Review/photos by Chris Yucus
Where is it? Northwood Park, 22216 N Main St, Morton, IL 61550 directions (The first tee for the Blue Course starts inside the woods, by the second parking area).
Who plays here?
Friday, Aug. 6 - Pool L (MA4)
Saturday, Aug. 7 - Pool O (MA2a)
Sunday, Aug. 8 - Pool P (MA2b)
Cart Friendly? Not really.
Practice schedule notes: Closed Tuesday, Aug. 3 for Flex C-Tier, and closed until noon on Thursday, Aug. 5. No restrictions Aug. 2, and 4.
Course breakdown: Par: 59. Length: 6,323 feet. Baskets: DGA Mach X.
While not as excruciatingly difficult as the championship-level Black layout, Northwood Blue still offers a challenge. It features tight wooded fairways, thick rough, and plenty of elevation changes. Tricky pin placements can test players’ fortitude and discretion - there’s not a lot of soft landings out there.
Signature holes (and holes to watch out for):
Hole 1 - Standing at the tee box can bring on a claustrophobic feeling on this 312-foot Par 3 that gives the sense that trees are everywhere.
Hole 5 - Getting to the pin on this 419-foot Par 4 requires good placement off the tee. Then players will have to send a second (or third) shot through a tree-lined gap down into a big ravine to the basket.
Hole 11 - Things open up out of the woods a bit for this big 603-foot Par 4, but that doesn’t mean it's easy. Players have to contend with a low ceiling to clear a lot of that distance, and there’s no shortage of trees out there along the way.
Hole 18 - The final hole of the course is notable not only for its 660-foot length, but also its initial gap over the OB creek.Though it plays mostly open after the initial drive, more OB on the right side of the pine-tree lined fairway comes into play as well.
Course History: The original version of the Northwood course was designed and built by Greg Nettles in the early 2000s. Throughout the years the course has evolved to match the skill level of disc golf pros. As of 2021, the Northwood property is home to two courses. Northwood Blue reflects the original design with a few tweaks. Northwood Black, designed by Kip Taufer and Nate Heinold, which debuts in this year’s Ledgestone, is a nearly 11,000-foot beast of a course. The Black course requires over a 1000-rated round to shoot par.
If you’re hungry, check out: Firehouse Pizza, 201 S. Main St., Morton, IL; Seasons Gastropub, 149 S. Main St., Morton, IL
Northwood Blue welcomes competitors with some tight lines in the woods right off the bat on Hole 1.
The view from behind the basket on Hole 5. Getting to the pin requires navigating a gap over a large ravine down to the basket.
A look through a tunnel of trees towards the clearing for the basket on Hole 8.
