Pros:
Despite the generally short length of this course, it is still reasonably challenging.
It heavily favors technique and finesse over Big D. Great place to practice control drives and shaping your shots. There are a good variety of lengths between the holes, given that they're all par 3s.
Also, the flow on this course is AMAZING. You will spent virtually no time walking between holes, which makes this course play very quickly. It only takes me 45 minutes to an hour to play a round here.
The rough on this course is very thick, and likes to grab errant shots and punish you for them with tough escapes. However, it is mainly small trees and mercifully devoid of nasty thorns, so you can throw out of it without getting too torn up, which is good. I imagine this course plays even tighter in the spring and summer, when the leaves come back and constrict the lines even more.
Several risk reward opportunities exist,
One or two of the holes in the middle are really short, seemingly filler holes, but the interesting thing about this course is that though many of the holes are ace runs and very deuceable, its also very easy to land in the shule and get a 4 or 5 on them. Many of the pins are on hillsides, and they are all somewhat protected.
Almost all the holes have some elevation in play, and several are blind shots off the tee.
The course throws some interesting things at you, but the trees aren't THAT tall, and this course lacks any real ceiling, which opens up a lot more options. Surprisingly, wind is a factor on the first few holes closer to the open fields, despite the course itself being wooded.
Every hole has both Long and Short dirt tees, the front of the tee box marked with a painted board in the ground.
Each hole has a Tee Post, with hole number and distances (long and short) marked on it.
Each post has a big blue trash can next to it.
Though the long and short tees are just directly behind each other or offset only a little, it noticeably changes the look a bit because of how technical this course is. I played each set twice. On some holes, I seemed to fare worse on the short tees somehow. From shorts, you might tee off with a midrange on a few more of the holes, but playing from either set is an equally good experience.
Another nice thing about this course is how quickly it plays. Its generally quite easy and convenient to find the next tees, and the round goes by fast. Alone on the course today, I cranked out 4 rounds in just under 3 hours, throwing 1-2 practice drives on each hole the whole way.
As other reviewers mentioned, this course has great drainage. It had poured rain nonstop the two days before I played this course, and I was amazed at how dry it was. No standing water anywhere. Even the dirt tee pads were only a little muddy and still usable with skateboarding shoes on.
One thing that this course does better than most is it really forces technique over power. It makes for a really fun place to play especially if you cant throw over 300ft. Bring your big-armed friends along and watch them sail into the shule. Great to keep em honest.
Cons:
Rough and very Basic. Needs a little TLC.
While most of the Long tees were pretty level, many of the Short tees were bumpy and uneven, which made teeing off unnecessarily difficult. I dont mind dirt tees, but flat ground is a must.
Despite the trash cans next to every tee sign, there was a fair amount of trash laying around in the woods, which is really sad.
Hole 10 is missing the tee post with hole # and distances on it.
On Hole 11, the markers for both short and long tees tend to get covered with mud when it rains, and can be hard to locate.
This course has very basic amenities, but its not a bad course by any means.
Some of the shorter holes seem like filler holes with a twist, and none of the holes on this course really wow you. Many are quite interesting, and its a fun course with some challenges, but nothing particularly amazing about it jumps out at you. Its a solidly designed, meat and potatoes technical course, with basic amenities.
That being said, its a fun place to get alot of quick practice in, and refreshing for people (like me) who can't drive 400ft.
Other Thoughts:
Heard that they were trying to expand this course to 18 holes. Lo and behold, on the trail from Hole 12 to Hole 1, it looks like trees have been carved out in the shapes of several new fairways, including a cool-looking downhill hard dogleg left into a wooded gully. Hopefully they have room to add 6 more. It would be nice to have the last basket closer to hole 1, since the longest walk by far is from 12 back to the start, and it's also the area where they have the most space to add new holes.
Most of the "problems" with this course, like trash, uneven tee pads, and missing signs, are things that could be, and probably will be, fixed in a single workday by the local club, as they continue to expand and maintain the course.
With the trash and tee pad issues taken care of, and especially if expanded to 18 holes, this college course could go from 2.5 to 3. I enjoyed playing here, and plan on returning later, once the patrons have had time to touch the place up a bit after winter.
The idea of having a course on campus is a good one, something I wish my university had been able/willing to do, and if I went to school here, I know I'd be playing this course every week between classes. Kudos to the students for setting this thing up and continuing to maintain and expand it.