THE LINKS DISC GOLF COURSE AT WHEELER PARK — GENEVA, IL
“The Arboretum Disc Golf Course of the Midwest.” That is what I think of as The Links at Wheeler Park in Geneva, Illinois. This is a beautiful course that is a stone’s throw away from the Fox River and downtown Geneva, IL.
I think of this as the arboretum course because there are so many different varieties of trees, and a small prairie, the Wheeler Dry Prairie near hole 6. It is very evident that the park district puts a lot of work into making this park look great!
The Links Disc Golf Course Details
Location: 101 North Street, Geneva, Illinois 60134
Coordinates: 41.89297214693261, -88.30356787667209
Holes: 18-holes
Established: 2011
Player Level: Intermediate and Advanced, beginners would have fun here too, but the holes do get long and on a busy day you don’t want to be in the way of more experienced players.
Tees: Brick Pavers
Cart Friendly: Yes - hole 11 might be tough to bring a cart up to, you can leave your cart down the hill off the fairway not too far from the tee
Distance: 4,942 feet
Par: 66
Elevation: Majority of the course is flat. Hole 11 has the most elevation, it is the most iconic hole on the course with extreme elevation for Illinois.
Dogs: Yes
Restrooms: Yes - they have a nice facility here with running water by hole 1, and after hole 5
Other Notes: This is a multi-use park, be aware of people walking and biking down the trails that run through the course. This is one of the most popular courses in the area, it does get very busy during the day on the weekends.
I mentioned that this is a multi-use park. Besides the walkers and bikers that you will see on the paved trail that winds along the disc golf course - they also have a miniature golf course, Stone Creek. You can rent discs here at affordable rates and enjoy the mini golf and their concessions.
Tennis courts, a baseball field and a park for the kids to play are just a few of the amenities that Wheeler Park has to offer.
The Links DGC does get very busy on the weekend during the day. We played hole 1 so fast, to give space to the card behind us. Photo wise, I’m going to kick it off on hole 2.
This is a mostly flat disc golf course, I recommend bringing a cart if you have one. There are a few mounds like you see below where slight elevation comes into play. But keep in mind, hole 11 - the most iconic hole on the course does have a lot of elevation.
Park benches are available on almost every hole, this is a nice touch to have available to set your bag down.
The one thing that I think is the most unique about the course assets are their tees. You don’t really see that many courses with brick pavers. These were well done, and there is a nice sizeable area to tee from. We were here not long after a rainy day - you could see that they drained well but still had a little mud on them from the rain.
After hole 5 is a good time to take a restroom break, they have a sheltered area with restrooms and running water. There is not another restroom area available until after hole 18.
If the course is busy - you could also park near hole 5 in the additional parking lot, and start on 6.
The Geneva Park District Foundation did some amazing work out here. I loved seeing a touch of the natural prairie landscape out here in this park.
You walk along a section of the dry prairie as you approach hole 6’s basket that is nestled here in the trees. There has never been a day that I have visited this disc golf course where it has not been maintained, it is always well-kept.
After hole 7, you will cross the walking and bike path. Hole 8’s tee pad is right next to hole 14’s tee pad. They face different directions, the course designers did a great job with the space here - while they are close together, there is just the right amount of space here where the tees feel independent from each other.
Hole 8 is 213 feet, for a moment I thought this could be the most-aced hole on the course. But honestly, it is probably hole 9 which is only 132 feet - and a straighter shot to the basket.
This is hole 9. Let me know what you think, is hole 9 aced more or hole 8?
Hole 10 is the pure-woods hole on the course. It is 189 feet, which is relatively short but when you add in the up-hill elevation and trees that will make or break you, it can actually be tough to get there.
It’s a steep, but short hike up to the tee on hole 11. If you have seen photos of The Links Disc Golf Course online, this is the hole you would have seen. It’s a tight down-hill shot to the basket 330 feet away.
If there is a hole where people loose discs on, this is it. With majority of disc golfers being right-handed — it is easy to throw a back-hand and go left into the woods that line hole 10. If you land to the left and out of that tunnel gap, you are nearing hole 8’s basket.
Hole 12 is just across the walking path on the back-side of the dry prairie that you would have seen on hole 6. This is a sneaky shot - a big lefty-hyzer or right arm flick. From what I have seen, you need to play it straighter than you think because it is easy to get caught in the bushes on the right.
It is a bit of a walk to get to hole 13 from hole 12. If you are new to the course, you will pass by hole 7’s tee and think this is it, but wait - you already played that hole and continue going straight.
Hole 13 is a low-line shot where you play from a tee that is elevated from most of the fairway. It is a defined line, but can be tough to hit with all of the trees and low hanging branches.
Hole 14 (across the walking path - and next to hole 8’s tee) - I thought this was a bigger bomber hole that hole 13, but when I looked back at the distance, it is not. It must have been the elevation on 13 that made it feel shorter. Hole 14 is is 298 feet, and just tucked in the woods ever so nicely.
Hole 15 is across the walking path again. It 313 feet, and the start of the rolling mounds again. When you see the mounds you might not think much of them, but they can really effect your shot, especially if your disc lands on its edge and rolls.
Hole 18 - I’m really interested to see what this hole will look like in the year’s to come. The trees line this fairway perfect and I can’t imagine how it will be when they are all grown up.
Thank you for checking out my blog! Chris, Kai and I really enjoyed our round out here. The Links at Wheeler Park is one of my favorite shorter courses in the Western Chicago Suburbs. Most traveling disc golfers when they come out to the Fox River Valley area probably head to Eagle Ridge first and foremost, but this is also a course I think you should check out. If you are going the Eagle Ridge route there is also Jericho Lake nearby.
Not too far from The Links, there is the 9-hole James O. Breen Community Park - also a very short course but WAY more woods and elevation (and this is the only course I ever got an ace on that was IMMEDIATELY followed up by a speeding ticket! My only ticket. I was speeding because my car was dying and I was 20-something years old, I know it doesn’t make any sense. I do have lots of aces though… still counting).
They close the James O. Breen course in the winter because it does get dangerous out there with the snow and elevation mixed together.
After our round at The Links we headed over to Crossroads DGC near Big Rock. That will be on the blog next. It’s a private course - the pictures on UDisc looked promising but there were only a few photos and they were all captured in the winter. We are all about playing new courses, and I wanted to know why someone called it a $3 gem… stay tuned to find out!
The photos that were captured for this blog post were with my Canon EOS-R and 24mm lens. I really wanted to use a prime lens for this, and it needed to be wide-angle. With the overcast skies it made for some really beautiful light — like a giant soft-box in the sky for nice soft light during that high-noon sun.
