Fitzgerald Park

New Layout!! Two weeks ago the course underwent improvements and was updated for the 1st time in years. Although some classic holes have disappeared, new, needed, more difficult holes have replaced them. The new layout better utilizes a wonderfully wooded area that had only been used for three holes previously. Now woods are in play for 9 holes. There are short left, long left, short right, long right and, with the addition of 4 par four holes, much more distance than ever before on the cou ...
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New Layout!!
Two weeks ago the course underwent improvements and was updated for the 1st time in years.
Although some classic holes have disappeared, new, needed, more difficult holes have replaced them.

The new layout better utilizes a wonderfully wooded area that had only been used for three holes previously. Now woods are in play for 9 holes. There are short left, long left, short right, long right and, with the addition of 4 par four holes, much more distance than ever before on the course. Great variety of shots!

There are no water holes. :( With the new layout, the old island hole would have easily fit back into the flow of the course. If not permanently, it can still easily be set up for tournaments.This should be considered.

Spags and Dimmick did a great job with signs and arrows and the casuals have, to the most part, left them alone, so it is very easy to navigate the new layout.

As of 9/9/2014 at 9pm there are now 18 concrete tee pads at Fitz. Come out and play this very friendly course, but if you do not pay attention on the tees, Fitz will show her teeth and bite you!

Ratings:
Course A-
Amenities B ( Perm. signs, score cards at the gatehouse with directions, etc..but this list is shrinking!) Procrastinating for 5 years on the tee signs doesn't help the review process.
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New layout is quite challenging. Definitely flows a lot better than it used to! Glad some of old holes are gone but also sad that some of them got taken out. This new layout utilizes parts of the park very well, it's now more wooded with some very nice additions. It's a pleasant stroll through the course with minimum traffic from walkers, joggers, etc. Nine cement pads are in! This course still needs a lot of work before I bring the rating up to an A. We need 9 more cement pads, a few jun ...
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New layout is quite challenging. Definitely flows a lot better than it used to! Glad some of old holes are gone but also sad that some of them got taken out. This new layout utilizes parts of the park very well, it's now more wooded with some very nice additions. It's a pleasant stroll through the course with minimum traffic from walkers, joggers, etc. Nine cement pads are in! This course still needs a lot of work before I bring the rating up to an A. We need 9 more cement pads, a few junk baskets/raskets need to be replaced badly! Signage and trash cans at every hole would be nice. Some benches would be super cool too!
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SUMMARY: Maintenance required. Ledges, where? Thomas Kinkade, IRL. Beware of bio-hazards. Note: I am not a >900 rated player. That said, I play a LOT of solo disc golf. I refer below only to those things that challenge, frustrate, and/or excite me. YMMV THE GOOD: August Majesty: The park, particularly right now in Autumn, is absolutely gorgeous. The trees and leaves and colors... I hardly minded the poor 10 - 16 travel, as it afforded me time to really take in the scenery. Spying the pon ...
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SUMMARY: Maintenance required. Ledges, where? Thomas Kinkade, IRL. Beware of bio-hazards.

Note: I am not a >900 rated player. That said, I play a LOT of solo disc golf. I refer below only to those things that challenge, frustrate, and/or excite me. YMMV

THE GOOD:
August Majesty:
The park, particularly right now in Autumn, is absolutely gorgeous. The trees and leaves and colors... I hardly minded the poor 10 - 16 travel, as it afforded me time to really take in the scenery. Spying the pond and island while walking up 6 was picture perfect and the elevated view of the same from the walkway on 7 only complimented the Park more. It would probably be a wonderfully romantic gesture to take your significant other on a disc-golf date, here.

