Pros:
+ The design on this course is absolutely world class. Such an incredibly diverse, challenging, enjoyable, yet fun round. When my brother and I play doubles, we typically shoot a high 900 or low 1000 rated round, but we only managed to get a single 2 for the entire 18 (maybe we were just off, but I don't think so). The tee placements and pin positions are well thought out and expertly placed. You can tell that a lot of thought went into each and every hole.
+ For being in central Illinois, the amount of geographic features were highly memorable. The course contains plenty of elevation changes on the majority of holes, a creek that come into play quite often, and plenty of trees.
+ The fun factor here is incredibly high. After each hole, I was always eagerly looking forward to the next. The 'luck' factor here is low and the better disc golf player will certainly win.
Cons:
I wanted to give this course a 4.5 so bad, but there are certainly some things holding it back.
- Some of the steps/bridges between holes were falling apart and basically unusable.
- A couple of the tees were extraordinarily uneven. Tees should be flat, not angled (e.g. teeing off downhill should have a flat tee, not one that's angled downhill)
- I'd imagine that playing here anytime other than late fall or early spring would be tricky due to foliage. The risk of losing a disc would quite high and I'd imagine that bugs here are also quite a nuisance (maybe I'm wrong).
- Due to the nature of this course (long holes + elevation changes), playing just a single round is pretty exhausting (physically) and time consuming. Not really a con, just something to be aware of.
- Tees and tee signs are still in there early stages. I'd love to see maps on the tee signs and better signage to the next tees. The tees are a mix of perfect concrete, sloped concrete, and rubber.
- The tee sign at the front of the course needs to be updated to include all 18 baskets (currently showing 9, which appears to be outdated).
o This could be a pro/con, but the course was quite empty. The pros being that you get the course to yourself and that it's quite clean. The con being that a little bit of traffic would be great in wearing down trails from the tees to the baskets and also from the basket to the next tee.
Other Thoughts:
All in all, this course is an incredible experience. I was blown away and highly impressed. It's an awesome round and I will do what I can to get back here when I can. Once I see pictures that the tees and tee signs are updated, I can update this to an easily justifiable 4.5 rated course. With long/short tees and alternate pin positions, it may be argued that this is even a 5.0 course. It truly is another gem in central Illinois!