Pros:
This ski run course offers beautiful views of the mountains, especially from the high half of the course (7-15).
The first tee is easily accessible from the gondola station and it's parking lot. Just a quick road crossing and maybe 100 feet down the street. The end of the course is even closer to the lot.
The course itself is quite good for having to be smashed mostly into the sides of the ski run. A little more distance could be desired, but the challenge level is still there.
The Chainstar baskets are all in really good condition and catch very well.
As for the course itself
- A quick overview: the bottom half (1-6, 16-18) seems to have been an original 9-hole course, while the top half (7-15) was added more recently and really hugs the treeline on both sides of the ski slope.
- There are several interesting tee positions. Holes 5 and 16 are both off tall berms giving you a downhill shot back toward the heart of the lower course. Hole 9 is a hard-bending dogleg right to a basket slid halfway up the hill.
- Tons of difficult greens due to it being on... you know... a mountain. 1 is made difficult by the trees directly behind the basket. 8 is difficult to access with some trees guarding the backhand line and the forehand gap being pretty small as well, 9, 13, 15, and 17 are all on hills with big rollaway potential, and 10, 12, and 14 have drop offs behind the basket that make a comeback putt quite difficult.
Hole 18 is just fun. A forehand S-curve or a precise skip is required to get close to the basket as you throw underneath a bridge with the basket just past the end of the right-hand wall of the tunnel.
Cons:
The main con is the dirt/rock tees. Framed with 2x4 planks, these tees are on the small side and hold water really well, and since it rains almost every day during disc golf season that doesn't bode well.
The tee signs are poor. The hard doglegs on 3 and 9 aren't well noted. Walking the hole is really the only way to know exactly where you're shooting from.
None of the holes get over 350', and some of those are only that way due to being downhill. There is plenty of space on the top half to have some more length.. and even one or two 600' bombers.
The climb from 6 to 7 is long, and at this elevation will have most out-of-towners sucking for air. The lack of benches (only ones are on 9 and 13) is also a big con for the same reason.
Some of the holes are rather bland. 4, 7, 11, and 16 have a little bit of elevation, and basically nothing else. Only two holes are truly wooded (13 and 14) and they are under 200ft each.
Other Thoughts:
This is definitely a course worth playing if only for the views, and if you're vacationing to the Telluride area this is a great way to acclimate to the elevation before hiking.
There's several amenities lacking, including length, but the quality for the land that's there is beyond what I expected. If you're nearby, give this course a run. Definitely worth it.