Pros:
-Outstanding use of massive elevation changes, one of the few places where a description of "very hilly & heavily wooded" might be understating it a bit. A crazy amount of work has been done not only in clearing fairways but putting in tons and tons of stairs where they need to be. See the pictures of hole 8 for a good example.
-Like any well-designed wooded course, consistent accuracy is prized above sheer power, but you have to be on point and have some good distance to score well here.
-Course flow is excellent, very easy to figure out where to go next even with leaves covering every bit of ground. Scorecards with a map and pin distances are located at the little pavilion by the tee for hole 1.
-I consider the carved wooden signs in use at Wildcat to be perfect. Colored washers indicate the current pin position, with distance and map position color-coordinated. No more info than is needed, but no less either.
-Orange baskets are easy to spot in the trees; full disclosure these are homemade but appear pretty much built to spec and catch as well as any basket made by DGA, Innova or other manufacturer.
-Benches and garbage cans (with lids!) at nearly every hole.
-Even the short holes are not routine, as they are either uphill anhyzers or downhill at a protected basket with significant risk for roll-aways.
-The course is generally not busy at all. In the 20 or so times I've played here, I don't remember ever having to wait or let a group play through.
Cons:
-You have to look hard for cons at Wildcat, but this would be a tremendously frustrating course for newer players.
-The rough can be brutal if you get a bad kick off the trees, and it should be punishing, but some places it can take 2 shots just to pitch out back to the fairway.
-This time of year you can easily lose discs under the leaves, but you can hardly blame the trees for being trees.
-Paver teepads are pretty good right now, but there are a couple spots where the pavers are starting to separate a little creating some borderline dangerous footing. This issue should be resolved in the next year or so when concrete pads are installed, at which point I would consider this a 5 star course.
Other Thoughts:
Be prepared for a good hiking day, and plan accordingly. After playing 2 rounds my gps said I covered right at 5 miles of distance and just under 6000 feet of elevation change! Very hilly indeed.
In chatting with a couple gents from "the crew" that built and maintain the course, it sounds like they've secured funding for concrete pads throughout. The current paver teepads are pretty good but can get a bit slick with dew/leaves/snow/etc., whereas the handful of new concrete pads that went in this year are awesomely textured and provide perfect traction when wet.
Hole-by-hole...
1- The only open shot in the course, a few fairway trees but essentially wide open and straight ahead.
2- The first of many uphill shots, with pins at straight, left and right positions. Not quite a narrow alley but a good introduction to what you can expect out here.
3- Reasonably wide alley, slight anny or straight ahead pins.
4- In A position it's a straight 250' with a decent lane. B is a tough hyzer through a tightening alley, and C really makes you think hard if you want to muscle it around an even longer hyzer or play the landing zone game. A bad tree kick to the left will turn an excellent drive into a struggle just to get back to the fairway.
5- The lane shrinks a little bit, still a pretty straight or slight left bend and you start to think "maybe I'll start teeing with my putter..."
6- Narrow and fairly long, pins around 300, 350 and 400 in various directions. Stay in the middle.
A- The first of 3 bonus holes, another tight and straight alley with brutal jail rough.
B- A little shorter but even tighter than hole A, an ace run that can be an easy birdie or a "how the *&@!% did I 5 that?"
C- Same formula as B but longer. With solid control you can make up strokes on the bonus holes, but a bad shank will leave you seeing red and test your mental game as much as anything.
7- A bit more breathing room than the last 4 holes, but still pretty tight. This plays downhill and can be easily overthrown if you're not careful.
8- The signature hole of Wildcat Bluff, a rad across-the-valley shot that plays fairly downhill and is easily reachable if you make your line. Photos don't really do this hole justice, as the ravine floor is much lower than it appears. A tree hit will usually drop you to the bottom, leaving a very hard upshot to save par.
9- Very downhill and and plays much shorter than you think, a neutral putter on slight anny will park this one.
10- Hard hyzer line with a low ceiling. There is a gulley to the left that positively eats discs off a skip, a spotter is not a bad idea on this blind shot.
11- One of my favorite holes out here. A nice 300' S-shaped alley that plays slightly downhill, and hitting the shot on this hole is at least as gratifying, maybe more so, than parking it across the ravine on #8. The C position is almost 500 and not reachable from the tee, but A and B can be parked if you nail your drive.
12- Another tough uphill, A is straight ahead and just over 200' but plays like 300'. B pin is 300' off to the left and requires you to navigate a large fallen tree on your way to the basket. Fairway is pretty wide open.
13- A lovely ace run in the A position that plays slightly downhill and perfectly straight. B position is a bit longer with just a hint of anhyzer.
14- Landing zone hole for sure, as the fairway plays over a couple ridges. Park your drive on the first ridge to have decent upshots for A and B pins. C pin is 550+ and a legit par 4.
15- Short, tight, straight and uphill.
16- Anhyzer line to both pin positions, both around 250' and reachable as it plays downhill.
17- Possibly my favorite hole, a long anhyzer bomb that plays in a downhill gulley the whole way. A fallen tree cuts horizontally across the entire fairway about 100' from the teepad and maybe 30' above ground, perfectly in the way if you're not careful. A and B pins can be reached with a good/great drive, and I'm sure some folks can reach C but 550' through the trees is pretty deep, even playing downhill.
18- Teepad is in the open but the pin is back in a tight row of pine trees. A straight or very gently bending drive will put you in pretty good shape to close the course with a birdie.
**update**
I have played Wildcat a few more times since posting this review, and have bumped my rating up to 5 because it straight up deserves it. Nearly all of the teepads are now nicely textured concrete, and a new pavilion was built this year which will make a great tournament HQ. A ton of work has been done clearing out new throwing lanes and old log piles, and a couple new pin placements have been added. This course is better than ever, and has to be one of the best in the country. **