Pros:
- set in a beautiful and well maintained multi-use park
- area of the park is mostly dedicated to disc golf
- incredible elevation change on holes playing near the ravine
- some decent elevation change on most other holes
- almost entirely wooded with some great technical challenge
- solid Innova DISCatcher baskets
- three tees per hole, though only can find all three on some holes
- concrete paver tees on most holes (at least one of them, anyway)
- picnic tables and garbage cans throughout course
- challenge factor can't be beat with baskets near ravine edge
- rough is very forgiving and light on debris
- nice use of built-in bridges over creek/ravine where needed
- course map on back of course information sign
- not many safety hazards
- huge variety of possible hole lengths across the various tees
Cons:
- as noted by virtually everyone, tee signs are insanely high up and many are missing entirely
- alternate tees are not clearly marked and in some cases can't be found
- navigation can be confusing; you will want the course map
- next tee indicators and signage in general are pretty terrible
- pars are overly generous on almost every hole
Other Thoughts:
There are clearly some polarizing opinions on Chestnut Ridge. This was my #1 course in the Buffalo area I wanted to check out, and I'm glad I did. It appears there have been problems with vandalism and garbage in the past, and this is why the tee signs ended up mounted on trees 10-12' up in the air. It's definitely weird and they are hard to notice, but I guess there's a reason. While some garbage cans were overflowing here, I didn't find the course exceptionally messy overall.
The reality is the equipment here isn't great. There are 3 tees per hole, but some only have one done in concrete pavers and the others are rubber, or worse, natural and not really marked. I can deal with natural tees but if they aren't well marked, especially on a woods course like this, they just disappear into the forest over time. Similarly, so many tee signs are missing. Navigation was difficult and I feel like it didn't have to be if there were decent next tee indicators. The baskets were fine, but that was about it.
The hardest part of navigation may have just been finding the course itself - the first tee is by the main building you see across the entry drive from the parking lot. If you go towards the back of this building there is a dropoff/sledding sort of hill and this is where the first tee is. This hole is mostly out in the open and after that, you barely emerge from the woods until the end. The natural beauty here cannot be overstated - no, it's not the mountains, but it's crazy hilly with mature trees and is a beautiful park to play disc golf in.
Now, onto the actual gameplay - if you can overlook some of the warts and the navigation, what a fun course. This is not a place to take beginners, and if you are going to get upset about finding a way to climb down a ravine to find your disc - best stay at your municipal park's local flat 9 hole. At least one reviewer referred to the ravines as dangerous - well, yeah, if you fall off the edge it's going to hurt - but this course is no more dangerous than any other course with dropoffs. Exercise care and you will be fine, but you'll want to bring your hiking boots and keep an eye on your shots for this one.
I played the white tees (at least where I could tell which tee was white) which is a nice middle ground. There is lots of variety in length depending on the tee you choose, but for your given tee, lengths are pretty consistent throughout. You be making plenty of differerent shots here and you will be challenged to hit your line. I can't overstate the fun factor here if you love woods an elevation.
There are so many noteworthy holes with cool ravine shots here, practically from start to end. For me, the signature hole is 15, a long shot thrown from elevation out over the ravine, parallel to it's length, finishing at a basket on the ravine edge at much lower elevation - what a cool view and line to hit.
While the course par isn't that big of a deal to me, it is unquestionably too generous here - about one stroke too generous per hole. I scored -17 on my round which... is not a score I get. 17 birdies in 18 holes makes you feel good about your round, I suppose!
I didn't note many safety hazards here - a few holes played near roads and walking paths but nothing egregious. Hole 14 to hole 15 required backtracking through fairways which was not ideal. I was here early on a Saturday morning and it was pretty quiet, but it was still early. This particular traversal would not be great when busier, and it sounds like this course does get busy.
If the equipment and navigation here were a bit better, there's no question this course would be a 4.0 - 4.25. However, with all of the cons noted being fairly significant, I think it's playing like a 3.5 for now. It's still absolutely worth the trip here for a really cool and unique course. Highly recommended if you are in the vicinity.