Pros:
I know, I'm a sucker for fun, technical courses that are designed with safety in mind, where even old guys like me can stretch a chance for a few deuces, but feature variety and challenge for the younger, longer throwers... heh heh IF they can control their longer 'D'! Cowan Lake is the newest design in southwest Ohio, by a couple of our best and most highly respected disc golf veterans (Ohio DG Hall of Famer Pete Caldwell and future member Matt Blakely).
As a freshly opened course, expect to find tight lines and fresh tee pads, DGA Mach X baskets, and basic course tee signs mounted on sturdy metal posts and brackets. Every hole has between one and three 'Next Tee' signs, with the layout being so intuitive I never once glanced at the map I'd brought along. The course cycles cleverly around the large parking area adjacent to the 'picnic area' shelter and the 'dance pavilion' shelter, with a 19th basket there at the end of the lot for practice and warm up. That means that it's set up almost perfectly for tournament play, with almost every hole being within three fairways of where you park.
And the fairways! About one third offer significant elevation change, another third have gentle slopes, and about a third are flat. Shots bend left, dogleg right, or (especially for the longer, 'par fours'), require flexed shot shaping and learning where the best landing zones might be. And in addition to Pete's signature 'must hit the gap' designs, you'll also often find that 'long is SOOO wrong' becoming his second signature element. There are an abundance of ridges and dangers around your intended lines that, even in winter, when the foliage is down, and all the beautiful park woods and lake views are visible, you'll still struggle to get back on track if you get a bad kick off the fairway. Control is the name of the game to score well here.
As far as judging the difficulty and the target audience, Cowan Lake is set up to challenge Intermediate and above, since it will force Advanced to Open players to use smarts and strategy, while beginners to recreational level players' skill set might result in some tree kicks, rolls and frustration. I noted that the course reminded me of the tighter, wooded holes on other regional lake park courses (Stonelick, up state's Reservoir Ridge, Oxford's nearby Disctractions' course in Hueston Woods), and one hole (5) even made me reminiscent of Idlewild somehow. There's a lot to like here.
Cons:
The aforementioned frustration will be a negative for the less experienced player. And the newness means there are extensive debris piles just off of some of the fairways. DON'T tree kick right on hole 2: that area has a dangerously steep climb down over some massive tree fall and debris to retrieve your errant shot. Don't ask me how I know this.
Not necessarily a negative, but be aware that holes 9 & 10 are across the park road junction, and basically deuce opportunities uncharacteristically flat and relatively open. Could be a positive, since I like to have a course offer you relief if it's been torturing you a little.
The fairway edges on holes 13 through 18 are almost brutally unforgiving, and heavy with thorny weeds. As a nature preserve area, it's unlikely that this will ever go away, so you really want to focus on not getting in there.
Other Thoughts:
Not a con, just a note I added in course condition update: Course is new, and the fairways were just cut in this year. That means, with the majority being heavily wooded holes, you have leaf-buried debris and stumps to be aware of. And the ravine edges often have debris strewn where they're sometimes very steep, so be careful, and try to throw control shots in the fairways.
While in this area consider also playing Gulley or the private QKnoll (Jay Schroeder's course. He helped out a lot here at the lake).