Pros:
There are a ton of courses where it feels like eighteen holes were squeezed into a too-small space. There have been many times where I have said something like, "this could have been a really good nine." Well, Picnic Island is one of those places where they actually listened to my inner voice and build a good nine holes instead of forcing in eighteen subpar ones. Given the setting, right on the bay with the waves washing up to the eighth fairway, this course is a delight to play.
It's not the most challenging design, but that doesn't mean there is no challenge. True, most of the fairways are wide and generous, but there is typically something that increases the difficulty on each hole. The best example is 3, which features a long, open drive that still needs to be placed carefully because there is a narrow tunnel leading to the basket. Between late tunnel, narrow gaps and protected baskets, this isn't an "easy" course, though it definitely shouldn't turn off newer players.
And that's before you consider the wind. I could be wrong, but I'm guessing there is typically a strong wind coming off the bay. I'm sure it varies, but on the day that I played, I had to take a few of my favorite discs out of the bag after nine holes because they just weren't cutting through the wind. And once that wind grasps a disc, it can go a long ways from the target zone. This is particularly an issue on 8, a memorable hole that is practically on the beach. It throws parallel to the coast with the basket around a tree clump and up a slight hill. You almost need to throw an anny route over the bay because otherwise, the wind will push a throw up to far, leaving you to put back into the wind.
That leads to 9, where the tee backs up the waves and the wind is at your back, throwing uphill with the wind at your back, leading to a raised basket. It's one of those rare courses that should appeal to both beginners and veterans, in one of the best settings for disc golf that I've seen.
Cons:
There are only nine holes. If there were nine more like the ones in existence, this would be a four-star course for me. There are two sets of tees but only one(hole 4) provides a significantly difficult look. (This is good because the short on 4 is one of the weakest holes here.)
Navigation is also not always intuitive and I was referring to a downloaded map repeatedly during the first go-round. Easy to remember where to go for the second nine but its confusing in a few places, especially after 3 where the likely route drops you onto the middle of the 4 fairway. 7 would also be tough to find if I hadn't walked up to it thinking that it was 1 earlier. And I didn't see any arrows on the basket either. Those would definitely help and would probably be all that was necessary.