Pros:
-groomed and manicured park
-variety
-elevation used where possible
-great pin placement
-practice putting w/markers
-signs with lines and distance.
-some very awesome brick tee pads!
-right off of the 94/80 freeways
-local disc golf hut on site that sells discs
-water hazards(right off the start!)
-multiple basket placements.
-a few elevated baskets with creative rocks and landscaping.
Cons:
-some baskets kind of rusty
-course flow, next pin location kind of tough
-the rough in the woods can be super unforgiving, downright painful
-elevation there, but not a grand scale. I love me that elevation.
-a couple throw away holes.
-inconsistent tee pad styles
Other Thoughts:
The talk of Indiana was the Lemon Lake courses(and rightfully so) but I kept hearing a buzzz about this little course in Valparaiso so I had to play. This was last year but rain prevented me from any Indiana course...till recently.
You drive in to this cute little city park and think "how cool, some baskets in an old tree park"...then you find tee one and see that you now have to drive over a pond, far, and to the right of it to even get to the basket, COUNT ME IN!
This is not your local neighborhood disc golf course...in any way.
Hole one has you up and over that pond right from the start, hole 2 takes you to the back side of the park, and hole 3 up a hill to what is waiting for you.
This is where there were two holes, 4 and 5 I believe, that felt kind of blah, but were obviously used as a transition into hole 6 and beyond. THIS is where the course shined in my opinion. rolling lush holes manicured nicely. The bushes that line the fairways make for some obvious looking lines, BUT are also the super thick ones with skin piercing thorns. A few misplaced shots and I felt like I was auditioning for "Passion of the Christ Part 2/ Jesus Takes Manhattan".
There is a huge sledding hill in this park which makes for a super huge downhill bomb shot either over trees, through a gap, or well, any way you want to get down. The basket placement is superb here too. Not just at the bottom but set back so your bomb has to be precise. The next two holes make you go right back up what you just bombed.
You finish in the front of the park you drove in from and there are those huge oak trees waiting for you.
I had a great time on this course playing with locals (highly suggested) and would highly recommend this course. It is a 45 minute drive between Lemon Lakes and Valpo either way. Take that time and play em all.