Pros:
- Some of the best flypad tees I've stepped off in quite some time. They're very nice and grippy--even during a dewy morning round.
- Signage is excellent; both in terms of the signage next to the tees and to navigate you between them. You'll notice the tall signs with the orange markers to show you where the next tee is. Almost impossible to get lost here. There's a nice map and info at the kiosk.
- Love the Gateway Titan baskets. Wish more courses used them.
Now on to the course itself:
- Brilliant shot variety. Elevation definitely plays a factor, and I'd have to say that there's an almost even balance between uphill, downhill, and level shots. Even on straight, level shots, the course uses its trees, the creek, the road, and (most definitely) mountain laurel to make you think about your shots.
- Holes #2, 4, and 18 come to mind as really excellent downhill shots that require both accurate anyhyzer and hyzer angles to navigate the trees. Holes #3, 5, 6 are nice uphill shots. #6 is straight up the hill and definitely has that potential to roll back down the hill with an errant shot.
- Back nine tends to have less elevation changes, but is more wooded, technical, and longer. Front nine has more elevation changes, but the holes are a little more open and a little shorter. To get to the front nine, you go to the left of the kiosk; go right for the back nine.
- Course does a really good job of avoiding the parkgoers and being secluded from the business of the park. There is one exception, however in the cons.
- Almost all holes are memorable. I'll let you read the other reviews on each hole. The only holes that are "eh" in my opinion are #1, 9, and 11, as they're not very long and don't reward skillful shots.
- Course ends well on the 18th hole. You have to throw down a pretty steep grade and find a narrow path to hold your line. Throw too far and you're on the road OB; throw too short and you'll hit a ton of trees. Very challenging and good way to end the course.
Cons:
- I'm kind of skeptical on some of the par 5's. The only true one, IMO, is hole 15. The par 4's seem pretty accurate though.
- Little too switchbacky for my taste on the front nine. You have to cross paths often, like between 3 and 4 and between 7 and 8 to get to the tees. This isn't much of an issue on the back nine.
- Uneven terrain requires good shoes. You'll definitely appreciate them on hole #2, #6, and on many of the back nine ones.
- No real risk/reward putting holes. By this, I mean that despite having elevation, there's no holes in which you can go from birdie to bogie by making a bad approach or putt. #6 might be the exception to this rule.
- One hole gets in the way of a soccer field, I believe it's #16. I had to wait for the kids to run down to the other goal before I could drive off the tee.
- Otherwise I'm having a hard time finding faults with this course. I can't stress enough how enjoyable my round was.
Other Thoughts:
Man, this course is on fire! And not because the oil is burning. I played here expecting an average course with a lot of "new course" issues (insufficient signage, excessive underbrush, no defined paths, unkept fairways, etc.) and I was treated with a quality course that's worthy of at least 4 discs. Clearly the designers put a lot of attention to detail and thought on the layout of each hole--not to mention the course in general. Sure, it could use a little more breaking-in, but it certainly on its way.
When I played the first nine holes, I just carried a few discs with me. When I got back to my car in between 9-10, I realized I was going to need a full bag. Simply put, this course is going to test your skills and require a lot of shots from your bag. Don't underestimate this quaint city park!