Little Elevation, Some Flaws, But Still Pretty Good
13 Helpful / 0 Not
Pros: Heritage Park is a fun, well-maintained, and super challenging course with great amenities and a variety of challenges. There are 3 pins on most holes, extra baskets in all the par 4 positions, a practice basket, and the tee signs even indicate which pins are active.
Even if the pins were never moved, this course has a lot of replayability. With several lines on a lot of holes, there's a lot you won't understand about this course until you've played it several times. Things like how your disc is likely to fade into the woods even if you nail the first two gaps and give you a tough upshot. This course makes you remember the things that should be basics. The downside is that it makes for some more lost disc potential for first-timers, so feel free to play safe. Although the par 4's add more challenge, including a few proper two-shot holes, I also recommend you don't play them unless you know exactly where they are.
This course uses long par 3's really well. They might be a little on the hard side for most skill levels, but they do an excellent job making you take a difficult shot if you want to get all the way there in one. They also have different challenges at different parts of the fairway - gaps of various sizes, small finishes to some direction, or a challenging green.
The shorter holes have good variety as well. Some roller potential, some low ceilings, and some skip opportunity highlight what this course has to offer. And having multiple pins changes some holes in a subtle, but meaningful way - you may want a right finish instead of a left finish.
While being heavily wooded, this course does a fantastic job making most holes "in the open" while having a lot of trees around, and danger if you go off the fairway. Only holes 12-14 are properly in the woods, but all the others are close or have rough on both sides of the fairway. This gives a lot of opportunity for various types of shots while, in most cases, not offering any simple lines.
Cons: Some of the par 4 pins are just not good. Some are on the easy side, only adding a little distance to a par 3, and while the hole is still a good design, the distance ends up being an easy 3 or 4 for most people, depending on your skill and experience. On some others, the long pins(s) give more opportunity for a super aggressive over-the-top line, which is made possible by somewhat short trees and slightly elevated tees. On these, even if your drive ends up in the woods, you may still have an easy upshot for the three, but those lines are dumb and bring safety hazards and lost disc potential into play. And the worst of these is...
Hole 10. Utter garbage hole. The short pin has an easy RHFH/LHBH line, and on the others, you're either laying up or taking a crazy line. The fix should be to cut down or trim a few trees to open up the low line, then scoot the tee a little forwards to make you take that line (probably the right line), removing the over-the-top line from play.
Very little elevation change. The course design here mostly makes up for this, but it makes a few holes be a little boring, and a few others feel a little same-y. The tee shots of holes 8 and 17 have a small gap to hit off the tee, and while the challenge is there, I don't like that when you still need a decent amount of distance to get to the green. Hole 5 also has a skinny gap off the tee that's just too skinny. And hole 16 is just the wrong way to do a water hole, but if it was downhill, it would probably be pretty fun. The elevation that is present is used well, such as the uphill shots on 14 and 18, but there's just not much of it.
The brush is super thick here, for seemingly no good reason. While it makes the holes more punishing, especially the shorter ones, it also makes the aggressive shots less fun, even if they're still the right call. Hole 1 seems to be especially eager for discs to miss the initial gap and start rounds off poorly, and holes 10-15 can give a lot of trouble as well. Even the tall grass on 2, 6, and 7 is more dangerous than it may initially appear.
Holes 12 and 13 play near Pflumm Road, and if the road is expanded to four lanes in the future, like most roads in the area are, those two holes will be in trouble. Even now, the barbed wire fence comes into play on 13 if you take a skip to the right, and the road is a little noisy and annoying, even though it doesn't come into play.
Other Thoughts: While this is a really solid course in pretty much all respects, it doesn't give me the wow factor very much, and the minor issues are there to make me hesitate to give a high rating. There is room for improvement though - there's a pond and some more woods behind hole 1 if the course wanted to lengthen a few holes or remove some of the weaker ones. A par 5 pin for hole 1 on the other side of the pond would be sick.
There's a walking trail around holes 1 and 16(ish), but the course stays away from it pretty well. The parking lot has a lot near it other than Disc Golf, so don't be worried if there are quite a few cars.
The lake is surprisingly close on hole 16. Just saying. Feel free to bail out to the left side. Not only is the short pin that way, but being on the left actually makes it easier to get to the long pin (and the longer pin that might be getting installed in the future).
