Pros:
-A level course thru heavy woods with taller pine trees than what I'm used to playing at other courses, and there's some canopy. There are gaps to hit, and tight fairways. Also a few open tee shots across open field with at least one basket in the woods. The pond does not come into play.
-The course has two tee pads, long tee is rubber, the short natural. There are three pin positions with all holes having pin A with an older basket, and when I played there's either a newer Discatcher at Pin B or C on just about all the holes. Pin B is marked with a small blue flag, and pin C a gold flag.
-Hole 3 and 9 long tee pads share a unique concrete tee platform, with a separate tee location on the platform. The tees are elevated.
-The gold layout long tee to long basket is very challenging, but not all gold pins will be in use. For other players the short tee to short basket is very reasonable. It appears the course has been recently realigned with three new holes after winter storms. Specifically, the old #8 and 9 are now #13. Holes #14 and 15 are now Par 4's. There's also a variety of distances and pars on the course.
-Tee signs are outstanding and recently new. Providing hole number, next tee, and a very colorful map. Distance and par for the 6 tee and basket combinations.
-Navigation is clockwise with next tee signs when needed. Easy to follow, didn't need UDisc to locate any tees. The course is also an easy and enjoyable walk, the variety of trees scenic.
-From the bag on the long tee fairways and drivers.
-Beginners and Recreational you'll find short to short very manageable and extremely tested from long tees. Intermediate and Advanced the woods golf on the gold layout will keep your attention to hit gaps, and stay on fairways.
Cons:
-On the heavily wooded layout which most of the holes are, they tend to run together. Several holes not very memorable, but the holes are very challenging, it could take a handful of visits to remember the course. Other than a few partially open holes, not much variety.
-The B and C pin positions are not consistent with a basket. There was a mixture of both pins through out the course. I saw nothing on the tee signs that indicated which pin was being used. I didn't notice the blue and gold flags by the basket until about the beginning of the B9, but that wouldn't help on the tee. Up until that point I had no clue what pin position I was playing, and a few flags were missing the rest of the way in. It would seem to be best to stick with one pin position for the entire course, and just change it out on an occasion.
-On hole 1 as I was walking down the fairway, it looked like all three pin positions had baskets. What I saw behind the short basket was #18 pin C, which I mistakenly played thinking it was Pin C for hole 1. I didn't realize the mistake until I played #18. On hole 10 I only saw the pin A basket only, no second basket at B or C. Playing 10 it was very confusing as I looked for a second basket, decided to play an empty pin C after deciding there was no second basket.
-Lots of good information on the new tee signs, but unless you have picture memory, you may forget where the pin locations are located as you search for the second basket, most of them can't be seen from the tee. UDisc will help locate tees, but not baskets. If I was to play the course again, I would use my camera phone to snap a picture.
-As I passed by a few of the short older baskets, I threw a putter at them, there very shaky. I wouldn't play them.
-Lost disc potential can be high. Some rough off fairways had high grass, and brush, but most did not. For the most part I could walk up and spot my disc. Hole 7 had a high grass waste land in the fairway that was purposely there. Hole 8 in the middle of the fairway had two large and deep depressions that could gather water after a heavy rain, or a pile of deep leaves when I played, and looks like maybe in the summer months bushes could grow out of there? Other than that, not so bad, in early December a disc can be partially covered by leaves.
Other Thoughts:
I very much enjoyed the challenge of Trap Pond and its heavily wooded fairways providing some excellent wooded golf, sprinkled with a few open holes, and towering trees. What's interesting the course reminded of Northwest River a course I frequent to keep my woods game in check. Except Trap Pond is a thousand feet longer, and Northwest is narrower. #14 at Trap Pond from the tee looked like #8 at Northwest River and a few other look alike holes. Trap Pond offers more scenic flights of the disc cutting thru the towering trees such as #4. If I lived in the area I would make frequent visits to Trap Pond, I believe it would elevate my game. Trap Pond is now one of a handful of courses I've rated at 4.0 without favoriting the course. My biggest personnel con is "What Pin Position" was I playing on the long baskets? It was very confusing and would take several visits to the course to know which was B or C pin position, and the mixing of pin positions for a first-time visit made it even worst. The good news, I'm likely to play the course again, I have in-laws just to the North.
My overall rating is anchored on a 5.0 with Trap Pond providing a very difficult wooded course, outstanding tee signs, two unique tee pad locations, and an easy peaceful walk on a scenic course. My time to play taking pictures was 75 minutes.
