Throwing discs at the... Y..M..C..A..
14 Helpful / 0 Not
Pros: -Baskets OK
-Quick Play
-Signage is OK
-Putting Game near #7 basket
Cons: -Grass tees
-Parking lots and walking paths in play
-Grounds of the YMCA can get busy
Other Thoughts: Williams Park wraps around the local YMCA on the east side of Algona, IA. A reasonable course begins right across the parking lot from the front door and runs mostly counter clockwise around the building. Signage looks like DGA Peel N Stick (TM), but is a slight upgrade as a full printed sign. The distance on the sign for #6 is way off (more like 235' instead of 159'). There is a little bit of elevation and a few trees to work around. The biggest detractor here is safety. With a busy park, there are parking lots (#1, #2 and #9) and walking paths (pretty much all holes) in play. The shelter is mostly out of play with the exception of #7 and the YMCA building itself is not in play. There is a DGA "Putting Game" (pictured) near the #7 basket. I did not play, but would be a place to hone you putting skills, I guess. the extra basket seemed a bit odd after #7, but it was where there was space. There was not much space near the #1 tee or the #9 basket with these both being close to the road. It could be used as a warm up to Ambrose A Call at the SW corner of town. Add some concrete tees, I guess to improve, but not much can be done with the space it is in. OK to bag, just OK to play while avoiding the hazards. If I needed a quick 9 and was in the area, I would play it again.
14 of 14 people found this review helpful.
frustrated
4 Helpful / 0 Not
Pros: The course is very clean with no garbage. The lawn is mowed and there are tee markers. It's next to the YMCA and it allows for a pre or post round workout.
Cons: -course is not well marked
-playing by the road on first hole
-playing around the parking lot
-too many people exercising around the baskets
Other Thoughts: This was my second round of the day so I was excited to play but immediately I knew was in for a long round. First, I couldn't find the first hole, then I played cautious trying to to not hit the parked cars/traffic. Then there were people set up exercising around the holes 4, 5, 6 and wouldn't move so I skipped those. Finally, at this point i just played the last two holes and left frustrated. Overall, this would be nice for a quick round but nothing to write home about this course.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.
Algona is not a disc golfing city
5 Helpful / 0 Not
Pros: -Nice baskets
-Signs
-No garbage
-Nicely mowed always
-Parking and bathrooms inside
-Never crowded
-Ace opportunities
Cons: -I couldn't even play hole 2 because there was a bus and a truck parked in the grass on the fairway. I was going to throw anyway but the drivers were in the vehicles and would have probably been mad if I hit them.
-Hole one is on a thin strip of grass next to a busy road
-The holes have the numbered circles on top of them but they are facing the wrong direction on almost every hole. You can also see many baskets from each sign and that makes it confusing.
-The land is flat and there aren't enough trees to make it challenging.
-Many signs are wrong in distance or just mis-leading with the picture
-This is a YMCA and there will be kids doing other things on the disc golf course
-There are no tees, just signs
-Some of the baskets are beginning to fall apart and I doubt that they would ever receive any maintenance.
Other Thoughts: When looking at this site, I had been fairly excited to play in Algona. The state park had been rated a 3 and this one a 2.25. Both courses were a mess to navigate and both had little fun factor. This park simply isn't big enough to house a 9 hole disc golf course but they crammed it in there any way. I wouldn't stop here to play or in Algona at all unless they redesign the state park course. That place could be great with the scenery and land that is available.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.
Nice Clean Course
4 Helpful / 1 Not
Pros: This course is well kept with short grass and amenities (the-Y) in the center of the course.
If you are in the area it is a great course with variety of different shots and the great thing is there are signs at each hole showing where to throw and a few out of bounds signs.
There are a couple distance shots (300-400ft) (~hole 7 & 8) that have some obstacles and can be some great practice.
There are also a couple straight fairway shots 1 and 9 so you do feel somewhat accomplished when you start and end.
Cons: -The parking lot is close to some of the holes.
-There is a running path through the park that can be in play on a couple of the holes (~holes 5-8). We did have to wait to let a couple runners through.
-The baskets are a little rough, but do work.
- Kinda confusing...There is a group shot (or practice) basket for tournaments between ~holes 7 & 8 in the course that seems to be placed near the pavilion and is in the middle of the course.
Other Thoughts: -Would play this course before or after the Call Park Course. I feel they both give Algona a little disc golf variety when played in sequence.
4 of 5 people found this review helpful.
Short enjoyable little course
8 Helpful / 0 Not
Pros: Amenities. Huge parking area for YMCA, inside has restrooms (and other great opportunities for a Y-Member).
Signage. Each tee location has a sign (no specific area to tee off from besides behind the sign), sign shows a rough map, distance, par, hole number and next tee location (some of the maps/distances are slightly off).
Baskets. Mach II baskets are showing some wear and occasionally falling apart, but perform as expected from this basket, all of them exist.
Decent Variety. (less some ridiculous obstacles and out of bounds) There is a decent variety in distance, hole 7 was near 400 I think, several holes around 300, and several around 200. The variety of trees are used fairly well to create decent lines and add difficulty to the holes.
Ace opportunities. Impossible to lose a disc. Well manicured and clean park.
Not busy. I had the course to myself and would expect similar for any time of the day.
Cons: Tees. No specific tee location and mostly natural grass to tee off from, suits the course fine but could always use improvement.
Clustered. Several baskets are close together, and on a few occasions, ended up at the wrong basket (hole 3 I ended up at 4 basket, hole 7 I ended up at a random [practice?] basket). If there was very many people playing the course it could get dangerous.
Out of bounds/parking lots. Several holes (1,2,9) are very close to parking lots, if there's cars parked there it could be a disaster, I had a bus as an obstacle on hole 2. These sculpted fairways are nearly "unfair" hole 9 has a very narrow lane to shoot at, though I guess the parking lot on the left isn't marked as OB, just watch out for cars.
Wet. After rains the low areas can get very wet, I had to play half of the course barefoot.
Other Thoughts: This course was a rather enjoyable experience on a quick stop through Algona, though I wouldn't recommend going out of the way for this one.
8 of 8 people found this review helpful.
Join Disc Golf Course Review for free to add your review. Have an account already?
Sign In to add a review.
Hole #1 (Taken 8/2022) 
2-4 
8/5/2022 
11/2/2022
Report this Review