Pros:
-Fort Washington was established in 2004 as a 9-hole target course, rated a measly 0.85 on DGCR. (DGCR Course ID = 511). Looking at the old photos and reading reviews, it is clear that a tremendous number of man hours have been put into the place over the past six years to transform it into an excellent 18-hole layout. Huge kudos to whoever spearheaded the project.
-This course has an active club which takes great care and pride in the course. Every hole has a large brick tee with a boot scrubber (great feature), two baskets, color tee signs, next tee signs, hand-made benches — the works. There's also a clubhouse near holes 3 and 7 with course maintenance equipment, picnic tables, an extra basket, a lost-and-found bin. I played on a Monday and two guys were mowing and weed whacking the fairways.
-I'm not always a fan of two baskets per hole, but it works here. The short basket is always the older Chainstar and is a par 3, usually 300' or less. The long basket is always the new red Chainstar Pro, and typically adds 100-300 feet to the hole. Several of the long baskets are par 4s, and hole 10 is a par 5. None of these holes are terribly long, but at least four holes have double doglegs and are really hard birdies.
-Well Designed. Especially memorable were hole 6, the only opportunity to open up on a drive, and #7, a beautiful downhill tunnel shot. Most of the holes are tree-lined but not heavily wooded and with grass fairways. For the long baskets, you need to be proficient working the disc both ways to navigate all the twists and turns. The layout makes good use of a moderate amount of elevation change. There are maybe a few too many blind holes but no silly holes on the course.
Cons:
-The fairways are fair, clean, and appropriately sized, but one tree kick can easily send you into the DEEP stuff — thick bushes, sharp rocks, thorns, as well as poison ivy in a few spots (especially hole 11 past the OB stakes). With the number of blind shots, downhill shots, and holes that tempt you to throw a driver when you shouldn't, there is ample opportunity to lose a disc. Although some areas have been cleaned up, plenty is still left to be done. Long pants are highly recommended.
-The course length to the short baskets is very attainable for newer players, and there is also a designated "kid's tee" halfway up the fairway (a small area marked with bricks). Unfortunately, the thick rough makes the course absolutely not suitable for anyone new to the game, as more time will be spent searching than playing.
Other Thoughts:
-On hole 4, a large tree fell and must have smashed the long basket. There's currently a portable DGA basket directly behind the uprooted tree, which makes for a very strange approach to the hole.
-For your first time, I highly recommend playing the short baskets. The shots are much simpler but still challenging, and you can get a look at the shot required for the long basket, which is typically blind from the tee. The tee signs are very colorful and nice to look at, and the distances are accurate, but the diagrams are not to scale.
-The park has a "Pack it in, pack it out" policy, and provides no trash cans of any kind. It seems to work — I did not see a single piece of litter.
-The facilities are top notch, the course is well kept, and the design is excellent, but the heavy rough is the one factor holding Fort Washington back from being a really enjoyable round. With the amount of work that is continually put into the course, however, it could easily be 4-4.5 rated within a few more years.