PARK DESCRIPTION - Criswell Park is a fairly large park featuring the Johnny Owens Youth Sports Complex, some areas and various buildings for maintenance, supplies, etc. The DGC plays in the wooded and bordering grassy areas at the far rear of the park.

VARIETY - There is a mix of wooded versus mostly open holes.

ELEVATION - Very little.

CHALLENGE - This is a 9-hole recreational course with holes lengths ranging from 160' to 260'. The holes in the woods are technical in nature and you will need to hit your lines.

EQUIPMENT - Five tees are natural while the other four use pre-existing concrete sidewalks, paths, etc. Tee signs are simple giving you the hole #, distance and par. Baskets are Discatchers with the yellow bands and #'s. A previous reviewer commented that some of them are pretty grungy and could be cleaned with some kind of cleaner. So true.

AESTHETICS - Yeah, it's OK. You're playing on the edge of a large athletic complex or in the woods.

FUN FACTOR - Solid enjoyable holes great for beginner or lesser skilled players.

ROUTING/NAVIGATION - # 1 starts down the road just pass the Do Not Enter Sign. I got a little turned around in the middle.

I didn't see much of a route on # 8 which plays back toward the ballfields. Just hoping to not strike anyone of the 10,000 trees which stand in you way.

A decently long hike back to your car after # 9.

Natural pads.

Navigation got a little drifty on the middle holes.

This is a fairly ho-hum course especially when compared to the plethora of tweener 18's I've had the enjoyment of playing with their beauty and wonderful hilliness. But this would probably rank as one of the more beginner friendly courses I've played on this trip.

Quick to play. Plenty of challenging trees.

Tees are mostly bare ground. I had to walk around a bit and search for the first tee (thin wooden post on asphalt path just past the structure at the Do Not Enter sign) and a few of the subsequent tees. No bathrooms but there were probably some near the ball fields.

I enjoyed it, but then again I have no idea what I'm doing. If people played this course more, then the trails between tees would be easier to track from foot traffic.

Thanks to some recent clean-up and the replacement of the missing baskets, the Criswell Park DGC merits a short stop if you're passing through Walton County.

The first hole at Criswell has been altered from its original design. Instead of a pointless 425-foot bomber across an empty, flat field, the opener is now about half the distance. The teepad area is marked on the small road a couple hundred feet past the "Do Not Enter" sign. While the 215-footer is open to the basket, a small hill hides the basket from view.

While the teepads are listed as natural, the course does take advantage of already established concrete areas, so Holes #1, 3, 4 and 8 do have a decent concrete teepad.

There are small signs at each of the nine holes now, complete with an ancient font and the hole number spelled out (e.g. HOLE THREE). Each sign also lists the distance and par (spoiler alert: they're all par 3s).

The baskets are Innova Discatchers. While several of the baskets could use a bogey banner polish to remove the dirty exterior, the baskets on Holes #1 and #9 are new and sparkle in the sun.

Holes #5 through #7 are definitely the most wooded on the course, and the lines are a bit tight. The slightly uphill Hole #7 is the toughest of this trio, as there are several trees to navigate off the tee, and the basket is tucked in behind a couple more trees.

Hole #9 is a decent finishing hole. At 245 feet, you have the choice to throw under the branches straight at the basket or take the safer, dogleg left route to the basket placed on the edge of a small plateau.

Reaching the basket on Hole #8 might take some luck - in the form of a kind tree kick, perhaps - as the fairway makes a 45-degree-angle turn to the left halfway down the fairway.

The fairway on Hole #2 could benefit from some sprucing and trash removal.

It's a couple-minute walk back to Hole #1 and the parking area after you complete the course.

The course isn't too challenging. Holes range in distance from 163 to 260 feet. Even beginners will manage to score a birdie or two with practice, while intermediate players can leave their drivers behind and seek the perfect nine-down round if they play here frequently.

There seems to be room for a few more holes out here.

The Criswell Park DGC seems to be a good fit for the park-going crowd. This is a good course to bring novices or family; you might even skip the three wooded holes and play a fairly easygoing six-hole round.

For a six-minute walk-through of Criswell Park DGC, check out the video by Walker40: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwtlZk--9N8.

Enjoyable and reasonably diverse for an 8-hole course.

-Variety/Gameplay: Criswell plays a mix of open, lightly wooded, and fully wooded holes. You go up and down, right and left, through and around trees. Most of the holes have decent lines and are fun to throw with a midrange. Distance isn't ridiculously short, ranging from about 175 to 275 (with the removal of (9) and redesign of (1)).

-Appearance: Not stellar, but pleasant enough. Gentle stands of pine and lusher woods.

