Illinois Central College
12 Helpful / 0 Not
Pros: -- Excellent use of land. There are a lot of trees, so the lines are tight but fair. Accuracy is a must to score well. While there are no huge uphill or downhill throws, there is some elevation changes, and ravines border many fairways, so a kick off of one of the numerous trees can send you down into a ravine.
-- Large, level, concrete tees.
-- Discatcher baskets. Two positions per hole.
-- Logical flow. Once you find the first tee (between the small gravel parking lot and U.S. 24), you shouldn't have any trouble.
-- Hole 6 (214/241) is a fun hole with undulations all along the fairway (including over a small ravine); No. 8 (462/564) allows for a longer throw, but accuracy is still needed because of the numerous trees.
Cons: -- Tee signs are terrible. They were fairly basic but functional when new (the hole maps are rudimentary, at best), but time has not been kind. Many signs are now blank, others are nearly impossible to read and some are missing or lying on the ground near the tee.
-- Basket position is not marked at the tee, so you often end up walking halfway up the fairway to figure out the basket placement, especially on the half dozen or so holes baskets are on different lines.
-- No restroom.
-- No water.
-- Favors RHFH/LHBH throws; how much depends on the pin positions you find.
Other Thoughts: -- To reach the course from U.S. 24, turn south onto College Drive and make a quick right turn into a gravel parking lot. Tee No. 1 will be on your right before you turn into the parking lot. If you enter the woods at the west end of the small parking lot, you'll be at Hole 4.
-- If you want open, bombers holes, avoid this course; if you enjoy a woods course (and hiking in the woods), you will really like this course.
-- Disc loss potential is moderate. When we played in mid July, there were a lot of leaves on the ground (especially off of the fairways) that could hide a disc. Also, a tree kick can easily send your disc into no-man's land. We spent 15 minutes looking for one disc.
-- No. 9 long (225 feet) has a somewhat hidden drop-off 15 feet behind the basket; 15 (186 feet) has a deep ravine short/left of the short basket.
12 of 12 people found this review helpful.
Technical lines abound
4 Helpful / 0 Not
Pros: Tight wooded lines with variety in shape and elevation
Good course flow
Cons: Short overall length. Some poke-and-hope lines
Susceptible to muddy terrain after precipitation.
Minimal signage
Other Thoughts: The Illinois Central College DGC is a showcase of the wooden, rugged terrain in the land neighboring the Illinois River. Short technical lines are the calling card of this course, a fairway driver is likely the fastest disc required to navigate this track.
The course style is very similar to that of the Eureka Lake permanent course and a step or two lower than Megiddo & Northwood and McNaughton & Wildlife Prairie, respectively.
While its overall length places its rating below some of the more longer and challenging courses in the area, it is still a fun play and one that is a quicker, more compact and less exhausting.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.
Once we found it, we had a great time!
8 Helpful / 0 Not
Pros: This course was a total surprise! With only one round per day at the Ledgestone Open, my dg buddy was restless and wanted to play another round. We chose this course for its wooded shade and shorter holes, and were not disappointed. Large, level, concrete tees and Discatcher baskets follow a fairly simple course flow through the level spaces in the campus woods, but you often find edges of steep ravines and drop-offs just a tree kick away.
The signage is extremely basic on the course, but the map at hole 1 is really good. The map uploaded here is even better. They've listed red and blue pin positions here, where the longer blue baskets are usually 60 or so feet further and often at a slightly different angle than the shorts. Even with holes in the low 200 foot range, the fairway lines are technical and require control to run for your aces and deuces. There is little underbrush to hide your misfires, so you won't typically be spending all day looking for a disc. And most holes (in the short positions) will have you tossing your mids (comets are very useful here) and putters. But there are a couple of longer holes including the majestic hole 8, which plays along a dogleg over 460' to the 'short' pin.
In all, the course poses a fun control round for a Recreational to Intermediate player who understands he's rarely going to be throwing a bomb in here.
Cons: The lack of big distance will keep the macho guys away. Many of the short basket positions are straight up the gut with a slight fade to the right, so rhbh throwers will need to throw something that turns over under control. The simple tee signs often didn't seem to indicate the bends as they really exist, and some have no info (there's just a scribble on hole 8, so you really don't know how far you need to throw). Parking is limited in the small gravel lot, so they recommend parking in the horticulture lot, but that easily confuses your gps systems...
Other Thoughts: The fun factor of this course is way up there for a technical thrower looking for a shaded, level, easy play.
Reviewer Background as of this writing: played 277 courses and written 260 reviews, with skills hovering around a 900 rating, I started playing at 50 and am now 55. I don't throw far (300 footers feel like success), but am addicted to DG, and have played with folks ranging from age 7 to 87, so I try to write reviews helpful to all.
8 of 8 people found this review helpful.
