Pros:
- Beautiful scenery along the Spokane River with Holes #1, #2, #5, #8 and #9 all playing along the water with excellent scenery and wildlife.
- Clearly marked tee pads have informative signs with arrows on them indicating the direction of the next tee pad and the concrete tee pads on every hole are flat and in good shape.
- The look of the course in fall/winter is exceptional and there are some great individual holes here.
- Lots of areas to start a round from if it's busy, can Park near hole #1 and start from holes #1, #2 and #4 easily. Can also park near hole #8 and start from #8 or #12, a few parking spaces near hole #5/#6 as well.
Cons:
Layout issues:
- Hole #5 isn't intuitive to find for first timers, it's the number one question I get asked especially if I'm near hole #4 or #6 by someone new to the course. Some locals skip hole #5 entirely because of the lost disc possibility and hole #6 tee pad is right near #4 basket.
- The walk from hole #7 to #8 is another less intuitive design, as you walk across the back of a baseball field and across the road.
- There are crossed paths on some holes, you walk in front of the basket of #12 to get to #11 tee pad. Hole #14 basket is in a blind over-throw spot for hole #7 drives so keep your head on a swivel and pay attention.
Congestion issues:
- Public park with limited parking, in summer hole #1 has had people park directly in the middle of the fairway thinking it's "overflow" area but it is not.
- Many people oblivious to disc golf at times, photographers and fishermen will occasionally show up on holes near the river and not know they're in the playing line.
Some people complain the old layout was better and dislike the current layout, don't listen to them, it had to be done. Old hole #1 could be entirely under water in the spring if the river got high enough.
Other Thoughts:
I've played hundreds of rounds here on the "updated layout" which has changed a few times over the years, I believe the current layout has been in place since 2017, it's a great mid/putter practice course and course for players of every skill level. Bring a retriever if the river water level is up, discs going in the water is very possible on holes #1, #2, #5, #8 and #9. The park lost hundreds of trees to bark beetles in 2017 and you can still see remnants of a lot of the stumps, especially near #8 and #9.
Note: For the reviews that mention that hole #5 should always be in place, I'd love that too since hole #5 is a wonderful hole but the beach area there gets so many recreational people and swimmers at certain times in the summer it would be unsafe to throw there, and #18b is an awesome little hole IMO, it is similar to the old layout of hole #13. For #18b go up the hill past the practice basket and play from the pad up there down to the practice basket.