It appears that Criswell has been neglected for some time.

-Signage: Most tee signs are hopelessly faded or torn. On (4) the sign is altogether missing. Some navigation cues would be helpful for the thick woods holes (5)-(7).

-Missing Basket and Hole: I was informed by the groundskeepers that basket (1) had been stolen. I concluded after searching for a few minutes (and then consulting UDisc) that hole (9) simply doesn't exist anymore. Those were the only two holes with distance over 300 ft, so their absence is a major downgrade.

-Overgrowth: Holes (5)-(7) could use some thinning out, at least around the fairways. It's much, much worse now than in the course photos.

-Line: I don't think (8) has much of a believable birdie line.

I reasonably enjoyed my short round at Criswell, and I suspect at peak condition it would be a 2.5 or even a 3.0. However, the course looks like it's been basically abandoned, leaving the modified experience less than satisfying.

Has tee signs

Natural tees were flat and fair to drive from (holes 3 & 8 have concrete/asphalt tee pads)

Good mix of open/wooded fairways with doglegs and slight elevations

Had whole course to myself on a Saturday afternoon

Well-maintained

Free parking

Some tee signs have been damaged/vandalized

No next tee signs - consult course map

Long walk from hole #9 basket to parking lot

This is a nice short course in the Walton County area that serves as a good warm-up for nearby Mathews Park or Indian Creek Park. Nice mix of elevations and fairways should make this fun to play for the rec user. I had a hard time navigating this course for the first time but playing after that is easy. Some of the lines will be challenging but fair - namely holes 3, 5, 6, and 7. Definitely not a destination course but maybe something that can be played pre or post round.

a good course for 9 holes
-Good mix of distances and Woods
-Baskets in Great shape
-not crowded at all
-2 legit par 4 holes in a game dominated by 95% par 3s
-decent signage

-no tee pads
-hard to navigate from hole 1 to 2
-too simple could have used a few Mandos

A few hundred bucks could make this course 1.5 better in my book a mando on Hole 2, painted cinder blocks and a few navigation arrows would turn this into a course I would return to a few more times.

- You have the course to yourself, giving you an opportunity to play in large groups, or to work on your putting/approach game for hours.
- You can easily finish a round in a half hour.
- A good mix of open and wooded holes
- Innova Discatcher baskets are in great shape

- Not challenging for anyone who has been playing for more than a year
- The right-hand side of the trees on hole #9 is often unplayable during baseball season due to parking overflow
- The course ends at its furthest distance from parking near hole one.
- No trail maintenance done in the woods at all. Trees are strewn across the fairways haphazardly.
- If you don't know where tee #2 is already, it will take you 15 minutes to find (from the first basket, go the opposite direction from the first tee and a bit right [think northeast relative to tee #1] into the entrance of the woods and down the railroad tie steps).

Look, this is the course closest to my house. For that reason alone, I enjoy playing here as it is the only place I can start a round at 5:30 and finish before dark during February daylight hours. Having said that, there is a bit that Walton county could do to improve this course. Criswell doesn't have enough room to facilitate 18 holes. I am appreciative of the 9 that are there.
- I would like to see holes 5 and 6 lengthened to take advantage of some surrounding woods that are underutilized.
- Stop letting horses on the fairway on 5. Often the manure blends in with the leaves and you end up with a green cake on your shoes.
- Multiple pin placements could get this up to a 3, maybe a 3.5 if other things are improved.
- Make hole 1 a 550' hole with the basket tucked into the woods near where tee #2 is now. That would be a pretty sweet signature hole for any course. Little bits of imagination like this could elevate this course to attract more than just a local like me.

This fun little 2360' nine hole course features a good mix of longer open shots to short, tightly wooded fairways. Hole one starts you on a 425' wide open shot but will quickly introduce you to the trees on holes two and three. Four will give you another open shot but five, six, and seven quickly puts you back in the woods for what are the most crowded fairways on the course. While crowded, they are short so a good tee shot will have you getting easy birdies but they certainly aren't granted. Eight and nine finish with what was a couple of my favorite holes on the course. Eight requires an accurate shot down a left sweeping tunnel or you can risk it on a few of the "local routes". Nine finishes on a relatively lengthy 340' shot around an island of pines with the basket tucked in some trees beyond. A few of these holes have some slight elevation changes with six and seven being the most pronounced. I think overall you'll find the course favors RHBH throwers but still leaves plenty of options for those who throw other shots as well.

