Pros:
The 18 holes at Starved Rock play like 2 distinct courses. The first 8 holes and hole 18 play through a grassy, fairly level park with some mature trees. Holes 9 - 17 play in a mature forest with significant elevation change on most holes. The front 9 is solid, but the back 9 is where the magic happens. Almost every hole from 9-17 requires a different line; due to the mature tree trunks and good use of the hilly terrain. Through hole 12, most of the elevation change is of the uphill variety, but 13 and 16 payoff all the climbing with significant drops from tee to basket.
Hole 17 is the only par 4 on the course and it is legit. Only 572' from the longs, but it plays up a maybe 30', steep hill starting 175ish feet from the tee (short tee is at the base). After you crest the hill, there's still another maybe 200' to the basket. The fairway is wide enough to be very "fair", but I still threw a mid off the tee to be sure to not trickle into the wood lines. Tough hole after a run of fun ones.
This is a Discgolfpark course, so expect the usual baskets, signs and course map. There are two concrete tees for each hole with the standard discgolfpark tee signs at both. Tees are decent length and plenty wide, but those with long runups may wish for a couple extra feet on the longer holes. Short tees are labeled gold (play as red) and the long tees are labeled black and play mostly as whites (with a few more blue level holes).
Although the back 9 play in the woods, there's a dense mature tree canopy with very little undergrowth. Tree trunks force you to shape your shots, but you're not going to lose a disc in the schule. Most holes don't punish bad shots too severely, but I did manage to find a spot I needed to pitch out to the fairway from.
You could lose a disc by going over a cliff though. Hole 12 plays down about 25' from tee to basket and there's a 50'+ cliff just beyond the circle. 14 from the longs plays with the cliff to the left and a shank or a bad kick is goners.
Navigation is pretty easy. I didn't grab a pic of the course map by the parking lot or feel the need to consult an app. Each basket has an arrow in the cage pointing to the next long tee. Usually it's the same way to the short as well. Not for holes 14 and 17 though. 14 short is on the opposite side of 13's basket from where the arrow is pointing and on the same side of the gully. 17 short is almost 90 degrees right of where the arrow is pointing, but you can see it clearly from 16's fairway and green.
Cons:
The front 9 is pretty bland. Just basic Midwest park style dg. Nothing in particular wrong with it, but it's on a level below the back 9. Small gripe, but I would have liked to see a couple of really tight lines in the woods. There were a few holes with fairly tight gaps to hit, but a true gauntlet would have helped to better balance out the mostly open holes on the front side.
The Discgolfpark baskets are similar to Discatchers, but I find them slightly inferior. The two layers of chains both terminate at the same ring. I don't have any evidence, but I think having each layer linked to a separate ring absorbs energy better and should catch better.
While I love holes 9-17, the dense tree canopy results in dirt or mud fairways depending on the recent weather. There were a few places where I was struggling to climb the slopes (or stay on my feet on the descent) due to the slippery mud. Stairs would be a welcome addition in a few spots.
The cliff is a potential safety hazard for flatlanders. The drop behind 12's basket is well marked when you're down there (signs plus a line of downed branches), but I almost skipped over it and had no idea from the tee. The way the area surrounding 14's green slopes, shots should funnel away from the cliff edge, but some people are going to land in sketchy spots. Use caution out there!
Other Thoughts:
Starved Rock state park is about 3 miles away from the course and is known for rocky bluffs and canyons with seasonal waterfalls along the Illinois river. When I saw this course pop up, I immediately zoomed in on the map to see where it was in relation to the park. It's about 3 miles away in a residential area. After the first third or so of the course, I was feeling like there was a bit of a bait and switch going on. Why call it "Starved Rock" when it's a flat, grassy park? I think most people from north eastern Illinois who like the outdoors are familiar with Starved Rock state park. That name comes with expectations and thankfully the back 9 does a decent job of living up to them. You don't get to play dg in the canyons like they have at the state park, but there's enough elevation change that it's somewhat justified.
I played one round of long tees, but played with my sons who played shorts on all but a couple of holes. There are a few holes where I was questioning whether there was enough difference in length or difficulty to make having two tees worthwhile. In most cases though, we're talking about a significant difference in length or elevation between the two tees.
This is a really good course for red and white level players. Blue level and above will be bored with the front 8, but should find some enjoyment on the back half.
If all 18 holes were on terrain similar to 9-17, this would be an easy 4. Take a look at the courses I've given a 4 to, (some used to be in the top 10 on here) that's how good that stretch of holes is.
Hole 1 plays close to some backyards on the right side across the access road. There's a 20' high net running between trees starting from just past the short tee and going for maybe 100' that protects the road and the yards. I couldn't see it from the long and threw a disc that I knew wouldn't turnover. I might have played it differently if I knew I didn't have to worry about landing in someone's backyard. One of those houses was BLASTING mainstream (uncensored) hip hop so loud that you could hear it clearly throughout the first 4 holes or so.