Pros:
1) This is a small town of Red Wing, sure thye have another course, but this one would be much better to learn on, I just hope the beginners do not dislike the sport because there isn't much challenge.
2) The only two holes with any redeeming value in my opinion are #8 and #9. #8 is a great short hole with the basket tucked precariously on the edge of a major dropoff. If you gun for the ace you might end up with a 3 or worse because of the vegetation and dropoff below. #9 is also a longer uphill sidehill shot. I like these types of holes because you have to pick your route . . . either stay along the bottom of the hill for a nice level uphill approach, or gun your drive to the top of the hill and have a flat approach into the basket. It takes more to get to the top of the hill on your drive but the reward is the flat approach. If you don't get enough on it you are stuck with an awkward stance on the sidehill. UPDATE: I can also see some value in the hole design of #2. It is set on a severe sideslope and the basket is at the top of the hill. It will take a smart shot to get it close. I can also see a little bit of interest in Hole #7 also because the basket is perched above a drainage swale. This will create a different feel around this basket. Hole #5 is also a decent hole because the tee is ont he other side of the road and it is uphill with a low ceiling. That is a very tough shot to execute.
3) Baskets are in excellent shape.
4) I saw and heard some bald eagles over my head here, as well as over at Memorial Park. This is always fun to see on the course.
5) UPDATE: Nice concrete tees, I couldn't find them under the snow when I played 2 years prior, but they are there now.
Cons:
1) Teepads are not shovelled in winter. Obviously this is a negative to me because I played it in Winter and will probably never be back, but I will not take this into account in the rating (that would be unfair considering it is small town MN and it gets darn cold and snowy here).
2) Very minimal trees and other obstacles, the one thing that truly forces your shot is a backstop, where you either have to loft it right over the backstop or try and skid in a hyzer because it is basically on home plate and you have 10-15' of fence to get around or over. I couldn't decide if this is creative or just stupid. I will give them the benefit of the doubt here that it was by design and since there is minimal other obstacles on the course.
3) No tee signs or map directing you where to go. You could almost just throw from the previous basket in winter since the teepads are not findable int he snow (although throwing from #7 basket to #8 basket would be a long way and across a few hundred feet of parking lot.
4) No garbage no benches no nothing. I guess I wouldnt expect a lot of play so why should you ever have to sit down and since you could play in 15-20 minutes you can always throw your garbage away when you finish, or maybe head out to the service area and look for a garbage dumpster.
5) Course starts on the front lawn of the school, then you cross a driveway to get to #2, then between the parking lot and the main road for #3 and #4. #4 crosses another little road perhaps only there for plowing or overflow parking. #5, 6, 7, are on the east of the property in open lawn (and also baseball field). Then you cross the back parking lot and service area to the parcel on the north side of the school. That nearly brings you full circle to the 1st tee.
Other Thoughts:
There really isn't much more that can be said here, it is simply a plain old course winding around a school. There is more here than most school courses I have come across but not by much.
I wish they had more land to develop this course because a few of the plain open holes could be removed, perhaps you could have 3 or 4 holes on the north part of the building, then you could go off into that prairie area behind the back parking lot and create a few more holes with different vegetation (prairie instead of mowed turf). Just an idea.
WARNING: I did play this in winter and could not find the teepads. It would have made playing easier if I had, but I did not account for this in the rating because there are concrete pads I just coldnt find them in the snow. Obviously I cannot comment on the turf or other grounds conditioning because it is winter, so if something I have stated in this review is not accurate please let me know and I can edit it.
UPDATE: After revisiting this course for my blog entries, I feel my 1.5 disc rating is too harsh. Sure there are 3 or 4 just flat out simple holes, but there is more redeeming value to Hole #2 and also to Hole #7. Realizing I threw from the wrong spot on #5 also makes this a much more challenging hole. I am upping my rating to a 2.0 here. I also apologize to the designer for saying "no real thought to hole design, just throw a basket down every few hundred feet". That was way to harsh because I can definitely see some thought in these holes. If I ever make it back here, I will update my review to reflect that.