Fun Has An Expiration Date. It's When The Baskets Rust Through.
8 Helpful / 0 Not
Pros: For the piece of land it was given, Rice Park is able to keep things interesting with only a few trees and minimal elevation. Major hats off to the designers for keeping the course fun even without utilizing the land to its fullest.
9 concrete tees that are plenty big for the amount of power required. The one hole I'd worry about is 7, but that tee is flush with the ground so you can take that big run up if you really need it, James Conrad.
Trees are in play on almost every hole. The right side on 3, 5, and 6; the left side on 2 and 7, right in front of the pin on 1, it's all done to keep all types of throwers honest throughout the course.
Hole 4 is my personal favorite, a gap has been cut through the treeline that forces a right-to-left flex line, kept low through the gap, and far enough to get across the small creek. It's very good for a short hole.
The elevation on 7 and 9 is noticeable compared to the rest of the park. 7 is a big downhill with the basket just set into a pocket in the treeline. 9 is uphill, but also wide open.
Cons: More could have been made out of this course. 3's pin could have been pushed back into the woods, 6's pin could have been further up the hill into the trees, 8 could have been a dogleg back across the creek and led to a better spot for the tee on 9. Not sure if that land was supposed to be used for other park activities, but it's been 20 years since the course was installed and nothing's there so...
Hole 9 is wide open with nothing in the way of obstacles, just a 12ft rise in elevation. A disappointing way to end the round.
The baskets are getting quite rusty. For being 20 years old it's understandable, and the good news is the catching power is still very much there, but the rust will eventually be the end of these baskets.
The sameness of most of the distances. 8 of the 9 holes are between 240' and 320'. The only exception is hole 7, which is a massive downhill. And they're all very flat.
While I didn't have any trouble in my winter round, the rough in between the two areas of the park looks like it gets very rough in the summer.
Other Thoughts: What your maps app won't tell you is to take a right off of Norwood onto SE 5th St and follow that back to the community center's parking lot on the left.
While the different shot shapes required are a positive, the same speed can reach just about any hole. The space is there to add a little more spice to the course, which is the main thing severely lacking.
I enjoyed this course thoroughly, so don't let my overall negative tone scare you off from playing a round here. I would encourage anyone to give the course a try, but if you don't have time it's not like you missed out on something incredible
8 of 8 people found this review helpful.
Ace-able, Clean, Beginner, Decent
7 Helpful / 0 Not
Pros: -Very well maintained and grass is always cut
-Concrete tees
-Shelter with picnic tables for those waiting on a group
-Each tee pad is numbered
-Trash cans
-Cart-friendly
-Perfect for beginners
-Great for rollers and skipping
-Many ace-able holes
-Nice bridge connecting to the other half of the course
-Good course for a fast round
-Playground on site for kids family
Cons: -No restrooms
-Tee pads are shorter than preferred
-Baskets are worn and sometimes do not catch well
-Mostly flat and lightly wooded
-Only one pin placement for every hole
-Somewhat repetitive and boring
Other Thoughts: Rice Park is one of the older courses in the capital city. For nine holes, it is a somewhat enjoyable quick round. The course used to have large areas of prairie grass where players had problems losing discs. Thanks to some members of the Dawn to Dusk Disc Club, the tall grass and thick brush is gone. The course is now in perfect condition all throughout the year. There is the need for an upgrade on baskets here. It would be nice to see some more pin placements (maybe utilizing the little amount of woods). Overall, decent beginner-caliber course great for those that live close by.
7 of 7 people found this review helpful.
Rice is a Little Bland
7 Helpful / 0 Not
Pros: Rice Park has a disc golf course. 9 holes, set up with concrete tees and old school baskets. The park has almost no elevation change. There are trees in play on a few holes, but there is more than enough room to get around most of them.
The layout is easy to follow, with all tees numbered in the lower left corner. A nice quick round if you're in the area.
