Pros:
Phantom Falls is rated one of the best disc golf courses in the country. Currently ranked 8th overall, just one spot above its neighbor Beaver Ranch/Conifer, the Phantom consistently satisfies the whims and wishes of its disc golf visitors. As owner, course designer and sole employee Paul (Paulie) Rothley says, "Phantom Falls truly has a little bit of everything, except fun factor, that we have in abundance."
And it's true. Phantom Falls is a 36-hole Colorado mountain course with a pro shop selling all sorts of custom and brand name disc golf accessories, a huge selection of new and used discs, bags, food, you name it. The prices are reasonable and there are some cool, unique items. Thoughtful amenities like bag hooks at every tee made from repurposed materials (ski bindings, old metal), snowboard benches, painted rock slab signage and funny little objects that mark CTP for each hole all add up to a fun-filled atmosphere. The course includes a bunch of unique baskets, such as: the famous aspen basket made entirely of wood (except the chains), the dangling chime target, a "standard" hanging basket, and a one-of-a-kind wooden cask barrel with a wagon wheel and protruding stick arms that is truly as much a beautiful sculpture as it is a disc golf target. So much creativity, time and care has gone into this course that you can't help but appreciate it.
It is a fairly short course in terms of the total combined length of its holes, but you'll have plenty of time to wear out your throwing arm by the end of the 36th hole. Although it is in the heart of an evergreen forest, the trees are neatly pruned to provide ideal corridors, clearings and overhangs. The natural-surface tee pads are built up with landscape timbers to make them level and are maintained incredibly well. You'll probably even see fresh rake marks in the dirt left by the groundskeeper (Paulie of course) doing his standard maintenance on the tees before your round. With the combination of the hole descriptions on the laminated scorecard and the abundant signage throughout, you'll scarcely find yourself lost or turned around. In terms of difficulty, the Phantom is about an 8 out of 10. It will challenge intermediates and pros to a highly competitive level, and for beginners it will either set the bar high for future improvement or scare their socks off! That said, it depends on whether tight, short throws or long bombs are your strong suit. If you're a big-armed bomber, Phantom will make you think about working on your technical mid-range and putting. Whichever way you look at it, you're bound to have a blast playing a casual or competitive round in these wooded hills.
Cons:
We threw at the wrong basket from tee #20 and ended up near tee #22 scratching our heads. The directions on the scorecard and rock signs were not as clear for hole #20 as they were for the others. However, I have faith that Paulie probably would have cleared this up for us if he had been there that day to give us his intro speech upon our arrival. At least once during your round, you'll probably be kicking the dirt when your disc turns on edge and decides to take a nice long stroll down a 30 foot hill. (This isn't necessarily a "con", but it can be frustrating to the player, depending on how you look at it; it's more of a note about how the course plays than a criticism.) A handful of baskets are reused on different holes, although each tee is entirely separate from the others. This is mostly OK, but after the third time you come to the end of a hole at a basket you've seen before it does get a bit repetitive. Aside from a couple directional mix-ups and repetitive basket usage, there really isn't much to improve upon. There's food and discs for sale on site for Pete's sake - you can't complain with that!
Other Thoughts:
Unfortunately when I visited, Paulie and his wife were on vacation, so I can't personally speak to the hospitality or character of the owner, which is usually part of any private disc golf course review. However, Paulie's father-in-law greeted us and was a fine substitute host.
In the end, it comes down to this fact alone: Until proven otherwise, Phantom Falls is the reigning king of mountain disc golf courses!