Pros:
- well maintained park with a variety of foliage
- some tree hazards and a variety of prairie type hazards
- some decent length variety; all within the norm for suburban niners
- quality, high visibility Mach V baskets
- full color tee signs with serviceable maps
- nice size concrete tees
- dual tees, though not yet reflected on DGCR details
- some varied terrain with limited elevation changes
- no major safety hazards in this multi-use park
- navigation is mostly straightforward
- good use of next tee indicator between holes 2 and 3
Cons:
- holes 4 and 5 play along a very busy highway
- holes playing around soccer field aren't the greatest setup
- amenities are pretty limited
- some long searches for discs if you go into the prairie plants
- walk from hole 10 back to parking lot is very long
Other Thoughts:
Community Park West is an interesting course. They sure squeezed this in amongst the highway, soccer fields, walking paths, etc. but it doesn't play too badly overall. If you want to stop by Abt for some electronics, this is the course for you - it's right next door!
I'm always torn on these courses with lots of native prairie plants. On the one hand, it feels uniquely Illinois (Black Bear Park in Hoffman Estates does this best, perhaps), but the prairie and/or wetland courses can be immensely frustrating to play. I really don't enjoy looking for discs in tall grasses, and that can be a factor on many holes here. Others are pretty wide open and two play through a grove of young trees.
The equipment here is very good, with newer concrete tees and quality baskets. Navigation flowed well; the longer walks between holes 2-3 and 10-parking lot are not ideal but were not hard to figure out. There are walking paths around to be aware of; these present limited safety hazards but I don't think are high traffic. If soccer is going on, you just have to be aware of where your shots are likely to go. This is mostly an issue on hole 10 where you kind of throw towards the soccer field.
The limited elevation change is incorporated well and while there are a few longer holes, most are pretty moderate to short in distance. You won't need many long range drives here. This is a decent length nine hole that you aren't going to finish in 20 minutes, but it's nothing extreme.
This was a harder course for me to score. I can understand why 1.5s and 2.5s are both common. There's nothing too incredibly unique here, but it's a solid course with a decent design given the space, if a bit unconventional. In the corridor of bagging here in Chicago's north suburbs, this is one of the more respectable courses and worth a stop if you're picking up multiple niners. I don't think it's worth a trip out of the way, but it is fun enough.