Pros:
Short, beginner course in a small, pleasant, multi-use city park that gets lots of activity.
• Fair mix of wooded/open holes, with a reasonable balance of L/R/straight lines to the pin.
• Features two holes that tee off atop a 20'-25' sled hill that could have you emptying your bag out running the baskets - just plain fun no matter how many times you've done it.
• Pretty easy to par, but wooded holes are sufficiently tight with brush that's thick enough to penalize bad shots. Misplayed drives off the hill can sail a long way off course (especially in the wind).
• Good use of natural and pre-existing elements: uses the hill on two holes, pond can come into play on another, incorporates existing walking paths to get from hole to hole, and even as part of some fairways.
• Well marked with tall tee markers that are visually appealing (hole #, distance, shape) and several "Next Tee" signs to keep people moving in the right direction. These make navigation straightforward and easy.
• The holes themselves are well thought out, and although there are a couple of walks (from hole 3 to 4, and again from 6 to 7) the overall flow is pretty good, with the 9th basket ending up near the 1st hole and parking lot.
• Park amenities/activities also includes: clean touch-less bathrooms, pavilion, basketball & tennis courts, playground/tot-lot, volleyball pit, and softball fields.
• Excellent for an Ace Race.
Cons:
This course does what it does well, but certain limitations are inherent in courses like this:
• Designer tried to stay away from other park activities while keeping the holes fairly interesting, but the parts of the course share space in a popular, multi-use park - you may have to wait before driving on some holes; courtesy and common sense are required.
• Lacks distance - essentially a putter/mids only course.
• City forced many compromises, hence no holes throw over the pond. I'm not a fan of mulch tee pads, but they didn't want to pour concrete - the good news is that you don't need big run-ups for these distances.
Other Thoughts:
More fun than it is challenging. Don't complain about this course being too easy - it was never meant to host sanctioned events. If you really need to throw drivers, go to nearby Starr or Wagner. Not worth a long drive just to play here, but it is a nice supplement to those courses because of the downhill Ace Runs off the hill. All three courses are within a 5.5 mile drive, so you can easily hit 'em all for a full day's discing - makes it more feasible to drive here from another part of town.if you plan to play them all.
Designer wanted to do several things that the city simply wouldn't allow, like making better use of the pond, extending a few of the holes, and making use of some naturally occurring breaks/clearings in the trees to tuck a basket inside. Since the tucked basket would have employed a tee facing the general direction of the playground, the city said "NO." Quite honestly, they got that one right - even on a short course like this, teeing off in the general direction of toddlers at play is just a bad idea.
Quick & dirty walk through:
• 1st hole starts where the woods begin near the front of the park - a mild RHBH annie through a reasonably tight fairway.
• Hole 2 plays on either side of an island of trees/brush that forces you to go L or R around it; go long and left (on either the annie or hyzer route) and you could end up in the pond.
• 3rd hole is a straight tunnels shot lined with thick woods - keep it straight and you're OK. Griplocking or nosing it up may not end well.
• Take a short a short walk down a wooded trail to holes 4-6, which are open and play on and around the sledding hill. Climb the hill to get to 4's tee and throw east, down the hill to the pin.
• Hole 5 plays on flat ground, wrapping around to a basket at the base of the hill.
• Take the steps back up the south side of the hill to Hole 6, which plays west, downhill to a basket with dense foliage just a few feet behind it. Ace runs that ride the wind and sail long could easily end up in in the thick and nasty brush looming ominously a few feet behind the basket. Out in the open atop the hill, wind can really be a big factor. This is showcased wonderfully by the fact that holes 4 and 6 tee off in opposite directions from the same hill, forcing you to compensate differently for those tee shots.
• The middle 3 holes are followed by a significantly longer walk to 7, which plays through a tunnel out of the woods into the open.
• Holes 8 & 9 are open with a couple of mildly threatening trees, whose bark really is worse than their bite
• Flow brings you back to the parking lot near hole 1.
While there are a couple of walks (one short, one long), numerous "Next Tee" signs are employed to help you out (three of them help get you to Hole 7, without ever feeling like "Am I going the right direction?" Also, the walks take you from one "set" of holes to another, so you never take a hike just to get to a single hole.
Great course for young kids and people just starting out and fun for more experienced players who just want to run at the chains. But more than that, it isn't.