Pros:
Fell in love with this course the moment I stepped onto the first tee pad. The park it's in is as vast as it is gorgeous, and this course is layed out to maximize the terrain. Plenty of benches and bins are scattered throughout. Band shell and pavilion add to the mystique. Beautiful bridges over the water in the back nine. No underbrush whatsoever makes for a clean round. Concrete tees with hole number, distance, and an arrow pointing at the tee etched into the pad. Giant course map by hole 1 to gives you an overview of where to go. Long holes are mixed in well with ones of standard length.
You begin your round in a very relaxing atmosphere under a canopy of aged trees (think Riverview Grasslands). Main thing to remember here: keep your drives low. A sled hill offers a great downhill bomb on hole 5. Hole 9 takes you from the east side of the park to the west, over a low-lying soggy area, and into the gauntlet of the back nine.
Say goodbye to the laid-back, comfy shots under the canopy. Hole 10 is a wicked line over two sets of the same raging river. A waterfall to your left makes these waters extremely quick. They also appear very deep. You must also watch out for people fishing here. Holes 9-14 all involve this river and its tributaries, as well as two stagnant ponds. Hole 11 is suicide - The 200-foot long fairway is about twenty feet across, with water on either side. Hole 12 is a whopping 1000 feet, over a LARGE pond teeming with wildlife. 13 plays along one of the banks, and 14 is an aceable gamble on a delta - the ultimate risk/reward!
15 has you shooting back over the soggy ground (tricky) with the pavilion as a backdrop, and the last holes take you past the bandstand and back to where you started - and are a great relief after the raging river. All in all, a superb course that is both awe-inspiring and extremely challenging. Highly recommended.
Cons:
This course had five stars written all over it. I read the reviews, looked at the pics and was so excited to get out and play it. It did not dissapoint.
It held five stars until hole 11 - the suicide machine. There is a fine line between a challenge and a fool's errand, and this crosses it. Just look at the pic and you'll see what I'm talking about (1/2 star deduction).
Hole 12 (1000-footer), while unique, completely ruins the flow of the course. I believe this can be corrected by simply placing the basket just on the other side of the big pond. But it is a good 350 feet past the pond (keep in mind it a good 250 just to GET to the pond), which makes it impossible to par, and also takes you to the outskirts of the park, and takes you away from the aura of the park. You have to backtrack 400 feet just to get to the following tee. Placing the basket by the pond would eliminate the unnecessary walk, while still keeping the hole very challenging. I was very out of sorts playing the next two holes (13 and 14) which are very tough, and sucked the fun out of the course for a stretch (1/2 star deduction).
I was also not a fan of the soggy areas, which come into play on 9 and 15. Shoes soaked with mud upon playing. But it is what it is (no deduction).
Other Thoughts:
Many people at the park, but no one golfing! Dog walkers, fishermen, kids on the playground. Two old black guys drinking beer and listening to a soul album from their car's stereo - brilliant. What a great atmosphere. There were even some folks having some pictures taken by a professional photographer down by the river. If I lived any closer to Albion, I would play here at every opportunity.