It has decent natural tee pads with a couple of them being on paved walking paths which was nice. Nice tee signs with arrows and distances lead the way through a course nicely. The new DISCatchers were in perfect shape and easy to spot in the woods. A course sign with a mailbox stocked with scorecards was a nice touch. There is even a drop box to drop off lost discs. The course was maintained well. The grass was mown on the fairways without the annoying thick clippings which tell me it probably is cut often. The wooded fairways didn't have a lot of fallen limbs and is pretty much free of trip hazard stumps.

A couple of the holes still need to be broken in a little. There are some areas along the fairways that still have thorns and vines to be removed. Hole five near and to the right of the basket and hole seven behind the basket come to mind. Some selective pruning would also be helpful in an area or two. Also there are some trees that look like they fell sometime after the course was installed that block/hide the path from six's basket to seven's pad. Orange ribbon tied to trees helped blaze the trail but it's one area that could give you the hardest time finding the next pad. Hole four could use a next tee sign to point you back into the woods too.

This course could potentially be too short for pro/advanced players to thoroughly enjoy. This might also be true for the big arm players who love to throw big shots one after another. On the other hand, folks with less than average arms can compete with their long armed friends as the trees will be the equalizer.

I hope plenty of local enthusiasm for the course keeps it maintained and it continues to break in nicely. Being a wooded course fan myself, I had a great time and really enjoyed the wooded fairways. As mentioned in previous reviews, Criswell paired with nearby Matthews Park makes Monroe a good destination for a disc golf day trip. Even with a 1-1/2 hour drive I was pleased with both courses and will return again. Definitely put these on your list to play. Enjoy!

• Fun little 9-holer that is great for a quick round
• Mix of open, tightly wooded, and semi-wooded holes
• Natural tee pads are level, well defined and in good shape
• Good signage, easy to follow flow without a map
• Shiny new DisCatchers
• Wooded fairways well defined and cleared; open hole fairway grass mowed low
• Somewhat challenging considering the shortness of most holes and the available land
• Clean multi use park with walking trails, baseball and equestrian
• Family and beginner friendly; almost zero chance of losing a disc

• Natural tee pads, no amenities
• A few NexT signs would be very helpful
• Long walk back to parking lot from final basket
• Probably not very challenging to the pro-level player

Great little course to get in a quick round. There is enough variety that makes this course a good candidate for practicing a variety of shots without having to invest the time and effort required with a larger course. I would not recommend making a trip just to play this course, but if you are in the area or playing the nearby Matthews Park (which is worthy of making a special trip), check out Criswell and have a good time.

Nice opening hole with lots of room for a boomer arm. Good mix of open and woodsy shots. You can be creative throwing hole #8 with a forehand throw or roller.

Nice tee signs provided by Walton Co P&C, which were relatively easy to find.

After finishing #9, it's a bit of a walk to get back to tee #1 if wanting to play another round.

In peak of baseball/softball season, lots of kids around, but none of their activities outside the ball fields interfered with the fairways. The closest would probably be the playground behind tee #4.

Fairway #9 did have several cars parked on right side, but they did not interfere with flight path (short of a major griplock). As course gets more established, I'm sure the parking situation will improve.

Still very rough in spots - Holes 2, and 5, 6, 7 in deep woods through back of woods. Lots of shule and disgarded junk to left of #2 fairway. Poison ivy around base of pin #2 (which can be dug out I'm sure) - just be careful playing the woodsy holes, still lots of P.I. around, some thorns and vines, but not any heavy underbrush.

(Great tip: A friend of mine brings rubbing alcohol with him to courses. If you get in contact with P.I., apply alcohol to spot up to 20 min after contact and skin will not rash or bubble.)

Holes 5, 6, 7 need to be cleared out more on sides, but as stated before, it is still in early stages. Once more foot traffic comes around, the terrain will get worked in nicely. But overall, the worst shule on course is on left of #2 fairway, and hopefully the junk and clutter (lots of metal and crap) will be removed sometime.

When at tee #3, I did end up also throwing to pin #4 (like somebody else who posted did earlier). Still I thought it was an interesting forehand shot, but upon my discover, I re-threw on tee #3 to the real pin #3 and put it 30 ft away (though missed putt lol).

A little bit of shule and P.I. also to wide left of pin #4, and also a low-hanging tree can interfere with an approach/putt from left of pin. Even if branches were pruned, you could get on knees and putt low. But ultimately, I think that little tree should be removed.

The way course is laid out currently, there's not much room to put alternative pins on every hole (unless in shorter positions).

I know pins are more or less in place now, but I think that if pin #3 were moved more to the right (about 70-80'), there could be at least one (maybe 2) more holes after hole #9, which would make for a better transition back to tee #1. However, I do know space is limited and safety for kids and pedestrians is of utmost concern.

