I think I'm home
1 Helpful / 4 Not
Pros: A fun course for players of all levels, alot of long open shots with some nice technical shots mixed in. A Beautiful Park in the heart of ATX!!
Cons: Can be very busy on the weekends and theres a park fee (Saturdays and Sundays only).
Other Thoughts: Zilker Park DGC is a very fun and a moderatley challenging course that is great for all levels of player. The front 9 is shorter and somewhat technical. The back 9 is longer and shots must be thought out well to be succsecful (big trees). The best thing about Zilker for me is that it's "FUN and Short" I can play a solo round at Zilker in less than an hour if I need a quick fix. Perfect for busy people who can't get enough. Zilker is also a great confidence builder. The holes are fun, challenging, but Not Impossible. The perfect course to get your "groove back".
1 of 5 people found this review helpful.
Fun course
1 Helpful / 3 Not
Pros: Very nice concrete tee boxes on all 18 holes. Easy to navigate, especially if you have a map. Fun holes, one where you throw from behind an old outdoor amphiteatre. Catchers in good shape. Easy, fun, and fast play through.
Cons: Road traffic can get annoying. Huge groups of new players everywhere get annoying fast. No tee signs at all.
Other Thoughts: You can do most of the holes with just a mid range if you wanted to. Parking is free unless you park near barton springs.
1 of 4 people found this review helpful.
Interesting Beginner Course
6 Helpful / 1 Not
Pros: Mostly open holes making the course beginner friendly. They now have concrete tees on all holes. They also have large stone blocks at each tee for those waiting to throw to sit on. The few wooded hole didn't have tons of underbrush so very hard to lose a disc here. Friendly locals. Some of the tees where very large giving you freedom in how you tee off.
Cons: No Tee signs though one of the people I talked to who was part of the Worlds Biggest Disc Golf Weekend Event( WBDGW.com ) said tee signs would be in soon. Some of the holes are just to close for my comfort. I am not comfortable having disc shoot by with in 20 feet of me. This wasn't because I had thrown bad or the other people had it is just that some of the baskets and fairways are very close to each other. There may have been more trees in the past that helped prevent this. They are having a drought and you can see where trees have died off and they had to cut them down.
Other Thoughts: I really enjoyed attending the WBDGW event. Everyone was friendly.
This course is very beginner friendly. Easy to see most baskets from the tees. No overly long holes, no thing I have learned is beginners hate throwing 10 times on just one hole cause of how long it is. Little or no underbrush makes recovering from a bad throw easy. I will defiantly be bring my in-laws who are very much beginners to play here the next time I am in town. Layout if cart/stroller friendly. Saw people pushing baby strollers around the course. Saw a few dogs. Not sure if the park rules allow for off leash or not.
6 of 7 people found this review helpful.
Should be 2 courses!!!
8 Helpful / 0 Not
Pros: 1) One of the most unique tee areas I have ever seen on a course. If it wasn't raining miserably when I played here I would have taken a picture, but you literally seem to br throwing a tee shot from the alter of an old outdoor church. Holy Lord bless this drive!
2) Beginner friendly course because it is fairly open. There is a little bit of challenge on a few of the holes, but it is still pretty simple.
3) I am sure this place is crowded which I actually consider a positive . . . not because I want a crowd, but because I want this course to absorb a lot of people so the other courses in Austin are less crowded. DISCLAIMER: This does not mean this is a good course or one I would return to offten!
4) Teepads on the other nine are nice. They are kindof hexagonal and really allow you to take any angle of approach you want on each hole.
5) The technical holes on this course are fun. There are some shots you need to bring to the table which is always nice.
Cons: 1) One of the nines the tees are dirt and mud not even grass and dirt. These are some of the worst tees I have ever encountered.
2) There is nothing that indicates where the tees are or what tee you are standing on. This is a really old course so I assume this is because they do not expect outsiders coming to their course. Little did they know one of the top 25 traveled DGCR users was staying 4 miles away! You gotta be prepared.
3) Lots of picnic tables set in the middle of the course. This could be a positive for those picnicking but a negative for those trying to play their disc golf rounds as I am sure there would be kids running around.