Notable Tee Platform:
-Hole 3 and 9 tees sit elevated about 5 feet on top of a concrete structure. I saw no access on the sides of the structure. What is on top of the structure is an access hatch reminding me of the hatches on the Submarines I served on, except on older boats. Its possible maybe a Cold War bomb shelter? It did look like it had been there for several decades. I called the park office to inquire, but nobody knew anything about it. A unique tee platform no matter what it used to be. From both tees your throwing into the open with both long baskets tucked into the woods. Both tees are separate and throwing in different directions on concrete. The rest of the course is rubber pads for long tees.
Notable Holes:
No. 1 Par 3 at 354 feet is a straight away heavy tree line with a fairway narrowing at 8 feet and not getting much bigger than that. At 230 feet meanders left a little to the B pin, and to reach C pin a 45-degree angle right. A very tough tee throw all the way down to the basket and doesn't open up much, one of the more difficult 1st tee gaps I've played. After an almost three-hour car drive with stiff legs my jaw dropped looking down fairway and hit a tree about 150 feet down the left. I mistakenly thought there were three baskets for the hole and played the 18th gold directly behind the line of the short basket. The correct basket had guardian trees.
No. 4 Par 4 at 522 feet and I'm positive basket was at Pin C. Is a heavy tree line with towering trees with the fairway about 30 feet wide, and a dogleg left at about the 300-foot mark straight into the long basket with a few guardian trees. There are trees poking into the fairway here and there. Scenic enough from the tee, but more scenic at the dogleg with those trees poking into the fairway. I threw a lefty turnover on my approach just short of the dogleg and watched a beautiful flight thru the trees. I thought #4 was the most scenic hole on the course.
No. 14 Par 4 at 465 feet a narrow fairway heavy woods with gaps as little as 20-feet. The fairway at about 200 feet breaks hard dogleg right, but a protruding tree from the right at 170 feet pushes you to the left. RHBH you really need a FH. If you make the dogleg fairway stays narrow, basket had guardian trees. I didn't cut the disc in time and deflected off a tree on the left of dogleg and came across fairway and right into tree jail on the right. Took two more tree hits to get out and bagged a double bogey.
No. 17 Par 3 at 253 feet is the only hole on long tees less than 300 feet. A straight away to the basket and was playing C pin. Also, very narrow all the way down at 20 feet and as little as 10 feet with protruding trees here and there. There are overhanging canopy branches as well. The basket sits behind a lone guardian tree. It kinda looks like #1 at first glance, but it looks more clutter down fairway with the overhanging branches which #1 does not. The fairway looks claustrophobic, and your only realistic ace run is difficult. I hit an overhanging branch about 2/3rds of the way down.
Signature Hole:
No. 2 Par 3 at 355 feet B pin, and Par 4 at 442 feet C pin. The basket was mounted on two blocks with an elevation of about 3 feet, I'm pretty sure that was B pin, with C pin further out in the woods to the right. From the tee you're coming out of the woods to the open, from the tee 10 feet in front of you is a gap of 4 feet, and a tree line down the left for about 60 feet, then all open. From the tee straight ahead, you'll see the concrete platform for tee's 3 and 9 about 300 feet out, not where you want to go. The fairway doglegs left at about the 250-foot mark into the woods directly towards B pin. Miss the dogleg you're running into the woods. B pin is open enough for a putt at it, for C pin from the dogleg you're meandering right thru gaps of about 20 feet. I liked the hole, it represents the course very well a tee gap, open fairway, and right back into the woods. As you walk the fairway you can't help but notice the concrete platform and eventually you see the tee signs, huh?
Trouble Hole:
No. 8 Par 3 at 350 feet is a straight away dogleg left at about the 250-foot mark. On the tee sign you'll notice OB marked right in the middle of the fairway. You can see that something is there, a depression. What you don't see its two depressions toward a creek to the right, the creek shouldn't come into play except a real bad tree deflection in the creek's direction. The depression on the left is higher in elevation than the right which empties into the creek, and there about 6 feet deep. A heavy rain the depressions could be filled with water, in the fall leaves, and maybe in the summer looked like bushes? The depressions are about 170 feet away, to safely reach over about 230 feet. The trees on this hole I consider moderate, but strategically placed. A line of trees on the right all the way down to the depression, and block center right fairway to get over the depression. On the left a tree line block the fairway to the left of depressions. You're looking for a narrow line center to left over the depressions or take it safe on dry land finding a small gap to the left of depression. I went left and got tangled up in branches. Looking down the depressions those leaves looked very deep.