Pros:
The Meadow Ridge Gold Course in North Plains, Oregon, was the third course installed at Horning's Hideout. It was developed by Bob Horning in 2009, and helped to complete the epic trilogy, thus making Meadow Ridge one of the premier championship caliber courses in the northwest if not the world! Similar to the Canyon Course, this course utilizes the mixed terrain, including extreme elevation at times, ever so tight fairways, and open fields. First timers who come here truly get to experience what the northwest is all about. The course primarily plays in the woods with the exception of the 930 foot Par 5, which still ends in the woods after throwing over several hundred feet of rolling hills. Most holes require precision off the tee, with accurate upshots, and precise putts. Those who are less accurate will find deflections devastating to their score, and become rather frustrated with their overall experience. The course is most appropriate for advanced and open players, but intermediate will do just fine as long as you know what you're in for.
The homemade yellow baskets are fantastic up here in the northwest. With the grey sky and heavily wooded surroundings, these things pop out which makes it easier for those less familiar with the course. They seem to catch fairly well and have large black numbers on the side of the basket to help with navigation. The cement tee pads are truly some of the best I have had the privilege of playing on. They are extremely grippy, and are roughly 5 x 12 feet ( with the exception of hole #16 which is 5 x 16 feet), which allows enough room for a big run up. The tee signs, similar to the other two courses, are designed by Houck, and are the most accurate signs I have seen to date. The information on the tee signs show elevation changes +/-, par, distance, ob's, and obstacles down to the last tree. You couldn't ask for more.
The design of the course was extremely well thought out, allowing for 14 Par 3's, three Par 4's, and one Par 5. Holes range in distance from 255 - 930 feet, averaging about 390 feet per hole. Although several holes stood out during my round, holes # 8 and # 18 were my favorites. Hole #8 as many others have stated utilizes the most elevation on the course, throwing 420 feet with a 120 foot drop. To make things more difficult, the multiple lines toward the pin require precision all the way down or some serious luck. Hole #18 is over 425 feet, with the first 300 feet in an open meadow, but closes quickly into the woods again where there is an elevated basket that is heavily guarded. On this hole it takes both power and accuracy to score well on.
Cons:
Because this course is only a year old, there is still some trimming to do on some of the fairways. Although I felt that the majority of fairways were well developed and provided multiple approaches to the pin off the tee, I still felt like a few needed some work (i.e. hole #6).
During certain times of the year the growth can get somewhat thick off the fairways as well, so a spotter is a must if you want to keep your disc.
To be honest though, I felt the locals have done a phenomenal job installing and maintaining this course and I really couldn't find a whole lot that needed to be improved.
Other Thoughts:
I played this course this past June and was blown away by Horning's Hideout but couldn't make up my mind on what to rate it. I told myself that I needed to play it again before I could write a review so that I could spend a little more time analyzing the course hole by hole rather then HH as a whole. If I were to give HH an overall rating it would easily be a 5.0 due to the way that each course compliments one another. However, I felt that no one course was a 5.0 all by itself. Over time as the course continues to build character it could easily be a possibility, but for now I feel there is still a little room to grow.
I am so impressed with this entire facility however, and feel it is an honor to play disc golf at one of the premier disc golf destinations in the world! The owners are some of the most genuine and selfless people I have ever met and have put a lot of time and money in to this place so that we can enjoy the game we love. Thank you!