Pros:
• Variety: Good – Mix of wooded and open holes, fairways that play left, right, straight, and a nice range distances. Most of dual tees only affect distance, but there are a few that really play quite differently from the red vs the blue. A single set of baskets with rotating pin positions creates better variety for locals than course baggers.
• Challenge: Decent – Wooded holes require good control from the shorts, and well controlled distance from the longs. The open holes are all about distance from the long tees.
• Elevation: Very Good – Nothing incredible, but the rolling terrain is the course's best feature, coming into play on most holes, with 6-8 holes playing significantly up or down hill.
• Aesthetics: Decent – A pleasant enough walk through the woods, with a pleasant lake that comes into play on one hole, and nice rolling hills on the grassy open holes.
• Equipment: Good - Nice concrete tees, with pretty decent signage. Yellow MVP Blackholes are easy to spot in the woods or out in the open.
• Routing/Nav: Good – flows pretty well overall, but after finishing # 6, it's easy to end up at #10 instead of # 7.
• Fun factor: Depends on your preference of woods golf, or "let her rip" golf. Players who prefer woods golf get just enough to wet their whistle, but I'd say the course leans a bit too much toward airing it out over open terrain for my taste. Objectively 7 wooded vs 11 open (and I'm being somewhat generous calling #'s 1, 2, and 8 wooded).
Cons:
I have to say the course is pretty well-executed overall, and can't call out any glaring weaknesses.
• My biggest gripe is the long, dense, thin, prairie grass lining the open fairways. It's exceptional at hiding discs and the kind of stuff I really hate searching for discs in. Particularly frustrating when the wind picks up on the open holes.
• Back 9 is pretty much open, and although the rolling terrain helps, all those open holes in a row start to feel a bit repetitive.
• Tee signs have no indicator to show if the basket is in the A or B position, but it was pretty easy to spot them and wasn't much of a problem.
• Long walk from #17 to #18.
Other Thoughts:
I'd give it a 3.25 if could, so take my 3.0 rating with a grain of salt, because it definitely reflects my fondness for wooded over open holes. If your preference leans toward more air/fewer wooded holes, you'll likely think it deserves at least a 3.5 (if not a 4.0), and I really wouldn't argue with you.
That said I really enjoyed the front 9, and think I could give a 4.0 if the back 9 kept it going . The four wooded holes (#'s 3 – 6), are truly well-wooded. #'s 1, 2, and 8 play from an open tee into the woods, or on the fringe of the woods. While there's some sort of balance here, it's just not to my liking, and I wouldn't be surprised if mine ends up being the only 3.0 given for this course.
If I lived close to this course, I'm sure there'd be days where I'd play #'s 1-12 a couple of times and skip 13-18. YMMV