Pros:
-Lots of various shot types. Right to left shots, tunnel shots, left to right shots, some OB and Mandos (if playing fairly seriously), uphill, downhill, across valleys, and some Ace run potential.
-Excellent course to learn how to hit lines. If you can hit your lines here, you can score well. If you are off, then the birdies will be few.
-There are several holes that are good beginner holes. Holes 2, 3, 6, 7, and 12/16 (in the short positions) are very manageable distance for beginners, but still have some skill required to get a birdie.
-There have been some recent updates to some of the course. 8's tee pad has some new landscaping that lets you use the full tee pad; There is a new tee pad for the extra hole between 7 and 17 (called 7A) and a new, longer tee position for hole 5.
Cons:
-Like most wooded courses, if you get off of the fairway/main route, it can get pretty dicey. There are some decently thick woods around the majority of the course, and if you're playing during the time of year where everything is nice and green, finding a stray disc can be an unwanted adventure. Also, summer=bugs.
-Most holes only have 1 tee pad and 1 basket location. And those that do have more than 1 basket location, the tee signs are not updated to show both spots.
-A majority of the tee pads (except for the two new ones) are not very long, so if you like to get a big run up, it can be tricky. 10 and 12's tee's have a slight drop off from the back part of the tee to the ground, so trying a longer run up on them requires a step-up.
-If you are a fan of flat, wide open courses where you can grip it and rip it, you may not like this course as much. There are only a handful of tee shots where you can really let loose (10, 11, 12 in the long position, 15, 17, and 18. However, you still have to hit a line on most of those holes, so be cautious. Also, on a hot, humid day, walking that hilly terrain can wear you down if you're not ready for it.
Other Thoughts:
Overall, this course has a lot of good things going for it. Atchison is about an hour or less from the Kansas City Metro, so other quality courses aren't terribly far away. This course has hosted some B/C Tier tournaments, but probably doesn't have the overall distance to host larger, A Tier ones.
This is the course I learned how to play on, and is about 5-6 minutes from my house. The city keeps the grassy areas mowed fairly regularly, so the course usually looks pretty nice. There are a decent amount of fun shots to make me want to come back for more.
I would say improvements could be made by updating the signs, replacing the short tee pads with some longer ones, and putting in a few accessories near some more holes (trash cans, benches, etc.).