Prairie DGC plays in tiny Ingebretson Park. There's really not much else in the park at all, so you'll have the course all to yourself most of the time it'd seem.

The flow of the course is pretty straightforward. Hole 1 starts on the NW side of the parking lot playing west. Holes 2-9 are located on the other side of the park road. Course starts and ends pretty close to the parking lots.

The baskets are Chainstars. All of which caught great. One placement per hole. All the baskets had beveled 4x4's with metal numbers designating what hole the basket is for. Not really visable from that far away. Never seen this before. Unique, though not really all that helpful.

The tee signs are mounted on 4x4 posts, which makes spotting the next tee a breeze. The signs themselves, are mostly long gone. There is a solid course map right next to hole 1 which is a nice touch.

The course plays mostly open, but they incorporate the trees and one prairie section nicely to add challenge to what would otherwise be a pretty bland course. The cedar trees on hole 1 and 6 are like black holes. Landing in them will cost strokes. The pins on these two holes are positioned strategically behind these.

The potential for lost discs is very real here. At least in the warmer months. The prairie is thick and tall. It's hard to judge where exactly you even landed it's so high. The prairie rough is located right behind 5 and 7's pins too.There's a creek along a few holes as well. It'd take a terrible shot and some bad luck to find it, but it is possible. Thick brush along the creek can hide discs too.

The tee signs, or lack thereof. Not a major drawback since you can see most of the baskets from the tees. Knowing the distances would be nice though. Hole 2's 4x4 post was missing too.

A few of the tee areas where pretty slick after it had rained earlier in the day. Basically just mud spots. Probably not really an issue in dry conditions though.

Nothing to go too far out of your way to play by any means. But you can sure do worse than this little course. Just a few minutes off the highway and a good place to stretch your legs. Just not a lot of replay value if you're not local.

-Baskets OK, unique topper for hole #
-Open and tight shots, some trees to work around
-Decent Map at start
-Decent mix of open, narrow, short and long
-Not too far off interstate, a fairly quick play

-Rough is tall, especially in late summer (disc loss possible)
-Natural Tees, with a wood toe kick
-No elevation
-Tee signage missing or damaged on many holes

Prairie DGC plays in Ingebretson Park on the east side of Thornton, IA. An average park course, the area is flat being in the creek valley. The interest is with the trees on #1, the creek along the left of #2, #3 and #4 and the rough areas along the left of 5 and between 3/4 and 6. The rough in late summer is waist high or taller, decent chance of losing a disc in there. The creek may come into play for those that stay left on #2-4. The last 3 holes play open, so at least with #7, you can boom it a little. Thornton is just a couple of miles off I-35, so a quick pit stop, a place to stretch your legs, if you're rolling through the area. Not a destination, but baggable, and more than a pitch n putt. Fix the signage and add concrete tees and you may bump up to a 3. I've bagged it, so I probably won't make the detour to play again.

The course pars are set challenging. The holes are mapped out at the beginning of the course, and individually at each tee off.

The worst thing about this course is the tee pads. They need cement tee offs!

Holes are easy to follow.
Creative hole placements. Even the short holes are not gimme 2's
Very nice signs with maps. Very helpful for blind shots.
Well maintained.
Despite having prairie grass, there is enough room for a safe shot.

tee pads- I mainly played off to the side of the tee pads because it looked safer.
Many of the holes favored a left curve, which plays great for my game, but could be annoying for LHBH or RHFH.
Prairie grass looked pretty thick. Looks like it could eat discs, but it only come into play on 3 holes.
May be too easy for advanced players but still fun in my mind.

If you are anywhere near the area and want to do a quick 9 I would say this course is worth the stop. Very easy to find. I was able to finish the round in about 20 minutes, could have taken longer if i threw it in the prairie grass or by the stream. # 3 has the most potential to lose a disc, with a 20 yd fairway and tall grass on each #1,8 are very short but a lot of trees. #4,5 have blind dog leg lefts around prairie grass. #6 is about 300 to the big pine tree and the hole is on the other side.
Overall I'd say good for a nine holer

Good recreational level course in a well maintained park. Has some decent length cleverly placed trees and tall grass rough to add difficulty. Good signs marking the tee boxes. (Hopefully they'll stay this way). Has some decent lefty-righty balance for a nine holer. In a small town, so you'll have a good chance of having this one all to yourself.

The tee pads leave a lot to be desired. I think a lot of small towns can go without concrete pads, but if the park is getting use (and it appears by the ruts in the ground that this one is) it certainly couldn't hurt. Advanced players are likely going to find this underwhelming, much like any small town niner (of course there's plenty of opportunity for safari rounds).

I hit Prairie DGC on my summer road trip in June. It was not in my original plans (I was hoping to get up into Minnesota and play a course there) but due to me losing a lot of time in Ames that day, I had to settle for this little gem. Nothing championship caliber here, but its good for a nice relaxing round or two, and just a hop and a skip off I-35.

-Nice baskets
-Map at start of course and decent tee signs with distance and a basic map
-Challenge from wind, prairie grass and river on a few holes
-Pretty small town so not a lot of traffic
-Friendly locals, let me play a round with them
-A few blind shots caused by bushes and prairie grass. Baskets were well positioned to make use of the trees and prairie grass.
-Good for a quick round but not too quick
-Good mix of straight, right and left curving shots
-Challenging enough for better players but not too rough on the new ones as well
-Very close to the interstate, easy to find

-Tees were natural, slippery and bumpy
-Course wasn't too long
-Stay out of the prairie grass. It may sound harmless but it is 6+ feet tall of thorny, thick, bee infested, stinging, disc eating prairie grass!

It was a decent course and they used what they had well. The only real bad part was the tee pads but it was still an enjoyable round. It was a pretty typical city park course with the added challenge of prairie grass. The course name is fitting!

This course has chainstar baskets. It is close to the interstate and has a nice mix of short 200+ plus holes and a 400+ hole.

Every shot is pretty much the same. Either straight or curves to the left. No real obstacles other then a river along holes 2 to 4.

Quiet, peaceful setting in a small town park. Tee signs on 4 x 4 posts indicating diagram and distance of hole. Grass was freshly mowed. Creek borders left side of fairway on holes 2, 3, and 4. Native prairie grass borders same 3 holes on the right. Camping close by--campground actually connects to course via bridge over creek to # 5 tee. Nice variety of shots required as final 2 holes have mature trees as obstacles. 2 longer holes to air it out. Small trash receptacles attached to posts for tee signs. Bathroom in park with small play area for the kids.

Grass tee pads. Really no elevation change to speak of.

This course ranks as one of my favorite 9 holers. 2 miles off of I 35.