Explore the Future Course Hole by Hole

The future PrairieDisc course is designed as 18 individual experiences within one continuous tour of the Prairie Arboretum.

Every hole is being developed for the Green, Red, White, Blue and Gold skill progression. White will serve as the primary public layout with a permanent concrete tee, while the other skill levels can use clearly marked prepared teeing areas.

Not every hole needs five separate tee locations. Where appropriate, multiple skill levels may share a position.

Distances shown in this guide will continue to be updated as the Green, Red, Blue and Gold locations are finalized.

Hole 1 — Prairie Edge

Water, prairie and a dramatic opening beside the Visitor Center

Prairie Edge introduces players to the character of PrairieDisc immediately.

The White tee begins beside the gardens outside the Prairie Arboretum Visitor Center. From there, the fairway is framed by the lake on the left and protected prairie grass on the right, creating a defined corridor where placement matters from the first throw of the round.

White: 383 ft — Par 4

The longer layouts increase both distance and the visual drama of the hole. The championship position reaches back beyond the Visitor Center and Gazebo Island, sending the opening drive down the narrow waterway before players reach the main Prairie Edge fairway.

Hole 18 sits immediately beside the opening area, allowing players to see the island finish almost as soon as the round begins.

OB & Hazards: Lake and protected prairie grass.

Signature Feature: Visitor Center gardens, water, prairie and a direct visual connection between the first and final holes.

Hole 2 — Oak Run

A tree-lined introduction to the Arboretum's living collection

Oak Run shifts the course from the dramatic water-and-prairie opening into one of the features that makes playing inside an arboretum different from playing a conventional park course.

Mature oaks help define the hole, with established white oaks near the finishing area providing a natural landmark around the basket.

The area also carries a connection to the history of the Prairie Arboretum, with one of the early trees planted during the Arboretum's development located nearby.

Rather than relying on artificial obstacles, Oak Run asks players to shape their shots around the trees already growing on the property.

Playing the Hole: Placement and angle are more important than simply overpowering the fairway.

Signature Feature: Mature oak collection and the white-oak finishing area.

Hole 3 — Homestead Windmill

A signature water carry to one of PrairieDisc's most memorable landmarks

Homestead Windmill is designed to become one of the defining holes of the future course.

The primary layout asks players to challenge water from the tee before reaching a landing area marked by the Homestead Windmill, a windmill relocated from a nearby farm.

White: 419 ft — Par 4

Clearing the water is only the beginning. After reaching the landing area, the hole transitions into a more technical finish through mature trees, turning what could have been a simple distance hole into a two-part challenge.

Longer layouts increase the demand on the opening shot, while shorter Green and Red locations can provide an approachable route that allows developing players to experience the same landmark without requiring an unreasonable forced water carry.

OB & Hazards: Water and the nearby soccer-field boundary where applicable.

Signature Feature: Water carry and Homestead Windmill landing.

Hole 4 — Maple Run

Distance, trees and a changing corridor

Maple Run moves through a section of the Arboretum defined by mature maples and other established trees.

The fairway transitions through a landscape that includes maples, poplar and linden, giving the hole a changing visual character from tee to basket.

The future routing uses part of the original course but relocates the basket to improve the hole and better connect it to the completed 18-hole layout.

Players will need to combine useful distance with enough control to avoid losing position among the mature trees.

Playing the Hole: The best drive is not necessarily the longest one. Positioning for the next shot matters.

Signature Feature: Mature maple corridor and varied tree collection.

Hole 5 — Maple Bend

Shot shaping instead of straight-line power

Maple Bend is a new hole designed around angle and placement.

The name tells the story: players must negotiate a changing line through the maple landscape rather than simply throwing straight toward the basket.

Different tee positions will change how aggressively players can attack the bend. Recreational layouts can offer a more forgiving angle, while advanced positions can demand greater control and a more committed shot shape.

Maple Bend provides a useful contrast to the longer holes around it and reinforces one of the central ideas behind PrairieDisc:

Every hole should ask a different question.

