a great course for only 9 holes.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.
An Enjoyable Niner
4 Helpful / 0 Not
Pros: Can be played quickly. We're talking 45 minutes at a leisurely pace.
Movable pins (which hopefully won't be stolen)
Most holes present a birdie chance for good throws, which from hole to hole require different skills (long throws, accurate hyzers/anhyzers, picking the right line, etc.)
The course is pretty clean as there are trash cans on most holes.
The course is easily navigated.
There are restrooms on site.
Well mowed and taken care of.
Everybody I have run into in the park (both players and other visitors) have been friendly.
Its pretty challenging to loose track of a wild throw. You can reach out for throws that you might not normally chance. It also lets you work on throws you don't have as much practice with in actual situations.
Cons: The holes are a little short for my liking in the short placements.
Poor throws aren't punished if you don't play out-of-bounds.
I would like to see more trees on the course (though there are several young trees which will help this in time)
A couple missing signs, but it isn't hard to see where to go.
Other Thoughts: The course doesn't present a real challenge, but it does test a few different skills. It would be a good course to learn on, and it is enjoyable if you aren't looking for something to test your limits. I've played while the pins were in both the short and long placements, and I find the course much more enjoyable on the long setup. If it was only the short placements I would have only rated it a 1.5 or so, but the long placements make it significantly better. If you have time it would be worth your while to move them before playing (though I suppose that if you're reading this you probably won't know where to place them)
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.
Starter Course
5 Helpful / 0 Not
Pros: -The course can be played in 30 minutes as long as you don't lose any discs.
-Hard to lose a disc
-Trash cans at some holes keep the course pretty clean
-Mowed fairly often
-Multiple pin locations that ANYBODY can move(long and short options)
-Good course if you are just starting to disc golf
-Bathrooms in the park
-Usually isn't crowded
-Recently planted trees(hopefully will grow and make the course more difficult)
Cons: -Fairly short course
-Not very challenging for intermediate/advanced players
-Right next to the back yard of some houses
-Only one(maybe two) holes where you can really unleash your driver
-They recently removed a lot of the bigger trees so it has become even easier
Other Thoughts: I've played this course over 100 times probably. It is a good course if you're crunched for time or don't want to lose a disc. It is also short enough where you work on your midrange and putting game a lot.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.
An average 9
5 Helpful / 1 Not
Pros: Evans Park is a nice little city park with a an great 9-hole course. The remarkable thing that stands out is that every hole was a little different!
- There are 5 Straight / 2 Left / 2 Right.
- Hole length varies with 5 @ 200-300 / 2 @ 300-400 / 2>400. No real length since the longest hole is 421', but I think this is perfect for a 9-hole course quite frankly.
- The holes lacked a touch of foliage that would really make this course remarkable, but with that said the baskets have been placed in such a way that you actually have to think about your shot selection. What I mean is that you will be rewarded for going for it by stretching your shots maybe a little beyond your normal limits. I think that is a true Hallmark of a great course design.
- Tee pads are concrete.
- Present tee signs were very helpful.
- Course was Very easy to navigate! No map needed for the course.
- Long arm throwers have an opportunity for nuerous Dueces WITH a challenge! I didn't sense any "gimme" Dueces. You gotta be accurate to card one!
Cons: - Tee signs for holes 2, 4, 5 are missing, but still easy to see the basket.
- Lacks holes with dense foliage. Just a little too open for my personal taste.
- It's a minor turn off IMO to be playing adacent to someone's backyard from an aesthetics point of view only.
- Only 9 holes!
Other Thoughts: The couse is truly a great play! It's only 20 minutes away from the interstate and worth a quick stop.
- Course was all mine on a Friday late afternoon and a very quick play.
- Playground and Bathrooms at parking area.
- I sure wish there was room for 9 more holes - it's still alot of fun at just 9 however!
5 of 6 people found this review helpful.
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2-4 
3/12/2021 
3/12/2021
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