The West course is the most park-style of the three, I mean two courses at Spring Lake Park. It mixes in a few wooded holes without breaking up the flow, while still featuring some of the best open holes on the property. Maintenance is great, and there are two practice baskets. One raised pin, several holes with unique lines, and a little water on one hole are just some of the highlights.

This course does a good job mixing up lines on the more open holes and doesn't have any completely open holes. There are low ceilings on a few holes (1, 2, 18), opportunity for obstructed putts (3, 15, 18), and tons of skip shot opportunity when the green is protected. There are also a few really long holes (4, 10, 11), which will be out of reach for a lot of players but still give opportunities to have a long but controlled drive.

Similarly, no two holes look the same. Some holes are more open on the drive, while others are more obstructed around the basket. While there aren't any super epic holes, there aren't any boring ones either.

While there aren't any par 4's, the length of the holes varies significantly, so some holes will play like par 4's for some people. For the larger arms, some will be real challenging to get, and in some cases, introduce some risk involving OB.

Just like the East course, this course suffers from the signs on the original Central layout still being primarily featured. The West course shares 12 of its holes with the Central layout, and the West hole numbers are on the tee sign posts only.

A few of the wooded holes (6-9) play really close to each other, and holes 8 and 9 are basically on top of each other. The holes themselves are pretty good (though they have a lot of weeds) but are impossible to play if the course is crowded. On that note, this course plays near walking paths constantly. The worst is hole 2, where the walking path is the fairway, and the drive is a blind shot, so you might not see anyone coming. Also, the park maintenance building is nearby on holes 2 and 10, and while it doesn't really come into play, it gives the feeling that the course isn't the most important thing at the park. All of this means there's no way a tournament can be held here with a full field of players.

While the open-ish holes were done pretty well, there are kind of a lot of them, and for the more advanced players, this course will start to get pretty easy. I appreciate the raised pin on 13, but it kind of isn't enough to raise the challenge I expect from a top course. That doesn't mean this course is bad; it just means this isn't a top-level course. And having no alternate tees or baskets mean this course can become rather same-y quite easily. You could spice things up with a safari layout, but for the official course itself, there isn't any opportunity to change things around.

I enjoy elevation change, and while this course has a little of it, there's not much. It matters on the holes where it's present, making it significantly easier or harder to reach the basket in some cases, but a few others really lack it at times.

Because there are walking paths near so many holes, using them as OB was wasted. While I don't complain about artificial OB much, there were some chances here that weren't used well.

So while this course is pretty good, it isn't amazing by any means. I don't think there's opportunity for improvement via a redesign (unless hole 2 was dealt with somehow), but some alternate baskets would be a welcome addition. Fortunately, with 36 holes in the park, this is a good place to make a full afternoon of fun. Oh, and in case you haven't noticed yet, pretend the Central layout doesn't exist. You'll thank me later.

- The Big 3: This course features the basic necessities of a good course. A mix of Veteran and Discatcher baskets, metal tee signage, and a mix of big tapered concrete and asphalt tee pads on all 18 holes. The concrete tee pads are incredible and the asphalt tee pads are just ok due to unevenness. The Veteran baskets are in great shape while the Discatchers could use some sprucing up. The signage could also use some sprucing up, however receives kudos for displaying next tee direction.
- Amenities: Spring Lake does a great job in this department. Trash cans are featured on 13 of the 18 holes on the west course. I counted at least 10 benches on the west course. Signage poles include bag hooks which is another great feature. The west course also features some nice bridges.
- Staging Area: This course has a large parking lot, picnic table, bench, practice basket, trash can, and large kiosk with the three course maps.
- Options: This is a really interesting setup of the "three" courses. In my opinion, it seems like this course would be better off being split into two 18 hole courses for the sake of player flow, shot diversity, and navigation. It seems there are a total of 33 baskets overall in the park and 36 tee pads (three holes share a basket on the east loop). However, at the end of the day, the more holes the better. You can always go out there and play your favorite 18 holes if you are adamant on only throwing that many.

- Pedestrian Hazard: The course weaves through a walking path in the park and crosses it often. I counted a total of 7 out of 18 holes in which this could become an issue on the west course. The park seems consistently busy so be prepared for this to have an impact on your flow. For reference, this is mainly a concern on the "central" portion of the west course.
- Navigation: This is where the central, east, west course setup goes from a blessing to a curse. 36 tee pads, 33 baskets, three 18 hole courses. You get the idea. However, major kudos to the signage in various locations on the course of trying to navigate you in the right direction of which course you are playing. It just seems like things would be simplified with an east and west course that are totally separate.
- Flow: The west course has some funky spots when it comes to flow. Holes 5-8 feel very cramped with the risk of throwing into players on other holes. This is particularly true on #7 and #8 because their fairways literally cross each other. Great holes, strange design.

Not pros or cons:
- Single Tee Pads/Pin Placements: While these are always a great addition to any course, I can't list them as cons. This is mainly due to the fact that there are so many baskets and tee pads total in this park. However, the addition of extra tee pads could help to diversify the total number of players that have a great time on this course. Multiple pin placements would help to keep things interesting for locals. This only really applies to the "central" portion of the west course.

All of the "prison baskets" have been replaced with new DD Veteran baskets. This is the shortest of the 3 courses at spring lake park so make sure to check it out if your on a time crunch.
If trying to navigate this course, check out the maps by the first tee box.
You will play central course holes 1-4 then head into the woods across the street.

This course offers the balance that the Central course lacks. The West portion of the shared course is already the more wooded area and the addition of the 4 "woods" holes West of #4 take that up a notch. #4 is an open, downhill, and lengthy par 3, crossing the street puts one into a canopied maze requiring a different approach to any other shots within the course. The two newest holes (W-11; W-12) play across the street following a shared hole (C-6; W-10). At this time play more difficult than the older "woods holes" (W-5 - W-8). There is currently a degree of undergrowth that makes for a very challenging rough and the fairways can seem rather narrow.

The courses have been upgraded from the old "Prison Baskets" with modern tournament caliber baskets.
Signage for the East and West portions of the course has been updated with the course signs for the Central Course. These are amazingly well done and identify the shared holes with decals on the sign standards (ie C-11; W-17)

The new holes play a touch more difficult in their infancy than they will as more traffic through the previously unused woods area will trample some of the undergrowth of the "rough."

Bring mosquito spray if you are on the West Course in the Spring, Fall, mornings, or evenings.

While the Central Course is very friendly to carts and or strollers with the walking path snaking through the course, the West course is much less accommodating to wheeled accessories.

Overall it is nice addition to the Central Course. At some point all of the baskets will be upgraded and the West Course will rival the Central as a premiere offering for tournament play.