+ The course plays almost exclusively in a quiet woodsy forest. Accuracy is the name of the game here.
+ The fairways are very clean, well-defined and presented clearly.
+ Some gentle approachable hills form the overall texture of this course.
+ Except for holes11 and 13, there are two long and wide paver tees per hole. Each one has its own clear & colorful tee sign.
+ All holes have prominent 'next hole' signs.
+ There is a course sign with map right next to a practice basket. Players pass by a lost disc box as they are exiting the course.

- The course plays almost exclusively in the forest. It starts feeling samey quite fast here.
- Much of the front 9 plays within earshot of a busy intersection. A player rarely feels as though they are cut off from the rest of the world here when they can hear car horns and motorcycles behind them.
- Very few benches and no trash cans.
- There is broken glass on every fairway. Leave the flip flops in the car.
- Some fairways play pretty close to each other.

My favorite hole to play was hole8 because of its deceptively simple uphill tunnel and slight turns along the way. Hole16 was nice to look at because of the bright grassy area in between the tee and the basket after 15 holes of trees, dirt and dead leaves. My least favorite hole was probably the first one. It played pretty plainly.

As for the course as a whole, I've heard my friends and other local disc golfers refer to it as 'Stafford Wood's little brother,' and I think I agree with that. Alcyon [AL-see-yon] Woods is a short drive south of that course, so it has the same kinds of trees and topography in a similar rural setting. They both have some tight tunnels to deal with, and they both enjoy some sharp turns that allow both lefties and righties to have their moments. Most holes test a player's directional control. Straight-ahead shots are in the minority here.

What Alcyon lacks is the character of its big brother. There are no water features. There are no wide open holes to let loose and fly. There is no OB that I could recall. And there are no really meaty hills to get excited about. From start to finish, it is woods on lumpy terrain. Sometimes that can be a great thing if the course as a whole contains unique obstacles or land features, but I'm afraid that this course has very few special characteristics that distinguish it.

I would say that the most memorable moment for me was hole 9 where the player (from the long tee) has to thread the tiniest of needles right in front of the tee pad. The gap between them is nearly impossible. It is all but the most unfair of throws, but I absolutely loved the thrill of attempting that narrow double mando. That definitely stood out in my mind, but I'm sorry to say that everything else felt a little repetitive. On more than one occasion I caught myself thinking, "Didn't I just play this one?"

Still, having said all of that, I feel that it earns an above-average rating and a firm recommendation because it hits all the right notes and doesn't commit any disc golf sins, to my mind. The golfing itself is solid with fair reliance on the player planning their lines and testing their angle control, even if the terrain leaves the player longing for something more varied or adventurous.

One last thing. Way back in 2019, this was the first course where I noticed those little orange plastic markers poking out of the ground in a circle around every basket. I call them "circle plugs." I still think it's a brilliant idea, and I'm starting to see other courses implement the same feature. Whether or not Alcyon did it first, I can't possibly know, but it's details like that which make a good course.

Bottom line: Alcyon is definitely for your woodsy disc golfers. It lacks the pizzazz and impact of its older brother, but you should still have a pleasant time here.

-For a full 18 holes in the woods the fairways are very fair and open, especially considering how new it is. I can imagine that will only improve as the rough gets tamped down a bit with regular play, so you still can save par or even birdie with an errant tee shot.

-Suprising amount of elevation and the course design used it effectively.

-Teepads, signage, steps and bridges are all top notch

-Nice balance of holes where I thinks lefty or a forehand dominate righty isn't going to complain too much.

-All the holes are solid but it doesn't have those couple of WOW/signature holes that really make a course stand out.

-Doesn't quite hit the level of "throw every disc in your bag", as far as shot variety goes. Plenty of hyzers and anhyzers, but not a lot of those flex shots that require you to beat that one tree but come in ahead of the next one that make woods gold so much fun.

-Couple of areas that still have some dense rough with prickers but actually impressed how few there are considering how new the course is.

-Especially for the next few months while the leaves are down, the new course factor creates some small trip hazards with stumps being obscured by the leaf litter.

Disc golf in NJ keeps getting better! This is a great addition to the scene and provides a very enjoyable round of woods golf with a nice pace of play with a nice mix of par 4s and an efficient design. It's also a great example for county and state parks folks out there about how disc golf turn an undesirable and neglected wooded corner of a park into a top notch attraction. While Alycon is lacking those signature holes that would let it get into the conversation with a Stafford or a Greystone, it's a great design that makes for a fun round of golf. Definitely worth the trip!

And what's even more impressive is how "finished" the course is for being so new. All those nice touches like steps, next tee signs are all present. I gave it a 3.5 now but I fully expect to revisit this in a year or two and up it to a 4.