Pros:
Scottlandville Park, (or, LHC DiscGolfPark, though I still don't know what the LHC stands for) is a large beautiful park on the north side of Baton Rouge. It sits just between a freeway and an airport, but neither seem to cause much of a disturbance to the course.
I played this course for the first time in May, after the greenery has fully come in and grown in THICK. Luckily, the fairways are mainly open field with large, old oak trees, so even though some lines had to be a little tighter, they were still pretty fair and open, and the park itself was beautifully gowned in green.
There are so many things this park does so much better than other parks, I don't know where to begin. But I guess I should make a decision otherwise this review is going nowhere, so why not with where you start- the tee.
I've never played a "DiscGolfPark" before, but apparently they are all astroturf filled with sand. They worked really well on every hole, despite several of the holes being worn down to almost just the sand. I don't know how they worked, but it felt like teeing from perfectly smooth natural grass. There were a couple that looked like a volleyball court after some brush grows into it, but the sand didn't slip, and I didn't even notice after I threw. So I guess they work! I also really liked the tee signs at every hole with the clearly labeled OB. It's hard to mess up a tee sign, but I've seen it done, and this course does it well.
The holes are an excellent mix of short and long (more long than short though), and the more open holes nicely correlate with the length. I don't know if there were any "gimme" birdies that didn't require you to miss some trees, keep it low, or just didn't let you throw the open hyzer shot to the basket. Every hole in the 200-350 range was still a thoughtful throw. I thoroughly enjoy that type of disc golf where you must challenge yourself to maintain a competitive score. The long holes are appropriately open for their length. If you don't hit your landing zone, you're going to have a much more challenging approach. This comes into play most on holes 17 and 18 I believe.
The baskets are (as of this writing) excellent condition DisCatchers. They don't look brand-new anymore, but they catch well and that's what counts!
There's some decent elevation in the park. I would hesitate to say "hills," but there are clear uphill/downhill shots.
Cons:
Navigation was a little off at times. Despite multiple course maps (which kind of contributed to a little confusion, because you pull up to the one at hole 16's basket/3's tee pad first), there were a few holes where it wasn't immediately obvious to which basket you're throwing, and on the par 4's/5's, you start to wander as you wonder to which basket you're throwing. Avery- put numbers on the basket! There's that big ol' yellow band at the top, just slap a number on it!
Water comes into play on a lot of the holes, and sometimes it's blind. LHC DGP swallowed two of my discs today, including a midrange I've had for 7 or 8 years. I was a little frustrated by it, but it really didn't contribute to how I rate the course. It was just bad luck.
It should be noted there's little bits of broken glass almost everywhere on the holes by the pavilions. Holes 6 and 7 were the worst of the worst. So don't make the mistake I did and bring your dog out here to play with you (she's fine, btw).
Other Thoughts:
This park is a great compliment to Highland Road Park farther south. I would say this may edge it out a bit in terms of which is the better course, but that may change if Highland ever installs teepads or tee signs.
That being said, I think the description "Very Good" describes this course perfectly, and to some it may even be "Excellent," so a rating between a 3.5 and 4 is probably right where it should be. I loved it and can't wait to play it again this weekend, and then again in the fall when the green clears a little bit!