Lawson is a well kept up course with good amenities all around once you're off the gravel road. By the parking lot, there's a picnic shelter and a practice basket. Tee pads, signs, and baskets are in good shape, and there are two tee pads and/or two baskets on several holes, and they usually change up the course in a pretty good way. There are also a few holes with alternate pins, but with all the distance, it doesn't matter much.

The holes are long, so be prepared for a lot of drives, no matter how strong your arm is. Most of these have the teepad or basket guarded by some trees, making you think about nearly every shot. On all but a couple drives, there is some danger to get into, and the location of the danger varies from hole to hole. And because some holes play slightly up or down (or on hole 3 have short trees you throw over), the angle of your disc in the air is important and can make a big impact on the distance of your shot.

While the course is largely open, it does utilize some of the wooded areas pretty well. Holes 10 and 18 end in a wooded cove, hole 6 plays from one clump of trees to another, and holes 11 and 16 offer several lines to the basket. On some holes, the long tee has some immediate trees, but the short tee plays just in front of them or to the side or something, making initial tunnel shots easier. Alternatively, the short basket might be located just in front of the last tunnel shot.

Hole 2. Normally, individual holes don't deserve more than a sentence or so, but this is an exception because it is SO AMAZING. There are two tees and two baskets, and if you play long-long, it's a 1000+ foot par 5, with some light elevation change, tight fairway, but also wide landing zones. There are safe and aggressive options no matter where you're throwing from. It is by far the standout of the course and one of the best holes I've ever played.

Lots of holes are way too open. A few have a couple of trees off the tee, then the fairway is open. Holes 1, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 13, and 14 all suffer from this. While a lot of them have something challenging, it's not enough for them to be good holes. Even if there was just one or two fully-grown trees on the sides of a few fairways, it would completely block certain shots and make the course way better.

The course tried to stick to the trees as much as possible, but it means a lot of walking between holes. Sometimes, it's unclear which direction you're going, so bring a map or take a picture of the (very helpful) map by the parking lot. Generally, if you can see a teepad, it's the right one to go to even if it's on the horizon. Basically, be prepared for a lot of walking. In addition, the technical shots sometimes produced not great results. I'm okay with the triple mando gate on hole 9, but I don't like the dogleg left on 7 or the dogleg right on 17. Finally, hole 18 has problems. It's just a short right-turning skip shot, but it doesn't feel natural at all. It would be great if the teepad was pushed back, but then it would interfere with the previous hole.

A walking path comes into play a few times, and it's sometimes hard to see if there's anyone there. On hole 12, the path is the fairway. On the other holes, playing the path OB is the right call.

While the signage is good, it doesn't indicate the existence of multiple basket placements very well. If you don't know which holes have two baskets, it's okay to just play to the first basket you see. And because several holes are really long, distance perception on the signs is difficult.

The lake itself basically never comes into play. Maybe a disc or two has gone in on holes 2 or 7, but it would take a pretty wild shot. I personally don't think it would have added much to the course, but it does add to the scenery.

There's a pond near the practice basket that could have been turned into one or two good holes that could have replaced a few of the open shots. There are also some opportunities for OB lines to simulate rough and force certain shots on holes like 4 and 8, but that obviously won't matter on a casual round. There's a railroad track behind holes 6 and 8 that prevents the course from cutting into, or probably even playing near, one of the treelines. I also think some of the woods to the left of hole 3 and various areas on the back nine could have been utilized better.

I'm really glad I made the trek out here. While I don't think this course has an amazing design, it's certainly a fun play and is one I would come to regularly if I lived closer. Some holes are boring, but others are really good. Unfortunately, even with a redesign, I feel there's not enough here to make a championship level course. But there's certainly a lot of challenge that will test players of all skill levels.