Pros:
Quite solid course; has stood the test of time. One of the first 10 with baskets in Wisconsin. Steady Ed involved with original course walk through and design.
Well designed mixture of lhbh and rhbh shots.
Well designed mixture of long and short holes.
ALL shot types are represented here...for blue level players)
Some fall-away greens.
Some ace runs, but only a couple that you should "absolutely" get.
Very well maintained park (with ball golf course feel, as noted by other reviewers). Plamann Park staff maintains this course wonderfully, especially considering amount of play. Trash cans emptied daily; etc. Trash buckets attached to each and every tee post.
Both a con and a pro is the fact that there are few "wow" holes. However, nearly every conceivable "almost wow" shot IS presented.
One 400 foot, but requiring steerage, hole per nine.
Gold level players will find this course rather short. Everyone else should enjoy Plamann a GREAT deal; as nearly every shot presents a good challenge to this level of player. (Thus the 4 rating and above from many "average" players in other reviews.
Meadow view nine makes this overall layout, 27 holes. Big plus. (In most reviews, I bump a course up by .5 for this alone. Here, I did not; as they are listed separately. Meadowview nine less played than Apple Creek, and offers more alone time. (After #11 (original course), go to tee to right of #12 and begin play at #2, Meadow view, to play full 27.)
Big parking lot.
Swimming offered in nice setting.
Hole #1, longest hole on front nine, challenging you from the start. Rhbh players may choose to brave the road to the right with a hyzer and attempt a road skip back into fairway. Tough to get it to come all the way back, without tree trouble on the upshot.
Blind #4, quite a tough hole.
#7 and #8 require long drives to reach. #7 is a quite scenic hole; and for rhbh; required a shot that follows the contours of the land to a blind pin.
#10 and #11 are two of the better short holes anywhere. #10 has all kind of rollaway possibilities, as well as huge pin protection. #11 is aceable through the "two goal post trees", but is a blind placement.
#13 is probably the signature hole here; a "top of the world" type of hole.
#15 is only 245 ft., buts plays uphill the entire way and plays like 300+; in nearly 20 years; I've seen very few drives past this pin
#16 and excellent blind pin. I would perhaps call this one the signature hole.
#17 is only 271 ft., but, again, is an uphill hole.
To sum this up; the overall footage here is only 5300 feet; and there are a few short holes (10,11, 12, and 14); but, a number of the others you may think are short; play longer.
Cons:
One set of tees.
One pin placement (though most holes have been moved slightly over the years to allow pin areas to recuperate).
The MOST crowded course in the Fox Cities. Fox Cities area, in general, played hard. (before noon is preferred if you would like to play at a faster pace)
Some blind holes. (I don't really consider this a con. However, first timers need to realize that unless playing with a local, some fairways will need to be walked to see the pin; and this can be annoying; if you're unprepared for it.)
Apple Creek not in play. (Holes #5, #10, and for long arms, #13 can bring the creek into play with errant shots).
Gold level players will find this to be primarily a pitch and putt. This con is given for these players, only; though they probably already know it.
Holes #5, #6, #9 and #10 used to have wonderful apple orchid feel and especially 5, 9 and 10 played quite a bit tougher before these trees perished. #5 is really the only one of these that will seem quite plain; a whole grove of trees was lost here.
Other Thoughts:
The very first Rich Martin design. Rich now has more than seven courses to his credit. Plamann, O'Hauser, and Grignon, are all Martin designed. These three form the "must play trifecta" for the Fox Cities. (Telulah Park is not a Martin design; but should get honorable mention as our #4 solid course) If you fail to be thrilled by these three (from long tees at the other two); you have gotten to the point where you need to find 4+ rated courses to play....and if you're not the pro tour, YOU SHOULD BE....
Local rules stipulate that if you're o.b., over the fence on #18, you must buy ice cream for your group! ha ha
I am now 46 years of age and find Plamann to be quite challenging. There was a period, where I considered this course a bit weak. (I'm trying to give the big picture here. I believe this has been previously explained relating to the 950 rated players.) This course has actually gotten tougher in recent years; I believe, due to growth of rough; especially on hole #4.
Possibility of this course becoming pay to play in the near future. (A con in regards to cost, and a plus.... as numbers of players will be cut back.) Would be nice if pay to play allows for second set of tees and pin placements; perhaps bringing the creek more into play. We will have to wait and see.