The Oaks in FlyingDiscMag

[ihatecheeseheads]

The latest issue of FlyingDiscMagazine has a pretty big article about the Oaks in Mokena.  It talks about how the Oaks is the blueprint to a perfect course.   Some good pictures as well. 

[dgnickster9224]

ya well they coulda made 18 unique holes instead of 27 lookalike holes

[Jon Brakel]

ya well they coulda made 18 unique holes instead of 27 lookalike holes

Watch out. When I said that shortly after the Oaks opened I was offered sodomy 5 ways. Isn't the Flying Disc Mag business model that you write a story about something and then pay to have them print it? That's what Rick told me anyone...not that he might be biased or anything. 

[CEValkyrie]

I got a magazine at Worlds as and read the article.

Here are my thoughts. This course has been discussed elsewhere on the message board.

I appreciate the time and effort everyone has put into this course. You can obviously tell the course is well maintained. The tee pads are perfect and the tee signs are nice. Many hours have gone into several holes building up the green on hole #13. I do agree these things are a blueprint to what disc golf courses should have.

On the negative side I think this course is poorly designed and has the old school mentality of disc golf. The Oaks had the potential to add a Championship Calibur play to an area that lacks this kind of course. With short tees this could have been an awesome course for all skill level players. I was able to play with Avery Jenkins a few years back when there were 5'somes on every hole and the round took 4+ hours. While waiting to tee off he goes what were they thinking? This could have been a killer course. Whenever I leave Mokena I can never recall half of the holes i've played. Many of them are the same repetive shot over and over.

[ihatecheeseheads]

Ya the whole "blueprint to a perfect course" is a little over the top but i think its great to see in the magazine.  I have not played that many courses ( about 25 or so)  but my favorite course would be Silver Creek in Wisconsin. 

[airspuds]

the article stopped like mid page

[Mike Clark]

When I see articles like this one it just reminds me of what is wrong with disc golf. The article was way over the top. I agree with everything Brett said about the course. I waited so long to respond to this post for the exact reason Jon Brakel stated. This could have been the best 18 hole course in Illinois. It is too bad they felt they had to make 27 holes with so many that are repeatitive. 13 is one of the most unique and eye catching holes I have ever played. There could have been and imo should have been alot more holes like 13. The teepads and the tee signs are awesome. The course design not so much.

[deucemeister]

Highland Park will be everything that Mokena is not; I haven't talked to anybody in a couple of weeeks so not sure if baskets are in or not; should be within a week of so if not.   One thing I like about Mokena is the grass is very nice, and you don't have to watch every step you take like at some courses (West Park...)  I also like to occasionally play the shortest tee's there, as the shots are very different and you can run at many more baskets from the tee.     What I do not like about Mokena is you can see most of the other holes, while at Highland, very few holes are adjacent, and most you don't see any other holes. nice elevation shots up and down too.  Wait until you see the all the custom  stairs, bridges, piers, benches, etc...AWESOME   

[Mukey]

Perfect course, hah! I agree with Brett, Jon, and Mike. This course is a coulda/woulda/shoulda course in Illinois. I only play it when there is a tournament there

[Jon Brakel]

All of that said and most of the sodomy threats over, I will say that the course always looks great and you can tell that a lot of work went into making the course. If trying to make a great frisbee course, designed old school for old school players and plastic, then Mokena should be your model.

[Jim Bassett]

I should re-read the article but.....
I took the "perfect" course part of the article to mean that there was really excellent cooperation between the Park District and the disc golf community and that the cooperation and care for the course by the Park District was an ideal situation. The Park District originally wanted nine holes in the open field at the back of the course. I am glad that they sought out the local TDs and Pros to consult before they plopped nine holes out in the middle of a field.
I travel all over the country and have seen many great courses in severe disrepair with no tee signs and horrible broken tee pads. Nice to see that a Park District cares enough to level the tee pads once a month and clean up storm debris the next day after a storm. I can't name one other course where that occurs. I read the article to mean that kind of perfect.

[deucemeister]

May not be any more tournaments there; the woman in charge at the park district is not the most agreeable person in the world when it comes to events,  she wants a $5 / player cover charge even for the J-town league play.  No more league play there  as a result.   That's OK, Highland more than makes up for it. 

[Chainmeister]

Perfect course, hah! I agree with Brett, Jon, and Mike. This course is a coulda/woulda/shoulda course in Illinois. I only play it when there is a tournament there

I think the coulda/woulda/shoulda description is spot on.  However, this is not a bad course. its just not anywhere near its potential. I still like the course as its a pretty park with good tee pads and is pretty well maintained.  I have preferred to play Mokena rather than other area courses for that reason.  However, I might get excited by the new course.  I guess the other thing in my mind is that I would LOVE to have this course in the near north suburbs.  The above being said, all the comments on Mokena's failings are correct and it would be appropriate for somebody, perhaps other than Brett, to write a letter to Flying Disc in that regard.