Pros:
Surroundings, varied challenges, decent length, Florida landscape.
Cons:
Still easy to lose a disc or two here, reroutes make navigation tougher than it already was.
Other Thoughts:
Set on the far southern tip of Pinellas County, with water on basically three sides, Tocabaga benefits from a great natural setting like the other Tampa Bay courses. Players may also suffer from the natural setting, however; on several holes, the thick underbrush and palmetto can eat all but the most perfect shots. As a result, Tocobaga is a unique but unforgiving disc golf course.
The first seven holes have been carved out of classic Florida thicket - salt bush and thick, thick undergrowth. While that may work ok on northern courses, it presents a bit of an onerous challenge here. Miss your shot by just a little and you may have to spend quite awhile searching for your disc - the term "rough" has a much more significant meaning here than at most other courses. And these holes are not straightfoward - there are narrow alleys of trees, hard left and right drives, and one good touch hole.
By hole #8 the course moves into sandy, less overgrown areas and becomes a bit more open. From here the holes get longer, a little more open but not without multiple challenges, the water is more in view (though not in play), and in general finding the next hole is less difficult. Then for the last two holes it returns to original form; the 17th hole is thick with salt bush and palm trees, and then the 18th hole is straightforward but is set among the trees and features a dark muddy bit of water (in wet times, or just a big mud bog in drier times) that's either right behind the basket or right in front of the basket, depending on the basket placement that day. This finish is one of the more interesting holes on this distinctive course, but one where mistakes are punished even more harshly.
In some ways this course has improved greatly since the first time I played it in 2002. Now that the course is well broken in, it's just as challenging as it ever was but it's harder to lose a disc. The course now has concrete tee pads for both pro and am, and has benches, trash cans, and poles to hang your bag on at many holes. These amenities are great. On the downside, some reworking of the layout due to archeological concerns has negatively affected the flow, and removed the signature hole. Finally, course reroutes and hole renumbering due to the aforementioned archeological issue have made wayfinding a challenge in a couple areas; this course was already a little tough for first timers to navigate. Top-notch signage and a few strategically placed directional arrows do help here, however.
Overall, some courses in the Sunshine State may be more highly rated, but I defy you to find one that is more definitively Florida, with its thick underbrush, myriad of palm trees, lush but unforgiving landscape, and waterfront setting. In my view, Tocobaga is a great disc golf experience; the setting is unparalleled and it's the kind of course that can really grow on you.
Favorite Hole - #18 (RIP) - It was a long shot out of trees to basket set just off a small beach at the tip of the pennisula. Water and islands all around.