Pros:
+ The tee pads for the long layout are all level, wide and long segments of sturdy rubber within wooden frames. Most have brooms nearby to help keep them tidy.
+ All tee signs are cleanly shown with hole number, distance, par and a basic fairway diagram.
+ The baskets have bright yellow numbered bands at top to aid in visibility. They have arrows suspended from their cages to guide players to the next tee. All 18 baskets have circle plugs implanted into the ground to mark the putting circle.
+ There are two lost disc boxes: one after hole4 and another after hole18.
+ The whole course is a woodland adventure taking the player along shadowy forest trails with rocky steps, some of the steepest hills I've encountered at a disc golf course, active streams and healthy dense pine woods. However...
Cons:
- ...That same awesome setting is a real safety hazard. No joke: if you're accident-prone or unsteady on your feet, then come here with someone else just in case or, if solo, progress very carefully. The natural attributes of this course mean that players need to be especially careful with the exposed roots, loose rocks and insane inclines. Obviously, it isn't cart-friendly. At all.
-/+ There are zero wide-open holes to let loose and unleash a reckless full-power drive.
- The shorter layout's tee areas are just dirt bordered by logs.
Other Thoughts:
My least favorite hole here was hole14 because of how flat and direct it was in contrast to the other holes here.
My favorite hole to play and look at and also the biggest surprise was easily hole7. To my mind, hole7 is the star of the show. There's just no question. That high tee-off. That lovely water feature. Those tough but fair trees. That immense incline to conquer! Hole7 is the crown jewel at Otter Brook.
That's a tough title to claim, though, because a lot of holes at Otter Brook could easily be the signature hole at so many other courses. The immense downhill glides of holes 2, 3 or 18 could easily steal the show at most other courses. The peaceful setting and challenging terrain of holes 5 or 16 could effortlessly overshadow the rest at most other courses. Even though Otter Brook is undeniably a densely wooded course, it maintains such a high level of consistency in its infrastructure and variety in its holes that the lack of any open holes whatsoever doesn't feel like a loss. The course planners knew exactly what they were doing with this piece of land. The fairways are as clean as can be. The topography and natural features are used to great effect. It feels as though the disc golf course is part of the landscape itself. This is deep forest disc golf specialization of the highest caliber.
No course is without flaws, though. Yet, even as downsides go, these are all kind of nit-picky. I didn't play from the short tees during my visit, but I noticed that most of those were simply dirt areas outlined with logs. On a course this good, that was somewhat disappointing to see. The tee signs were just laminated paper stapled to a solid panel that was anchored to a tree. Doesn't that harm the trees and give pests an entry point to cause even more damage? The state park itself is closed from Labor Day through Memorial Day, but the course is playable all year around. So, most players will have no choice but to park at the lot off Rt.9 and then go for a short walk down the road to reach the course, but that's the easy part! Lastly, that terrain really is quite rugged. Put your phone away until you're standing still on flat ground. Steep hills up and down, roots and rubble along narrow trails and slippery rocks in those areas of swamp or standing water await the player here. Wear sturdy footwear that you don't mind getting dirty.
However, I also think that the environment is one of Otter Brook's biggest selling points. One minute you're throwing along an upward rocky passage with pines on both sides of you, then next you're tossing down a wide tunnel hoping to clear a particularly mucky piece of land affectionately called "Yoda's Bog," and then you're face-to-face with what can be modestly described as a disc golf wall in the woods! But even if you are not too interested in playing disc golf in a hilly labrynth of pine trees, you should still come here at least once to have a look around at all of the natural splendor, breathe in the pine sap fragrance floating in the air, and enjoy the silence. At certain parts of the course, the player can no longer see or hear New Hampshire's Route 9, which results in a reflective peace that only (relative) wilderness can provide. On that topic, there are no trash cans here. In a desolate natural environment like this one, I am sure that there is a bunch of wildlife that patrol the course after the sun has set. Why give them tasty things to smell and eat in a trash can, right? So, it's carry in-carry out. Please don't litter, folks!
In case it isn't obvious, I emphatically recommend the course at Otter Brook. Few other courses have terrain this dynamic. Few other courses have a setting this peaceful and secluded. Few other courses pose this many jaw-dropping sights and challenges to the player. So make it a point to get up here sometime during your disc golf career, and prepare to go head-to-head against some of the very best features that mankind and Mother Nature working in tandem can offer.