Illinois Top Courses

[CEValkyrie]

I am slowly going thru and reviewing the top 18 hole courses in Illinois. Here is a link to the courses i've reviewed up to this point.
http://www.dgcoursereview.com/profile.php?id=1910

I have been on a roll reviewing 21 courses the past 2 weeks. Check em out.

[CEValkyrie]

Illinois Road Trip


I am on a quest to play all courses in Illinois. Any help would be much appreciated. Couple of things.
1. Do you know of any new courses in your area of Illinois that are not on the PDGA.com or Disc Golf Course Review website? Here is a link to my disc golf course review profile with wish list and courses played.
http://www.dgcoursereview.com/profile.php?id=1910
2. Any navigational tips or info on the courses listed below would be much appreciated. Directions to course, to 1st tee, baskets missing, etc...
3. If you don't work during the day and would like to play let me know.
4. I'm going to write an article on Illinois Disc Golf which will contain.
A. Best 18 Hole courses in Illinois
B. Best 9 Hole courses in Illinois
C. Best Hole(s) in Illinois
D. Unique courses or places.
E. Other?
Any imput on A thru E would be much appreciated.

Tentative *Route may be reversed depending on weather*

Mon 8-16
Urbana, IL
Danville, IL
Terre Haute, IN
Charleston, IL
Sullivan, IL
Neoga, IL
Centralia, IL *may be tuesday morning or skipped* Already played

Tues 8-17
Eldorado, IL
Carbondale, IL SIU-Rec
Carbondale, IL SIU-Campus Lake
*Maybe Paducah, KY*
Alton, IL New 9 Holer
Alton, IL *may skip, already played prior to cement tees*
Beardstown, IL

Wed 8-18
*Possibly Palmyra or Hannibal, MO*
Quincy, IL
Hamilton, IL *Already played Wildcat Springs may skip*
Keokuk, IA
Dallas City, IL
Possibly Fort Madison or another park on the way to the Quad Cities.

Thursday 8-19
Morrison, IL
Fulton, IL
Savanna, IL
Galena, IL
Dubuque, IA

[WkeBrd3]

There is a 3rd course in Streamwood not on the PDGA site. It is a 9 hole course behind the Streamwood Behavioral Health Center located on the north side of 19, west of Barrington road. It's not a long course by any means, but, it's still a course...

[CEValkyrie]

There is a 3rd course in Streamwood not on the PDGA site. It is a 9 hole course behind the Streamwood Behavioral Health Center located on the north side of 19, west of Barrington road. It's not a long course by any means, but, it's still a course...

Thanks for the info. Had no idea.

[WkeBrd3]

Never played it myself. My girlfriend is a social worker and has to go there once in a while, so she had informed me about it. I don't even know if it is open to the public.

[CEValkyrie]

Today was an awesome day. I knew it was going to be good when we left Kenny's at 6am and arrived on the course at urbana at 845. No traffic in Chitown whatsoever. No bugs and perfect disc golf weather. Quick recap.

Urbana--Nothing special. Short 9 bagger.
Danville-Awesome state park. Short object course but better than expected. Well marked and easy to play.
Charleston-Tee pads are awesome and some of the best tee signs i've ever seen. Solid 9 hole course with the land they had to work with.
Sullivan-The worst course in Illinois. Homemade baskets. I actually made one like them quite a long time ago. Several problems. The chain they used is too light. The twist ties are breaking and some chains jacked. They installed them super high. Oh! No tee signs or markings on where to throw. Brutal!
Neoga--4 baskets in a super small course. 4 tee signs marking 2 holes. 1 tee sign was missing. Just whacky!
Centralia-What can I say. Unreal!!!! Many improvements since I last played it. Next tee arrows on the ground by the baskets. Next next tee signs on the trees. A bunch of new creek crossings.

