Pros:
Oak Ledges DGC is located in beautiful Lincoln Park that has a variety of other things to do. Luckily, the section of the park that the course is in is primarily dedicated to disc golf. The parking lot is big and there is a Porta-John right next to it (which, according to other reviews, is an upgrade from the other bathroom). Hole 1 conveniently starts a few feet away from the parking lot, near the playground. There are an abundance of garbage cans and benches, which is nice to see because you hike up and down many hills throughout the course.
Tee signs are easy to spot, in new condition, and helpful in locating the pins. Concrete tee pads are in great shape, comfortably long, and dug nicely into the ground. Baskets are Mach 3 and have the hole numbers on them. This is helpful in a few spots where you see more than one basket at a time.
The most enjoyable factor to me was the use of elevation on every single hole, whether it was throwing uphill, downhill, across a ravine, or on a side-sloping hill. There are a few pretty extreme elevation changes that are a lot of fun (holes 1, 2, 7, 9, 12, 14, 15, 16, and 18). The course plays through a pretty densely wooded area, so most holes offer multiple lines, and you will throw many different types of shots throughout your round. Also, there are many well thought out pin positions that offer challenging upshots that do not give a lot of room for error, whether being located on a fast green (4, 16) or on a hill surrounded by a steep drop-off (7, 9, 11).
Navigation flows very well and is intuitive for the most part. There are a good number of next tee signs pointing you in the right direction, and a few sets of stairs are helpful in climbing up steep hills. The course begins and ends very close to the parking lot. It is also nice how there aren't many areas where it would be easy to lose a disc, as the rough is pretty limited here.
Cons:
-Navigation is great for the most part, but can be tricky around the deep ravine (holes 7 and 9). There is no clear direction for where to go next. There are a few times where you cross roads, so be careful.
-There were a few holes that played uncomfortably close to yards and the park roads. Since hole 2 is downhill, a player could easily hyzer into that person's yard. I felt like I was playing in someone's backyard for holes 3, 4, 11, 13, 14, and 15. It was clearly part of the park, but they play very close to peoples' yards.
-While the holes present are a blast, there is not a whole lot of variety to the types of holes that this course offers - most holes are evenly wooded and hilly. The distances are very similar as well, and only one hole is longer than 400 feet.
-The course is packed pretty tight in a few spots, so I could see some definite trouble if multiple people were playing the course at once. Also, there are some areas where you backtrack to the next hole and parts where different fairways and baskets are close to one another (areas around holes 7 and 9, 12 and 18, 14 and 15). There were a few spots where I needed to check the basket's number first, as multiple were in view.
-Only one tee pad and pin position per hole
Other Thoughts:
Lincoln Park (Oak Ledges) offers you a very technical course that will cause you to really think before a lot of your shots. It is a very fun course in that it is not too frustratingly hard, but does offer multiple tight, technical shots. It is definitely a hike, which is a plus in my eyes. People of all skills would enjoy this course, and it is located within 30 min of many other fine courses. I had a tough time deciding what to rate this course. If I could, I'd give it a 3.75, but will raise it up to a 4 because of how well done a lot of the holes are. What is most notable to me is how many unique holes there are on such a small piece of land. Holes 5, 7, 9, and 16 offer something different that I have never seen before. This is an awesome course, was very well designed, and is truly a course that I could play every day.
My favorite holes were -
5- Straight shot that plays super tight off the tee and then downhill to the green
7- Straight shot playing over a deep ravine then uphill to where the basket sits. Not a lot of room for error on your upshot
9- Much like hole 7
14- Longest hole on the course. Plays uphill and through many trees
16- Plays downhill then over a ravine with the basket on a hillside