4) Old discatcher baskets have rusty chains and definitely have seen better days.
5) The turf out here is really in rough shape. This is fo rsure one of the holdest most played courses in town. It probably is played a lot even in its current condition because of its central location to Austin. This would simply mean it would be near impossible to ever make turf repairs or upgrades to the course.
6) No signs available on this course which definitely helps the traveling disc golfer find where they are going.
7) Dangerous in a few spots where the next tees are too close to the previous baskets.
8) Not enough variety from hole to hole in terms of distance. They all seem to be very similar. I would rather play a 150' hole and a 300' hole than two 225' holes and all seem to be in that range of 225'-275'.
Other Thoughts: Overall this course only suffers in my rating because it is missing some of those things that courses typically need to keep me excited about coming back. One set of tees are horrendous the others are awesome. The baskets are old and rundown and could use an upgrade. The turf on a lot of this course are All of the issues are certainly fixable, I'm just not sure that there is a plan to improve the maintenance. The course really is two different nines and I almost feel like I should be able to give two ratings here. The older more technical shorter course would get about a 1.5 the other more parklike with the large older trees would get about a 2.5-3.0, but I need to decrease the course because it just feels like two courses.
8 of 8 people found this review helpful.
Two Nines; Too Repetitive
8 Helpful / 4 Not
Pros:
*Tees on North course are nice large concrete hexagons
*There are some nice trees in places
*The map online at DGCR is basic, but essential. DO NOT go there without it!
*Convenient to get to, even on the bus.
Cons:
-Tee signs: There are no tee signs so navigation would be a nightmare without the course map. Make sure to get a map online and bring it with you!
-No hole lengths available because no signs.
-Road noise: On the North course several holes are way too close to the loud and busy Mo-Pac Road. The road is only 80 ft from hole 2, tee 4 is only 10 ft from the road, and tee 9 is only 15 from the road! The noise, road, and cars seriously detracted from my enjoyment of nature.
-Lack of fairway shape variety. There are too many straight holes and only 1 left to right, so it feels repetitive. On the South course every hole is straight. As a combined 18: 13 St/ 4 Left/ 1 Right
-Elevation variety is very limited. The South 9 are all flat. The elevation changes on the North course are minimal with the greatest elev. change only 8 ft. As a combined 18: 11 Flat/ 3 Up/ 4 Down.
-There's very little length variety. All 18 holes are rather short and very similar in length, so this gets repetitive.
-Terrain: I thought the terrain was OK, but below average. I thought the Texas type trees were nice, but other than that there wasn't much about the course beauty that stood out to me. There's not that much terrain variety with all 18 holes of grass mixed with scattered trees; this repetitiveness numbed my enjoyment.
-Tees on South course are only dirt and not very well marked.
-Lacking most amenities: No restrooms, no score cards, no warm up basket, no message board.
Other Thoughts:
Course Level = Probably White (most suited for Intermediate players rated 875-925) but maybe Red (most suited for Juniors and Intermediate players rated 825-875). Without hole lengths I can't be more definitive.
~Since there are 18 holes why don't they renumber the course from 1-18? It doesn't make sense to me to keep it numbered as two nine hole courses.
~Baskets: most are only single chain Discatchers but there are some double chains. Many are old, though, and some are rusty.
With the lack of signs and the ensuing problems navigation problems, combined with the lackluster design, the repetitive holes, and the loud traffic noise on the North course my desire to play again at Zilker is not that much greater than zilch. (OK, that's a little harsh, but I was looking for a way to use that word here.) To put it another way-- with so many courses to choose from in Austin Zilker's enjoyment factor is near the bottom of my list, so if I had limited time I'd play elsewhere.
A note about my rating: My rating is a subjective measure of my
enjoyment of the course, on the day I played it, and it is NOT intended to be a measure of the
quality of the course. My Enjoyment Ratings are given "on the curve" in relation to all other courses I've played.
