Pros:
Sedalia hides a non-traditional park course. Several unique challenges are presented which you won't find in many other places.
Three holes have longer tees. All tees on the front half are concrete and have plenty of room for the power required. Detailed tee signs are on every hole of the front nine. All of the MachIII baskets are still in prime condition for being 12 years old, even the practice basket.
The back half has some of the more unique features. A pin tucked on a berm (13), a nearly 300ft water carry (14), a pin tucked away into the branches (16), and a tricky tee shot that requires a lot of distance (18) really spruce things up.
Maintenance was done very well when I was there. Fairways were mown, and some of the muddier tees/holes had mulch poured around them. Benches were present on a couple holes (1 and 16 for sure), but not as many as most people would prefer.
Greens are the main challenge of this course. Holes 7 and 13 sit on a small berm making the penalty for a missed run that much greater; Hole 14 has water in front of and behind the pin about 25ft each way; Hole 11 is on a dangerous slope; Hole 16 is set into the treeline so that it's inaccessible unless your drive goes the perfect distance; and Hole 9 is tucked behind a large evergreen making getting the distance the goal off the tee.
Cons:
Each half of the course has its major fault:
- The front half is extremely repetitive. Holes 2 through 7 are all a fairly large fairway lined with small evergreen trees, with one or two trees in the fairway to shape a shot around. The big problem? The fairway-lining trees are so short that even an MA2 arm like mine was able to go over the top and reach the pin on due to each and every one of those holes being about 215ft. Also could be very hard to find a disc if you really stick one into the trees.
- The back half declines in amenities as you go. Hole 10's concrete tee is cracked down the middle, hole 11 is a mulch tee, the next two tee from a walking path, then from there it's grass or mulch all the way to the end. The tee signs also stop after hole 9, and the rough gets much more... rough.
Hole 1 has about 250ft of the dog park's fence on the left, which would be an unfortunate place to plop a disc into. Likewise, hole 18's drive needs to finish right or you could end up in the road, and the pin sits about 20ft from the road. Holes 10, 11, and 12 all play right along a walking trail as well.
Shot shaping is almost non-existent here. Besides one or two instances, the line to the pin is hardly ever that challenging, especially if you can manage the over the top route on 2-7.
The water hole, while I'm a fan of it, will turn some people away from playing it, or force them to play a short, safe water shot out to the right, then back across to the green. Not the most inviting hole for the level that the rest of the park
Other Thoughts:
Parking is plentiful and the park is nicely secluded form the rest of town.
Overall, Sedalia... has an 18-hole course. It has some glaring flaws and still needs some work completed... and has needed that work for about five years. However, it isn't a bad option and not a course to purposely avoid, just don't expect a top-notch experience. Is it worth your time? If you're in the area, yes. If you're passing through, probably better to pass this one up.