Pros:
- Descriptive signage and nice newer baskets. Map kiosk breaks down details on missed mandos, out-of-bounds areas, drop zones, etc. Park nicely maintained with bathrooms, ballfields, swimming pool, playgrounds, et al. Two sets of tees throwing to one set of baskets. Blue tees are longer and a couple are real challenges (#2 with your super narrow fairway, quadruple[!?!] mandos, and the long line of thick coniferous waiting to disappear anything at all to the left side, I'm looking at you). Red tees are shorter and usually more direct shots: all the reds except hole #'s 2 & 9 are imminently ace-able, deuce-or-die, park-style holes.
- The last third of the course has a steep-banked creek running behind and to the left of hole #'s 7-9, although it'd take some doing to get down there...only the worstest long shots and/or unluckiest rollaways have a decent chance of getting wet. The exception is hole #7, which doglegs left around a bend in the creek, but even that has ample bail-out space.
Cons:
- Holy moly mandos, batman! Nine total mandatories in nine holes, by my count. Hole #2 has a line of four of them to create an artificially narrow fairway on a long, challenging hole. Hole #4 has two, and the rest are scattered throughout. Mandos help keep discs out of just about every other park activity on site. Taking a look at the tee sign maps will give you a good clue of how "up on top" of the other park goers this course tries (and succeeds) to be...if you need 4 mandos in a long line to make a hole work, it probably shouldn't be a hole. The other mando usage was more reasonable and in commonplace situations, so I have less of an issue with the rest.
- Lots of chances to blast someone/something on this course, please watch out, and follow the kiosk map rules for course etiquette, etc.
- Hole #'s 2 and 3 are just really bad ideas. Hole #2, which I've touched upon, is 500+ feet, a narrow straight fairway maybe 15' wide, with long-limbed, non-trimmed coniferous tree branches down the entire left side. The mandos (light poles on the right side) keep you from bombing a huge hyzer over the track and roadway, which is what most people will want to do. Instead you're forced down the gullet for 500+'...just an ugly design that makes my head hurt. Hole #3 adds nothing and is the worst placed fairway/basket (other than maybe #2) from a "gets in the way of other park activities" aspect.
Other Thoughts:
- Again, the age-old debate between "should this course exist from a safety standpoint" vs. "put it in and mando up the park real good!"...if anything's going on in this park, the course is largely unplayable, especially #'s 1-3, maybe parts of 9, too. That said, if they're going to put something in like this, the excellent, descriptive, and safety-centric signage does go a long way towards mitigating the worst-designed parts.
- Occasionally I forget that mandatories exist. Most good courses, with solid designs, use them sparingly. When I do see the odd one, I'm like, "Right-o! Jolly! Makes sense!" Then there are your quad-mandos-in-a-line, defining one side of a fairway for 500+', and I'm forced to have to talk about it in my review.