Centennial Park Disc Golf Course

Douglas County is home to numerous parks to toss a Frisbee but these parks have dedicated disc golf courses for a real challenge and for competitions.

In Lawrence

• The city’s 18-hole disc golf course resides in the center of Lawrence at Centennial Park, 600 Rockledge Road. It’s easy enough to find if you keep your eye out for a large rocket as you pass Iowa Street while driving on Sixth Street. The course has been a Lawrence favorite since 1991, as the Journal-World reported.

The hilly Centennial Park Disc Golf Course course is littered with trees and shares the grounds with a skate park and playgrounds for the younger kids. It is walking distance from The Merc and Muncher’s Bakery so cold drinks and tasty snacks are easy to find.

• From the center of the city to the far edge of town, a North Lawrence disc golf course will have your reaching for the bug spray. River Front Park, 1594 N. Third St., also has 18 holes to pitch scattered among the trees and shrubs along the Kansas River.

Golfers won’t be sharing the Riverfront Disc Golf Course fairway with skater punks and kids from the playground, instead the park is home to an off-leash dog park and a 10-mile mountain bike trail. Bring plenty of water and a phone to call home in case you get stuck on the wrong side of the railroad tracks when the train rolls by.

• One of the newer disc golf courses in town, built in 2020, is on the east side at Edgewood Park, 1245 E. 15th St. The Edgewood Disc Golf Course has nine holes tucked away behind the East Lawrence Recreation Center. There are playgrounds, a small skate park, and plenty of trees to toss discs in the shade.

• For those with shorter arms and attention spans, a disc golf course for children and beginners was built in 2016 at Quail Run Elementary, 1130 Inverness Drive, in west Lawrence. The Quail Run Elementary Disc Golf Course has six holes with shorter distances, 150 to 200 feet, about half of the distance of the average hole at other courses. The course is closed to the public during school hours.

Surrounding area

• Not far from Lawrence, at Douglas County’s Clinton Lake, golfers can find two courses side by side. Bob Mowery’s Meadows Disc Golf Course on the north side of the lake at the intersection of East 700 Road and North 1415 Road has 18 holes that run over fields and under trees, just a stone’s throw, or a disc’s toss, away from Prairie Clover Campground.

• Just south of Bob Mowery’s, golfers will find another nine holes at Archer’s Park Disc Golf Course. Golfers may have to keep an eye out as the course is right next to the archery range.

Visitors need a day pass for the lake that can be purchased at the lake’s visitor center at the entrance for $5, or a year-round state park pass can be purchased for $25.

• Bloomington Disc Golf Course is on the south side of Clinton State Lake, just north of Bloomington Beach, and has 18 holes. The course has plenty of ups and downs is a good mix of open fairways and wooded areas. The course has open views of the lake, which can result in strong winds at times.

• Eudora is home to two nine-hole courses. The Bluejacket Disc Golf Course, 1310 Winchester Road, is right next to the Eudora school district building. It is a wide-open course with little tree coverage that traverses a hilly slope with a playground and baseball fields on either side.

• At the Eudora Middle School, 2635 Church St., golfers can find the Cardinal School Disc Golf Course. The course is mostly flat with baseball and soccer fields as neighbors. The course offers an open sky with a clear view of the Kansas horizon.

• Baldwin City Lake Disc Golf Course, 1830 N. 100 Road, wraps around the lake with 18 holes. The course is mostly flat with great views of the lake.