Pros:
It's a nice setting for a course, lovely big ole park. The course plays through open areas and more wooded technical parts of the park. Nice kiosk at start with course information. Teepads are made up of 10 large concrete blocks, they work just fine.One hole even had these concrete blocks under the bench for the players waiting to tee off. Nice informative signs. Pretty easy to navigate.
Cons:
Unlike Adair, where I felt each hole has it's own unique quality, here I felt the holes kind of blended together in my mind. It's hard for me to distinctly remember any one particular hole. You lefties who are constantly complaining about courses being biased in favor of righty back handed throwers would love this course. I believe the ratio is something like 12 to 1 in holes with a slight anhyser favor to them. Many have mentioned how crowded this park can get. I played on a cold drizzly day and almost had the park to myself.
Other Thoughts:
This course has a couple of design features that set's it aside from most all other courses. Some people would probably call them cons, I found them to be more quirky if anything, maybe adding to the character of Willamette.
First, many of the fairways run very close together, up and back like golf course fairways. Course detractors would scream safety issues and whatnot. I think I might like the fact that as I'm walking up one fairway, I can see the group ahead of me teeing off or playing their second shot. They can "Four", I'll duck if needed.
The second strange design features holes 14, 15, 16 and 17. They are once again side by side but the issue here is, they don't seem to be in order. So 17 fairway is between 14 and 16. Or something like that? Whatever, I think it works. It's like the Green Monster at Fenway Park in Boston. It's kinda weird but it's part of what makes that ballpark unique. Same with this odd hole design here. It just adds to the Willamette mystique.
I think Willamette often times suffers from the unfair comparison to Adair. I say come play Willamette first, you'll enjoy it. Then go treat yourself to the Adair experience. You'll love it!