Pros:
1) Set on the beautiful property of University of Southern Indiana this beginner centric course is well maintained, has ample parking, and a solid mix of elevation and light woods.
2) VERY short layout, most Par 3's in the 230 foot range with one as short as 109 feet and the longest at 310 feet. Couple very short Par 4's under 500 feet as well.
3) Has concrete tee pads now I'd guess 3' x 8' since the last review I looked at said they were rubber mats. Large wooden tee pad signs probably 2 feet wide and 4 feet tall which is unique but they contain a very uninspiring hole map which is just basically a tee pad with a line drawn to a basket and no real features, just the shape and distance of the intended throw.
4) Hodgepodge of different baskets, couple early generation DGA Mach 1's, a couple Mach X's, a few Discatchers, various 24 chain designs, with a couple 28 chains strewn in. Spit outs were definitely abundant amongst our group unless you hit the chains with the right pace and low center. But, there were baskets, which is a plus.
5) Solid use of elevation change on an otherwise wide open uninspiring piece of land. Almost all the open holes are throwing up or down quite a bit of elevation to a blind basket location (even when the hole is only 200 feet).
6) Course property is maybe 350 feet wide from side to side, but very long from the parking lot back, so you will find yourself playing side to side a lot and playing very similar hole shapes
7) Very small pockets of trees utilized to force you to go left or right off the tee, just enough trouble to make you shape shots, but otherwise a wide open course. There are 4 "wooded" holes which basically play down a dirt road with woods on either side of it. Nothing spectacular and 4 righty backhand hyzer holes but it does break up the monetany of the other holes a bit.
8) Deuce or die course to the fullest extent, one of our group shot -14 and even the lowest rated guy in our group who had a horrendous day putting shot -3. If you like birdies and/or do not have a ton of distance off the tee, this course may be right up your alley.
Cons:
1) THORNS. For a course as lightly wooded as this, you will get destroyed by thorns throughout. Multiple holes are wide open with the basket barely tucked into the mouth of a wooded green. Despite the grass fairways being mowed well, these greens are NOT well kept. It felt like every time I was 15-20 feet from the pin off the tee I was inside a thorn bush. And they are THICK. The frustrating nature of this alone dropped this course a full point in my book. There were several times members of our group were inside the circle and had to pitch backwards just to get out of the thorns and make a long circle 2 par putt.
2) Confusing layout. As the course mostly plays side to side, you'd imagine the first tee pad you see close the basket you just played would be the next logical tee pad, but you'd be wrong. After playing hole 3 I proceed to the next tee pad about 40 feet away and it was hole 12. Looked around and went to the next one I saw and it was hole 17. A local had to point us to hole 4 AND show us where the basket was as you threw over hole 12 tee pad. Just one instance of many where we were lost.
3) The course designer must have loved the idea of blind tee shots and ran with it. Probably 14 of the 18 holes you cannot see the basket from the tee, coupled with the small nature of the course you will be throwing at people and their fairways if the course is filled with people.
4) Massive lost disc potential, especially on the 4 "wooded" holes. The shots are blind, the rough is thick and unkempt and did I mention the THORNS earlier... Even well executed shots are difficult to locate because you cannot see where they landed from the tee. We probably spent more time looking for discs than we did actually playing disc golf.
5) Only 2 benches and 1 trash can on the entire course and very little break from the sun. Low lying swampy area for the 4 wooded holes that is prone to flooding and the mosquitoes were out in full force. Saw 3 snakes during the round as well. For such a short, relatively easy course, this course was a slog and wasn't enjoyable at all.
6) Did I mention massive thorn bushes inside the circle yet?
Other Thoughts:
While I understand the intent of this course to be a quick and easy beginner course, I think the design missed the mark and made too many common mistakes I run into with trying to make the course MORE challenging than it should be without improving the playability aspect of it. The layout is confusing, the course is almost entirely backhand righty hyzer shots, almost every shot is blind, and you honestly feel like you are playing in your friends backyard throwing from one side of the fenced in backyard to the other. While I'm glad I got to bag this course and provide a more recent review, I don't see myself ever going out of the way to go back here or recommend it to anyone I actually like. Maybe an enemy or two though. Skip this one unless you are local to the west side of Evansville.