Hole 1 is slightly downhill, sort of long and wide open. 2 has trees to the left, and my drive was knocked down by the first one. There are a couple of trees guarding the front of the pin on 3, and surrounding the green.
My favorite hole was 4. It plays under mature trees, and curves left to right. Maybe the shortest hole on the course. Good for a RHFH drive, with a low ceiling from the tree branches hanging down. 5 is a little longer, with a more open fairway that also bends to the right a bit. 6 is fairly straight forward, with a cluster of trees to the right of the basket.
7 is about the same length as the first hole, also with a very gentle downhill slope, but the basket is surrounded by the trees near the creek. 8 plays with the creek to the right, and the trees and bushes growing there make it easy to lose a disc. 9 is long, slightly uphill and mostly open. There are two old trees struggling to survive in front of the pin.
Cons: The tee pads are a bit short for my run ups. Baskets are in rough shape. The single row of chains have been weathered and rusted. The basket on the first hole was leaning pretty hard.
Not much challenge for an experienced player, but it isn't quite a pitch and putt. Some distance, but every hole is reachable for a birdie if you can bust a drive in the 300' range.
There is some thick rough in places if you miss the line. I spent a few minutes in the trees along the creek on hole 8. I missed to the right, and that is very thick and brushy. I found my disc on the fringe, and another one at the bottom of the creek bed.
Patches to the right of hole 3 pin, behind hole 5 green, and to the right of hole 6 basket could also conceal a wandering disc.
Other Thoughts: I only got one birdie, which kind of made me want to go for one more round. I decided not to since it was near dark, and I played 36 holes before ending the day at Rice Park.
The name is a good metaphor. You can satisfy disc golf hunger with Rice, but it is as basic as it gets.
7 of 7 people found this review helpful.
Fairly White Bread Disc Golf Course!
9 Helpful / 0 Not
Pros: Rice Park DGC is basically your basic course where if you can keep it straight off the tee, you can score well. If you're a little more erratic, like I am, then you'll probably spend some time digging through the trees hunting for your discs.
Everything about this course feels a little worn. The baskets are old, rusty and have been repainted. The smallish tee pads are cracked with grass growing up between the cracks. They do have a house # with the hole # in the corner of the concrete. This helps with the navigation.
The Course completes a loop with # 9 playing up the hill back to the community center.
The course definitely plays as a recreational level. With that being said, it's an enjoyable throw and there are enough challenges (obstacles) on each hole to muster up some competition for most players. I think it's a pretty sweet course for the more inexperienced player to play.
There was a small amount of elevation present, enough so you get to throw downhill 3-4 times as well as a couple of uphill holes.
Cons: Tired old baskets.
Tired old tee pads.
Fairly short overall distances.
Mostly open off the tee.
Other Thoughts: For it's flaws, I enjoyed my round here. It makes a nice little pit stop on the drive across Kansas and of course, forces you to learn to play the ever present winds.
And as an added bonus, I scared up two coyotes on # 3. They couldn't disappear into the woods fast enough.
9 of 9 people found this review helpful.
Better not go in the woods
10 Helpful / 0 Not
Pros: This course had well defined and mowed fairways which helps point out the basket. 8/10 on navigating the holes
Quite a few obstacles, most holes are treelined on 1 side. Hole 4 has a tunnel on the approach and allows for a good aggressive drive to have a good chance at birdie. Hole 7 is embedded back in the woods as well. No hole is free of hazards. Use of obstacles 7/10.
Able to challenge beginners without being impossible but also isn't boring for more advanced players due to tunnels and treelined holes that require more accuracy and risk/reward to make birdie. 7/10
Fairways were mowed and well defined by rough and trees. No tee signs but the tees had hole numbers on them. 6/10 on maintenance.
