It will be hard to include anything unique in my review, so I'll just do what I do and review it as if mine was the first.
Very nice park setting with beautiful scenery... rolling hills, trees, woods, ponds, creek, interesting man made erosion control projects, etc.
Within minutes of the small town of Burlington, the bigger town of Florence and less than 30 minutes to the big city of Cincinnati. So there is no shortage of other things to do in the area... eating, shopping, professional sports, lots of other disc golf courses in the area, etc.
Ample parking with porta-johns on site, although not on the course itself. Hole #1 is just a few steps from, and #18 finishes just a short walk from, the main parking lot. Benches and trash cans throughout the course. The course was very clean when I played it, by the way.
If you don't have time for all 24 or if you just don't want to start with hole #1, there are several other tee options that are close to either the main parking lot or other parking lots. See the course map and you'll see what I mean.
24 holes! Most holes have either multiple tees, pins, or pin locations. Ideal, excellent sized concrete tees. Baskets are mixed, but in good shape and of high quality (see cons, too). (There's a picture in the Idlewild thread in the forums of the freshly painted, highly visible, baskets,
http://www.dgcoursereview.com...ld&page=3, post #25. This was done after I was there.) High quality course map available here on DGCR and displayed near tee #1. Good tee signs and generally easy navigation (see cons, too), using the map.
Now let's get to what's really important... the holes!!! This is the most well thought out course that I've ever played, with the greatest variety of hole types. Although there are no "ski slope" down hill holes, there are several holes with considerable elevation drop (#15 comes to mind). There are uphill holes of varying degree. There are level holes including a couple "across the valley" type holes.
To say that there are left turning, right turning and straight holes would be understating this point. Off the tee, you have a tremendous amount of options. Some holes will give you the option of throwing a hyzer, anhyzer, overhand or roller off the tee, while others will force a particular shot off of the tee. And once you've found your tee shot, you're likely to have multiple lanes and shot options to use to get to the basket or further down the fairway.
There are mostly open grassy holes, holes that play entirely in the woods, and many holes that have you playing both air shots and wooded shots in the same hole. Some holes get quite tight, but I don't feel that there was a single "plinko" or unfair hole on the course. If you hit your lines in the woods, you can do very well. I was very fortunate to stay on the fairway a vast majority of the time so I didn't have any real trouble finding my discs. There are a some places, though, where the high grass or underbrush off of the fairway does get thick. Stating the obvious here, but just be sure to pay close attention to your disc's flight.
The use of water is very fun, too. There a couple ponds that come into play with you either throwing over them, or along side them. And then there's the stream that flows through some of the holes. There are landing zones and greens (some covered with green outdoor carpet to help with erosion) literally cut into peninsulas created by the meandering stream. These peninsulas really make for some interesting shot selections. "Do I go for it or do I lay up? That approach sure does look tempting... but I don't like the looks of that OB."
Landing zones on the par 4s and 5s...This is one of the standout features of the course to me. You don't necessarily just try to throw your your tee shot as far as you can and hope for a good lie. Several holes require accurate tee shots with specific landing zones in order to leave you with a preferred shot down the fairway or to the basket. For me, some of these landing zones broke up a couple holes into more manageable, bite-size pieces. But a better player could shoot for a longer landing zone and birdie vs my par. I love that there are different ways to effectively manage the holes, with distinct risk and reward options.
This course is definitely what I would think that Pro-Caliber means. I am by no means a pro, but I do have a bit of experience. So I was very pleased with my 3 over 90 from mainly the short tees. My being able to throw a 3 over the first time I played the course makes me believe that Idlewild could also be played and enjoyed by much less experienced players, too. Some holes would seem daunting, I'm sure. And the course would seem very hard. But I don't think that these are necessarily bad things. It could very well prove overwhelming to a very new player, much the same way that I was overwhelmed (beaten severely) by The Woodshed in WV, when I first played it as a noob. Depending on your level of interest in the game, though, even a beating like I took could peak your interest in the game, rather than turning you away from it. It probably wouldn't make a great "first date" or "take the kids for a walk" course, though.