2 attempts, 1 play
6 Helpful / 0 Not
Pros: The front is all trees and the back is a bit more open, making for a very fun round of 18.
The hills and trees provide a nice challenge.
Now that I understand, having the multiple basket locations should prove to keep this course fresh and challenging now matter how many times you play.
Hard to lose a disc here. (I tried 3 times. ;) )
Cons: No overall map.
Update:
Somebody on here messaged me and apparently there has been some vandalization that a group is currently recovering from by replacing the signs, etc.
Weird mix of "old" signs, and obviously newer signs, making it very confusing.
Other Thoughts: Update on the signs:
I've not played the 18 hole "long tees", which are the "old" ones mentioned below. Things do make sense (even though the distances didn't quite match uDisc.
This course seems "legendary" around here. I see some sort of tournament played here fairly often. Since i just started playing, it's been on my "bucket list" and I am happy to cross it off.
It is enjoyable, but all the tee pads and duplicate signs made it very confusing for me. None of the distances matched up with what uDisc showed on the map when I played the "short" from the new signs. I will attempt again with the pads near the "old" signs to see if things match up better.
In any case, it was very enjoyable and I understand why it is popular. I plan to play many more times!
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.
Another gem in the DSM crown
12 Helpful / 0 Not
Pros: -Concrete Tees
-Multiple tee pads for most
-Good mix of open/wooded and long/short
-9 Hole loops
-Baskets decent
-Signage is good
-Many benches on long tees
-2 practice baskets
Cons: -Front 9 mostly re-designed, needs new map, confusing
-Few trashcans
-Only a port-o-potty for facilities on site
-Can get busy at times
-Path/road comes into play on 11, 12, 14, 15
-Bugs can become a problem in season
Other Thoughts: Ewing Park DGC is located in the southeast part of Des Moines, IA. This part of the park is mostly disc golf, but a walking path/road comes into play on a few holes. It appears the front 9 have been almost completely re-designed, was tough to follow at first as the only map available was old and out of date. Other than a those few quibbles, Ewing belongs in the crown jewels of the Des Moines disc golf scene, along with Big Creek, Grandview, Picard and Walnut Glen. You get plenty of trees to work with on the front 9, opening up more on the back 9. Lines are a little tougher through the trees, but OK. Elevation plays quite a bit here, too. We paired this with Grandview for a full day of throwing. Rating suffers a bit here with an tough to follow re-designed front 9 (a new map would do wonders). Bring some bug repellent in season and enjoy. A good test that I will play again.
12 of 12 people found this review helpful.
Great course, mix of Iowa and NW US style
4 Helpful / 0 Not
Pros: Not a lot of ground over like you often find in Des Moines courses, which I always find to be very unpleasantly full of burrs and chiggers. The front 9 are very similar to what you find in the Pacific NW, with lots of trees and not much brush. Very, very pretty. Long holes. You hit the back, and it's super fun to really let loose. Folks were extremely friendly, and even at 2pm on a Saturday, with a tourney in progress no less, the traffic was light not heavy.
Cons: Tad difficult to navigate the first time without asking for help, and the weird deal where you have to walk back up the hill for the second hole pad is still a thing. There still doesn't seem to be signage with a course map at the beginning. At least that we could find.
Other Thoughts: I just really liked this well maintained, varied course!
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.
Classic course
4 Helpful / 2 Not
Pros: Multiple tee pads. Well balanced for distance and right/left shots. Multiple trash cans. Good use of elevation. Well designed for flow. Good size parking lot. Nice park. Well manicured on most holes. A few holes were impressive. Good intermediate course from the longs. Good beginner course from the shorts. Fun. Lot of fun uphill and downhill shots. Lot of ace runs from the shorts. If you can throw close to 450 feet you have a pretty good advantage on the longs.
Cons: Could also use some next tee direction signs. A lot of trash on the ground. Edit:Played again and the trash was picked up. No course information signs/map at parking lot. Not very challenging for experienced players. Only one bathroom in parking lot. No running water.
