Pros:
- large concrete tees
- well maintained, picturesque park
- basket but well maintained baskets
Cons:
- tee "signs" are built into tees which makes navigation challenging
- very open park with minimal tree hazards
- possibly the shorted 9 hole course I've played; no hole over 200'
- really no challenge unless you're brand new to disc golf
- hazards throwing over walking path on holes 3 and 5
Other Thoughts:
Carpenter Park is a very pretty park with a nice enough disc golf course. I wish the designers had tried to make a few of the holes longer, as this course is basically a par 2 course unless you're an absolute beginner. It can still be a fun putter round if you come with that in find.
There is a creek that would have been nice to incorporate as a water hazard. While some holes have a few tree hazards (hole 9 in particular), most are very open and very short. There's nothing forcing any shot shaping at all.
I'm really not a fan of the numbers being incorporated into the tees instead of on signs. It actually LOOKS really nice, but on these wide open courses with no obvious flow it just makes navigation that much harder... especially if there's snow on the ground, and it is northern Illinois.
As mentioned above there's a few walking path hazards, but given how open the course is, these are pretty easily avoidable. I did have to wait for several dog walkers during an otherwise short round, but it wasn't that big a deal.
Overall, this course is not worth going out of your way for, but it's playable if you're right by it. It won't challenge you or offer anything unique but it's a nice little park nonetheless.