[CEValkyrie]

Tuesday
Eldorado--> Very sweet park with a pond. Thank goodness the park guy told us there were wood chip tee pads. They were not marked. It was a decent 10 hole park with some serious potential.
Carbondale Rec--Long open course right on campus. Very wide open and much longer than other SIU course.
Carbondale Lake--Shorter course with more trees. Decent 9 hole course.
Alton 9 Holer--Super short, very few obstacles, and recreational friendly course.
Alton Rock Springs--The new concrete tee pads are awesome. They also added a small rubber tee pad to the long tees. They were very grippy but small. What a fun course!
Beardstown--Very interesting course. The tee pads were awesome! Super long and grippy. If you wan to learn how to throw a roller this place is perfect. The ground was flat, hard, and mowed very low. This course was very long and had a few really good holes. Some nice pine trees to play thru on many holes.
Thanks Dave Owens for the place to sleep in Quincy!

[CEValkyrie]

Wednesday
Quincy--An average 18 hole course. Had a few fun holes but very repetive.
Hamilton--What can I say. One of my favorites. The bottom of the course has changed a bit. Holes 5, 6, 7 have some taller grass and rocks in the fairway. The area has had some massive rain and the floods washed massive amounts of rock into the fairways. Kenny and I spent an hour exploring back by the river.
Keokuk--Fun 18 hole course with new Gateway Titan baskets.Several memorable holes.
Fort Madison--2 18 hole courses in the park. We played the new course. Some very tough holes and tight woods. Very hilly and demanding. I enjoyed the varity of this course. Would have liked to see the other.

We were heading out of town the tire light came on. We pulled into the gas station and the tire was punctured by a small key. We put on the spare and headed to Dallas City.

Dallas City--Very good coruse for a school. There were some wide open easy holes but there were also many wooded and semi wooded holes that required good shots. We enjoyed the company of a worker who escorted us around the course. We would have not finished before dark if it were not for him. We put on a show. Several near aces off basket and chains. Huge turbo putt and great scores.

Instead of driving to the quad cities we headed to Western. We played a round of glow and crashed!

[CEValkyrie]

Thursday.

We got to the tire place at 7:30. Left Macomb at 9am and made a stop at Monmouth.

Monmouth--Short 9 hole course. Very beginner friendly. Played it to break up the drive. First time i've played it during the day.
Savanna--Decent 9 hole course. 2 of the holes (6 & 7) were not playable due to the high water and flooding.
Mount Carroll--OK 9 hole course. The flood really devestated the park and there is some massive work that needs to be done. The water was above all the baskets at one point. #8's basket was bent. There is debris all over. The sand from the playground was all washed on top of #3's tee pad. It was 3 feet of sand and elevated the tee.
Galena--Oh boy did we save the best for last. This is by far the best 9 hole course in Illinois. For those of you who have played Am Nationals or the Timber Ridge course at 08 Worlds this course has some similarities. Absolutely sick!  Nice elevation and great views! I threw my longest drive ever or the 900ft cliff between 6 and 7. After finishing 18 we paid to ride the slide. What a blast!
http://www.chestnutmtn.com/activities_alpineslide.cfm

[Tom McManus]

Thank you for all the updates.  Sounds like a great trip.

[JakeJacobs]

OH man, my daughter and I did one of these slides up at Crystal Mountain in Michigan after I played the course there. It was a lot of fun and it happened to be free that day!!!

[CEValkyrie]

I started reviewing. I'm hoping to review alot of these courses over the next few weeks.
http://www.dgcoursereview.com/profile.php?id=1910

[CEValkyrie]

There is a 3rd course in Streamwood not on the PDGA site. It is a 9 hole course behind the Streamwood Behavioral Health Center located on the north side of 19, west of Barrington road. It's not a long course by any means, but, it's still a course...

Played it today. Tee signs for every hole but #8. We could not find it. Nice new Gateway Titans. Must play baby!. Shot a total of 18 strokes with an ace and a circle 3.

[CEValkyrie]

Updated list.


