19 Helpful / 0 Not
Pros: Longview DGC is an 18 hole gem located 30 or so minutes west of Kansas City. The location is pretty remote so it's just you and nature out here. Beautiful setting for a course.
The baskets are blue powder coated Mach III's. Not the best targets out there by any means, but all were in good shape and caught well enough. No issues with them myself. I really like the blue baskets. They actually pop out really nicely in the shade of the woods. Almost every hole has at least 3 pin positions, many of them now have 4.
The tee pads are concrete. All were level and grippy. No complaints with these. One tee pad per hole.
The design of the course is top notch, utilizing the available space to perfection. The course features some pretty extreme elevation throughout. Lots of up and downhill throws to be had, but it's paced out nicely so as not to have multiple uphill or downhill holes in a row. It's a tough hike, but it's not overbearing like some other courses I've played.
There's trees in play on every hole. Some more than other's but there's no wide open holes here. Hole 18 is probably the most open hole on the course.
The tee signs have a strange bird's eye view kind of map with the different basket locations shown in relation to the tee pad. They also feature the hole #, distances to each pin location and par for each pin. They even have the different elevations shown from the tee to each pin.
You'll need every type of shot to score out here. Good mix of left and right turning fairways. Accuracy is the name of the game once you get into the meat of the course.
The flow of the course is pretty straightforward. I don't think I had to look at the map more than twice maybe. There's next tee signs located along the fairway on every hole, which was quite helpful.
Hole 15 is a sweet downhill shot over a pond with over 20 ft. of elevation change. It's not even the best downhill hole of the property. Not even top 3 in my mind. So many epic shots here.
The course is permanent and free to play. I'd assume it's rarely ever too busy or even busy at all due to it's location and the beatdown it hands out. Many benches, foot bridges and stairs in areas of need. Flags on top of all the baskets too.
Cons: The signs aren't the most helpful ones I've ever seen. I mean the distances and pars are great. The map is just kind of strange and not very helpful in locating the pin. They're just...odd.
On top of that, there was probably 6 to 8 holes where a new longer "long" pin was added. These had hand drawn maps taped over the existing sign. Honestly, most of these hand drawn maps were more helpful than the originals. Minus hole 17, which didn't actually show the new pin position.
The baskets aren't the greatest. I grew up on Mach III's so they're not new to me, but compared to some of the newer models out there, these are just a step below.
Hole 18 is a pretty lackluster finish to an otherwise epic round of golf. Mostly flat with only a few trees to deal with. The weakest hole on the whole course imo.
Other Thoughts: Longview is rated the top course in KS on here. I can see why, it's compares favorably to many of the other top courses I've played. I would absolutely recommend making time to play a round out here. It's the best course I played while visiting the KC area, even if it's a bit outside. Well worth the drive. I'd absolutely put this one in my top 40 or so courses. Probably higher than that.
If they added some shorter tees or maybe had two sets of baskets per hole to appeal to more skill levels it'd probably attract more players. As is, it's a pretty daunting task to take this course on for most casual players. I myself loved the course. Must play in my opinion.
I'd probably rank it a 4.25 if I could. That's about where it sits as is. I'll bump it up to a 4.5 due to the fun factor and clearly they're improving the course every year. It'll only get better if that keeps happening. Very impressed.
19 of 19 people found this review helpful.
Winter Wonderland
17 Helpful / 0 Not
Pros: Longview is an amazing course filled with amazing holes. Literally - every hole has something to brag about, something that shows it isn't a course to be taken lightly, and in many cases, a hole design I've never seen before. Tees and signs are in good shape, there's a picnic shelter by the parking lot, navigation is easy, and there's a massive sign making sure you practice at the practice basket, not hole 18's basket. The course loops back by the parking lot after hole nine so you can take a much-needed break and grab a snack.
Holes 1-3 are a fairly simple way to start off the course, but still give a lot of variety with pin placements and distances. Hole 2 sets up for a good roller opportunity and they all have some challenging rough. Actually, these holes aren't so simple - they're just more straightforward than the rest of the course.
There are a lot of downhill holes here, and they are consistently amazing. Some have the potential to be absolute bombers (5, 16), and others might have you throwing a safer shot to get through a gap (9, and again 16). Because of all the trees, all of these are low ceilings to some extent, which are my personal favorite kind of hole: long, downhill, but still a low ceiling. A few others (8, 14, 15) are somewhat downhill but still have plenty else to keep them interesting and unique. Hole 15 looks daunting because of the water but only requires 200 feet or so of power to clear.