13 of 13 people found this review helpful.
Experience Counts
16 Helpful / 0 Not
Pros: MachX practice basket. The same as the ones on the course instead of using a recycled MachIII.
Most of the tee signs have a washer system to show you which pin the basket is
Wide variety of hole types (wooded, open, short, long, well-designed, stupid...)
Tee pads have gravel around them to save your ankles from being destroyed by a bad step
Half of the holes (1, 2, 6, 7, 10, 11, 14, 16, 18) have a blue MachX available. This is a HUGE improvement since you now have options to play mostly par 3s, or to abuse yourself by playing the par 4s. Hole 11 has a basket at all 3 pin spots because they are so different!
The open holes are decent and have some nice shapes to them, but the holes in the woods (12-14) or across the hallway (8, 9, 17) are the highlights of the course.
Many epic greens to hit. 8 and 17 especially, and 12 has a raised basket in a tree trunk with guardian trees all around it.
Always mowed well.
Cons: The rough. My first time playing here, I quit after 7 holes since I had searched for discs six times already and had lost two of them.
The stupid holes I mentioned earlier? Let's talk about them. Holes 2 long, 6 short, and 15 short... are literally a basket stuffed 10 feet behind an evergreen. 15 isn't that bad but 2 and 6 are just terrible to try to birdie. And then there's hole 10. I'm not sure how many large evergreens are in the middle of the fairway 200' from the tee... but they leave you with about a 5' wide gap on either side to hit. Either way, these feel poorly designed. Or maybe someone likes climbing evergreens for discs, I don't know.
Some of the washer sets on the later tee signs (14-18) haven't been updated to show the third pin. Luckily, 2 and 6 have other baskets to use if you want.
A couple of tees (5, 8, 17) have trees obstructing your drive for no good reason.
Hoe 16 really feels like a filler hole. Because it is.
The tree gap on hole 1 has my number. And then it kicks into the junk and I go looking for 15 minutes... I'm 1 for 2 on finding the disc.
Other Thoughts: The first 7 holes are not the highlight of this course. Fairly flat with some good and some meh holes. But hole 4 gives you a taste of the incredible the rest of the course.
Having the option to play a long basket on half the holes really opens the course up to higher level players. But it is still definitely not for beginners. For very experienced players it's really nice to have options.
Most holes aren't incredibly tough. My first whole round (short baskets) I shot 15 pars, 1 birdie, and two double bogeys for +3. Definitely better scores to be had, but a 1000 round would be amazing to see.
16 of 16 people found this review helpful.
Pretty good!
3 Helpful / 7 Not
Pros: Good use of the park and nice mixture of holes. Hole 12 is amazing.
Cons: Lots of thorn trees. Rough areas are overgrown and difficult to find discs.
Other Thoughts: Watch out for park rangers. They will make you pour out your beer.
3 of 10 people found this review helpful.
Well designed and maintained
8 Helpful / 1 Not
Pros: A really nice course overall. Well maintained with concrete teepads, tightly mowed fairways, and rough that's, well, rough. Most teeshots have a moderate-sized window to hit initially, with very few being a flatout grip it and rip it opportunity. Great mix of long and short holes. As a RHBH dominant player, I felt like there was a fair mix of teeshots that played to a natural hyzer vs ones that required a turnover. The day we played had multiple holes in a longer Par 4 pin location, which was nice. The signs very clearly marked which basket location was being used that day and what par that location equated to. Course flow was well designed and exceptionally easy to navigate. It's located in a large multi-use park that clearly prioritizes disc golf; I don't recall at any point having to throw over a jogging trail or near a soccer field or playground. And here's a major bonus: we played on a Saturday mid-morning and the course was nearly empty! Based on what others reviewers have stated, that is not an abnormal experience.
Cons: Not a lot of truly memorable holes. I think the park's lack of natural elevation changes is a contributing factor in this, since the design of the course itself seemed to maximize the land's potential. Also not the most aesthetically pleasing course I've seen. This course lacks the "It Factor" but is still really solid.
Other Thoughts: Heritage would be an awesome home course if I lived nearby. I feel like the combination of multiple basket placements, above average maintenance, and low traffic would make this a really fun course to play regularly. The course alone is probably most worthy of a 3.5 rating, but I gave it a half point bump because it seems to be way less busy than you'd expect for a course of it's caliber.
