Pros:
There's an astonishing amount of disc golf here crammed into a small plot of woods just off the WMU campus. The course plays in a wooded dip with a "pond" and marsh at the bottom. I'm not sure how they squirreled 18 holes onto the property, but it's a legit course to play even if the holes tend to run on the short side.
The holes are generally pretty good variety and there's some challenge here. Yes, it's an ace run course. I think I picked up 5 or 6 birds my first run through. That said, I bogied and double bogied several holes. Some of those strokes were just plain old tree kicks - this is a wooded course and while the fairways are more than fair sometimes you just hit the darn things.
Other strokes were caused by timid throws around the water feature. The pond is centered in the course and several holes play around it. Two involve fairly merciless dead putts with the water mere feet from the basket. Given how cramped the holes are, however, I'd say 5 or 6 holes have a very reasonable chance of ending up in the water on a long, flipped, or bad tree-kicked throw. The water did not strike me as the sort that you would easily get a disc out of, less so with thin layer of ice that was on them at the time. It adds an element of risk and challenge to the course to make up for the short distances of the holes.
Pads were all cement, though in various states of repair. Signs were sometimes but not always present for each pad. What was there looked nice. Benches or logs to sit on in a few spots.
Navigation was...acceptable by virtue of process of elimination. There just weren't many spots to put the next hole so you could usually figure out the path to take to the next one.
Cons:
I played this course on one of those steel-wool grey Michigan winter days shortly after New Years. The snow had uncharacteristically melted and I'm certain I saw the park in its least appealing context.
I had the park to myself, which was good. I simply don't see how players don't hit other groups here. The holes are "snug" to say the least. Thankfully there should not be a lot of full power drives, but there's simply no way the occasional throw doesn't end up in another fairway or tee box.
The park has an odd, almost unwelcoming feel to it. The gate was closed when I arrived. I didn't see any parking to speak of - other reviews mention a small lot but I didn't see anything. Maybe it was covered by leaves. I ended up parking in the street. Not 100% it was ok due to a sticker partially obscuring the parking sign but I didn't get a ticket.
Student housing/apartments surround the park. While I can see the woods having a sort of natural beauty in the summer, maybe, the looming buildings and tightly crammed holes give it a sort of claustrophobic feel.
Graffiti is rampant. Some of it is...unkind. It looks like there are park regulars that write messages to one another.
The baskets look like they've been painted over a few times. They have that gnarly multiple layers of paint look to them - they probably need to be pulled, sandblasted, and powder-coated again.
Speaking of baskets, remember how I said I double bogied a few holes? Embarrassing when they're that short, right? Part of it was the basket positioning. They reminded me of that kid Urkel's pants from Family Matters, hiked up about 6" to 12" too high. This caused my putting form a good deal of trouble, causing numerous 2 and 3 putt holes. I'm sure you get used to it, but it really threw me the first time through, ESPECIALLY combined with that pond in the background for a few of them.
There's still trash. It wasn't as bad as other courses I've been to, not as good as others. Mostly alcohol bottles, some shattered.
One of the pads looked darn near shattered. You could play on it, but it was pretty broken up. I believe some of the other pads may have been cracked.
Other Thoughts:
This course is in an odd position. I almost gave it a 1.5 until I really thought about why I was leaning towards that score. I considered the lower score because I simply can't see a reason you'd come out to this course when others are so readily available in the area. Oshtemo and Spring Valley are minutes away, Cold Brook, Robert Morris, and VIRA not much farther. It's a course a local would go to for the sake of variety or convenience off of campus. I'd never make a special trip to play it, but it's worth swinging by for a course bagger if they're in the area playing one of the others, especially in the off hours.
In a way, Kalamazoo is a bit spoiled with nice courses (ones they work hard at maintaining an putting in, to be sure!) and this course gets overshadowed by them. If I lived in the apartments or was frequently on campus, I'd likely play Knollwood. I'd probably be a better player for it as well as it is a good practice course for those upshots and putts.
I did take other reviewers' advice and only took two discs - a Buzzz and a stable putter. I didn't feel like I wanted much more other than fighting with my Buzzz flexing out of anny shots on me. That's where that practice I mentioned previously would come in - I don't normally force my Buzzz into that role and bringing only two discs forced me out of my comfort zone a bit (and padded my score, I'm sure).
The course is fine. If you're interested in trying different courses while you're in the area I'd hit it after going to the other "bigger" ones. Take two or three discs (preferably ones you might not mind losing in that very dubious pond) and try some technical shots you're not comfortable with.