If I mention downhill holes, I'll mention uphill holes. The three that are the most spicy are 3, 6, and 11, which are extremely uphill, are all different from each other, and give chances to throw a powerful shot while being mindful of a low ceiling and rough to either side. To a lesser extent, holes 2, 13, and 14 are similar, while not being as steep, still require some power to get far down the fairway in one shot, and depending on the pin placement, may require you to place your shot correctly to have a good look at the longer pin.
This course uses par 4's and 5's excellently. They're all long, some are doglegs or slight doglegs, and all are basically impossible to get to the basket in one. I especially like hole 4; despite not having any elevation, it gives several options for lines to take on the first shot and landing zones that give different opportunities for upshots to the long pins. In short, the design of this place is amazing. Many holes have different pins with varying pars, which some people don't like, but in most cases, all the pins are good holes. That also meant there are some excellent pins I saw but didn't get to play the one time I was there.
This course provides incredible and unique variety at every turn. If ever you think you've mastered a certain type of hole, the next one will be completely different. And if for some reason you get bored here and want some more variety, you can play holes 9 or 18 to the practice basket as a longer pin. All the rocky terrain (which causes issues, as I'm about to mention) means large skips happen frequently, which adds to the realm of shots you can throw, while also adding danger on many holes.
Cons: The only real knock here is the weeds in the fairways. Every hole has a clear strip, or at least has a good vantage point from the tee, but the weeds are super nasty, the actual rough is terrible, and some weeds have some sticky burrs that hurt to peel off. Even a few pins are unplayable due to being covered in weeds for twenty feet. Granted, none of those pins were in play when I was there, but the condition causes a lot of the variety of the course to be missing. I didn't have any experience with ticks, but I wouldn't have been surprised if I had. Judging by the pictures, the weeds aren't as much of a problem outside of the summer months, but hey, I played here during the summer.
The paths to get from the baskets to the next tee pad are even worse. They're basically running trails and will have your legs brushing against weeds constantly. Don't even think of bringing a cart here. Some of this is because most of the wooded and hilly areas are rocky terrain, where it's nearly impossible to get a lawnmower, which means keeping the weeds at bay is equally difficult. But for a course as excellent as this, I would expect a little better upkeep.
The only individual holes I have gripes with are 7, where it's pretty easy to get within 30 feet if you can throw somewhat straight, hole 10, which is a boring way to do an uphill shot, and hole 17, which is just a generic tunnel shot. None of these are bad, but they stand out as being the small collection of holes that aren't as incredible as the others.
In my opinion, the tee signs are just okay; they show a diagram of the hole that's mostly unhelpful, and I think there are a few pins not on the signs. Some holes have hand-drawn maps taped on top of the original signs, which is helpful, but demonstrates the need for new signs.
In addition, a few pars don't align very well - or maybe they do, and the pin I played to wasn't the one I thought I was. This isn't a big deal, but for a course amazing as this, tee signs and pars are one thing that can be noticeable cons. At some points, it seems like the pars were meant to cater to the beginner to intermediate player, which is odd, since there's no way this course is catering to those players. Really, all the par 5's here are just pro-level par 4's.
Other Thoughts: Using a spotter is useful on many holes, and sometimes almost mandatory. Anywhere the rough might be bad, which is pretty much every hole, there are some places where you'll have no idea where the disc landed. The worst is hole 5, where I wouldn't trust myself throwing down the hill without someone watching.
Not many courses are this good, and not many could open up more pin placements and make everything look better, to produce a significantly better course, while already being this good. Clean up the weeds and this course fully deserves a 5.0 without hesitation. If you come in the winter, when the weeds aren't growing, this course certainly plays like a 5.0.
17 of 17 people found this review helpful.
A hidden gem.
4 Helpful / 1 Not
Pros: I played during the week so there was hardly anyone on the course. Easy to follow, great use of topography, slightly hilly, wooded and some small water features. Even though it was wooded, the fairways were clearly defined and navigation wasn't an issue.
Cons: Some of the steeper ups and downs can get tricky in recent rain. Muddy in spots making it slick but I was pulling a cart which added to the issue.
Other Thoughts: I'm from Texas and this course was highly recommended from a good friend in Kansas. To say that it did not disappoint is an understatement, easily in my top 10 courses played.
4 of 5 people found this review helpful.
Incredible
20 Helpful / 0 Not
Pros: As soon as you pull in there's a massive course sign in front of you with a map, and the pars/distances for each hole - including elevation statistics.
There's a practice basket to the north of the shelter, with a 5 foot wide sign pointing to it that says... practice basket.
The tee pads are plenty large, and the signs are mostly helpful.
