Pettibone Park

Pros: + A solid 9 holes has been added, making it the only 27 hole course in the area + layout utilizes the land available extremely well + Challenging enough to stimulate advanced players, yet not ... show more ›

Pros: + A solid 9 holes has been added, making it the only 27 hole course in the area
+ layout utilizes the land available extremely well
+ Challenging enough to stimulate advanced players, yet not too overwhelming for newbies
Distances are decent W/ a few challenging ace chances (17 not as challenging...)
+ Front 9 provides a wooded course feel, while the back 9 opens up to a mowed and well-maintained park course feel. The new third 9 is nicely wooded as well.
Several mature (i.e. huge) trees come into play throughout the course
+ Great, large concrete tee pads
+ Baskets (Discraft Mach III) are in fairly good shape, with an exception or two
+ Requires a variety of shots, in fact a good roller can do wonders on the back 9 especially
+ Plays directly along the mighty Mississippi
+ New additional 9 holes in wooded area. (As of 4/22/18, does not yet have concrete tee pads)

Cons: - Often suffers from flooding and saturated conditions in the early spring and sometimes even through early summer (This year (2014) the course was unplayable from May until about mid-July. This year the flooding season was longer than normal, however.)
- The signs posted have not been updated (they are the original signs for the old layout - the front 9 is now where the back 9 used to be and vise versa) as of 4/22/18 the signage has improved, but there are still some holes with missing tee signs
- Trash laying at nearly every tee pad - although there are not trash cans at most holes, the root issue is lack of respect from certain players/groups As of 4/22/18 this issue has improved greatly! There are now trash cans at most holes.
- No elevation change throughout the course
- No monster-long holes for bigger arms (the longest is 421 feet), however, only hole 17 is largely deemed a gimme deuce
- Still much debris (sticks, stumps etc.) on the front 9 that will hopefully be cleared out over time As of 4/22/18 the maintenance of the course has improved as well.
- As is the case with most courses in the area (as opposed to northcentral WI) every hole has only one tee pad
Other Thoughts: Considering that a complete course redesign was necessary (resulting from the removal of over 400 Ash trees to prevent Emerald Ash Borer invasion) the new layout turned out great. In fact many who played the old course regularly believe the new layout to be significantly better. I never had the chance to play the old course in it's prime, but am more than content with the new course.

There are surprisingly few courses in the La Crosse area, so this course is a blessing for the frequent player. Rowe Park is fun, but very short; Justin Trails is great if you want to spend 5 hours playing a round; Twin Creeks is decent if not flooded; and Winona has a great course if one is willing to make the drive. Although Pettibone is not perfect, I am glad to have it nearby.