Basics

Course name
Northend Riverside Park - West
Course location
Big Rapids, Michigan
Headline
The stomping grounds of the ‘15, ‘17, '19 and ’21 National Champions, your Ferris State Bulldogs!
Description
2 courses on 1 property. Well designed courses that offer a variety of layouts for every skill type. Bathroom and water located by pavilions.
Year established
2016

Availability

Dedicated targets
Yes
Bring your own baskets
No
Under construction
No
Course status
Available
Availability type
Year Round
Restriction
No

Access requirements

Who can play
Everyone
Access
N/A
Cost
Free - Donation box located by practice baskets, all proceeds go to course maintanence.
Course contact/scheduling info
https://www.facebook.com/groups/BigRapidaDiscGolfClub
Accessibility
N/A

Details

Hole count
18
Tee types
Concrete
Target identifiers
DISCatcher Pro (original)
Services
Dogs allowed, Restrooms available, Drinking water available, Cart friendly
Property type
Mixed use
Land type
Public park

History

Year established
2016
History
This was the second course of the two on the site. Sometime around 2004, Foster Neill walked the unused land contiguous with the existing course and part of the public park and determined there was room for another 18 holes on the property. Initially, there wasn't a lot of interest from the community, but a couple years later, and with a couple National Collegiate Champion titles under FSU's disc golf team's belt, that interest materialized and Michigan Disc Golf Hall of Fame Dr. Leonard Johnson threw his support behind the project. Together, Neill and Johnson came up with the course design that would become Northend West. Under their leadership, the community stepped up and through exclusively volunteer work, built the course - cutting in new fairways, pouring concrete, and planting baskets. Using his connections to teachers as a professor of Education at FSU, Dr. Johnson partnered with the local high school Career Center to create the unique, large, and durable signage we have on both courses today. The original graphics for the signs were started by FSU National Collegiate Champion, Sam Mrdeza, and finished by Foster Neill. All the original graphics were replaced 8 years later when the short tees were finished with concrete. The new graphics, created exclusively by Neil, improved accuracy, added elevation information and showed all the short fairways. At the time of this history (Fall, 2025, Johnson, who is now retired, can be found most afternoons either mowing the fairways in the summer or clearing snow from tees in the winter. Neill still runs a weekly doubles league every Sunday all year.