After hearing a lot about O’Hauser park from the Appleton Area Disc Golf Facebook page I joined, I decided to drive the short distance to Neenah and see what it was all about.
Unlike any of the other courses I’ve reviewed so far, O’Hauser does have a fee to play, but it isn’t substantial, just $3. There isn’t a physical person to collect the fee, though, so it’s kind of an on-your-honor deal. If you get caught playing the course without proof of payment, however, it is a $82.50 fine. So, $3 or $82.50, the choice is yours.
To submit payment grab an envelope from the side of the shelter facing the first couple baskets. Fill out the date, your name, how many players, and payment enclosed. If you are worried about COVID-19, I’d suggest bringing your own pen or pencil, but the park provides some next to the envelopes. When done, tear off the stub for proof of payment, and place the envelope in the drop box below the envelopes. Keep this stub in a safe place, and go play!
At each hole there are two to three different teepads to choose from. The farthest away, the yellow, is for tournament play; there isn’t a tournament teepad at every hole. The consistent teepads are the middle blue teepads for advanced players and the closest red teepads for recreational players.
Each teepad location is designated by its color. When I played my first round, I played from the advanced teepads.
Before starting, check out the dial on hole one. The current tee position color will be face up on the dial.
Even though their isn’t a map of the course in UDisc like most other courses, I was able to tell where the next hole was based on arrows attached to the bottom of the baskets. Some baskets didn’t have arrows at the bottom, as the next teepad was within sight.
Even when crossing the bridge each time, it was made clear that the next hole was on the other side. My only suggestion would be to add an extra sign or arrow after crossing the bridge from six to seven. Before the bridge there is a sign saying the next hole is across, but the path forks, and from there it is unclear which way to go. I took a guess and went right, which ended up being correct. It was only a 50-50 guess, but it would have been appreciated.
All of the teepads are accurately placed (unlike Krape Park) and have a foul line for reference. I appreciated how long they were. On other courses I typically start one step off of the teepad, but here I could start right on it.
Besides the technicalities of the course, O’Hauser is fairly difficult with a majority of its shots in the woods. I would not recommend this course to beginners; even I struggled and hit a tree on nearly every hole. In fact, after playing from the advanced teepads my first round, I played a second round from the recreational ones just to boost my ego.
There are some fun shots, though, that have cool designs with elevation, rocks, and logs.
Did I also mention that I saw Hailey King at this course. Yes, that’s right. 2020 DGPT Champion Hailey King! We met up at hole 13 as I was playing a full round and her group made a short loop, going from hole 5 to 13. As I was a single player, her group let me go first. I caught a glimpse of her, but she had a hat on and her hoodie up, so I thought yeah, that looks like her, but there’s no way it really is.
The next day I saw her post some practice rounds to Instagram with the location O’Hauser park. It really was her. I was so upset at myself that I didn’t say something.
Either way, I commented on her video, and she was kind enough to respond. She also helped me out with my blog series. If you haven’t read that yet, I suggest you do.
This course requires a driver and putter that are durable and brightly colored. You will hit a tree, and you will land it in the rough. Lots of discs go missing, so bring some that aren’t as valuable to you. Other players are good about posting to the Facebook group when they do find lost discs, though.
Enjoy the challenge!
| Fee | Daily – $3.00 Single-Person Annual Pass Resident – $20.00 Single-Person Annual Pass Non-Resident- $25.00 Two-Person Annual Pass Resident – $35.00 Two-Person Annual Pass Non-Resident – $40.00 |
| Holes | 18 |
| Teepad | Concrete |
One Toss at a Time 