Pros:
- Sprawling over the gently rolling, forest- and scrub-covered terrain of Oshtemo Township Park, this course tests mental endurance as well as disc golf skills. Oshtemo, especially when played from the long tees, challenges players to hit their lines, reach defined landing zones, and avoid the rough at any cost. Punishingly thick schule comes into play off all the fairways. Oshtemo is fair: if you're in the schule, you mostly likely did not execute a shot; however, once in the thicket expect to be brutalized by thorns, thick bushes, sapling clusters, etc.
- Excellent use of elevation throughout. The course rolls up and down, and while no singular elevation change stands out as even "moderate," in general many holes have some decent trick of elevation loss/gain. Mostly, these "tricks" take the form of slight slopes down from the tee to a tiny valley and then back up in as gradual a gradient towards the pin.
- This feels like a well-established course. The holes are well-defined, giving players plenty of opportunity to stay on neatly manicured grassy fairways. Vegetation provides the majority of spills and thrills here. Avoid the trees in the fairways, keep out of the rough, and a good round can be had.
- Long, level, concrete pads for both pro and am tees. Descriptive signage gives hole number, distance and a good map of each hole. Port-a-john as well as restrooms (locked when I played) on site. Trashcans throughout.
Cons:
- The schule is incredibly thick with very few paths throughout. This provides the majority of the risk/reward here, but after a few times of trying to hack your way out, it can get a bit frustrating. This is the only course I've ever played where I quit keeping score due to the frustration factor, despite enjoying the course.
- Not really a "true" con, but a lot of the "essential" trees have been terribly chewed up by disc hits. Plastic protectors in several places try to mitigate the damage to trunks.
- Pay particular attention to the signs, as a couple of times it is not obvious in which direction to head, and other tees' locations can trick you into playing the holes out of order. One or two signs missing in places doesn't help, but also doesn't make the course hard to navigate.
Other Thoughts:
- The area had recently experienced heavy rain and on the waterlogged fairway of one hole, the ground was snap, crackle and popping like a bowl of Rice Krispies. I have no clue what this might have been caused by, but it was certainly one of the most interesting natural phenomenon I've witnessed while discing.