Fel Pro disc golf course in Cary rated one of the best in Chicago area

Only one year after opening, the new and improved 18-hole disc golf course at Fel Pro Conservation Area, 1520 Crystal Lake Road, Cary, is rated one of best in the Chicago area.

The rating – 945 ratings averaging 4.4 of 5 on the UDisc app and website for disc golfers – ties the course at Fel Pro for fifth among courses within 50 miles of Chicago.

“Internally, we hoped that with the growing popularity of the sport of disc golf that our course would be well received,” McHenry County Conservation District Sites Supervisor Ben O’Dea said in a statement announcing the high rating. “But I don’t think anyone anticipated how popular our course would become.

“Last fall it was not uncommon to see 50 [to] 70 cars in the parking lot at Fel Pro, with almost all of them there to play disc golf. Even through the snow and cold of winter we had golfers playing the course.”

MCCD’s sites and fleet department advocated for the redesign and expansion of the disc golf course from a nine-hole to an 18-hole course in 2015, according to a news release. The endeavor was tackled as an in-house project with the help of a well-respected course designer, Dana Vicich.

Over the course of three years, crews cleared trees and brush from a previously underused area of Fel Pro just north of the main parking lot.

In 2019, tee boxes, targets and signage were installed, and a portion of the course reopened, allowing grass to grow in the expanded section. The full course opened Labor Day weekend of 2020.

The disc golf course is designed for all skill levels. The recommended group size is three to five, and it takes about two to three hours to play through the course.