IMO, these are the holes that are "filler holes":
4, 6, 9, 10, 11, 15, 16, 21, 22, 23
Not that you can't have fun on filler holes, but these holes do not have the intrigue and/or clench factor that a 4.5 rated course should have. On most of them you will score exactly the same for a very bad drive as you would for an OK drive....and that is not good disc golf. Great disc golf courses should be great at testing disc golf skills (and punishing for a lack thereof).
Having played Maple Hill, Diamond X, Seneca Creek, and other similarly rated courses, I think there is arguably higher clench factor with the wind and water at West Lake than any of those. Not knocking any of those, they have other great features that West Lake doesn't have (DG-only, for example).
Wow it is amazing, the differences in the way people see disc golf holes. I am not trying to change your mind Dave, just presenting a different perspective.
IMO hole 23 is one of the top 5 disc golf holes of about 100 courses I have played. I have seen it deuced (rare!) and even if you have the distance (I don't) that takes some serious balls to go for it on that drive with the extreme water hazard, the pin within 30 ft of water on 2 sides. It is a very tough 3, and even to get a 3 the clench factor on that approach is unmistakeable, throwing a 100-150ft upshot downhill with
water straight behind. Very easy to end up with a 5, and even worse with a double circle on a windy day.
On 21 if you have a big arm you get the clench factor on the tee shot with
water straight behind, shorter drives have a ridiculous clench factor on a left-to-right dogleg approach to a narrow band of green with
water on the left. That is an outrageous shot especially if you don't have a LHBH or RHFH skill.
On 16 it is OB road all along the left (pretend its
water on the left if you are concerned about the left/right OB balance).
Even hole 4, a short downhill with
water straight behind, could be easily deuced by a most people, but it has serious overthrow and rollaway risk for a circle 4 which I have seen numerous times.
Having played the course over 100 times (and lost maybe as many discs to the water) I certainly have seen plenty of scoring spread for very bad drives!
Here are some PDGA data if you would like to check scoring spread:
http://www.pdga.com/tournament_results/15543
Pros scoring spread 79-96 (round 3)
Advanced Men scoring spread 83-109 (round 2)
Another factor which probably contributes to the scoring spread goes beyond the individual holes, to the grueling overall challenge of playing all 24 holes on a 10000ft+ course with significant elevation. It is incredibly difficult to maintain a high level of play through an entire round on that course, with all the changing wind conditions and water hazards. That overall challenge, beyond evaluating individual holes, has definitely contributed to its high rating in the DGCR reviews.
I used "filler holes" as kind of shorthand, and discussing West Lake was not my main point. But since you ask, I will expound. I also used it in the sense of playing through (or very close to) other park activities - filler as i the sense of not disc golf exclusive.
I agree about the interface with other park activities -- that is a totally legitimate knock a lot of people have with the course. I understand different people might put different weights on that, in how they rate a course. I play it most in the early a.m. or in cold weather, for this reason. The few times I have tried to play it in prime-time (other than tourneys) the other park activities have affected the fun factor, so I can see that could have been an issue on the day you played it.
Anyway, thanks for expounding, we obviously have different perspectives, but I hope to see you at West Lake to play the Rumble on July 14-15!
