I was given the opportunity to take a quick road trip North to Kalamazoo, Michigan and after planning my route, realized that the infamous Toboggan Disc Golf course was not too far out of my way.
After some easy planning and realizing the seasonal course was going to be open while I was in the state, I knew I had to play a round to get a taste of DGLO for myself!
I assumed that the course would be long and challenging, and boy was it ever!
But this may have been the first course that actually gave me a bit of excited nerves before teeing off, simply due to the fact that Hole 1 may be one of the most well known holes on all of tour!
Before I spill all the details of this awesome course, let’s check out the specs and get into the full review!
Toboggan gets it’s name from the fact that in the winter the grounds are host to a sled riding park, which explains the hills! To learn more about Toboggan Kensington Disc Golf Course, CLICK HERE!
Course: Kensington Toboggan
Location: Milford, Michigan
Tees: Concrete
Baskets: Discraft Chainstar Pro
Pay to Play? Yes, $10 to enter the park, $5 to play the Toboggan Course
-Fun Fact! Toboggan is the #7 ranked course in the USA but only ranked #4 in the state of Michigan! Talk about competition!
-18 Holes, Very long and challenging, MPO and FPO tee pads. One basket location but different on some holes than what you see on pro tour
-Very hilly and and wooded holes have tight fairways. OB areas have thick cover but provide adequate trail systems for attempting to recover rogue discs
-Cart friendly from obstacles, but course is extremely hilly, a bag would be preferred and is what I rocked for my round!
What I liked:
Very nostalgic! Cool to be playing a famous course you see the pros play
Only had MPO and FPO Gold layouts, which makes it cool to see how you stack up against the pros
Very long tee pads and extremely well groomed, also liked that despite being thick, the rough/OB had many walking paths through it to make things slightly easier
What I didn't like:
I didn’t mind, but this course is not beginner friendly at all, so keep that in mind
Would have liked to see more signage, but I understand that this is a pro course and everyone knows where to go from hole to hole
I was also hoping to see the OB marked like in DGLO, but the course was hard enough as is
Some pin locations are different than DGLO but most are the same, the elevated pins are also absent
Again, I didn’t mind, but the course is very seasonal and only open for about 3 total months out of the year in June, July, and September-part of October, so plan accordingly.
Tee Boxes- 5/5
Each tee box was in excellent condition and consisted of premium concrete. The tee boxes were very long for a good run up and did not have a smooth finish, but actually a textured one to prevent slippage.
Definitely the type of tee box you would expect at a pro level course.
The concrete tee pads were excellent to throw from, and did not have any steep edges on any side, the standard for concrete tees!
Baskets- 5/5
The Discraft Chainstar Pros were all in pristine condition and caught extremely well, not too much else to say about them!
However, I was a little sad that the elevated baskets and unique pin locations on some holes from the Pro tour were absent for the primary layout for everyday play.
The baskets were in perfect condition and caught very well.
The red color was easy to see as well!
Navigation- 4.5/5
Navigation on Toboggan was very easy with the help from UDisc for my round. Because of it being a pro level course, most signage is not needed because the players know where to go for each hole and the paths from hole to hole are very unobstructed.
That being said, there were some areas where you wouldn’t know which way to go for the next tee because the paths were all so nice and open and there would be 2 or 3 directions you could go, so UDisc guided me in the right direction without any problems.
Without UDisc, I would definitely have spent some extra time figuring out where to go because of no directional signs or tee signs.
Signs and hole stats would be neat to see, but I understand why they’re not there and they aren’t necessary for this style of course.
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Difficulty- 5/5
As you can probably expect, the difficulty of this course is no joke and earned the 5/5 rating.
Only the Gold layout is present but you could opt to play from the MPO or FPO layouts, but on some holes, the FPO DGLO pins are missing so you’ll simply just have to play to the MPO basket locations.
Extremely long, open shots, with aggressive elevation changes and technical approach shots, this course demands perfect play to score well.
In fact, the course plays over 10,000+ feet!
So expect many holes over the 800 foot mark while playing with the shortest of the holes still being in the mid 300’s.
On several of the 700+ foot holes, you may need a 500 foot drive off the tee just to have an extremely tight look at the basket or high elevation change that requires pin point accuracy just to have a chance at par or birdie.
This was all without the OB marked as you would see during DGLO!
For the holes that were not big bombers, the wooded holes had very tight and long fairways with roughs that are not forgiving at all.
I found myself in the rough several times and very seldom are you offered an approach to the basket if you’re not on the fairway, which requires a stroke just to pitch back out and get back to business.
Although the course is difficult, it does reward players with long and accurate throws and puts a birdie look in reach if you can pull off the shots.
However, it’s not everyday that you‘ll play a course with multiple 500 foot Par 3’s!
Throw in the pressure of spectators and tight OB, and it’s amazing that the pros can score well on this course!
As you can see, you’ll be faced with very long fairways before still needing to overcome some technical finish or elevation change to the basket. On some holes, a 300 foot drive merely got you to the FPO tee!
Appearance- 5/5
Overall, the course is extremely well groomed and maintained as you would expect for a pro level course that is pay to play.
While you aren’t offered too many views of the lake and surrounding area, the nostalgia of being on a pro level course, and standing where the pros stand, throwing shots on the holes they play is truly unforgettable.
I recommend anyone play a pro course if you get the chance just for that reason!
The walking paths from hole to hole are very clean and kept up, with most if not all holes featuring a bench to sit down.
You could use a cart on this course no problem, but because of the elevation changes and 10,000+ feet of hole length, it was recommended not to use a cart and I opted to use my backpack style bag for this round instead of my Zuca Compact Cart.
The views offered from the top of the hills are superb and it is so cool
seeing the holes from TV on the pro tour right in front of you!
Overall- 4.9/5
Putting it all together, this course averages out for an impressive 4.9 out of 5 on our grading scale! So essentially a perfect score!
The only knock being the navigation aspect for those who don’t utilize Udisc, but hardly a knock at all for a course that is so impressive in every other regard.
I was able to play it on a Thursday afternoon and had very little competition on the course with other players, only running into a duo and a party of 3 who were locals and playing the course on a beautiful afternoon summer day.
Getting into the park was very easy and stopping at the kiosk at the disc golf course parking area was very easy, they even give you a neat score card to use or keep as a momento.
Bathrooms and water fountains are found near the parking area in addition to 2 practice baskets and a playground for little ones.
In addition to the Toboggan Course, the Kensington Metropark offers a second 18 hole course that is just a mere $3 to play. I didn’t get a chance to check it out due to time constraints, but you could play a full day of disc golf without ever leaving the park!
What more could you ask for?!
If given the chance, I would certainly not hesitate to play it again and hope to do so very soon.
If you’re in the area and the course happens to be open, definitely be sure to check it out!
Have you played Toboggan before? Let us know what you thought of it in the comments!
Until next time, stay Inside the Circle!
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