Pros:
- If you haven't been out to the area, the course is worth the drive to pass through Cultus Lake and feel like you're getting a true escape from the city.
- Convenient parking.
- Set around Stillwood Camp & Conference, with a very friendly front desk.
- Some discs for sale in the main office, and although there isn't a huge selection of them, it's a surprisingly good collection of mixed manufacturers. They also have cold drinks and snacks for sale.
- Two sets of tee pads, yellow and pink, with actual differences between the two sets.
- Good, clear signage on individual holes, though getting between holes benefits a lot from UDisc. (Didn't see an overall course map.)
- Lots of course to play here, we were surprised (in a good way) by just how long the course was. Couple of holes where you can just load up and rip your biggest drive.
- Mostly cart/stroller friendly, though for Hole #2 just leave it at the bottom and walk up with a putter or short midrange.
- Mix of wooded and open hole layouts.
- With the pink tees, it's a very playable course for new players, and the yellow adds quite a bit of distance for more experienced players.
- Fairways were mowed and maintained.
Cons:
- Biggest con is that we feel there are some course design issues in terms of proximity to buildings and roads. First hole throws over the entry road right next to the parking lot. Second hole throws down a large elevation change close to parking lot. Other holes have houses at almost same range as basket from tee. Couple of fairways cross each other, or have tee boxes that are in what could be scary grip-lock range of other tee pads. Hole 8 (I think it was) has a blind walkout back up the fairway on a double dog-leg.
- There were also a couple of hole layouts we were not a huge fan of from a playability perspective, primarily the double switchback dogleg, and the Yellow teepad on 18 with almost no clear window to punch out of the forest.
- One of the tee signs was wrong (11/12), we got a bit confused.
- For people without good driver control, this is a course you can lose discs on in the wooded areas.
Other Thoughts:
- It's on private property, so not sure what the availability of the course is, don't just drive out there, contact in advance.
- Baskets were temporary when we played, but that's fine, one hanging basket.
- Other than 2, very little elevation change on the course, and although the baskets have been tucked in where possible, many of the holes are relatively straightforward and open. Not as challenging as Langley Passive Park or Raptor's Knoll.
- Next hole locations aren't always the most intuitive, definitely recommend using UDisc app.
- I don't think there was an overall course map, but we didn't look too hard because the UDisc was accurate.
- #2 is an interesting hole with a steep switchback climb to get up, people with mobility issues should skip this hole and don't try to take a cart up it.
- Fake turf teepads aren't really our cup of tea, and on the shorter side. Not a huge con, however, we didn't feel the teepads were a problem. Because course is so flat, it doesn't affect things as much as other courses.
- There's a few layout issues and don't think there's quite enough overall challenge to make serious players come back over and over again. 100% worth the trip out to check it out as a new course in the area, but with the drive to get out there, it's hard to justify the drive again anytime soon for a casual round given that Raptor's Knoll is a closer drive for most.
- Overall, this course feels like some very positive work has gone into it to start, and we enjoyed the trip out and the overall experience. Nice to play another course in the lower mainland where you can throw some full drives. It's one of only 3 courses that let you do that (others being Raptor's and Langley). Look forward to seeing how the course evolves over time!
- It's a work in progress, so hard to give this one a score rating. Really just based the 3.0 rating off the fact that although we took a few issues with the layout, and although it wasn't the most challenging or varied course for more advanced players, we're glad we made the drive out to check it out.