Pros:
- good mixture of open and wooded space
- incorporation of different landscapes on individual holes is cool
- some moderate elevation change on some holes
- dual color coded baskets are in good shape
- quality concrete tees, a few holes have dual tees
- same full color tee signs with maps as the rest of the park
- park is well maintained and in great shape like all of Anna Page
- some basic amenities like the other courses: port o potties, some benches/picnic tables, garbage cans
Cons:
- a few fairways double back very close to each other and present some safety hazards
- baskets are not numbered so navigation in the open can be slightly confusing
- some alternate tees are not concrete
- minor walk from hole 18 back to parking lot
Other Thoughts:
Anna Page East was the last of the 3 courses I played, and I almost didn't get to it. I'm glad I did. I was in a little bit of a rush to get home, so I managed to finish 18 holes in just over 1 hour - I recommend taking a few more minutes to enjoy the quality of this course.
While West felt very open throughout a lot of it, and South felt quite wooded for the most part, East is an interesting combination of the two. More often than not, the majority of the fairway is pretty open, but the start and end of holes is often in small wooded stands. Many of the holes hop from wooded area to wooded area. I thought this was a really cool incorporation of what the park had to work with.
Similarly, elevation change is included where possible. Anna Page doesn't have much to offer in terms of water hazards, but otherwise uses what is available well. All of the materials in the park are top notch - tee signs, baskets, and tees. Older pictures show natural tees and very basic baskets, so upgrades have clearly been made over the years which is great to see.
The park is very clean and well maintained. The shorter red MVP baskets are a lot easier, with notably less distance and in some cases, technical challenge. This is a cool way to play a nice course and not get discouraged as a beginning. I played the long blue DISCatchers, which adds a good amount of challenge for intermediate or above players - I recommend the blues here if you are fairly experienced.
A few holes near the woods had some interesting sandy soil I also saw a bit of on the South course. I've only really encountered this on Michigan courses near the lake, so that was surprising. The flow and navigation of this course are generally straightforward, but on a course with some open fairways that aren't as strictly defined, I always prefer numbers on the baskets or you can get a bit turned around on which target you are throwing to. That wasn't too bad here, but is an area for improvement.
There is flexibility here to throw different lines, as the fairways mostly aren't super tight, but there are still mature tree obstacles, technical challenge, and some wooded holes that force more shot shaping. I preferred the South course overall, because I enjoy a lot of that wooded, technical challenge. However, the East course is no slouch, and while I might have been around a 3.75 on this one, I decided it deserved the 4.
I didn't see many issues here with drainage or mud; the course seems to handle wetness well. This did seem busiest of the 3 courses and as it's the original, it may be the most popular. I think for most people I would recommend prioritizing this course, then South, then West last, but they are all great courses (and not really knowing one way or another, I played in the opposite order).
I did note a few fairways throwing back towards the last one that were close enough to have some safety concerns. Nothing too major, and can be managed by paying attention, but that's one of the few nits on this excellent course. I highly recommend making a day of Rockford and hitting all 3 courses here along with some others in the area.