I am thrilled to have been personally shown around by Greg who is one of the designers and main workers who has slaved to create a unique and very fun course. I would LOVE to give the course a higher grade than I have after hanging with him and meeting the owner, Al. But, I want to be fair and impartial and stick with my system/metrics.......so here is what I personally like and how this course stacks up in my list of 18 hole courses:

1) Holes with good risk/reward. Fair, but harsh punishment for bad decisions or execution. == B+
(This is a strength of the design on this course! Although there are not a lot of decisions as what route to take, there is a good level of punishment on many holes in going for birdie rather than playing it safe. I am not sure why exactly, but I found the mirror image par 4 & par 5 holes (OB all along the left of the first hole and along the right of the 2nd) to be annoying. I think it is because the single strand of rusty barbed wire marking the OB line seemed artificial and unnecessarily punitive.)

2) Holes that have rewarding birdie opportunities for me. I'm a Blue level player (950ish skill) who throws 300' accurately, 360' max. == A-
(This course sets up perfectly for me to have a good, challenging and fun time.....and should do the same for people matching this profile.)

3) More wooded than open - lots of variety of shots required caused by hole shape and topography == B+
(Very good use of the mild terrain available. Great balance of shots (left, right, up, down, and even 2 up-n-overs), use of length/width ratios, and pinch-points. Extremely creative and well-done use of land. Makes for very high fun-factor mixed with challenge/reward.)

4) Natural beauty (Appalachian beauty preferred) and seclusion. == C
(The canopy of mature trees that the course plays under is the highlight of this category. I understand why the understory has been almost completely cleared (and even mowed!) This is GREAT for erasing the lost disc potential etc, but it really makes things feel a lot more brown than what lifts my spirits and recharges my batteries when playing courses in the woods. Although this course is FAR removed from the hustle-bustle, the old vehicles strewn around and dilapidated feel of some other aspects deterred from the beauty. I feel bad publishing this as this is a private course provided by the kindness of Al's heart (and lots of sweat of the brow and $$$).....but this is just my honest visceral/gut reaction.)

5) Bonus points for multi-throw holes with defined landing zones, good risk/reward and multiple options to play them. == C-
(I love it any time there are multi-throw holes designed into a course, but as stated in section 1 the artificial OB took away from the experience to me rather than added to it.)

It's all about feeding the addiction, so I ranked this course subjectively based on my own "personal addiction factor". The grades above tell how well this course will draw me back to itself again and again and again. See my profile for specifics on my rating philosophy.

I fancy myself as a connoisseur of good course design and I am a competitive Blue level (950-ish rated) with mid-level power (accurate to 300' with max D of 360'). Since I have played a decent number of courses (150+ 18-hole, 90+ 9-hole as of late 2009), my hope is that players/explorers who have similar addiction tastes will find my ratings list helpful as they choose courses to play and explore.

I fully expect others with different tastes/philosophies to disagree with me.....and that's the fun of things here.