8 of 9 people found this review helpful.
Fun, Well Maintained Course
5 Helpful / 2 Not
Pros: ~ Lots of different drive selections, some longer holes, some shorter ones, left end, right end, you get the point.
~ Mach X baskets with concrete teepads
~ Very well maintained fairways (short cut grass on field holes)
Cons: ~ The main thing I do net enjoy about the course is that many holes have between two and three pin locations; but it seems that they have no rime or reason as to what location they have them all set up on any given day. Recently they changed many of the baskets, I played a week later and another one or two were switched. If they rotated all on A, or all on B, or all A/C-A/B you get the picture.
Other Thoughts: Overall after recently moving to the southern KC area this has been my favorite of the courses with 20 minutes driving time and the one con is not a big enough deal to make me want to play other courses instead.
5 of 7 people found this review helpful.
The Heart of Heritage
6 Helpful / 0 Not
Pros: Heritage Park is a nice park. It didn't have a lot of other traffic around the disc golf course. The nice tee signs sit next to large concrete pads. The baskets are in working order, and there are lots of possibilities for pin locations.
Terrain is primarily flat, but there are plenty of mature trees and tall grass rough patches interspersed across nice grassy fairways. A pond comes into play, but is not a high risk for losing a disc.
The layout is nice, I didn't have to spend much time looking at the map to navigate. Par 54 total without any excessive distance. Plays fast and fair. Plenty of room to make throws out of the box on most of the holes. The trees will create lanes and ceilings frequently, but still leave a good fairway.
I favored the back nine over the front. Fairways get a little tighter, and the interest rises a bit. It is tougher to get distance from the tee, and knockdowns can lead to tough second shots. The basket on 12 is raised on a stump. The water is in play next to hole 16.
Cons: I can't be overly critical, but I also don't feel a high level of excitement thinking back on playing Heritage. There are few holes that are memorable enough to warrant a second visit with several other great courses in the area, as well as several I have yet to visit.
Other Thoughts: Heritage is absolutely worth playing. The design is very good, and is good for learning the game or maintaining skills. It isn't in the top tier of courses around KC in my opinion, but if it were my neighborhood course I would mind playing there on a regular basis.
I scored 58 during my only round at Heritage park. I made a couple of birdies, and a handful of bogies, with one double bogey. I would not mind a few more tries at it. There are some shorter holes that give chances to get under par, and I could clean up a few of the bad shots with repetitions.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.
KC’s got a Heritage of solid courses
8 Helpful / 0 Not
Pros: Nice course set apart from other activities in a large, multi-use park.
• Variety: Good. Heritage is all about keeping it in the well-defined fairways and out of the dense woods and brush lining them. A few holes open up enough to allow for a few different routes off the tee (especially if you have the arm to get up & over some of the trees in the fairway, and still get decent distance), but for the most part, you actually have to shape a shot and hold a line. The map makes it look like everything's straight ahead, but with 3 sets of rotating basket placements, it seemed to be set up so that not all the holes were straight ahead, and it felt like a decent mix of R & L turning fairways, (but I'm pretty sure it's possible to have the baskets arranged so that most of the holes are basically straight ahead). The range of distances is good, but not outstanding. That said, some holes "feel" quite a bit longer because they're tunnels.
• Challenge: Very good. Fairways do a good job of presenting a reasonably tough, but manageable window... swear I heard them saying, "Here's your line... hit it." Most of the time, the rough is thick enough that leaving the fairway will add a stroke or two, but there are some spots where it's more forgiving. Heritage is much more about shot placement and mitigating risk than it is about distance off the tee.
• Equipment: Very Good. Nice tee concrete tees, quality baskets, and tee signs that show all 3 pin placements (too bad they don't tell you the current placement). Everything (including fairways) seemed to be well maintained and in great shape.
Aesthetics: Lots of eye appeal - not stunningly beautiful, but a very green and pleasant setting.
• Navigation & Flow: Mixed feelings. Getting from hole to hole was pretty intuitive most of the way... don't recall using the map that much. However, we spent a lot of time walking fairways to spot baskets, because several of the pins were in blind placements and the signs don't tell you the current position.
• Memorable holes: #12 with its well-guarded basket atop the stump and #16, with water lurking to the right as you approach were standouts. I also really liked #15. Kudos for raising 12's basket a bit so that misses result in longer comebacks.
