Pros:
Intro:
Here I am, visiting the city I lived in for the first ten years of my life, nearby Chesterton, Indiana. After meeting up with old friends, I had a couple of hours to kill before dinner. I had already played nearby Rogers Lakewood (highly recommend) and wanted to try out another course in the area. This course fit the bill perfectly.
Pros:
Right before the first tee, there was a large billboard with a full color map, which proved helpful for some of the navigational challenges.
Each hole had a colorful and informative tee sign with a map and distance, as well as a lengthy concrete tee pad. This is always helpful, and I will always appreciate courses that do this.
The grass was very well mowed, something I have noticed at all of the Midwest courses I have played during this trip. I appreciate the work the campus puts into this part of the land, especially because it looks almost completely dedicated to disc golf.
I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of challenge that this course provided. For a single tee pad course on a relatively beginner friendly atmosphere, I found myself using a lot of the different discs in my bag, both off the tee and on some upshots. There were nice open drives, almost a standard on campus course. They used the trees and high grasses to their advantage, and forced different types of shots on what would seem like a wide open drive.
The baskets were of local product, a company from Indiana, not homemade, the Arachnid Spiderweb3's. They were bright yellow, and looked a good bit different from the standard, with a unique chain structure, but they caught putts, and supported the small DG company.
Almost every holes next tee pad was near the last basket, which lead to easy navigation. They were not really in the way either, which was very nice.
Wind can be a big factor, and the campus had surprisingly great elevation change for Indiana. This made me proud of my hometown.
Cons:
This course, like most courses set on college campuses, was very open, which leads to some repetition, The designer did a nice job with forcing different shots that needed to be thrown, but open courses will have open bombs, which leads to open filler holes. 17 sounds fun, 700+ feet, but it really is two drives, and an upshot/putt.
Only one teepad/one basket location. I liked the basket locations, and the teepads were nice, but I imagine for the local player, the layout might get boring. A longer pin, or a longer pad could go a long way for this course.
The walk from 9 to 10 is longer than usual walks, it is across the road behind the hospital. Once you find this pad, it is easy navigation out.
The course wasn't overly difficult. If you can throw about 300 feet with decent accuracy, you will come out with a good score. It is nice for a relaxing/cool down round, as well as a beginning college student, but a pro would absolutely eat this course alive.
The prairie grass bordering some of the fairways was knee high. I almost lost a disc in there, and going in means many micro scratches on the legs. The pines bordering hole 10 were also a pain to dig through for my disc. Solution- hit the fairway. Easier said than done.
I imagine during school seasons, the course can be crowded with both beginners, as well as walkers, picnickers, and love birds in the fairway. I didn't knock points off for this because I have no physical evidence, but it is a possibility.
Other Thoughts:
I loved my afternoon round at PNC. The course was almost empty, and me and my brother had a great time, playing solid golf at a solid course. I would recommend this course to both the seasoned player looking for a fun casual round, as well as the new player looking for a first course that also has some challenge.
If you are in the area, try Culver's. It's fast food, but it is delicious. That was what I missed the most when I moved to PA. Great custard too.
Shameless plug for the best restaurant, but the course is great. Don't miss out on the nice courses that NW Indiana has to offer!