The only "tough" navigation spots are helped by small brown signs pointing to the next hole.
The holes are excellent. The shapes that are restricted by the trees make each hole very unique, and even the short holes are no gimme birdie due to the elevation change.
ELEVATION: and so much of it. You have uphills, downhills, playing along the side of a hill, playing along a plateau hoping you don't go off the edge... except that the long pin is off the edge.
This is how you do a wooded course. There's holes that go into the woods, ones that go out, and ones that are entirely wooded. There's a defined shape to each hole, and the rough is set so that you'll be punished for going in by the trees, but the stuff on the ground isn't so bad you'll lose a disc in it.
The one water hole presents a threat, but not a big one.
Several holes have even more new pins that aren't on the signs, so you'll have a variety of playthroughs.
Cons: The pictures on the tee signs are at a weird angle which isn't very helpful. A top down or horizontal shot would be good.
I disagree with the choice to call the long pin a par 5 on holes 3 and 13. When I played here, neither were in that pin spot, but my drive on 13 left me with what would have been an easy layup for eagle, and hole 3's is just a semi-tough par 4 which would also be an eagle opportunity with a good drive.
From the pictures it looks like the overgrowth on the fairways could get annoying during the summer months, but that may have been cleared out by now.
Other Thoughts: This is a fantastic course. The most unfortunate thing about it is that I live an hour away from it. My "cons" section holds some extremely minor gripes. It is absolutely worth the drive from KC/Topeka, and another drive, and another after that.
20 of 20 people found this review helpful.
Scenic, Clean, Solid, Technical
10 Helpful / 1 Not
Pros: -Very clean
-Scenic and beautiful
-Fun and challenging
-Good use of the land
-Blue DGA Mach III baskets
-Large concrete tee pads
-Numerous benches
-Helpful tee signs
-Trash cans
-Multiple pin placements
-Practice basket for those waiting on a group
-Picnic tables near hole 1 (covered by a roof structure in case of rain)
-Easy navigation
-Lake nearby
-Lots of parking space
-Multiple bridges
Cons: -No restrooms directly on site
-Deep wood rough during mid-summer
-Far from Topeka or Lawrence (although it is worth the drive)
-Can be easy to lose a disc
-Not very cart-friendly
Other Thoughts: One of the most beautiful courses in the state of Kansas. Very challenging set ups and use of trees/elevation change. Enjoyable views of Lake Perry located down the street. The course is deeply wooded, very hilly, and somewhat rocky. It has a few holes with water in play. Bring some trail mix, water and bug spray for your hike through he course.
10 of 11 people found this review helpful.
Like to hit trees?
2 Helpful / 25 Not
Pros: Good exercise. There are some good holes here, about 3.
Cons: Extreme lack of fairways. Many small and large trees between the teepads and the baskets, randomly placed and too close together.
Other Thoughts: If you think that disc golf is about who is lucky enough to miss the trees, then you'll love this course. This is the opposite type of design from great courses like La Mirada and Winthrop Gold.
Just-go-wack-some-trees-and-get-a-good-laugh kind of course.
2 of 27 people found this review helpful.
Wouldn't change a thing
4 Helpful / 4 Not
Pros: Elevation! For Kansas, this rarely exists, and is even more rarely used this efficiently. Each and every hole we came to was better than the one before it. If you enjoy a challenging course, this is your paradise. It's not a dink and dump...Thankfully!! Looks like it's made by the same crew as the Bloomington lake course, which is also a 5/5 in my book. Top 5 course in KS for me, without a doubt. Feels very removed from city, and full of natural beauty.
Cons: Only got to play it once
4 of 8 people found this review helpful.
Longview is Loco!
12 Helpful / 0 Not
Pros: Longview DGC is a great one with all of the elements I love to see on a course. Lots of wooded fairways with challenging lines, lots of elevation change, water on a few holes, and really nice equipment. The concrete tees all have good signs, there are 2 or 3 pin positions on each hole, and the blue rimmed Discatchers are all in good condition.