Other Thoughts: I would probably rate this course a little higher if it had better information posted at entrance. So I played the Des Moines Open a week after my first review. The old tee pads with no signs can throw you off. There is a couple of holes missing signs. The road does play OB except for when you have to cross it going from a tee pad to a hole. Great disc golf community and club. Probably the most friendly people you could casually meet up and play with. I would highly recommend this course to flickers and leftys.
4 of 6 people found this review helpful.
Yin Yang course, with legit par 4's
11 Helpful / 0 Not
Pros: (I've only played the Long tees here, so I cannot comment on the Short Tee's, except through observing)
-Beautiful course, that has a yin yang type of layout! Front 9 is technical and wooded, back 9 is open.
-Long and Short Tees. Very nice benches and it appeared that new signs have been installed!
-Course was clean and well maintained.
-Beginner Friendly and challenging to the advanced player
-Throwing on #10 alone is a treat! Spectacular!
-You can use a variety of discs here. On the front 9 you'll definitely want the control of fairway drivers for more accurate lines through the trees. On the back 9 you'll have more open lines to throw down, but you'll still have a few long distance shots that will require you to place a second shot.
-From the long tees, there were legit par 4s (I didn't play the shorts, so I can't say) There are holes where you will have to make two good throw to get in position for an approach
-Figure 8's back to the the parking lot. Allowing for Starts on the Front or Back 9.
Cons: (Some of these issues may be "In transition", to be addressed in the future. Especially if they are upgrading.)
-Some of the tees appear to have been relocated. #2 comes to mind off the top of my head. I didn't see anything that notated this directing me or the group in front of me, to the new tee location. I seen the new teepad location as I passed it by on the proceeding holes. I would have used a completely different line.
-Extremely busy and popular Disc Golf course and park! Lots of pedestrian (Disc Golfers and Non-Disc Golfers) traffic and I got caught behind a bottle neck of 2 groups. I really ran into a lot of Non-DG pedestrian traffic on the back 9.
-This may be an extension of the previous con, but look at a different side of the same con. You have a course, that requires a lot of long drives and it blends with the above pedestrian traffic. I seen a lot of interactions with people that won't be expecting flying objects to come whizzing by in their general direction. Specifically in the Botanical side of the park. Its one thing to have a course in a unused or under used part of a park, but when it plays through high traffic area, I look at that as playing through a playground. Adding signs to "Watch Out For Flying Discs" would go a long way.
-Navigation, This may be a first timer issue. (There wasn't a map at the start, but it may be in the works) Had I not had two big groups in front of me, It may have been more tumultuous to navigate. However, I just used the map available here on DGCR.
-Even with the groups, I had to walk up the fairways to find the basket. Sometimes even throwing, hoping the basket was in that general vicinity. After having climbed multiple hills to find a basket, I was exhausted.
Other Thoughts: Ewing is a beautiful park, and I really had a great time here! It's definitely one of the many "Must Play" courses in the Des Moines Area. I had a blast playing here! I only wish I would have picked a better, less busier, time of day. That way I wouldn't have felt rushed, while dealing with "First time issues" (Where's the basket, etc) You will be throwing through some tight fairways and working specific lines on the front 9. The trees are scattered out just right, that you will want to consider your line before you throw. Unplanned shots may result in taco'd discs. The back 9 will really let you let loose with your arm, for all you big D drivers. You will still want to consider your shots. For some require a second shot placement.
It's a popular course, and rightfully so! I wanted to give this a four star course, but I just felt there were certain issues that really affect a players round here. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't play here, by all means, this is a course to hit! It was challenging, well laid out, and fun to play! Just keep a watchful eye when you are on the back 9. Also, if you are doing a Road Trip, (I'd recommend hitting this course early in the day, as well as Grandview. I had to skip Grandview because every hole had a group and there was a line waiting to start) I committed to playing the long tees here, my problem was that I had played Pickard Park longs first, so my energy was spent by the time I got here. Thankfully, there were benches spread out here.
11 of 11 people found this review helpful.
Excellent course, 2 personalities
1 Helpful / 0 Not
Pros: + Super clear signs
+ Good tee pads
+ Front 9 has this very dense, wooded feel to it and the back 9 is more expansive. Sort of feels like two courses, but not in a bad way - just like a change in personality halfway through.
