Centennial Park

I recommend this course to anyone looking for a round in the Lawrence area (though to be fair, I haven't tried the others). This is my kind of course -- good hole variety, memorable designs, enough el ... show more ›

I recommend this course to anyone looking for a round in the Lawrence area (though to be fair, I haven't tried the others). This is my kind of course -- good hole variety, memorable designs, enough elevation changes to be interesting, a little creek that comes into play, a lot of mature trees but space between them as well. It's not overly long, but not short, either, with most holes playing from 275-425 feet (and many of the shorter ones are uphill). The hole layout can be confusing, so take a map on your first visit:

http://www.dgcoursereview.com/course_files/653/fb318744.pdf

But keep in mind that the distances on the scorecard are not all accurate. It's easy to find, as the park is right at the intersection of 6th and Iowa (two major streets in Lawrence). The I-70 exit for West Lawrence leads right to it.

Pros: There are easily accessible restrooms here and trash cans at several points throughout the park. This course has a lot of small hills and elevation changes in this park that come into play often ... show more ›

Pros: There are easily accessible restrooms here and trash cans at several points throughout the park. This course has a lot of small hills and elevation changes in this park that come into play often as well as a creek. There are multiple pin placements and long concrete tee pads. There were many hole designs that I really enjoyed, especially 13 with the downhill shot past the skate park over the creek. There were a few risky putts on the edge of the creek/woods. I had a some trouble, but a lot of fun with the low ceilings I don't really come across much on my local courses. 7 was a nice one for that with the low, long downhill ending over the creek.

Cons: The navigation here was difficult, luckily there is a relatively accurate map for this course on here I was able to follow on my phone because there were none at the start of the course. Some of the fairways run parallel to each other and might present a problem on busier days here. Some tee pads are uncomfortably close to other holes' baskets where on some others are quite far, and could be difficult to find without help. The worst of these were where you must backtrack the length of 11 to get to 12 (which is on the other side of 10), to get to hole 3 you need to cross to the other side of 14 and 7 and to get to the parking lot from 18 you cross the blind spot of fairway #1. Be prepared and print a map or find a local your first time here.
All of the baskets were numbered, unfortunately most of the numbers are facing away from the tee pad. I made it all the way to the basket on one hole before I realized it was the wrong one.

Other Thoughts: A little bit of TLC, some tee signs and maybe moving a few things around and this could easily be a much better course.
Although the flow and navigation issues aren't at all necessary and could have been easily avoided, it is still fun to play and this will be one I look forward to playing again while passing through. I have not played any other Lawrence courses, but I have heard that this is the best in town.