• DG exclusive - didn't see much else in this area.
• Ample parking (apparently not a given from what I saw at Lakeside & Water Works).
Cons:
• Elevation: Meh. Pretty much flat. 16 plays a downhill enough to add some distance to your drive, and the terrain rolls a bit here and there, but this course is pretty freakin' flat. (See Other Thoughts).
• Repetitive: While I enjoy the finesse/control part of the game, Heritage starts to feel a bit repetitive toward the end of a round. The view from many of the tees has a similar look & feel. A couple of well-placed bomber holes would go a long way toward creating a change of pace.
• Where's the #$^$@! basket??? Regardless how nice the signs are, some system of communicating the current placement would be a HUGE improvement (and not just for visiting players). I'm a BIG fan of rotating pin placements; keeps things fresh and interesting for locals, and if changed regularly, you don't get those ever-growing dirt circles around the basket, because each position only gets used about 1/3 of the time... but for cryin' out loud, tell us where it is.
Other Thoughts:
I used to accept that you can't do much about creating elevation where nature doesn't provide any, but I've seen enough examples where courses have built up tee boxes or elevated baskets (like #12) to make things more interesting. Even a few feet makes a big difference in how a hole feels and plays. I've seen railroad ties and landscape timbers used to create a large box (approx 6' x 15' x 3' high). Fill with gravel and packed dirt, and tamp/compress, frame in a flush tee pad, add concrete and, voilà: elevated tee. Looks nice, too.
Wonderful complement to Lakeside Hills (about 10 miles away). Both are solid courses, with each providing what the other is missing. The two pair well for a great day's discing, but neither puts it all together, which keeps me from rating either one higher. That said, if I were local, I'd play more rounds at Lakeside.
8 of 8 people found this review helpful.
Enjoyable, not "WOWING"
5 Helpful / 0 Not
Pros: Every tee had a nice long tee pad a few had seating around and a trash can. Course was clean with a few cans laying around here and there, but overall very clean course.
Great parking and bathrooms close by, along with a shelter not far from the first hole, which is awesome if you are meeting up with a group.
Nice signage showing different pin placements, didn't have the ability to show current placement, but you can normally see the pin from the pad or a few steps up the fairway.
Not many open holes to have a bomb other than 2 and 11. The majority of the holes will require some kind of tunnel shot or straight accurate shot with a turn
A couple of my favorite holes were # 3 and #12
- 3: Not the most technical hole or most impressive, but who doesn't love an ace run?
- 12: Probably one of the staple pins on the course. Elevated basket with trees surrounding the pin.
Cons: I love courses that have a nice big board showing the course lay out and a bulletin board of some sort, I'm not sure if they are looking to put one in, but it currently does not have one.
We played the course after some rain and the course doesn't hold water very well in a few spots, but this won't be an issue every day.
Would also enjoy more benches and trashcans on each hole, but still a pretty young course, so improvements seem to be on the horizon.
Other Thoughts: Decent course, I will say it have a young feeling and knowing the Olathe area they will most definitely be making upgrades on an annual basis.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.
A Maturing Course
3 Helpful / 1 Not
Pros: - Nice mix of technical and open shots
- Concrete tee pads and some have trash can and benches
- Fairly easy to navigate
- Good signage on the course
Cons: - No park signs pointing where the course is within the park (yet)
- Fairly easy to lose a disc from the mid spring to mid fall
Other Thoughts: There were a few shots that made me actually think a little and the trees can be quite the determine to your drive. Given a few more years this could be one of the best courses in the KC metro.
3 of 4 people found this review helpful.
Great Course!
2 Helpful / 0 Not
Pros: --Nice variety of shots.
--Excellent tees and baskets.
--Plenty of space.
--Nice mix of technical and non-technical throws.
Cons: --No pin position indicators.
--A few lengthy walks between holes.
Other Thoughts: I've played disc golf for a number of years--primarily in Cincinnati. This course ranks near the top among my favorite courses. I loved the open feel of most of the holes mixed with the challenge presented by some of the more technical throws. As this course matures, I think it will become one of the best in Kansas City!
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.
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2-4 
11/27/2021 
12/12/2021
Review By: kp_1024 
This review was updated on 12/30/2021
Hole #4 (Taken 6/2016) 
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