Dirty Secrets:
I found very little litter (and picked up what I found). Naturally, the only litter I DID find was the fallout of arrogant and obnoxious alcoholism. <<<BEGIN RANT>>> Please, for the love of the game, DO NOT S|-|!T WHERE YOU GOLF! <<<END RANT>>>

High Quality Gems:
Some holes were a lot of fun. Notably, 5 was a 500' ish S-curving drive through some very imposing trees. A careful shot finds excellent reward. 6, again, the only hole with elevation change, was straight out of a Thomas Kinkade painting (except for the water treatment(?) facility behind it ). 7 was a neat ditch-tunnel shot. 12 was a welcomed long stretch in the middle of what was starting to feel like cramped woods.

THE BAD:
Vertigo:
The back woods section of the course, basically holes 10 - 16, is a mess to navigate. No 'new' layout maps were available at the start of the course so it's up to you and a few 1/2 decomposed "next tee" arrows to get you where you need to go. If such a map exists, it should be posted online somewhere by now. For all my searching, I could not find a current one. It would be really easy to indicate next tee direction by putting a different color piece of tape on the hole pole or a string on the basket rim in the direction of the next tee, among more elegant options.

Hide and Seek:
I do not understand the point of hiding the hole behind UNMARKED trees or around UNMARKED doglegs. All it does is make me walk the hole three times ( there - back - there ) just to discover if I need to throw left, right, or straight.

Flatliners:
Only one elevation hole in a park known for "ledges." I know that parts of the park are preserved against disc golfer shenanigans, but SO much elevation opportunity is lost on this course. The only time you will see elevation other than on 6 is if you launch an extremely wild disc in entirely the wrong direction.

Late Additions:
Hole 17 and 18 seemed like cheap and hasty additions to an otherwise nicely rounded course and are particularly boring. I guess if I was in the middle of a "bad experience" during 10 - 16, I might appreciate the decompression. As I was 100% sober, 17 and 18 were huge duds at the end of a rather impressive pyrotechnics display ( analogy is more relevant given that bright yellow, orange, and red leaves were falling during my entire round - like sparks from fireworks! )

Danger! Rusted 'Buskets':
Old baskets left to rust on the new layout doesn't help anyone, least of all the basket. Donate them to MSU disc golf course, make a Putting-Practice-Zone, or round them up and make an A - F style side course, or something... anything other than discard to rot. This is an obvious opportunity, squandered. Additionally, the broken pile of ceramic piping parts near 15 was a disgusting and dangerous eyesore and should be removed ASAP. The sinkhole on 15 needs to be better addressed. It's a great idea, but there needs to be more indication of danger and a gentler way to enter/exit.

Stank!:
The park smelled of fetid sewer water right around 4:00 PM. The WHOLE park, smelled, but especially the grassy area where 9, 17, and 18 meet. When I arrived at 2:30, the air was fresh.

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS:
The front 9 are pretty textbook and were magnificently enhanced by the old growth trees that picketed the landscape. Holes 1 and 2 are nice, built-in warm-up holes. The back 9 however, though beautifully set, come off as dizzying more than anything else. They are also fraught with trip hazards, especially given the seasonal leaf cover. Elevation is not integrated well into the course, despite being everywhere in the park ( if expansion is even a DoNR option ). The beauty of this course might make you overlook any of its blemishes.
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I have been told that this was a new layout. I have to say I like it, had fun with a couple locals very friendly. Thankfully I had a tour guide, navigation is non existent. Some paper next tee signs were present and some paper tee signs existed but were woefully inadequate. Many fun short technical holes, be prepared to strike trees on every other hole. Very clean course and pay to play. Even though playing In summer no mosquitoes, no water. Elevation and variety of shots make this one very hig ...
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I have been told that this was a new layout. I have to say I like it, had fun with a couple locals very friendly. Thankfully I had a tour guide, navigation is non existent. Some paper next tee signs were present and some paper tee signs existed but were woefully inadequate. Many fun short technical holes, be prepared to strike trees on every other hole. Very clean course and pay to play. Even though playing In summer no mosquitoes, no water. Elevation and variety of shots make this one very high on the fun factor. The day I played very quiet and only 3 others disc golfing. The quietest course I have ever played.
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