Just Went To Worlds, Too Tired To Title
7 Helpful / 0 Not
Pros: Sprawling across the entirety of Kanza Park, the disc golf course invites a lot of low scores - but could get tough on you if your throws start getting errant.
Good tee signs and great quality DisCatchers are the best of the amenities. The pads could be a little bigger, but they're not unusable like they used to be.
A good variety of distances and shot shapes; you'll get to use most of the discs in your bag here. Getting a par 62 (60?) course out of this land without being easy to the point of becoming a bore is a nice feat in itself.
The more open front 9 is contrasted by a tighter, more wooded back 9 with the bigger pars. Always nice for the challenge to go up throughout a round, but count yourself lucky if you get to start on holes 8-10 in a tournament.
Both the par 5s stand out from the rest of the course. 14 is a shocker when you read you'll be going 920ft through the middle of the park, and beating the last wall of trees justifies the par 5. 17 has a very interesting design, with a low ceiling off the tee and tree placement that encourages control off the tee then a big drive on the second shot, with the landing being important to zip into the green for a 4. It's not the hardest hole to birdie, but messing up the placement or going for broke off the tee is a good way to take a par or worse.
Cons: Design is the weakest part of this course. Holes 1, 7, and 16-18 all play next to or across a walking path, holes 1, 5, 6, and 9 are all open air, and the baskets of 2-4 are much too close to the tees of 3-5 to be "safe." On top of this, if hole 4 thinks that a 3ft strip of that orange mesh construction fencing just to take away the straight line is an "obstacle" that I'm not gonna complain about, it's wrong.
Holes 7 and 13 are not par 4s. 407 and 330 downhill respectively are not enough of a challenge to warrant a 4. Switch them to a 3 on your scorecard and enjoy the rest of this par 60.
None of them are horrible, but none of the par 3s really do anything to separate themselves from each other besides being super short (6) or super wooded (18).
Other Thoughts: This course has some big weaknesses to improve on. Defining official OB and making some safety fixes would bring the overall value of this course up, but combined with the other Ottawa course this makes for a fine day trip from Kansas City or Emporia. Not the flashiest or best of courses, but it's not boring and worth your time if you want a solid small town park experience.
Make sure you search for the park itself and not specifically the disc golf course on your maps app or it takes you to the wrong side of the park where there's no parking lot.
7 of 7 people found this review helpful.
Kanza Park is No Turkey
8 Helpful / 0 Not
Pros: Kanza Park is a really nice park, all grass covered with ripples on the surface that are too meek to be called hills. The trees are spread around sparingly, and are significant enough to be in play in some manner on most holes.
A course map in the parking lot will give you the layout, and the tapered concrete tees indicate direction to the pin. The baskets are really nice models, and also have concrete pads to hold them steadily in place.
Making the most of the vegetation on site, but there are a few wide open rippers with two par 5 holes, and some par 4's thrown in too. If the wind is blowing, things will get a lot more interesting.
Holes 2 and 3 have nice clusters of trees around the pins, and hole 10 is a fun little ace run. Hole 17 has good trees coming out of the box. Very roomy and good for practicing controlled drives and approaches. Beginner friendly, with no water or heavy rough.
Cons: As well groomed and nicely equipped as it is, Kanza Park is fairly tame. No real elevation change, few trees and part time breezes are about all of the obstacles you will face there.
Mind the walking trails that are alongside some of the holes. Plenty of pedestrians were out there walking off the Thanksgiving lunches on the beautiful afternoon I came into town.
Other Thoughts: It is 18 holes, and the layout is not bad. I liked the equipment, even with the funky tee pads. Kanza Park is enough to give you a game, but it's not the most exhilarating round.
Still, it's well designed and executed, and is worth a look if you don't have too far to travel, or find yourself in Ottawa, KS for some reason.
I did not fair well on the score card on my single round played there. 67 (+6) with only one birdie. Maybe my firecracker for breakfast or holiday libations factored into my poor putting, but I couldn't sink one to save my life. If nothing else, I need to return to Kanza Park to try and restore my confidence. Feels like I should have been much closer to par.
8 of 8 people found this review helpful.
2 Helpful / 0 Not
Pros: this was a good course with a variety of shots and distances. Fairly open but enough trees to offer some challenge.
Cons: Tees, it was a pretty wet day so had to watch some low muddy spots especially when throwing to hole 14.
Other Thoughts: I played this for a tournament so alternate tees were set up. I preferred throwing from the grass than the triangle tees
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.
Better than I expected in Ottawa
8 Helpful / 0 Not
Pros: Discs are very easy to find as long as you don't miss right on the first hole. No dense woods or tall grass in play. 10/10
There is a great variety of distances on the holes. A couple holes early on and number 8, 10, and 15 do not require driver, while 5, 14, 16, and 17 are all well over 500ft. In general the back nine plays longer than the front but there is a good mix throughout. 8/10
Good mix of openness on shots. A couple drives have no trouble in play at all (5 and 9 come to mind) while others require a technical shot (3, 16, and 17). In addition, some holes require a more accurate drive while others a more accurate approach. 7/10
Once you find the tee the navigation is pretty good since the tee points you toward the hole and there aren't alternate positions. Some baskets are kind of close together though like 14 and 15, and also 9 and 18. overall 7/10
The available obstacles were used pretty well providing good holes but not any awesome signature holes, a few more would have been nice. 7/10
Although there are only a couple of benches there is a good deal of shade as well as running water and public restrooms on site. No tall grass helps make this a comfortable round. 7/10
Cons: No alternate hole positions 0/10
Tees are basically grass. There are little concrete triangles (see pictures) pointing toward the hole with the hole number but they don't really function as tee pads. Also the baskets only have one ring of chains and they are quite a bit heavier than normal baskets. Be sure to hit dead center or you'll be bouncing out, especially if you try to float it in or use a gummy putter like me. 2/10
Navigation between holes is a pretty big problem. There is no map that I've found at the park, so be sure to print one out from this site. The small tees and lack of signs etc. are difficult to see from a distance. 2/10
There is not much elevation at this course, but they do their best to incorporate what is there. holes 6-8 and 10-14 have elevation in play but the rest are mostly flat. 3/10
Many of the holes only have one way to play them. 3/10 on decisionmaking
The front nine here is good for beginners but would bore most advanced players, while the back nine would frustrate beginners and give more advanced players some more of a challenge. 5/10
There are no tee signs or trash cans along the way, and only a couple benches, but the grass has been mowed very well both times I've been there 5/10
Other Thoughts: Not too challenging, 4/10 overall
It'll be worth the drive from Lawrence for some variety.