Holes 1 and 18 are mostly open, but aside from that, you will need to be very accurate with drives and approaches to hit the windows and get near the basket. The first hole is on fairly level turf with a left to right turn, mid range distance. The short pin is on a small mound, adding a small amount of height to the basket. Hole 2 is also pretty flat, but longer, and with a tunnel of trees that get tighter as you approach the target. Hole 3 begins climbing the hill as you throw a right to left turning fairway through the woods. 4 is along the road at the top of the hill, with a fairway that is very crowded with trees creating a low ceiling and narrow gaps. Hole 5 is the first of several elevated tees, teeing off down a good size hill, with a decent alley that will get you to the bucket at the bottom. Number 6 is from the open grass into the woods with a bit of uphill slope leading to the pin. Hole 7 is a gnarly run through trees across a valley. Tee and pin are close in terms of elevation, and distance is not too great, but getting from A to B involves climbing down and back up a rocky ravine with heavy undergrowth. The 8th hole is slightly uphill through numerous trees, and pin positions are staggered across left to right, so the avenues will vary depending on location. 9 is another downhill drive with a split fairway giving left or right side options to reach the bottom, and a bit of ground left to cover once you get there. 10 is back to the flatter part of the park, and pretty long, with the basket sitting on the side of a hill making it easy to overshoot or roll away. 11 is an uphill monster with lots of trees, and the basket is planted on top beyond the crest about 100' or so. 12 is another good run through the trees with a fairly generous fairway but low ceiling. 13 is a 90 degree dogleg right, on a fairly flat area with numerous trees that make hitting the landing zone on your drive crucial if you want a good approach on the next throw. 14 is a fun shorter hole, down hill steep with a pond at the bottom left of the pin. Lots of trees, but there is a good size window to the right that gives nice access. Once you climb the hill opposite the pond, turn around and see the tee for 15, throwing back directly over the pond to the basket on the other side, hidden behind trees on the bank. 16 is right next to the tee for 14, throwing one more big downhill drive. Big trees on either side, but plenty of space to fly and get the distance necessary if you hit it right. 17 turns back toward the parking lot, on fairly flat ground, across a small creek bed, between a couple of trees, and to a basket that is left side, surrounded by brush and trees, and backed by a stream. The drop off behind the pin is steep and has thick rough, careful not to overshoot this one. 18 is uphill some, long but mostly open air.
I love the elevation changes and the downhill throws like 5, 9, 14, 15 and 16. Most of these holes are quite difficult, but not impossible and very fun. The big sign next to the practice basket is full of distance and elevation stats to go along with the course map.
Cons: Lots of brushy, tangled undergrowth at places. In combination with sometimes rocky hill sides, footing can be treacherous. Also thick enough to lose a disc if you don't get a good spot. Not a great course for beginners or anyone who has trouble hiking up and down hills.
I was told there is poison ivy present, but I played 2 rounds in shorts and had no serious breakout.
Other Thoughts: Topographically and in terms of flora this course offers a lot more than any of the other courses I have played in Kansas.
Very cool, fun and difficult, with nice gear. After getting to play several rounds and see the great differences in play as the baskets are moved to alternate locations, I think there are not many courses that offer so much in the way of fun, challenge, and versatility. My favorite course in the state, and in my top 10 or 15 nationwide.
12 of 12 people found this review helpful.
The beginning of something great!
14 Helpful / 0 Not
Pros: This place has terrain galore, and it was utilized excellently. You'll be playing uphill, downhill, over ravines, over water, and all with a good mix of semi-open to very tight shots through the trees.
Particularly great are several holes that just let you launch from the top of a hill, which is always so satisfying for more intermediate players like myself. Those of us whose drives max out at 300 feet or so can feel like a superstar on these holes, although the hill shots still require accuracy to navigate the trees, which makes them not a 100% proposition. Most courses, you're lucky if you see one hole like this, but this one had a handful.
I can't stress the greatness of the layout enough. Never did I feel like a hole was just put in because that's where it had to go. If the terrain is boring, they walked you to some interesting features so you could play the fun stuff. Excellent course design. Furthermore, the course is laid out to where you can play either the front or back nine starting and ending at the parking lot.
Signage is great (with the one caveat in the cons section), with navigation a breeze due to signage that points you to the next tee. The tees also have benches for when you want to take a short break, which was much appreciate due to the terrain which gives you a bit of a hike in places!
Three pin locations on each hole make for great variety, and most alternate pins will change the feel and necessary shots.
Cons: This is a criticism to be removed at a later date, but the major current con is that the course is still a work in progress. There are still a lot of trees to clear in order to make some of the holes reasonably playable. As of this trip, a ton of trees were marked for clearing, so I'm confident they must be working in the right direction. Although, one highlight of this round due to this con was a drive that I got all the way across a ravine of trees for a deuce where a bunch of them are marked for removal! A win on insane mode! :p
Also, a situational criticism, all the baskets were at the blue pins, which are the long pins. This was a bit disappointing since it meant we had to grip it and rip it from pretty much every tee, which took away a lot of the potential shot variety. I'd enjoy playing this course more once the locations of the baskets weren't all set to blue. Since it's a work in progress though, there's probably a reason they had everything set to blue.
