Construction crews have broken ground on a long-anticipated overhaul of the disc golf course at Embshoff Woods, the West Side Cincinnati park where the sport has been played since 1981. The project will expand the course from nine holes to a full 18, with two basket locations at every hole, new tee pads and new signage throughout the layout.
According to WKRC, the renovation is expected to wrap up by the end of December, giving West Side disc golfers a modernized course heading into the new year. Embshoff Woods is the fourth course in the Great Parks of Hamilton County system to get this treatment, following similar expansions elsewhere in the county.
The course sits inside Embshoff Woods Nature Preserve, a 334-acre county park in Delhi Township known for its trails, picnic shelters and playgrounds, according to Great Parks of Hamilton County. For West Side residents, the preserve has long served as one of the area's primary green spaces, and the disc golf course has been part of its identity for decades.
A Course With Deep Roots in the Sport
Embshoff Woods isn't just any disc golf course. It was originally designed in 1981 by “Steady” Ed Headrick, the inventor of the modern Frisbee and founder of the Disc Golf Association, per the Disc Golf Course Review. Headrick is widely regarded as the father of the modern sport, which adds a layer of local sports history to a project that might otherwise read as routine park maintenance.
The renovation mirrors work at Miami Whitewater Forest in Harrison, where a 9-hole course was similarly expanded into an 18-hole layout with dual basket targets per hole. That project, along with earlier upgrades at Woodland Mound in 2023 and Winton Woods in spring 2025, makes Embshoff Woods the fourth course in Great Parks' disc golf refresh.
Public Input Shaped the New Layout
The new 18-hole design at Embshoff Woods wasn't drawn up in isolation. Great Parks gathered community feedback through an online survey and planned an on-site public engagement session near the first tee for April 28, where local players could share thoughts on the future course.
The upgrades also carry an environmental component. As part of its disc golf course updates, Great Parks has been removing invasive plant species like honeysuckle from fairways and planting native trees and shrubs, a practice applied at the earlier Winton Woods renovation.
How the Project Is Being Paid For
The renovation is funded through a voter-approved 0.95-mill tax levy that Hamilton County residents passed in 2021 to support capital improvements across the park system's master plans.
County voters approved Issue 34 in November 2025, a 10-year renewal of Great Parks' separate property tax levy at a rate not exceeding 1 mill, according to Ballotpedia.
That public investment appears to be paying off in measurable ways. A University of Cincinnati Economics Center study released in August 2025 found that Great Parks generated $138.6 million in total economic impact in 2024, the Cincinnati Business Courier reported.
Part of a Fast-Growing Sport
The timing lines up with disc golf's continued rise nationally. Global disc golf participation reached more than 21.2 million played rounds in 2025 across over 17,000 courses worldwide, with 89 percent of those courses free and open to the public, according to UDisc's 2026 growth report. The Embshoff Woods expansion comes amid disc golf's broader national growth.
For now, West Side players will have to wait out the construction season. But if the timeline holds, the course where Ed Headrick once laid out fairways in 1981 will reopen by the end of December with twice as many holes and a fresh set of baskets to aim for.