Short, Technical Woods Course
6 Helpful / 1 Not
Pros: - Tight, wooded fairways require accurate line-shaping to score well
- Baskets and tee pads are adequate and in good shape
- Multiple pin positions
Cons: - Limited shot variety
- No benches, very simple tee signage
- Fairly short and mostly flat
Other Thoughts: Illinois Central College's disc golf course is a fairly short and technical 18 holes through the woods. Your enjoyment of this course will depend largely on the style of golf you prefer. If you enjoy longer, more open courses where you can play around with many different lines, this might not be the best course for you. However, if you enjoy a course with tight fairways forcing you to execute a particular line in the hunt for a birdie, ICC is the course for you.
There are a lot of tough and narrow but manageable fairways on this course, and with the exception of a few holes that feel a bit poke-n-hope, a good throw is usually rewarded with a birdie. The two longest holes on the course are also two of the best. Holes 4 and 8 each provide a bit of length to the course, and require good placement shots to card a par or birdie 3 respectively. Holes 6 and 17 are also quite good, featuring some of the limited elevation on the course, and a cool tunnel shot.
The middle section of the course does get rather repetitive. There are several short tight holes in a row, the majority of which feature a left to right turning fairway. If you can throw LHBH or RHFH well, you will definitely have an advantage on this course. As previously mentioned, with the exception of holes 6 and 8, the course plays very flat. A couple of holes cross the line from being tight but fair, to having "fairways" with almost no discernable route to the pin, leading to the poke-n-hope approach for many players. The tee signs aren't great, but the course is so short you can usually see the baskets from the pad, so it isn't that big a deal they aren't more descriptive.
ICC's disc golf course is a good course to have on a college campus. Its length makes it accessible enough to newer players, but its tight, technical fairways provide enough challenge for local players, and will certainly help you learn to hit your lines. I enjoyed my rounds here, but I think it helps to know the kind of golf you are getting yourself into before starting.
6 of 7 people found this review helpful.
Excellent Wooded Course
4 Helpful / 2 Not
Pros: - Every hole is in the woods
- Tight lines
- Good use of left and right shots
- Forces you to tighten your line and your game
- Trees block the wind (still playable on a 20+ mph windy day)
- Easy navigation
- Baskets and Tee-Pads in good shape
Cons: - Shorter than some courses
- No elevation changes
- Cant really skip around holes so if its busy you may be in for a wait
Other Thoughts: This is a course that is carved straight out of a forest. While it may have shorter holes, it more than makes up for it with the forced lines that require precision over power.
4 of 6 people found this review helpful.
Technical Powerhouse
11 Helpful / 2 Not
Pros: This course is a very well designed technical course. It really succeeds in forcing players to choose and shapes lines hole after hole.
- In a well cut out section of a heavily wooded area that is really what I enjoy in a round of disc.
- Doesn't allow for chucker's to overpower finesse throwers. This can really even the playing field when throwing with a group.
- Navigation is extremely easy for first timers.
- Not heavily populated on any given day, allowing for no pressure rounds.
- Hole 17 is a very narrow hall of trees, which is very unique from most narrow fairways.
- Upkeep is top notch, plenty of trash cans, minimal trash, and fairly frequent pin position changes.
- I believe that overtime this course has given me a strict advantage against other tournament player's. It really makes you stop and think about disc selection, release angle, speed of throw, and risk/reward. I am constantly fighting for par and when you hit your birdie after an incredible throw, you know you earned that birdie.
Cons:
I would love to bump my 3.5 rating up to as high as a 4.5 but there are reasons I could not justify this action.
- Signage is sub par (all pun intended). I said navigation from hole to hole is extremely fluid, but the signage lacks even decent representation of individual layouts.
- I love the fact that the course is so technical but I have to review on a general level. I believe many golfers out there will be disappointed with the lack of any "let loose" holes.
- The course is mainly dirt fairways and a handful of holes can retain water for weeks after rain. It is never a sever hindrance but definitely an annoyance to walk up to mud puddles on a beautiful afternoon.
- Mid summer and this place is lush with greens. I have gone out in the winter looking for discs and came back with 15 in my bag. It is very easy to get kicked out into thick brush by a tree. Luckily I was able to return 9, which had numbers :)
Other Thoughts: This course has the ability to really give your technical a boost so give it a fair try!
I hope to see you out there!
11 of 13 people found this review helpful.
Best course in the Peoria area!
2 Helpful / 10 Not
Pros: Absolutely love this course. The hole course is in the woods. Lots of trees. Takes quite a bit of accuracy. Great for sidearm drives. Lots of straight shots as well. Baskets are in great shape. There's not a whole lot of bad I can say about this course. Every time I play it I'm glad I made the drive.
Cons: How to get to hole 1 isn't very well marked. After that though the holes were very easy for us to find. If you aren't an accurate thrower you may not enjoy this course as it is HEAVILY wooded. Holes aren't very long.
Other Thoughts: Do yourself a favor. Go play this course.
2 of 12 people found this review helpful.