One thing we really didn't like about the signage at each hole was the weird angled Google Earth view that was used on the signs. It really didn't help you to locate the pins at all like an overhead shot would have, especially since the pins were often placed on the image without paying attention to the tree lines or anything. This is a bit nitpicky since the course is very nice, but we often found the signs not very helpful for locating the pins.
The only other minor disappointment was hole 18. It's great when a course goes out with a bang, but after 17 interesting holes, it felt like 18 was just a means of getting me back to the parking lot. It was a little like watching a great fireworks show that ended with a roman candle. Again, this is nitpicky since it's hard to find things to complain about at this course. If a hole like 18 was in the middle of the course somewhere, I probably wouldn't have thought much of this; it would have just been a brief break from all the terrain and trees. It's just that all of the first 17 holes seemed to have such interesting things going on, that it stuck out when the tamest one was last.
Other Thoughts: I'm sure this will be a 5-star course for me once all the work is done, so a bunch of my "cons" are really only temporary. I had a heck of a good time playing this one "as is", so I really look forward to seeing it develop! I live in Olathe, and would be willing to make the drive just to play it once in a while, especially once more tree clearing is done; it's that good.
This will be a real gem, and most of the facets have already been cut!
14 of 14 people found this review helpful.
Amazing Challenge
12 Helpful / 0 Not
Pros: Tees are concrete and large. Baskets are great and brand new with three independent flags on top of them that indicate wind speed of 6, 12, and 18mph. (different sizes) 10/10
There is a huge variety of distances at this course. There are a couple of 200 foot holes and a couple of 700ft holes and some of everything in between depending on pin positions. 10/10
This course really forces players to throw every shot, and punishes those who don't have certain shots. Some holes, most notably 13, are also long enough to require multiple shots on the same hole. 10/10
Each hole has three different pin positions. The different hole positions really change the feel of the holes in distance, shot path, and difficulty. Many also change the par of the hole. 10/10
There are multiple ways to play most of the holes, especially those in the longer pin positions. This course really makes you think about what shot to play. decisionmaking 10/10
There are some great elevation changes at this course with good variety. Also, many are not simply up or down but go up at the start and plateau or do the opposite. There is some of everything. 10/10
The use of obstacles at this course is great, they make every hole challenging but none are ridiculous except for maybe hole 12. Still 10/10
Tee signs provide good detail on the holes and bright blue baskets with flags help view them from the tee. The only problem with navigation on the holes is if baskets are in one of the two longer spots it can be impossible to tell which from the tee. 9/10
There is great variety of openness on this course, especially for how wooded it is. No shot is completely wide open, and the majority are pretty technical. 8/10
Navigation between holes is pretty intuitive for the most part, but there can sometimes be fairly long walks between holes depending on the pin positions just because of how different the pin positions are. Still 8/10 overall
There has been and continues to be a lot of work being put into this course to make it more playable. A few days ago when I played it they were adding paths down one of the holes with a pretty steep downhill. There are a couple of other holes that I expect they will do the same on. The elevation on several holes is too severe for mowers so they have beat down the fairways with weed-eaters. 8/10
Cons: This course is not good for beginners at all, and they will not have any fun playing it. It is difficult enough that most intermediate players will struggle to stay near par. There is not a player on Earth that would not be challenged by this course, especially if the pins are back. A second set of shorter tee boxes would really help with this. 3/10 on challenging all levels without being impossible.
This course is still very rough if you stray off the fairways. Several holes have trees that were cleared from the fairways are laying on the side of the holes. In addition, there are no bathrooms or running water on the course, and a few holes need to have weeds cut down further in the fairways. There are benches on most holes which are very needed due to length and elevation. 3/10 on comfort during the round.
Discs are pretty easy to find in most fairways, but if you throw it in the rough be sure to watch it closely because they could be easily lost. A few of the holes mentioned above with shin high weeds covering the fairways also make discs hard to find. 5/10 overall
Other Thoughts: This course is probably the most challenging I've ever played if the pins are in the middle or long positions, even more so than Blue Valley Park in KC, and it's no walk in the park even in the short positions. It has by far the most length of any wooded course I've ever played with a length from 6000-9000ft depending upon pin positions. For intermediate level players this course is great for doubles. This is truly a professional level championship course.
12 of 12 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.
4 / 485ft.
Par / Distance:
2-4 
11/23/2021 
10/6/2021
Review By: kp_1024 
This review was updated on 11/26/2022
Hole #4 (Taken 10/2018) 
Report this Review