Look in the "Links/Files" section for my files with Hole-by-hole ratings and a more detailed Overall review. You can also read more of my review philosophy and rating notes at
Disc Golf Course Reviews
8 of 12 people found this review helpful.
Better courses in area
1 Helpful / 4 Not
Pros: Centrally located in Austin. Good for beginners/noobs. Nice old trees in park.
Cons: Nothing to write home about - Basic DG here. Can get crowded and parking is bad on weekends
Other Thoughts: So many better courses in Austin - I would play Peace in a heartbeat but not sure I would play Zilker again
1 of 5 people found this review helpful.
Great Beginner Course
5 Helpful / 2 Not
Pros: With holes no longer than 250' it's a great course to introduce friends to DG
On the hottest of days you have Barton Springs close by
If course isn't crowded you can play a round in close to an hour
Can.t really lose discs on this course
Cons: Hard to find some of the tees on the south nine
Not very challenging for more experienced players
More of a pitch and putt course, No drives over 250'
Other Thoughts: You can park under the mopac bridge to advoid the parking fees on the weekends
5 of 7 people found this review helpful.
Nice Home Course
1 Helpful / 3 Not
Pros: This course is a fun course that takes a little more finesse to do really well. The course is a great outdoor course to play with good shade as you go along.
Cons: They are getting ready to do some demolition on majority of the course due to the Spanish Moss getting a little out of control. It is going to make the course in certain areas a lot easier.
Other Thoughts: This is a great course in the heart of down town Austin. Go out there on a weekend, play a round of disc golf and cool off in the springs. What more could you ask for from a course.
1 of 4 people found this review helpful.
classic pitch and putt
7 Helpful / 1 Not
Pros: -fun layout
-fairly easy to navigate
-well placed trees
-concrete pads on the north 9
-easy to play a quick round if it's not too crowded (which isn't often)
-in town
-other park amenities nearby
Cons: -very repetitive, very little variety
-nearly always very crowded
-no concrete pads on the south 9
-finding the parking lots can be an issue
-lots of beginners and families means slow play and people who don't know etiquette
-difficult to navigate if you don't know the course
Other Thoughts: It is clear that this course has been around for awhile as the design is a bit dated, ie there are no long holes. The north 9 is a little bit longer than the south 9 but I don't think there is anything over 350-375'. This is a major ace-run/birdie-fest. Beginners will love that they can score well here and more experienced players will play well below par.
Since it is in town and beginner-friendly, this course is always packed. I've had to wait on just about every hole every time I've played here.
There isn't much variety in shots as most of the baskets are straight ahead. Some well-placed trees will make you shape a line or give you a low ceiling but for the most part you can just go at the basket.
A great course to work on your short game or play a round with just a putter or mid. Or bring the family. If you're looking for a more challenging experience then go to Roy G or the Metcenter.
**Like this review? Hate it? Message me and let me know why! I want to make them better!**
7 of 8 people found this review helpful.
Short, But Usually Not So Quick
6 Helpful / 0 Not
Pros: Can be super fast to play if there aren't a lot of other people out. Straight-forward, with no super-long holes if you've got shorter arms. Great course to work on mid to long range putting/approach shots for the more experienced players, in addition to the multiple opportunities to go for the gusto with ace shots. As most other people have said, great course for beginners due to its ease and location...
Cons: ...However, due to its location and the relative ease of the course, it is almost always crowded. The worst part of the crowds that are out here are 1) lots of beginners who take a long time to complete a hole, 2) lots of experienced players who feel that it's okay to come out in a group of 6+ and each launch 2-3 discs per shot. Coupled with this is the slight confusion of the course layout and the lack of adequate markers/signs; many people shooting at the wrong pin or playing the course out of order. The North half has concrete tees, but the South half doesn't, and so those tee boxes get brutalized by the amount of traffic and inclement weather.
Other Thoughts: Not sure where people park that they're being charged. Two parking lots right by the North & South side are free every time I've parked. Maybe they charge on the weekends in the Summer? Or if you're parking by the Barton Springs swimming area?
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.
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5+ 
6/24/2010 
8/11/2010
Review By: dreadlock86 
This review was updated on 12/4/2016
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