Pros:
1) The design of this course is absolutely top notch . . . it is clear Timmy Gill knows what he is doing up in the Twin Cities because I have now played almost all of the course in the metro area and this is by far the most progressive dis golf scene I have ever seen in my cross country travels. I look forward to my effort to have this sort of impact on the SE WI scene.
2) Awesome variety on this course both in terrain as well as the obstacles.
3) Challenge is ever present even though there are duecable holes.
4) Lots of different lines needed to play well on this course.
5) Artificial turf is used on the #1 green, as well as the first 150' of the second fairway. I have only seen that in a couple places and that certainly takes away the erosion impact of the course on the environment.
6) The wooded holes are fairly clean . . . not a lot of dead wood laying around, minimal garbage on the course . . . just overall a well maintained wooded section of the course . . . at least in comparison to some I have seen.
7) Signs on most holes have Par, Hole #, Distance, and Par. Diagrams are minimal but they are present to show direction of hole basically.
8) Benches, picnic tables in a couple spots, and garbage cans are a nice tough to a course I assume gets a lot of play . . .
9) Lots of directionals on this course to move you to the next tee.
10) Infrastructure is pretty solid with decent bridges, timber stairs, astroturf, etc etc etc . . . something you rarely see on disc golf courses.
11) Wooded emphasis along with one prarietype holes (although it was unmowed), and a water shot or two . . .my type of course.
12) Dual conrete tees are always appreciated and these were in good shape.
13) Hole #8 is quite possibly the most sadistic difficult hole I have ever played. It is a double dogless with a tight gap off the tee, a stream rolling by on the left with a hardpan fairway that will shoot all shots left towards the water. I would put this hole as quite possibly one of the best holes I have played. I took a 7 with a great upshot to park it along the creek and make the putt . . . if only they could do a little beach out in the stream like at Winthrop . . . but that would lead to more erosion and environmental impact.
Cons:
1) Erosion, compaction, and other environmental impacts are pretty rough on this course.
2) Muddy after rain because there is absolutely no cover on the compacted fairways in the woods.
3) Large garbage cans will defintely keep enough garbage to keep the course clean as long as the players throw stuff away rather than on the ground.
4) Logs are used in multiple places to makr fairways or walkpaths between holes . . . I just love this minor detail of a course
5) I can tell this is one of the most played courses in the area. It is in the WE$T $IDE of town so I am sure there are a lot of disc golfing high schoolers. It would be busy most days but it was my second course on the day and I arrived by about 7:00 AM so I didnt have to deal with it, but I am sure it is an issue.
6) Dangerous in a couple spots like #7 throwing pretty near the #8 tee. Skips are always a possibility on this course because of the hard compacted soils.
Other Thoughts:
This course is so close to a 4 it sickens me I cannot give it that rating. While the layout, the design, the holes, the variety, the challenge and even the fun factor are top notch . . . the maintenance and the serious environmental impacts the course is having on the creek and downstream areas has to be extreme. I know this isn't something most disc golfers will notice or pay attention too . . . or possibly even care about. I however, care about the sustainability of courses and not losing great courses because one tree hugger or environmentalist decides to raise a stink about the impact these courses have on the environment. That is why I want to be involved in disc golf course design, because I might be able to catch these things and design and install apporopriately to avoid this type of scenario. It won't always be avoidable, but measures can be taken to minimize the impact. I like what they did with the astroturf on #1 green and #2 fairway, but to really reduce the impact this course will have on the environment, astroturf should line a few hundred feet of the 700' monster #8. I won't preach any longer, but this is quite possibly one of the worst cases I have ever seen for the impact our game has on the environment.