Pros:
If you appreciate disc golf at all, come to play Shawshank, and you will find your smile somewhere along the way. I purposefully played this, my first Texas course, in order to make it my 100th review. I'm glad I did! It's my second '5'. I don't necessarily hold out a 5 rating for 'perfection', but for when a course does just about everything right, and adds enough extra touches to raise it above a 4.5. The DuFrane family has clearly done that at Shawshank.
Every one of the 23+ tees is large, boxed, and level, with grippy pads, a beautiful, prison-themed sign with distances noted, bench(es), trash buckets, and even a stand to enter your scores (first time I've seen that in 139 courses). You'll note that many of the trees in the 'jail' on 4 & 5 have been wrapped to keep them there for years. When you get to the fifth basket, you'll note they've got it set up with a pole extension for night lighting (! ...then you'll note that a number of times), and when you get to the first pond on hole 6, you'll see they've left out a hooked pole and towels to help you retrieve your disc (I knew I wasn't sure to clear the far edge at about 290' from the tee, so turned one over to the right...it still clipped a tree & rolled in...fished it out quickly and shot from the drop zone pier for my circle four).
The front nine are fun enough to be a glorious course for anyone's front yard, with holes ranging from the dead straight 208' hole five to the 598' Green Mile, to the dogleg uphill 'Alice' hole that comes back to the end of the driveway. But you've got 14 even better holes to go, on the much more sloping back yard. You get to bomb a couple of 500 footers downhill, work your way through the curving woods lanes (they're realistic on the physics-defying hole 15 being a par four), then clear the big pond to the landscaped basket on 18 (watch out: it's ALL wet if you go short, rollaway if you go long, and has trees everywhere but the perfect pond crosser you'll need). The 21st hole is a third, blind pond with a mando to keep you low and straight (I clipped a branch and soaked my dragon, but the DuFranes can keep it as a tribute to the excellence of this course. Imagine: I lost a disc and was still grinning!). You finish on the island in the middle of the driveway in the unique fountain basket.
I can't say enough about the little things they've done here to make this some of the most fun I've had playing disc golf. Thank you!
Cons:
There isn't a whole lot to complain about here. The Flow of the course is very simple with the map and abundance of signs, so the only awkward spot I found was crossing the 23rd & 17th tee to get to the 10th. Some folks might whine a little that hole 15 isn't a natural flight path, but declaring it a par four admits that.
Other Thoughts:
The course is private, on family property, so they appreciate a call ahead if you're coming. Sign the guest book, and leave $5 (I recommend more!) to play, and pick up a pencil, and scorecard, say hello to the friendly family dog, or any family members who might greet you, then warm up on the practice basket & head out to enjoy one of your most memorable disc golf experiences EVER.