Pros:
- 9 permanent tone targets. Fairly well mounted and they make a nice sound when struck.
- Good use of available elevation. Anywhere from modest to drastic changes throughout the course. Holes 6 & 9 are cool TOTW throws.
- Holes 6-9 have a nice variation of hole length and elevation change. This is the section of the course was all that made the spin worth it for me.
- Free to play.
Cons:
- Terrible infrastructure. No course sign/map at the park. Tee surfaces were mostly grass/dirt with hole 8 being the exception and teeing from one of the walking paths. Only a few tee markers and some small mowed out patches of rough grass to identify tee areas. The tones, while of a decent size and durability, are a fading dark green making them tough to spot in a very green and natural park full of brush and some evergreen growth.
- Navigation is spotty. With the lack of signage for tees and navigation, the available map will get you through the course but no chance without it. Make sure you have it saved, have enough battery or print it out if you're going to play here.
- Very little maintenance. The rough was anywhere from ankle to chest deep when I played in early October. Minimal mowing is done with a few small areas mowed out around 2-3 of the targets and then a couple random fields were trimmed up. Most fairways, approaches, and greens were complete disc eaters. Like, "watch your disc 15' from the basket" kind of disc eating.
- Holes 1-5. Basically a series of wide open 300-350' shots that have slightly differing elevation changes. Really monotonous first half from that perspective.
- Very few trees to contend with for much of the course. This is very noticeable on holes 1-5 vs holes 6-9 which actually have some golf substance.
-Multiple walking paths and a couple of fishing areas are located throughout the course creating various user conflicts.
Other Thoughts:
I wasn't sure what to expect when I got to this course and lets just say underwhelming would be an understantement. So much rough and so little care seemingly goes into this area. Its clear that somebody is aware of and possibly in charge of course maintenance as there were a handfull of tees and greens with the most modest of mow jobs. But what is done is woefully lacking. I threw only the brightest of discs and still struggled to locate them at multiple points throughout the course. The front 5 holes are really blah with maybe 2 trees in play and the least amount of elevation change the course has to offer. Holes 6-9 are solid golf but again, lose a lot of novelty by being grossly overgrown.
This is one I won't be coming back to even if I end up in Lewistown again. With the unkept nature of the course this isn't family, or really, golfer friendly. If you're not a die hard bagger, feel free to let this one slide by. Great fishing around town though with the Musselshell and Spring Creek right there and multiple public access areas. If I'm in Lewistown again that's where I'll be spending my time.