Signature Feature: Maple trees and the bending fairway.

Hole 6 — Quaking Aspen

Precision among one of the Arboretum's distinctive tree collections

Quaking Aspen highlights another part of the Prairie Arboretum's living collection.

The hole is designed around control and placement rather than extreme distance, allowing the aspens themselves to provide the visual identity and strategic challenge.

Players who hit the intended line can attack the basket. Shots that drift away from the fairway bring the surrounding trees into play quickly.

The different tee levels can change the angle without changing the essential character of the hole.

Signature Feature: Quaking aspen collection.

Hole 7 — The Bomber

PrairieDisc opens up

After several holes where placement and tree lines dominate, The Bomber gives players room to unleash a full drive.

This is one of the primary distance holes on the course.

White: approximately 556 ft — Par 4 in the earlier layout

The longer positions can stretch well beyond the everyday layout, while the fairway's relationship to nearby spruce and fir trees keeps the hole from becoming nothing more than an open-field throw.

Distance is rewarded—but players still need to choose where that distance finishes.

The Bomber should become one of those holes players talk about afterward:

How far did you get off the tee?

Signature Feature: Big distance in an Arboretum setting.

Hole 8 — Basswoods

Tight woods and technical control

Basswoods is where PrairieDisc gets considerably tighter.

The route moves through an established wooded section with ash and basswood trees defining the line. The basket placement will be adjusted as part of the future-course rebuild to strengthen the hole and improve the completed routing.

This isn't a hole that rewards reckless power.

Players need to hit the opening, control the disc through the wooded corridor and avoid leaving themselves without a clean line to the basket.

Shorter tee locations can make the gap more approachable without removing the character that makes the hole memorable.

Signature Feature: Tight wooded golf among mature basswoods.

Hole 9 — Cattail Carry

Water, cattails and commitment from the tee

Cattail Carry brings water back into the round.

The hole uses the pond and cattail landscape to create a visually distinctive carry where tee selection can dramatically change the level of risk.

Shorter players can use a more manageable position while advanced layouts can push farther back and ask players to challenge significantly more of the hazard.

The cattails provide more than scenery—they make the edge of the water unmistakable and give the hole a strong sense of place.

Playing the Hole: Commit to the carry or choose the safer route available from the appropriate skill-level tee.

Signature Feature: Cattail-lined water carry.

Hole 10 — Amphitheater

The turn begins beside one of the Arboretum's main gathering spaces

Amphitheater begins the second nine beside one of the Prairie Arboretum's principal gathering spaces.

Its location gives Hole 10 unusual visibility during tournaments, community activities and major Arboretum events.

It also creates an important turn opportunity. Players reaching this portion of the course are brought back near the amphitheater and nearby amenities before beginning the back nine.

That makes the hole more than a transition on the scorecard. It helps organize the entire course experience.

For tournaments and special events, the amphitheater area could become one of the best spectator and gathering points on the property.

Signature Feature: Prairie Arboretum amphitheater and first turn opportunity.

Hole 11 — Birch Bend

Find the angle

Birch Bend brings shot shaping and accuracy back into focus.

Mature trees define the route, while the bend in the fairway means players must select the correct angle rather than simply throwing directly toward the basket.

The hole highlights the beauty and variety of the Arboretum's established tree collection while creating a technical challenge that can scale naturally across the five tee levels.

From shorter positions, the bend can be manageable and educational.

From advanced positions, missing the intended angle can make reaching the basket considerably more difficult.

Signature Feature: Birch landscape and angle-dependent fairway.

Hole 12 — Prairie Gate

Through the opening

Prairie Gate uses protected prairie to define the playing corridor.

Prairie grass shapes both sides of the fairway, creating a natural gateway that players must navigate on their way into the next section of the course.

The visual boundary is obvious, but that does not make it easy.

A controlled drive through the opening leaves players in position to attack. A shot that fades or turns too far can quickly find protected prairie.

