Pros:
- Course is set within a large city park that has tons of trees and tons of hilliness. Some holes play close to a few roads, but it seems like there shouldn't be any conflicts.
- Majority of the holes are set within a dense forest, that has a wide variety of shots to be found. Some of these are spectacularly epic. #1 is a steep, monster downhill hyzer with OB lurking on the bottom. #2 is a shorter, tight uphill shot, followed by another STEEP downhill shot, finishing right, with a nasty rollaway. #18 is a nice long, wooded shot that has to clear a deep valley and then go way back up to reach the pin. Major punishment to be found here.
- Other holes in the deep woods aren't as intense, but still provide challenge. A blind uphill hyzer on #9 plays a lot longer that 286', a tight downhill RHBH anny or RHFH shot on #10 and #11 provide small windows, #16 is a super low/tight window uphill with a right finish. A few holes are more open to provide a break as well, like a shorter downhill on #3, a shorter uphill (pretty steep though) on #8, and a blind up-and-over on #17. Fantastic mix overall.
- Rest of the holes, basically 4-7, are in a flatter area of the park with larger, more mature trees. There is still some rolling terrain, especially next to a small creek that is running through the holes. A bit of a gap on #4, slight right finish, with the basket across the creek. Laying up here leads to an uphill, over-the-water putt. #5 has the creek running alongside to the left, open to both hyzer or a RHFH shot. #7 is the highlight; an elevated tee RHBH flex shot, long, with a finish left down by the creek.
- As described above, there is so much to this course. Lots of trees, in varying amounts. Lots of hills - way uphill, slight uphill, rolling terrain, slight downhill, and some way, way downhill. Water present in a few spots, and some well-placed artificial OB. Some well protected baskets thanks to water, slopes, and placement by trees. Good variety in hole length and difficulty. Yowza.
- Baskets are good, and the dirt tees aren't so bad. BUT, there are no signs as of right now, and the baskets don't even have numbers on them yet. Without the info on this site, you could be in serious trouble. There is spray paint to help find the next tee, current tee, and general basket placement, but some holes are tough to find. Hopefully will be brought up to snuff in the near future.
Cons:
- There are some stairs present in spots, and small bridges to cross the creek, other spots are extremely treacherous just based on the hilliness combined with dirt/mud. I could see the place being nearly impossible to play if there was mud present. Hard to count extreme elevation as a con, but it would make things tough.
- Entrance road, and regular road, are pretty close in a few spots. Just a distraction, and doesn't help the overall feeling of seclusion.
Other Thoughts:
- Well, long story short, I was blown away by this course. Every hole has something interesting going on, even the most open hole out there provides a fun downhill RHFH flex shot for me, with OB lurking to the left and by the pin. The first two and the last hole are especially memorable, for different reasons. I hope to make it out again someday...
- Beginners should stay away from this course, both to save frustration and avoid possibly having to traverse a cliff for a shanked drive. Even experienced players might have a tough time getting around, but should enjoy the tough golf to be found.