8 of 8 people found this review helpful.
Always Open
4 Helpful / 0 Not
Pros: The course is never packed with people, (there's not alot of us disc golfers in Ottawa) so its easy to get on at any time. You get to have a wide variety of holes, in the distance and the way you must play them.
Cons: The tee pads are by far the worst part, do yourself a favor and tee off from the grass beside the pads. The baskets also aren't the best, but they do the job.
Other Thoughts: I played a tournament here with the courses designer, and there are a few tweaks to the course that make it a little better. On number 8, instead of teeing off from the normal pad, move back about 20 yards to the bench on the walking trail, this will make the hole a little more longer and difficult. Also on number 14 there is a mando that requires you fly it between the creek and a tree, making it about 30 feet wide at that point, it's about 2/3's of the way through the hole, I'll take some pictures next time I play and add them. Overall a fun course.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.
Good times
2 Helpful / 1 Not
Pros: Good variety of long and short holes. Fun park. Back nine is much longer than front, but all holes are a good mix and a good challenge.
Cons: Tee pads. Weird. Why the little triangle point? Good that it points at the hole, but a little weird nonetheless.
2 of 3 people found this review helpful.
Above average
5 Helpful / 0 Not
Pros: -Interesting hole diversity
-Quiet setting
-Many opportunities to test the different shots + discs in your game
-Pretty fun, although that is a relative thing
Cons: -Really not a fan of small triangular tee pads. Save yrself the sprained ankle and tee to the side unless you one-step.
-Not super difficult to find following hole, but could
use some signs.
-Course pacing is odd. Two holes >200ft, two 600+.. First 12 are roughly same length as last 6. Could be spaced out better.
-Park walkpath runs along majority of course. Heads up!
Other Thoughts: Open area, so not the best idea for windy days. Not an excellent course, but not a terrible one either and less than five minutes from I-35.
If you are in the area and want a change of pace, give it a throw!
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.
2 Helpful / 4 Not
Pros: Clean cut and well maintained, open drives, never crowded, great variation of hole lengths, and most importantly, FREE
Cons: No individual hole maps, triangle tees.
Other Thoughts: Really enjoyed this course, I used to play it at least three times a week when I lived in the area.
2 of 6 people found this review helpful.
ATTENTION Lawrence, Topeka and Southwest KC
3 Helpful / 1 Not
Pros: Nice spread. The trees that are in the park come into play nicely. Twenty minutes South of Lawrence so make a day and hit up the 9 and the 18 hole at Pamona Lake, just 20 minutes straight West of Ottawa on 68 Highway. The back 9 was put in within the last couple years so they made use of the rest of the park and streeetttched out the back 9, good and bad.
Cons: Triangle tee pads?????? The course has triangle shaped tee pads that are about 3 ft wide at the back and are about 5 ft long, they point in the direction of the basket (which I guess would be one of the reasons?). #14 is 900ish ft, don't mistake #15's basket with it though (like we did :-) ), 14's basket is the one a little further back on the left as you approach the 2 baskets, you'll see.
Other Thoughts: HAPPY DISCIN'!!!
3 of 4 people found this review helpful.
Let the Pad Point the Way
11 Helpful / 0 Not
Pros: Well this is pretty big park for the area that it is in. The course uses almost all of the park for it's layout. This course has a few trees involved on some of the holes and makes use of the slight elevation. #14 is a 900 foot monster that you can air it out on and #17 is a long hole that has trees working your flight path. There are a couple protected like pin placements out here as well. The course welcome sign has a great map on it. The course was sponsored my the local Rotary Club and it looks as though they do a great job maintaining the grounds here. The baskets are in great shape and even have a Rotary Club logo with the hole number on them.
Cons: There is a walking path around the course and there are lots of walkers at all hours. So safety is an issue. The Tee Pads are indeed cement and they are in the shape of narrow arrow (see photos). These are worthless as tee pads, but do point you to the basket. Don't twist your ankle on them, by trying to get your pivot foot out toward the end of the pad. :o) Navigation is not too bad, but there are no tee signs, so take a copy(picture) of that map with you. There are some holes right next to each other and since baskets 10, 14, 15, 17, & 18 are all in proximity of one another, it helps to know which basket to throw at in that area. Most of the holes are a straight shots, so it does lack in accuracy throws over all.
Other Thoughts: The Fun Factor here was fair. The hole variety was decent enough it made disc selection not too repetitive and there were just enough interesting pin placements with tree positions to keep those from being t0o boring. #17 was hands down the best hole here and it is what I will remember the most. If you are in the area, it is certainly worth stopping by to play once at least.
11 of 11 people found this review helpful.
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4 / 594ft. 
2-4 
7/7/2013 
7/8/2013
Review By: bigreddog 
This review was updated on 8/27/2013
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