Pros:
- Course is set on and around a modest ski hill, and makes great use of the available land. Pretty much divided between holes on the hill/in the forest, and holes out in open land. There are designated mountain bike trails throughout, but they are pretty much out of the way of the discing.
- The holes outside of the forest/ski hill have a ton of character on their own. The most memorable is #15, a gigantic downhill bomber that will have you reaching for a driver again and again. Both the length and height of this shot are major factors; bigger arms may even need to take it easy for fear of overshooting the large, elevated green. Other holes have plentiful OB and good length to make things challenging. #1 has a road on the right (and a cool elevated basket), while #17 has a fenced-off OB area (though you can go the risky route and try to go over the OB area). Holes #16 and #18 have some deep retention ponds that play OB (whether there is water in there at the time or not); #18's is definitely in play and will have many players laying up. None of these are throwaway holes, in any way, and are all challenging and enjoyable.
- A good amount of holes are in the forest, but with clear fairways. The trick with these is to stay on the fairways at all costs, as they are typically bordered by tree-filled, sloping, tough jail on both sides. #10 is especially dangerous; a huge, huge slope behind the basket will devour anything too long. Good mix of shots; from a upward left turning spiral on #4, to a downward right turning spiral on #11. Most others just need a straight shot that sits down, distance and accuracy are equally important.
- Then, there is the deep forest. An overabundance of skinny trees on almost every hole, making each and every tee shot a clinic in accuracy. Even more important is staying out of jail, which is nearly impossible on any errant shot. On each hole, a bad drive is practically impossible to recover from; you have got to fight your way back into the fairway for a chance to get a look at the basket. Add in the occasional crevasse, rollaway green, OB creekbed, and some other nasty rough, and the seemingly easy holes become nightmarish. Plenty of arrow straight, super tight tunnel shots, some with a little curve at the end; an uphill anny s-curve, a downhill hard right dogleg, hard lefts, there are very, very few holes that don't have a tricky line in one way or another.
- Water really does come into play in many spots, thanks to the retention ponds, a small creek, and a wet crevasse. Great hazards, really changes the feel and difficulty of the affected holes.
- Extra bonus, with an additional 9 holes that can be played (A-I). When I played, we did all 27 the first time. We were running out of daylight on the second round, so we just played 18. Either way, the course flowed great and was designed exceptionally well to accommodate the extra holes.
- Great tee signs and baskets, tee pads are in good shape as well. Navigation of both the 18 and 27 hole layout is ridiculously easy, thanks to many informational signs.
Cons:
- While a ton of the holes are super technical, they are also super short. A lot of them will yield an easy deuce if you can throw it around 200' on a straight line. Granted, there are tons of trees, hazards, and slopes to terrorize you, but they can be avoided with a controlled finesse shot.
- Not many multi-shot, landing zone type of holes here. That is, a few holes can be legitimate par 4's (especially from the golds), but it is mostly due to length over anything else. The one exception that sticks out is #11 golds, which is an elevated teepad, over the ski hill, and into the woods.
Other Thoughts:
- This is one of the most complete courses I have ever had the joy to play. Super technical holes in the forest, with lots of elevation changes and some very nasty hazards. Long holes with additional hazards in the open, including a massive downhill shot. Holes in between that let you open it up, but will punish bad aim. Each hole has great character, and are almost all unique (a few tunnel shots are pretty similar). 18 or 27 hole layout, with multiple teepads, makes it a great place for almost any type of player who has some experience. The short hole lengths have you foaming at the mouth to deuce, while the tight lanes will easily keep you from getting a par. The only, only reason I can't give this a 5/5 is the lack of multi-shot holes that *absolutely* require laying up. But, that is my own personal preference. If you don't like that sort of thing, this could be, and should be, your favorite course of all time.