Pros:
- Free parking, free course
- New Innova Discatchers
- Clear, unobstructed fairways lined with light woods
- Signs with holes descriptions and distances
- Easy to follow layout with visible baskets
- Course map
- Tees noticeably marked with big flat stone
Cons:
- Natural tees
- Located on an already established trail
- Located in close proximity to after school activities
- Limited access
- No change in elevation
- Not a huge variety of hole lengths or fairway shapes
- No bathrooms, unless you go into the school...don't know if you can just stroll in or not
Other Thoughts:
This course is actually a fairly good example of how to create a course along an already existing cross country running trail without doing any additional landscaping. The course starts along the side of Road (Yosemite) and ends along the side of the Eagle River High School gym. The layout was a pretty straight forward and easy to figure out. It wasnt an overly imaginative set up, but unlike many of the other courses at schools in Anchorage or the Valley, it was clean and had not been vandalized in the least.
The land itself was a well groomed mostly flat running trail through the woods surrounding the various fields with natural tees on the trail and baskets located just off to the side one way or the other. The holes were mid/fairway driver length and mostly straight. I played this deserted course after school during football practices. The practice areas interfered with a few holes, which lead to a couple layup situations. Other than that, I had the whole course to myself with a scenic view of Chugach Mountains in the background
Overall, I really enjoyed the course for what it was. Eagle River High is less technical (more forgiving) than Peters Creek, which makes it a great course for casual rounds or for beginners. If I'm going to throw on a school course it would either be this course or Service at the top on my list.