I also think another hole could be 'burrowed' out adjacent to hole #2, and then maybe another one in back of woods (in direction of hole #5) where after hole, you could walk out to left and out to tee #3. It would of course involve renumbering the remaining holes, but would be worth it.

In just that back area, there can definitely be an extra 3-5 more holes (within reason). Not sure about a full 18, unless many more holes are cut out in the 'wayback' and a couple extra in the open area, but definitely can be a decent 12-14 hole course.

Finishing hole could end up closer to tee #1.

I put some of my comments/thoughts in suggestion box/mailbox right along hole #1 at parking lot. The full version of my comments are here.

A very nice, technical, 9 hole course. A couple of longs hole to start and finish and a slew of short holes in between, There is a nice mix of straight, hyzer and anhyser shots needed to score well.

On the day we went, the park was being used for a baseball tourney and a horse show. This made the parking lot extremely full and had cars parking on the fairway for the 9th hole. (so many cars in fact, that the 9th hole was unplayable and the tee sign had been knocked over by a car backing into it.

Also, if you're a RHBH player, the tee sign for 6 is right in the area of your follow through and could cause a severe injury if hit.

Once this course is cleaned up and the 9th hole tee box moved away from the activity of the ball fields, this will be a nice getaway course. There were a few folks playing on the day we were there and it made for a nice, lazy day of golf.

Many of the holes are in the neighborhood of 250-300 feet but that is not really a negative as the fairways are TIGHT but not unfair.

All in all, a nice course to play if your in the area, but I would not go out of my way to play there.

A really good variety of hole types for a 9 hole course, they very from flat and wide open to shots into old growth forest to straight up in the woods both up and down and in between.

Very quiet and clean park, we were the only ones there on a Saturday afternoon, try that in Gwinnett!!

Takes a bit of skill to score well, I would say it is the hardest 9 holer in the area by far.

Either the county or fellow golfers have addressed the "next tee" problems by fashioning arrows out of sticks and if you finish 6 just follow the pink ribbons to 7s tee.

The sign for 3 points right at 4s basket, twisting the pole would fix this.

The sign for 6 is in the way of the tee shot, if it was moved 2' to the right it would make the shot a lot more comfortable, I had to concentrate on throwing over it.

Hole 6 is a little too tight to be fair IMO. I really liked the challenge of staying on the tight fairways for 5 and I liked the way 7s basket was hidden by the large mound of dirt but 6s initial fairway was a bit silly. The first round we both par'd, the second we both 5d because we hit trees straight off the tee.

On 9 a bad shot could hit the playground...it would have to be a mega shank but it is possible.

On 1 you *could* throw onto the neighbors farm...my wife caught a nasty wind and ended up over the fence. Luckily he was cool and told her to throw me over to get it.Let's keep him cool by not trampling his fence and letting his animals out!! (it does have to be a REALLY BAD SHOT but with 20mph winds anything is possible)

We played 2 rounds here today and had a blast, there are really tight fairways on all the holes in the woods and you really have to have control to do well. A zephyr is a wonderful thing on this course and saved my butt a few times!

The course is brand new and rough around the edges but I think it will beat in like a good driver and be a great destination, especially when the county finishes the other courses they are building.

I wish this course was closer to home but it actually was worth the 45min drive to play such a new course without crowds.

Get out to Walton County and show them how much we appreciate their hard work!!

While I may have listed more cons than pros it really is a fun little course, one which I would recommend to anyone driving near.

Nice mix of open and wooded holes. Most of the course is technical in the woods. You will have to be able to shape your shots around the many trees in this area. The lines are pretty tight but there are lines available. The two open holes are also the longest holes on the course to allow you a chance to show off your arm. Hole #1 is 424 feet and hole #9 is 340 feet. There is some elevation change available, nothing overly steep but enough to add some interest. There is a walking trail that winds around the perimeter of the course but does not interfere with play. For a course that is mostly on the shorter side I found play challenging and fun. Nice addition to the Walton and Gwinnett county disc golf community.

Could use a few "next tee" signs to help first timers players find there way around the course. It was hard to find hole #1, hole #5 and hole #7 tee boxes. The course was very clean and a few strategically placed trash cans would help keep it that way. Purest among us will not like the natural tee boxes, but they did not cause me a problem. A practice basket would be nice.

We have to remember this is a brand new course with improvements to come I'm sure. This parks main mission in life is baseball and softball. However the disc golf course is in a section of land separate from the ball fields. Personally I don't like holes located around the perimeter of ball fields as you find in many parks. Disc golf seems to be getting more respect that way.
Hole #1 tee box is close to the main road.
Hole #5 tee box goes in the woods from #4 basket.
Hole #7 tee box is to the left of #6 basket.