Mundelein

[Mangler]

Thank You for input...



Modifications for safety have been made.



9 still preserved.

[mirth]

bump

[CEValkyrie]

I'm thinking about playing this course on Saturday. The baskets are not in but I heard it is staked off. Might bring my Mach3 out to play it. Let me know if you want to join me.

[CEValkyrie]

The tees are in the ground but no baskets. The tees are framed with wood & filled with fine limestone.  

[Mangler]

Baskets are in the ground.

Toss'm if you gott'm

[mirth]

Does anyone have the official layout as a postable image? I'd like to see how the final design looks.

[frsty50]

I'm interested in am image also, as we might play it this weekend.

Johnny B.

[jim]

I won't be playing because of injury, but may show up to see the course and watch a bit.
Congrats on more baskets being put in the ground!!!

[Todd. Fanning]

So the course is in? and if it is could any one tell me the streets its located on or where it is located i wanna check it out over the weekend.

[mirth]

Leo Lathers park in Mundelein. Somewhere by 60 & 137?

[Mangler]

Directions. RT 176 Between Midlothian and Rt 60/83 Take either Barnhill Rd South follow to park.

Date Set: 10/19/2003 Sunday
Time: 9:15AM First Group
Check In: 8:30- 9:00 AM
Location T.B.A.(lake county)
Rain or Shine.

18 Open $100.00 Guranteed Pay Out Low Score Wins.
First 12 Players Free.. Next 8 $10.00 Entry. 20 Max
If Twenty Players. $130.00 Winner $50.00 Runner Up

[Todd. Fanning]

(This is Diron @ Todds)

Todd and I went there today for a few rounds. We were greeted by two kids our age who told us the course, "f---in sucked". We Seen a few local guys from Adler Leagues...

The course overall is allright, we threw mostly putters and mid-ranges and had just about a good first shot on every hole, despite some heavy winds.

All and all it's nice but needs some more challenges.. Our biggest obstacle was boosting Todd up onto a home's roof to retrieve my Valkyrie.

I feel the baseball field is going to be a serious problem in the summer, unless of course it's abandoned like several fields across the suburbs are, but it looked like it was pretty well taken care of for being October.

Cross overs are a bit odd but not bad, of course once more people get out there it might be a little dangerous but... oh well..

[Jon Brakel]

Brett, Maddisen and I played it today. Here's my review.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly...

The Good: Hole number one is challenging, hole number 2 is cute and hole number 9 is fun. There are nine new baskets placed firmly in the ground in an upright position. The tee pads are level limestone. OK, that's all I can think of.

The Bad: For the longer holes (holes 1, 5, 8 and 9), the tee pad is way undersized. I was watching Brett's run up on a couple of holes and his non-plant foot is just barely on the tee pad and then his plant foot is right at the front. The width is way too small also. For the other 5 shorter holes its an ok size. There are too many places where the right handed backhand hizer bailout area is another tee pad and/or a basket. 8 and 5 for all practical purposes, share the same fairway shooting at each other with their bailouts being the other's tee pad. Number 3 is going to get a lot of discs in the surrounding yards. Too many of the holes are just wide open 150-200 foot shots. Its ok for a nine hole course to have one of those if that's what's needed for course routing. But on this course its numbers 3, 4, 6, and 7.

The Ugly What is ugly is what is beautiful. And what makes it ugly is that there are no baskets there. There are several acres of woods with dirt foot paths that could be easily turned into 3 to 6 holes depending on length. Think letter A at Bevier. Behind that there are several more acres of land around a pond. There is a foot/biking path there so you'd just have to route it to avoid the blind corner shots. It is so frustrating to see such a dumb course go in the ground when it could have been such a nice course. It still could be a nice course since the tee pads could easily be taken out. and new tee pads put in and of course move the baskets. I've been told by a Mundelein park person that the Mundelein parks people wanted to use the pond area but the designed balked because he said another bridge would have to be built to utilize the area. After walking the area with Brett today I know routing could be configured without the need for another bridge. This course is potentially a huge waste of resourses for the Mundelein Park District. However, they could recover their investment with a redesign of the course.

[mirth]

Our biggest obstacle was boosting Todd up onto a home's roof to retrieve my Valkyrie.

This is deeply concerning.... How long do you think the fringe homeowners will put up with things like that before a situation similar to the 'neighbor to the north' at Round Lake occurs?
I'm a homeowner and I sure as hell hate it when my next door neighbor's kids and permanently unleashed dog go roaming through my yard. I'd go ballistic if I knew some people were up on my roof.

It is good to know that it is nine baskets in the ground versus the proposed five. At least then the PD wouldn't have to invest more serious cash to add some alternate placements.

