Pros:
+ The venue is spacious and peaceful with a peppering of tall shady trees.
+ A practice basket nearby the first tee.
+ The course is very open so you can let loose at full power, but...
Cons:
- ...The course is very open, which means repetitious distance throws.
-/+ Tee areas are just sand, dirt or grass, but the 'concrete layout' has passable concrete tees.
- There is no nav signage, but disc golfers' logic usually prevails. So does Udisc...
-/+ Tee signs are just the link# and distance on a colored post unless you're playing the 'concrete layout,' which has decent signs.
Other Thoughts:
If a course is mostly open such as Ford Park, then I feel as though it needs to compensate for that in some other way. Give us grand elevation challenges. Send us over a pond. Sometimes, the available land doesn't have those. Okay, then give us island greens, mandos and so forth. Ford Park tries a little bit to do these things, but it isn't enough to save it.
For the blue layout that I played, there are three fairway modifiers that I encountered. Links12 and 16 have double mandos to force players to focus on their aim. Link18 has a clearly marked 'fake pond' to throw over. The rest of the course is just a point and shoot fling-fest with two exceptions. Link11 was nice to look at and play because it has an actual ceiling partway down the fairway. It is the closest this course gets to having anything resembling a tunnel. Link21 was my favorite one to play because the basket was defended by a ring of small trees- kind of like bouncers or body guards. It was an actual obstacle to defeat, but it was too little too late. Link2, for what it's worth, has a small valley for elevation. If you can ignore the OB fence and road on the right-hand side, then that one could be fun to play, too.
My least favorite link? Pick one. I'll say link14 gets that distinction here because it has the player throw in the direction of a residential road. Plus, it is one of the most wide-open and featureless fairways on the course. Lots of these links can be described like that, though. Despite the trees that we see in all directions at this place, they don't pose much of a threat because they are few and far between. This is a park-style course if ever I've seen one. Very few areas of rough. Generous space between trees. Links10 and 11 have a fenced-off area to the right that functions as OB. Link13 has the player throw over an OB park road, but that's as careful as a player needs to be here.
All told, it is obvious that this course is meant for the big arms and power throwers. It could also be a harmless place for the newbie to introduce themself to the sport without too much tree interference. I wasn't too crazy about Ford Park, but that's no reason why you shouldn't at least see for yourself. It won't stir anything inside you, but don't let my word be your deciding factor.
If you are a course bagger, then this course is for you by default, but no matter what flavor of disc golfer you are, don't be in a rush to get here.