Top 10

1.   Foundations Park DG Complex,  Centralia, IL
Wow! This can play as tough/long as any course in IL. Long/Short tees & Long/Short baskets. This is true golf.  Possible improvements include cement tees. Gateway Dave, If you read this how about donating 18 more Gateway Titans to keep 2 sets of pins in at all times? There is a easier 9-holer in the same park and heard it's being expanded to 18 holes. CONCRETE TEES TO BE INSTALLED THIS SUMMER

2.   McNaughton Park, Pekin, IL  AKA "McNasty"
As tough as any course in IL (Long Tees). Short & Longs have concrete tees. Has withstood the test of time. The back 9 is as tough as it gets. Couple of slight tweeks to the long tees. You could argue this is still #1 in Illinois.

3. Camedn 2, Milan, IL
One of a kind in Illinois. Plays pretty much entirely in the woods. Championship calibur course that plays just nasty to the hardest pin positions. Has great elevation and nasty ravines. The concrete tee pads are huge. Chris Sprague did a great job with the design and the work crew did an amazing job to transform this course.

4.   Highland Park, Joliet, IL
Rough around the edges.  The long tees rival the difficulty of any course in Illinois. The baskets could be improved. Wide variety. The course has been cleaned up a lot in the past few years.

5.   Wildcat Springs, Hamilton, IL
Awesome place to play. Very quiet and scenic. Awesome terrain and good mix.  Possible improvements include another set of tees or alternate pin placements.

6.   Lincoln Park South, Springfield, IL
Difficulty level has stepped up several notches. Long/Short cement tees. Great variety and a few fun new holes added. One of the best maintained courses in IL.

7.   Rock Springs Park, Alton, IL
Terrain is absolutely awesome with every hole having some type of hill or slope. This course is very challenging with a variety of holes. Cement tees.  I thought the course design was very solid with a good variety. Cement long tees would be a great addition.

8.   Northwoods Park,Morton, IL
Another great place to play golf. Long/Short Tees. 17 & 18 are the best 2 finishing holes in Illinois. Great mix of holes. Possible improvement would be the addition of cement on the long tees. Possible elevated green somewhere in the orchard? Course is being redesigned this summer.

9.   Woodland Park, Collinsville, IL
Wide variety and fun place to play. Long/Short cement tees. Water on many holes. Possible improvment would be course directional arrows. Very hard to navigate if you have never played there.

10.   Sinnissippi Park, Sterling, IL
Great course. Front 9 is awesome! Multiple pin positions. Back is long but flat. If the land near the river was allowed to be used (Where the alternate holes for tournies are placed)  this course could move up the list quickly. The temporary 6 holes are going permanent this summer. This will move up my list. This course is a prime candidate for a 2nd set of baskets permanetly installed.

**Round Lake is going thru a total redesign. I have a feeling when it's finished it's going to be easily in the top 10. **

ON THE BUBBLE
Community Park, Channahon, IL
Lake Eureka, Eureka, IL  
Richmond Hill Park, Geneseo, IL
Sipolt Memorial DGC, Macomb, IL
The Oaks, Mokena, IL
Prospect Park, Moline, IL
Bradley Park, Peoria, IL
Anna Page Park West, Rockford, IL

___________________________
Honerable Mention (Any 18+ hole course i've played in IL not in the top 10)
Antioch
Aurora
Bartlett
Beardstown
Bloomington
Calumet City-River Oaks Golf Course (No Longer Exists)
Canton
Chicago-Edgebrook Golf Course
Crystal Lake
Dallas City
Decatur
East Peoria-ICC
Effingham
Eureka
Freeport
Galesburg
Geneseo
Geneva
Highland
Hoffman Estates
Joliet-West Park
Joliet-Lockport
Joliet-New Lenox
Kirkland
Lombard
Macomb
Manhattan
Marengo
Milan
Mokena
Moline
Normal
Olney
Olympia Fields
Oswego
Peoria-Bradley Park
Pontiac
Rock Falls
Rockford-East/West
Rockton
Round Lake
St. Elmo
Shorewood
Springfield-North
Springfield-Douglas
Streamwood
Summit
Washington
Waukegan

18+ hole courses in IL I have yet to play.
Greenville, IL
Kewaunee, IL
Rockford, IL --Rockford College
West Chicago, IL