Pros:
Lakewood DGC is a course designed to appeal to all skill levels, and does so with a park design that's light on length but heavy on fun. The front 9 looks to provide a challenge for rec-level players, featuring shorter holes that play around mature trees while still offering multiple lines and angles of attack. The back 9 ups the difficulty slightly with a bit more focus on distance and placement around the green. Overall, the two halves complement each other well, with both finishing near Hole 1 to allow for a quick 9 holes if desired.
Wind provides almost half of the challenge at this course, as you're almost guaranteed to get some bluster across the length of the large, flat park or from the opposite direction off of Lake St. Clair. If you're not used to wind play, this course can give you a good intro without punishing misthrown shots too badly.
The park itself is set in a really nice lakeshore community, and it's fun to be disc golfing while surrounded by homes that look like they belong on a ball golf course.
The routing is pretty intuitive, and I only had to consult the map once (between Holes 11 & 12). Mach III's (red on 1-9, white on 10-18) are easy to see and catch well. Tee signs are attractive, with hole distance in both feet and meters. Concrete tees are large and well-installed.
Cons:
There's space here for a lot more disc golf, but it seems the designer went with quality over quantity and a design that provides a good intro to the sport for the local community. Even so, I wish there were a few more holes or a bit more length here to bring up the difficulty a smidge.
Geese like Lakewood for its location near the water, which makes goose poop an ever-present obstacle. Teepads and fairways were covered on the day I played.
Hole 8 is a strange 125 foot dinker through a small cluster of trees, and it sticks out like a sore thumb on a course that's already unusually short for the space.
Other Thoughts:
Although it was dry the day I played, some low spots on the course looked like they had the potential to retain water.
The design itself is probably a 2.5, but the quality of the park and surrounding neighborhood nudge it up to a 3.0. Lakewood is a great addition to a well-populated area of western Ontario that's devoid of disc golf, and is worth a quick trip across the border. I can't wait to come back!