Some variety of openness with a few holes with wide open drives and tighter approaches and other holes the opposite. Most provide one side that is a little bit of a bailout (no woods). 6/10
Some holes requrie certain shot paths. 2 and 9 favor right to left, 4 and 5 requrie left to right. hole 3 requires one or the other. 6/10
Cons: No alternate basket positions 0/10
Discs are difficult to find in the woods and sometimes in the kneehigh grass too. 2/10
No benches, bathrooms, or running water on the course (though you could maybe go in the senior center). Not much shade. Woods are thick and rough is itchy. 2/10 on comfort during the round.
Not the easiest navigation between holes, luckily I was with a friend who lives in Topeka. 3/10
Not a much elevation present, but there is a good deal of variety on the holes, 2 uphill, 4 downhill. None of these extreme. not many sideslopes. 4/10
Not a ton of variety of distances although there were a couple of longer holes (5 and 7) 4/10
Some holes required decisionmaking. 3 had a tree guarding the basket that you had to go one way or the other. 4 and 7 made you choose if you wanted to lay up. 4/10
Baskets were a little rusted. Tees were concrete but a little small. 5/10
Other Thoughts: I wish there were 18 holes but I don't think courses should be rated down simply because they only have 9 holes.
This course doesn't have many major flaws, but doesn't have many great qualities either.
Overall challenge of the course 3/10
10 of 10 people found this review helpful.
I've lost more discs here than anywhere in Topeka
4 Helpful / 4 Not
Pros: good place for a warmup before hitting the lake. Easy ace holes
Cons: the tall grass sucks if you grip lock and go into it. it's so tall and thick it's hard to find a disc. The holes are way to short! I'm not a fan of 9 hole courses
Other Thoughts: not even close to a fan of this course. I'd rather play a different course "cold" than go warm up here
4 of 8 people found this review helpful.
Rice Park
3 Helpful / 2 Not
Pros: Good layout, holes are all seperated, but not far of a walk between each hole. Not to short but easily able to get it close to the pin. Good for getting a quick round in.
Cons: Baskets and tee pads are older. Pads were short, but being shorter holes, longer ones not really needed. No maps of pin placement or where the next tee is. Mostly flat and straight shots, not to many hazards come into play.
3 of 5 people found this review helpful.
Take a Picture And It Still Won’t Last Longer
10 Helpful / 0 Not
Pros: This little 9-hole course sits in a small park that was not well kept on my day there. However, the mower guys were firing up their metal steeds as I left. The fairways have been mowed to help with navigation. There was one fun hole that did dog leg at the end of the hole across a small creek. #7 had its basket with the creek right behind it. The tee pads were of a hand poured cement setup with number plates in them they are not in the best of shape, but the footing is just fine.
Cons: These are simple holes for the beginner player. There is nothing really wrong with this as we need these types of courses in the world. They use tall grass roughs which I do not think are a benefit to any course. Almost every drive was a dead straight shot and the holes felt like was about 300-feet. The baskets had the chains painted white, but the chains were rusted on the bottom half. There were no tee signs.
Other Thoughts: The Fun Factor here was nil. I literally played through this place in 20 minutes and it was actually quite forgettable. The hardest thing I had going was finding the first tee. I don't recommend playing this course unless you are bored with the others in town.
10 of 10 people found this review helpful.
Decent short course
8 Helpful / 1 Not
Pros: Short holes, good for practicing accurate mid-range shooting. Easy to play in under an hour. Good disc-catchers, concrete tees. Park is well maintained/mowed in the fairways.
Cons: Short holes. Most shots play very similar, straight ahead with a very slight curve to the right or left and a slight uphill or downhill. There really isn't much variation with this course.
Other Thoughts: Rice is not a bad little park. It's also very close to Lake Shawnee so can serve as a good warmup or cooldown for that. The course is short and can be played in barely over 30 minutes if you know the layout. It's pretty intuitive and not too hard to figure out. Play the tall grass as OOB to make the course more challenging.
8 of 9 people found this review helpful.
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1 
10/20/2015 
10/22/2015
Review By: The Valkyrie Kid 
This review was updated on 11/29/2015
Hole #9 (Taken 10/2022) 
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