The hole's identity comes directly from the Arboretum landscape rather than from artificial OB lines.

OB: Protected prairie.

Signature Feature: Prairie-lined gateway.

Hole 13 — Prairie Crossing

How much of the prairie are you willing to challenge?

Prairie Crossing presents one of the course's clearest risk-versus-reward decisions.

Players must transition across protected prairie before navigating the turning fairway toward the basket.

Different tee locations allow the carry to scale with player ability. Shorter layouts can provide an achievable route, while advanced and championship locations can ask players to take on substantially more prairie from the tee.

The aggressive play can create a much better position.

The mistake can make the hole considerably harder.

OB: Protected prairie.

Signature Feature: Protected-prairie carry and turning fairway.

Hole 14 — Red Oak Tunnel

Short doesn't mean easy

Red Oak Tunnel is one of PrairieDisc's most technical holes.

Established red oaks create a narrow corridor toward the basket, placing a premium on accuracy, release angle and disc control.

There is little reason to overpower this hole.

The challenge is hitting the line.

A perfectly controlled shot can produce a birdie opportunity. A small mistake can catch a tree early and leave significant work remaining.

Because the challenge comes from the corridor rather than pure length, Red Oak Tunnel can remain interesting across multiple skill levels without requiring enormous changes in distance.

Signature Feature: Narrow red-oak tunnel.

Hole 15 — Ponderosa

One tree gives the hole its identity

Ponderosa is named for the nearby Ponderosa pine, one of the Arboretum landmarks that helps distinguish this portion of the course.

The hole combines distance and placement while using the Ponderosa as its visual anchor.

Different tee positions can substantially change the challenge without losing the defining feature. Developing players can approach the landmark from a friendlier position, while advanced layouts can force a more demanding drive and more difficult landing decision.

It is another example of PrairieDisc using the Arboretum's existing collection to create hole identity.

Signature Feature: Ponderosa pine.

Hole 16 — Crabapple Blooms

Prairie first. Blossoms at the finish.

Crabapple Blooms plays toward one of the most colorful seasonal features on the property.

Players cross protected prairie before approaching the crabapple trees near the finishing area.

During bloom season, the hole could become one of the most photographed places on PrairieDisc, with flowering trees framing the final portion of the fairway.

The hole also brings the routing back near the amphitheater area, creating another opportunity for players to access the central part of the property late in the round.

OB: Protected prairie.

Signature Feature: Crabapple trees in bloom.

Hole 17 — Wishing Well

A landscaped transition into the finale

Wishing Well moves players through the conifer garden area near the stream, fountain and other landscaped features of the Prairie Arboretum.

After the more open prairie portions of the course, the surroundings change again.

Conifers, water and landscaping give the hole a character that feels very different from conventional park-course disc golf.

The shot must still be executed, but the setting is part of what makes Hole 17 important:

It prepares players for the final walk toward Gazebo Island.

Signature Feature: Conifer garden, stream, fountain and landscaped surroundings.

Hole 18 — Gazebo Island

The PrairieDisc finish

Gazebo Island is designed to be the signature finishing hole of PrairieDisc.

Players finish on a true island green surrounded by water—not a painted circle, rope boundary or artificial island.

The Arboretum's gazebo, flower beds, amphitheater, mature trees and Visitor Center create the backdrop.

Different tee locations allow the hole to work for very different players. Recreational layouts can provide safer options and manageable carries, while advanced and championship players can attack the island more directly.

A layup route gives players another strategic decision rather than making water the only option.

The gazebo itself provides seating and a natural place for spectators, while the amphitheater and surrounding grounds could make Hole 18 a centerpiece for tournaments and special events.

And when the round is finished, players are back beside the Visitor Center, parking—and Hole 1.

The course ends where the experience began.

OB & Hazard: Water surrounding the island.

Signature Feature: A genuine gazebo island green.

Finish the Round. Remember the Hole.