• Discplay:
+ Begins with several short technical holes requiring finesse and placement. The landscape opens up as you work toward the newer, additional holes (8-16), which require more distance while avoiding some very well placed trees.
+ Runs the gamut; from short, well-wooded, technical holes to one fairly long, open hole, with the majority filling the void between those extremes.
+ Holes that force a specific line combine with holes that allow for a variety of lines to cover a wide variety of shot making requirements, creating a degree of balance for the course overall.
+ Decent range of distances from the blues. Kind of short from the whites (but that's how it's 'sposed to be).
+ Blue and white tees do a decent job of creating different looks for holes 8-16 (but pretty much only add distance on the orig 9).
+ Some well-guarded and nicely tucked pins.
+ Challenge: Well-suited to beginning and intermediate players. Advanced/Pro players won't find this particularly challenging, but could have a blast running pins and hunting for birdies.
+ Not much disc threatening shule.

• Equipment/Maintenance:
+ Baskets: #'s 1-7 + 17-18 are equipped with Chainstars in good shape. Holes 8-16 (i.e. new holes) feature baskets made from wood - very cool and rather artisan looking. They have metal chains, catch great and are anything but rinky-dink or cheaply made. To say they add charm doesn't do them justice.
+ 36 concrete tees (18 shorts, 18 longs) are large enough and in great condition.
+ Color coded tee markers (white for shorts, blues for longs) show hole # and distance are simple yet effective, and together with next tee arrows get you around with minimal effort. + Course was well- groomed and everything was in tip top shape. Don't recall seeing any litter on the course.

• Routing/Nav: Practically effortless. The beginning's pretty intuitive, and while the more open section (7 - 18) has the potential to be tough to follow, they've done a great job with next tee signs and tee posts to make things a snap. As a result - no map required (which is fortunate, because as of this review, the map only shows the original 9 holes.) Well done!

• Play all 18 or jump from 7 to 17 (skipping the newer holes) to play an abbreviated round on the original 9.

• Aesthetics: Quite pleasant and laid back. Plays like a park-style course taking you through pine woods and fields dotted with clumps of trees.

• Memorable holes: The downed trees and resulting wall of roots on #3 is unlike anything else I've ever seen. The other holes were pretty good, but none of those seared any lasting images into my mind.

•Extras:
+ Another, more challenging 18 hole course on site
+ clean bathrooms in the clubhouse/lodge
+ scorecard/map

- Risk/Reward: Not much, but what is there is mostly in the chance of losing a disc if you really huck one a ways off the fairway.

- Pretty much devoid of any elevation to speak of. While the ski hill course offers elevation in spades, it'd be nice if the kinder, friendlier course gave beginners a taste of how elevation affects the game without having to get their butts kicked on a course they aren't ready for.

- Wooden baskets are a bit wider and perhaps a tad more forgiving than most. I can't help but wonder if this wasn't done intentionally to ensure there aren't a lot of bad bounces... which would most definitely result in a bad rap. Point is, they play fair for all. Mentioned more as an FYI than a con.

While it's nothing spectacular, Pine Knoll is a good course that's solidly desinged and quite fun to play. Just challenging enough to provide a nice intro to the sport, as it requires shot shaping and control, yet isn't so frustrating that it will discourage new players from coming back for more (which some courses can) as they develop their skills... if challenge is all you seek, go play big brother.

Wind likely to affect shots on holes 7 -18.

Most of the original 9 have a decidedly pitch-n-putt feel to them, and while they aren't bad, I actually think the new holes with the wooden baskets are the more interesting holes on this course, as you can get a more full disc flight and have to compensate for the wind. I think 18 holes like the original would be typical (i.e. 2.5), as would 18 of the new holes. Happily, we have bona fide case of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts, as they supplement each other well enough to provide a more balanced variety than either set does by itself.

Good signage.

Area fairly kept up as far as maintenance goes.

They just added nine more holes to the course.(numbers on baskets are off now). But their wooden baskets are a thing of beauty.

Me and one other friend did all 18 holes in about 45 minutes and that includes the extra few minutes it took to find one of my disc's and help someone else do the same. It was way too short when it was out first time.

There is a longer course with 19 holes. It's about an hour drive from Traverse, I'm open to trying out the longer course, but I'm spoiled with Hickory Hills being from Traverse City.

Hanson Hills short course is a great for what it is meant to be, a fun, family friendly 9 holes.

The am tee lengths are great for beginners or folks looking to work on their upshots. The "pro" tees give length on enough holes to make it worthwhile.

Concrete tees and garbage cans at each hole. Clear signage with hole #, distance and hole outline.

An even mix of left, right and straight holes with clearly defined fairways. A few holes had alternate routes available but most your throw just has to follow the path through the trees.

Wood chips surrounding the new Chainstar baskets and on some of the walking paths between holes. Navigation is very straight forward.

A two sided kiosk is located near the first tee and had useful information such as "how to's" of throwing, disc charts for innova and discraft and course info and events.

The short tees are very short and would be a "con" for anyone looking to play a course for a serious round.

The entire course is flat. The one bit of elevation is a raised tee that isn't really necessary.

On my trip to Hanson Hills, I expected the short course to be a nice warm up for the long course. I was pleasantly surprised with the quality, cleanliness and attention to detail. It was a fun 9. There were multiple groups playing including families and small children, which is nice to see a course that can cater to a different demo as the long course would be too much for many.

The Grayling Rotary has done a nice job here creating not one, but two courses that meet the needs of the community.

This is a neat little 9 hole course which makes for good practice before you do the long course. When you pull up the first hole is on the right and there is parking there. But I find it better to park near the lodge because it's not that far of a walk to the long course.

There are Pro and Am tees which is great even though they are not really far apart.

This course is very clean. When my friend and I showed up we noticed how nicely maintained the course is. We even saw a couple people moving branches out of the way from one of the holes which was really nice of them.

The signage is spot on and it's great. Also with the cement tees are really great.

Hole 7 has a really neat tee in my opinion. You go up a little hill and throw down a little hill but it's surrounded my rocks which add a nice touch.

Hole 1 has the AM tee closer to the hole and makes it a lot easier to not goof up and hit a car. I thought that was great because it took the fear of hitting a car away to someone that may be brand new to the sport like my friend that came out.

The pro tee at the first hole is far back enough that yes you could potentially hit a car but it shouldn't be a problem for those that have played for a while. But if someone is playing for the first does it. There may be a slight risk.

Other than the little hill at #7, there is literally no elevation at all. This course is very flat and it makes for a big surprise when you do the long course.

There is a bike/ski path between hole 7 and 8. It wasn't busy when we started but when we were done, we saw a lot of bikers so please be careful.

There is lots of sand at a couple holes. Also at hole 3, the path had some thick mud but I am sure that will dry up as Summer comes closer.

This was a fun course to practice and warm up. It made me look forward to playing the long course and the hype was building with each passing hole. I am really happy that we started this and when it was over, it took roughly 15 minutes to complete.

I live about 20 minutes away (I moved since my Hickory Hills review) from this course but I haven't played until today. It is a fun course and I recommend it to those to try out before doing the Long Course.