Pros:
-There's a good amount of difference in how the course plays from the short tees vs. the long tees. On most holes, the long tees demand a longer and tighter shot, but there's actually a few where the line is more difficult from the short tees. I think this is great for those who play this course a lot.
-Good mix of holes forces you to use a lot of different shots. Some are wooded, some are open, and some are both. Nice use of elevation as well.
-Parts of the course make use of a pine forest, which is pretty uncommon for courses in this area. It seems to me like there's less mosquitoes at Elver than other local courses, perhaps the pines and the lack of water are reasons why.
-The course sits on top of a large hill, which allows for some pretty cool views, namely from the 18th tee.
-All of the holes feel unique to me. There's some that are similar, and there's definitely some I like more than others, but at the end of a round I find it easy to recall what happened on each hole instead of it all running together.
Cons:
-There's a quite a bit of trash on the course, and not just paper and cans but broken glass and cigarettes as well. Even though there's several garbage and recycling cans, even can crushers, some people still feel the need to litter apparently. I didn't grow up in the area, so I can't say for sure, but you definitely get the feeling that local teenagers hang out at the park to drink and smoke.
-As others have mentioned, erosion is an issue here around many tees and paths between holes.
-The course can get pretty busy, and I'm sure this fact is a main cause of all the other cons I've listed here.
-The activity hill really takes away from this course. For those that haven't played here, it's basically a big, open sledding hill and holes 2-4 crisscross it. Not only are the holes themselves not very good when compared to the rest of the course, you often have to deal with non-disc golfers on the hill. I once came to play a round here only to find that a large cross country team was running up and down the hill for practice.
-There's a couple of spots where tees and baskets come close together, which could lead to some close calls on busy days.
Other Thoughts:
-A lot of the cons I've listed wouldn't have as big of an impact on the rating if the course was free to play. I just feel like dealing with trash and non-disc golfers on the course are things that you shouldn't have to deal with when you pay to use it. I certainly understand why the city chose to make Elver and Hiestand pay-to-play, and I'm not at all against the concept, but you get the feeling that it may have been too late, with the erosion and the large numbers of people using the park for other activities.
-On hole 18, the short tee seems to have fallen into disuse. I suspect this is because once you get to the long tee, you can't wait to let it rip from the top of the hill. I actually thought the tee no longer existed the first few times I played the course because I couldn't find the path to it, but it's still there. When you get to the long tee at 18, just keep going towards the woods on the left. The trail that leads to the short tee is very overgrown in the summer, but if you don't mind trudging through the brush and potentially cleaning off the pad a bit, it provides a pretty interesting shot from the side of the hole through some trees.
-I would say if you're coming from out of town and planning a day of disc golf in Madison, I would give this one a miss unless you're staying for more than 1 day. It's a great location for people that live on Madison's West Side, or those coming from west of town, but pretty much all of the other courses in the area are concentrated on the East Side or east of town.