Carl K

A challenging course meandering through an oasis of oaks nestled into a small park next to the Rock river in Janesville. Well thought out course design utilizes the best attributes of the terrain to provide a variety of hole layouts that allow for a wide variety of shot making. Amply sized cement tee pads provide great launching surfaces with good signage that makes for relatively easy navigation through the course. If you prefer playing where you don't have to search through tall grass for ...
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A challenging course meandering through an oasis of oaks nestled into a small park next to the Rock river in Janesville. Well thought out course design utilizes the best attributes of the terrain to provide a variety of hole layouts that allow for a wide variety of shot making. Amply sized cement tee pads provide great launching surfaces with good signage that makes for relatively easy navigation through the course.

If you prefer playing where you don't have to search through tall grass for shots that veer off course, then this course is for you as, outside of a few holes tucked into the surrounding bushes, the whole course is mowed grass. Playing in the fall may present some problems with locating your disc as it's likely the leaf litter is pretty dense, but perhaps the park department does regular leaf clean-up.
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A relatively short nine hole course tucked into the back side of Rock RIver Park. The baskets remained up through this winter, so was happy to be able to get out and play during a warm spell mid March.There are a few choice holes, tucked into the wooded areas, but the majority of the holes are relatively straight, short holes with narrow mown fairways in non-wooded areas surrounded by meadow that is not mowed. So while discs are easy to find in the Spring, I would expect lots of time burned l ...
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A relatively short nine hole course tucked into the back side of Rock RIver Park.

The baskets remained up through this winter, so was happy to be able to get out and play during a warm spell mid March.There are a few choice holes, tucked into the wooded areas, but the majority of the holes are relatively straight, short holes with narrow mown fairways in non-wooded areas surrounded by meadow that is not mowed. So while discs are easy to find in the Spring, I would expect lots of time burned looking through the tall grass as the season progresses and grasses grow tall.

The first hole's fairway is a paved walking path that required me to wait for people to pass before throwing, so not the best location. Lots of dogs at the park today and unfortunately not everyone picked up after their pets, so watch your step!

Tee pads are slightly elevated and appear to be made of some type of crushed stone - though it's a very dark material, so perhaps it's some kind re-purposed roadway material? Many of them could use leveling and currently pose a safety hazard, both due to their material (many large pieces that could roll an ankle) as well as their non-level spots. In my opinion, the tees should be re-made to be larger and should be not ringed, as they presently are, with a higher outline of wooden material as this poses a tripping hazard. In spite of the recent snow melt over the past week, the course was relatively dry and mud free with only a few areas of standing water on the path to the second tee.

You might want to wear a long sleeve shirt as I ended up with a couple of deep scratches - one from a barbed vine on the 4th hole and another from the branches surrounding the 6th hole, tucked into the pine trees. It would also be wise to wear long pants and tuck the legs into your socks as other players have reported seeing lots of ticks in the area (Spring 2016).

Be careful throughout the park as there are many spots both in the fairways and rough that have depressions/holes (likely caused by burrowing animals) that could easily cause an ankle or fall injury.

Overall, the course would benefit from having larger areas of mown fairways and "greens" to make it less likely to lose a disc and facilitate faster play.

I expect that there will be some aces posted on this course relatively soon as I was already getting close on hole 8 with just three rounds under my belt and other holes are easily within range of a modest drive as well. (update
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A nice 9 hole course located in a small, well groomed park that is nestled into a small valley on the edge of Lake Ripley just outside of Cambridge, WI. There is a park entrance fee ($2.00 Adults $1.00 Kids 12 & under), with an option to purchase a season pass for $25 (covers all the occupants in the vehicle). The course is free to play outside of their open season (from Memorial Day to Labor Day) and the course will be closed (baskets removed) "early in November". The course winds arou ...
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A nice 9 hole course located in a small, well groomed park that is nestled into a small valley on the edge of Lake Ripley just outside of Cambridge, WI.

There is a park entrance fee ($2.00 Adults $1.00 Kids 12 & under), with an option to purchase a season pass for $25 (covers all the occupants in the vehicle). The course is free to play outside of their open season (from Memorial Day to Labor Day) and the course will be closed (baskets removed) "early in November".

The course winds around the perimeter of the park and has a nice variety of elevation changes and basket locations that makes for some challenging play especially for an intermediate level RHBH player like myself - thumbs up to the course designer!

The biggest cons for the course (other than the park entrance fee) are:

1. The lack of clear marking for the course layout, which makes finding the next tee pad/hole difficult the first time you play it.
2. Lack of garbage cans on the course.
3. Leveling of the ground in the tee boxes should also be a normal part of course maintenance. I "Torqued" my back muscles (9.12.13) stepping into a depression that I didn't notice while I was driving on the 8th tee.
4. Lack of bathroom facilities in the park after 5 pm. (And out of season)
5. Though there is an updated tee surface (and size) on hole 1 that is a distinct improvement over the existing grass/dirt pads, the remainder of the tee surfaces are still not completed and many of them are in poor condition:
A. Dirt pads that readily become a very slippery surface when damp
B. Non level tee pads - especially evident on holes 8, 9 and 6
C. Eroded surfaces that are uneven and potentially dangerous to use. I often
choose to play from the area adjacent to the worn pads to get better footing
with less chance of injury. (Especially evident on hole 4).
6. During special park events and other times throughout the season, there is the possibility of having unexpected obstructions to play eg:
A. Cars parked on the course
B. Picnickers on the course - a table has been put within hole one's driving area
this year (2016) for some reason (and should be relocated for safety).
C. Soccer players hanging out within the driving region of hole 1.
7. A large pile of burnable debris within the fairway of hole 9 that grows in height and width during the season and routinely captures discs - putting the person retrieving the disc in risk of personal injury.
8. Holes 5 and 9 have an out of bounds on their right sides that is the park perimeter which is surrounded by a chain link fence. Errant drives that land on the other side require the assistance of either someone on the other side kind enough to return your disc or else someone who is skilled at fence hopping (another potentially dangerous activity) as there are no unlocked gates to allow easy retrieval.


Aerial map of the course layout and other info: http://cambridgecap.net/RipleyPark.php#DiscGolf

Tee Locations:

1. The first tee is located downhill from the main parking lot, not far from the practice basket that you can see near the left edge of the soccer field at the bottom of the hill.

2. The second tee is across the street from the first basket, toward the tennis courts.

3. The third tee is visible on the left as you play hole two, and the hole skirts to the right of the tennis courts.

4. The fourth tee is near the park entrance, (to the right of the "toll" shack from the third basket), the basket is downhill.

5. The fifth tee can be very easily missed. It is uphill and across the road from the fourth basket, and sits next to the park boundary chain link fence.

6. The sixth tee can be missed as well, as it is tucked behind the row of trees across the gravel service road from the fifth basket.

7. The seventh tee is downhill from the sixth basket, skirting along the top of the stone wall, and sits near the gravel service road.

8. The eighth tee is near the fence line from the seventh basket (moving away from the park entrance).

9. The ninth tee is located on an angle back from the eighth basket, close to an inside corner of the chain link fence park border.
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