Fun Course but not super challenging
7 Helpful / 2 Not
Pros: Lots of trees! Technical course. If your throw hits a tree, you are in the woods and you're fighting to get to the pin. Make a good throw and it feels great to watch your disc sale down the path between the trees.
Cons: The signage could use a bit of work. Some signs were missing and others were damaged so you couldn't see the distances. I can see this area getting muddy if it rains.
Another drawback is the lack of hazards and out of bounds areas. There wasn't a single shot that I made that I thought, "I hope my disc doesn't go there or it's gone". On the other side, with the amount of trees that are on the site, out of bounds areas would be pretty tough to get to.
Other Thoughts: This was a fun course. I was in the area on business and I was able to play it in the evening when I was done (had to play the last hole by flashlight first day!). A couple of the baskets could stand to have a bit of repair work on them but all in all, it was a couple fun evenings. The course is really easy to navigate. As another reviewer mentioned, it "flows" very well. A couple of the baskets where a little tricky to locate (hole 4 curves right into the trees and I threw at the wrong basket on the long par 5) but I've sort of come to expect some of that the first time on a course.
The course description refers to this as "moderately hilly" and that's about as far from the truth as you can get. Yes, there were a couple drainage gullies that you would shoot over but none of the holes had any significant elevation changes to them. Perhaps for flatlanders it is hilly but coming from Colorado, not so much...
All in all, it was a good couple rounds and if you are in the area, it's definitely worth checking out!
7 of 9 people found this review helpful.
Super Challenging
11 Helpful / 0 Not
Pros: Whoever decided that the ICC arboretum was a good place for a DG course was a genius! This course is super unique and I had a great time there.
*ICC is pretty close to being a championship caliber course with tight, wooded holes that are great for improving the technical game
*Just when I was thinking "this course could use a long hole" we came to a supertight 400 footer that kicked my butt
*Although some people find tunnels repetitive, I honestly think that every shot here was a little bit different
*Great forest scenery
*Course flowed very smoothly, always knew where to go to get to the next teepad. I normally don't take this into consideration for my reviews because I don't really care, but this was actually noticably "flow-y"
Cons: I had not read any reviews of this course before playing it and was shocked to see that its average was as low as a 3.0, but there are several parts of the course thatprevent my rating of 3.5 from going any higher:
*Signage here was pretty awful. Some holes missing signs desperately needed them because many baskets here are hidden. The signs that were in place didn't have any pictures, just distances so they weren't very effective.
*It's nice to be able to actually let loose on a drive or two over the course of 18 holes, and this course didn't really offer that
Other Thoughts: I enjoyed this course very much because it is super challenging, which makes it very very rewarding. I played this course on the same day that I played nearby Washington Park DGC and combined the two make for a very diverse and interesting day of disc golf. Highly recommend!
11 of 11 people found this review helpful.
Woodsy, flat, tight sometimes, beginner course
3 Helpful / 2 Not
Pros: Easy to follow with good tees generally. A couple challenging holes for any skill level.
Not a very busy course. Many times I have seen no one else.
Good baskets.
Some tightish fairways that demand some control and although short as a rule there are few simple twos.
This is a good first woods course for beginners and perhaps low intermediates.
Quick and easy to play, only a few spots where it isn't completely flat so it is low energy demanding.
Has a fair mix of right hand/ left hand biased shots.
Cons: If it has rained much several tees areas become muddy and or mud puddles. Nice tees but some were placed in low spots. Some benches would be welcome.
There can be other muddy areas as well if it has rained recently. Mosquitoes can be bad in summer/fall.
Only one hole which is challenging for advanced players.
Other Thoughts: Course winds through secluded woods on the plateau above some ravines on the edge of the Illinois river valley, some interesting topography and scenery, but no hills come into play really.
This is a shame, perhaps the college didn't want any hills used so the designers couldn't make use of them. If they could have used them this would've possibly been a great course because there are some great ravines just off the course.
All and all I like this course and it serves a function as being a good beginners woods course.
I do like woodsy courses and this one is certainly woodsy. It is the go to course in the area for a hot day where you don't want to work too hard and sweat too much.
Certainly not a challenging course for the advanced player. Not much chance to throw hard at all,
Approach and putt basically.
Many, many two chances and aces to be had. I believe I have deuced every hole but #8 and have shot many low/mid 40's rounds.
It isn't nearly as good as Northwoods or Westwoods (in the area too). I suppose I lean towards woodsy courses so it gets a 3 even though if I could I would give it a 2.75.
In my book a to get a 4 a course has to be very good. 5 's are almost non- existent in my opinion after playing 180+ courses.
*** Not sure why I get the thumbs down votes, could do a hole by hole description I guess that's it? I will update my review with that in mind later.
I try to give my honest opinion but perhaps people disagree with me I guess.
3 of 5 people found this review helpful.
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1 
7/13/2022 
7/30/2022
Review By: aclay 
This review was updated on 1/28/2023
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