Pros:
In addition to having a clever name, First Course features a surprising variety of open and wooded holes, a few par 4's, a lot of different challenges, opportunities for both high and low numbers, and ways for a lot of different skill levels to have fun.
This is far more difficult than most church courses. Not only are there several long holes, but there are some really wooded shots that a beginner will struggle on. Some of them are even par 4. There are some low ceilings (12, 16, 17), some mild doglegs (1, 11), and some opportunity for wide sweeping shots if you have the power (9, 15, 18). In short, this course quite frequently does a good job making some holes reward certain skills and encouraging players to try new shots.
There was also some uniqueness that was intentionally built in here. Hole 13 has a spicy raised pin, some holes are placed specifically around certain trees, and for the ones cut into the woods, there definitely aren't too many trees cut down to make the holes possible.
A creek comes into play on a few holes on the back nine and does a good job introducing some risks while still being possible to fetch discs out of if you have a large stick. You cross it on one hole and play adjacent to it on another.
Cons:
Signage is very odd. The first few holes have good tee signs, but then several holes have no signs, and finally, the back nine has posts that mark the hole number and distance. You could easily skip a hole and not notice until it's too late. Navigation is otherwise okay, though there are a few times where you might play to the wrong basket. Hole 12 is hard to find from the previous basket.
The wooded holes are a little too wooded. There are a few lines that are just too tight, and while it'll be really rewarding to hit the line, too often it's the right play to lay up or hit the line with a slower disc. Sure, it's opportunity for score separation, but I don't think they're all that fair. And for a course that's probably not meant specifically for advanced players, this is a problem. Even the wooded holes that have a reasonable line (3-6) don't feel amazing to me.
Conversely, some open holes are far too open. A few have nothing in the way (10, 11), some have some foliage that's easy to avoid (2, 13), and some are likely to be tweener par 3/4 (11, 14). Also hole 1 is a massive dogleg with almost no way to get to the basket in one but no reason to go in the woods if you play a smart shot. Some of these downsides were unavoidable with the land that this course is on, but the result isn't always great, and I think there was some missed opportunity. And while a few holes play through the open to get to a different part of the property, it's possible some other parts of the woods could have been utilized.
There's some other infrastructure nearby that could come into play, but it seems it's not busy most of the time. I'm okay with the baseball fence on 17 as it provides a decent OB challenge.
Other Thoughts:
I stopped here solely to bag the state of LA and I'm glad I chose this course above any other options. Really, it isn't amazing, but it's a fun and quiet round and won't leave you bored but won't be super challenging either.
I really think hole 1 needs to be changed, but there aren't any other sections of the course that stand out as needing to be reworked. I would like a few more holes in the woods (though maybe a little less tight than the existing ones) on the east side of the property working towards current hole 12. But I don't know how feasible that would be. Regardless, it's cool to see an actually difficult and fairly lengthy course on a church property.