[CEValkyrie]

We played the nine twice this morning. Winds were 20-25MPH. Shot even the first nine & -4 the 2nd nine. Between Jon & I, we 2'd every hole but #1.

2 weeks ago I went with my wife & played the course when it was staked off. There was an organized game of flag football that interfered with some holes on the course. Today, There was a 7 on 7 team practicing with full pads. We could not play hole #8 the first round. I could also see baseball interfering if they host little league games.

Leo Leathers Park
Mundelein, IL
9 holes
Innova Discatcher-> No inner chains
Limestone tee pads
No tee signs
No restrooms

Hole 1-> (Good Hole)Tough, long anhyzer hole. Small gap to hit off the tee. Tee is to the west of #9 basket.
Hole 2-> (Average Hole) Slight uphill shot. Somwhat of an alley shot under some mature trees.
Hole 3-> Short wide open hole. Pin is placed in the corner of the park. I have a feeling the neighbors are not going to like disc golf .
Hole 4-> Short wide open hole. It's a slight downward grade.
Hole 5-> Pretty wide open hole. Little longer than the others. Baskets sits on top of the hill. A utility pole & power lines protect the hyzer route.
Hole 6-> Short wide open hole. Another hole the neighbors aren't going to like
Hole 7-> Short wide open hole.
Hole 8-> Wide open hole. Tee sits elevated. Longer than the other open holes.
Hole 9-> (Good Hole) Longest hole on the course. Pin sits back under some mature willow trees. A stream runs in front of the pin as well. There we cars parked on the entrance to the park. I had to blast a drive so I wouldn't hit them. I just cleared a van & parked it the first round.

Holes 1, 2, & 9 are solid holes. The rest of the holes are wide open & do not provide a challenge nor do they require you to work on a skill. I doubt i'll go back & play this course casually or competitively. It would be a fantastic place to work on upshots & putting. Baskets 5, 7, 4, 8, & 1 make a nice line for this.


I agree with Jon about the park. We walked around & found some great holes that would range 150-250feet. They would all require skill. The woods by the basketball course have so much potential. There are 2 really wide trails thru them already. If the park district didn't want to clear fairways, there are already 2 nice fairways already cleared. The walking path around the man made pond to the east provide a fantastic area for disc golf. The path runs all the way to MHS. You could install some really nice holes & routing would be easy. This park has some potential.

[Jon Brakel]

The Maybe: Al sent me an e-mail commenting on my review of the course. He sees the course as a work in progress and has plans to move 4 or 5 of the holes. If 4 or 5 of the holes are moved it could start to become a worth while neighborhood/beginner course. I will, of course, hold my judgements until I see what actually happens.

I thought maybe Al would be pissed about what I wrote, but he seems to have a decent understanding of the problems of the current layout.

I'm hoping for the best for this course.

[airspuds]

sounds like there are some issues

sounds like downers grove type issues

any one remember  when oly fields was nine holes  ?
still a little tight with 18

my opinions is that baskets in the ground is great

"work in progress"   -   i "think" many kinks can be/should be worked out
before - final answer -  time

if neighbors are mad already redesign of the course
might never take place

communication is key

invite neighbors to play

could it be a nice glow course  ??

[CEValkyrie]

Think Downers Grove but 10 levels below that.  

[Mangler]

" Im not angry anymore..."

Keep positive and enjoy.
It is an excellent practice facility.
Alternate Tee Box Locations to standing pins/Great Fun.
Also keep in mind that young players enjoy the game at a different level.

... If reconfigured this is will be a quite a fine Nine Hole Layout.

Stop the Pile-On.

[Jon Brakel]

When I first heard about the possibility of this course I had hoped for a Buffalo Grove style neighborhood/beginner course. If 4 or 5 holes are moved to the much more disc golf worthy area it would be better than Buffalo Grove but could still retain its beginner course mission.

A beginner course should offer beginners a chance to learn the game and score 7 or less on most holes for frisbee beginners and 5 or less for more skilled beginners. This kind of course can offer the local experienced player a place to practice where he has to do a little thinking and use a little skill to get a 2.

I understand what airspuds is saying about more baskets. But a poorly executed course can be worse than no course at all. It all depends on the mindset of the the parks people. If they think that the baskets are in the ground and now they can forget about this project then it will lead to neighbors upset about discs flying into their yards, windows, kids, etc. If they think this is a work in progress and are willing to make some changes then the course can progress into a good beginner course.

This isn't piling on Al, this is just communicating. I'm communicating my feelings about this course, not about you. I know you did a lot of work to get this course in the ground and I respect that. Still, my 25 years of playing, TDing and designing have given me a perspective that I am going to share.

Right now you have 3 or 4 good holes but it looks like you have 5 baskets in search of a course. Help them find their course Al!    I'll look at your plans and help you if you want my help.