Pros:
+ Variety in distances
+ Great for stretching your arm (the distance is most of this course's challenge)
+ occasional benches/trash cans & restrooms/POJ's are scattered around the grounds, but most are nearer to the front 9
+ tees are nice and large, concrete, in good shape
+ Signs present on most holes (more on those later)
+ Some holes, especially on the back 9 have good use of the elevation available
+ Plenty of parking
+ Some holes, like those near the creek are rather scenic
Cons:
- Grass gets pretty long in summer, I'd recommend long sleeve pants and lots of water as there's not much shade
- During events cars might be parked in the middle of #2 making you decide if you wanna risk hitting one or not
- Baskets are showing signs of time/wear, with some starting to spit out discs
- Signage/Navigation/Flow: Signs are missing on 5, 13 & 16. They're also postioned in some of the weirdest places I've seen. Some are on the side of the tee, and most are actually on the back side of the tee, which gets really confusing when you're used to signs facing the direction you're throwing and being near the front of the tee. The map on this site and the maps on the signs don't seem 100% accurate or to scale. I think some changes have been made to the course over the years that explain these discrepancies. Navigation isn't the easiest your first time out b/c of the map issues and the fact that you have several baskets visible from several tees, making it confusing as to which you're actually going for. The course also doesn't have the best flow I've ever seen. There's a fair amount of backtracking to the next tee, especially egregious on 9 > 10, where you basically have to retrace your steps along 9's fairway to get to 10, and on 16 > 17, where you end up having to walk right in the flight path for 15.
The course also doesn't play a loop, and neither Tee #1 nor Basket #18 are close to parking.
- Not a lot of variety in shots required
- Fairways aren't totally clear on several holes, and there's plenty of overgrowth to lose a disc in, especially near the creek
Other Thoughts:
Westminster is a challenge but most of that comes from the distance on most holes, difficulty in navigation (fist time out) and the weather, which the day I played was sunny and 102F. I'm sure (as stated in other reviews) that the creek comes into play when there's more water flowing but that wasn't so the day I played. That said, the foliage near the creek can get pretty hairy itself. If you're looking for a nice, long course to grip 'n' rip, it's great. The back 9 gets more interesting w/ elevation coming into play but your main challenges are still distance/overgrowth. Hole 14 was a personal favorite, w/ the basket just out of view headed downhill, nestled near the creek, making for a nail-biter of a RHBH and rendering a RHFH useless w/ the foliage to the left.
I left Westminster definitely feeling like I had played a round of golf but I'm not sure how soon or often I'd go back. The course just doesn't flow for my tastes, w/ the backtracking and long walk at the end back to parking. When established in '03 I imagine it could've been close to stellar but it seems like in the last 15 years there have been changes to the park itself and the basket layout, rendering the map/signs in need of an update. That, coupled with long grass and aging baskets gave me the impression of playing in an abandoned theme park or ghost town of sorts. I can imagine lots of plastic in the air and many people enjoying themselves in years gone by but that was the past, and now you're left to traverse a post-apocalyptic hellscape by yourself and wonder what happened to the place.
Would I suggest it? Sure. If I lived nearby I might even be happy to have it closeby, but it's not a destination and should be left to locals and baggers. With a fair amount of TLC and some reimagining of certain parts of the layout it could possibly be returned to former glory but for now, Buzz Aldrin's description of the moon "magnificent desolation" comes to mind.