+ Several long holes, several runnable holes.
+ Elevation used well.
Cons: - Baskets often tucked away or far enough away that not visible in the least from the tees - makes positioning of drives a bit of a gamble if playing the course the first time (#5 would be a prime example).
- A couple holes had no clear lines or windows - somewhat of a throw and pray feel to them.
Other Thoughts: Fun course, one I will definitely play again if find myself within 30-45 minutes of it.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
Improving
1 Helpful / 3 Not
Pros: Multi pads and pin positions most homes
Portapotty in parking lot.
It's in a super cool Arboretum if you like trees.
Got to love the massive teepads.
Cons: Unused pads remain in place
No running water.
Other Thoughts: This park complex has been getting a facelift from the city over the last three years. Some changes to course were necessitated on the due to some trail redesign and some foliage aging out. Some new pads and basket positions got put in.
1 of 4 people found this review helpful.
Not what i expected
3 Helpful / 5 Not
Pros: Multiple tees
Elevation
Cons: Terrible signage/ lack of pin callouts
Pretty sure basket on 2 is missing
Lack of traah cans/
Other Thoughts: This really plays as 2 different courses to me, the front and the back. As mentioned several other times here. In my oponion the front is lacking in any defined fairways , seem more like baskets in some sparely wooded area, no real developement or feel of being on a course there, and the back is fairly wide open. With a few gaurdian trees at some of the baskets. Having played pickard the day before i was expecting something close as ratings on here are similar. Just wasnt close in my opinion. This seems like an average 18 holes at best, dont get all the love, but im not local, and spent as much time scouting as playing, ao that may factor in, but all in all not a standout imo.
3 of 8 people found this review helpful.
6 Helpful / 1 Not
Pros: 1) Like a lot of Des Moines courses, it is long. I like throwing drivers off the tee and I did so on every hole except one. Deuces are hard to come by and feel earned.
2) Two sets of tees, so the course can be played by players with wildly varying levels of skill.
3) The course seldom takes away your best shot. There are, of course, holes that go left to right and holes that go right to left, but the turns weren't so extreme to force me away from my backhand.
4) clean and well-maintained (really important in Iowa!)
5) It is an unusually long and challenging course to be right smack in the middle of the city.
I'm guessing that if I lived in Des Moines, this would be the main course that I would play; it is conveniently located,it gives the arm a workout, and you don't have to worry about losing discs.
Cons: 1)Lack of a map: Each tee sign shows the location of the next tee, but forget to look and you will often times have a hard time figuring out which direction to go. While navigation isn't bad, there are a couple places where it is not intuitive.
2)Inaccurate tee signs: this drove me nuts. I'm guessing some alternate pin placements were put in after the signs were installed, but it makes things exceptionally confusing on blind holes. Several times I thought I had made a great shot only to find that the basket was either in the other direction or further away than the sign indicated. A course map would fix all of this.
3)No memorable holes. Lots of decent ones, but none that I feel the overwhelming urge to play again. The front nine in particular was not very distinctive.
Other Thoughts: Definitely worth playing, but 4 stars is a bit much in my opinion. It felt like a typical city course with a little extra length and difficulty. I feel that it is the weakest of the 4-star rated DSM area courses (with Pickard clearly the best)
And I can't stress this enough: it would be exceptionally helpful to put in a course map with accurate distances and pin placements!
6 of 7 people found this review helpful.
Great Course
0 Helpful / 3 Not
Pros: Challenging shots.
First 9 holes are through thin, wooded areas that are really fun to play.
Course has both open and wooded holes for any type of player.
Groomed well
Cons: Not the courses fault, but the mosquitoes are terrible!
Some holes were muddy which was a little annoying, but was expected because of lots of rain
Other Thoughts: I will continue to play this course for years to come! Very fun course and takes long enough to play where you can really enjoy the sport.
0 of 3 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.
1 
8/16/2021 
8/17/2021
Review By: CraigTreptow 
This review was updated on 8/19/2021
Hole #4 (Taken 8/2009) 
Report this Review
