Pros:
- Fun mix of wooded and open holes
- Amazing tee shots from 8 and 13
- Free course on federal land
- Great baskets
Cons:
- SO...MANY...MOSQUITOES! And ants. And ticks.
- Tall grass (about 18-24") on holes 9-12 make it hard to find discs until you stumble over the top of them
- Occasionally having to wait for other park users to clear the fairways
- Tee pads are just wood boxes with gravel in them, which were very rutted and uneven last time I played
- Signage needs to be improved, especially for telling how to get from each basket to the next tee
Other Thoughts:
This was a fun course with a great mix of wooded and open holes. My last round, however, was basically ruined by the insects. Holes 1-7 are in the woods and the mosquitoes are terrible. Every time I stopped moving, they were swarming me. It was hard to tee off because I was just slapping them away constantly. Also, there are massive ant hills in the fairways on those same holes and every time I put my bag down, there would be a dozen ants on it when I picked it back up, and then they would crawl onto me. Make sure to do a tick check when you get home; I had two on my legs during my most recent play, one of which I saw on the course, the other I saw when I got home.
Holes 8-14 are wide open, which is a nice change of pace from the tight wooded holes. 8 is a 1,200 foot par 5 with a huge elevation drop from the tee to the landing area. It is a lot of fun to just mash the drive and watch the disc fly so far. The tall grass on holes 9-12 is annoying because it is hard to find your disc if you don't know exactly where it landed. I walked within a few feet of my disc several times, but didn't see it because it was hidden in the grass. The drive on hole 13 has a 300+ foot carry across the spillway that adds a lot of tension to the drive. Don't even attempt it with a disc you don't want to lose, because there is no chance of getting it back if you go in the water.
Holes 15-18 head back into the woods, but it is woods with a different character from the first holes. These last four holes have straight pines creating nice alleys with interesting lines and the need for straight, controlled shots. What doesn't change, unfortunately, is the level of mosquitoes. As soon as you get back into the trees, the mosquitoes start swarming again.
All in all, I enjoyed my play at Franklin Falls, but next time I will bring bug spray with me, which will hopefully make the woods holes tolerable.