Pros:
I am going to have to review this course a little different then the past courses I have reviewed. My first time here was such a mixed experience I wanted to get out here one more time before giving a review. It is just so rare for me to get out that way and I want to write the review before I forgot all the details of the course.
To start, I will try to put avoid letting all my negative thoughts pour over to this section. I have played at many courses that are very technical and very much enjoy them, however this was the first course I have played where I felt I can just grip and rip. The 2nd half of the course is very wide open with a lot of elevation changes. Throwing up a 75-100ft hill then throwing straight down, throwing back up it and then walking even higher to throw it all the way back down again! Nothing like standing on top of the tee pad and making the disc look small as you throw down hill and just enjoy watching the line.
The individual holes were very enjoyable and there were some very memorable ones as well. Holes that are almost just worth the trip to play! I can't remember the exact hole, but once you get to the top of the hill you have to walk into the woods and up a path to a hidden tee pad and throw out over the hill and all the way down to the bottom. This was an amazing hole to just watch the flight of the disc. Only downfall at the moment is a large temporary dirt mound that makes it a blind shot down the hill. You also get concrete pads for the most part as only a couple were dirt, which might just be a result of the top hill being under construction.
For those who enjoy technical holes, the first 7 I believe are a bit shorter and have more trees to navigate, making a lot of interesting lines and shots. Maybe a roller? or a thumber? There are more creative lines open during this section of the course. As for those that just want to throw discs as far as they can, that is whom the 2nd half of the course is geared to. Most of the final 8 holes are very open and long. I remember 2 shorter holes, one throwing straight up the hill and the last which is an easy putter toss back down. But you have a few that will test the arms of any intermediate player. Pros will still be throwing mids to fairway drivers, but the rest of us can dust off those drivers and let it loose with little chance of losing a disc since it is so open.
It appears that the top of the hill that most of the last 7 holes interact with is getting a much needed face lift, but when I was there a tee pad was completely covered with a 15ft high mound of dirt (only the post marking the tee was barely poking out from the bottom). It also hurts the view of another hole you tee off from the woods just above the hill, as you have to throw over a large dirt mount blindly to the basket at the bottom of the hill. I enjoyed the hole and see what it could be without the eye sore, but I might be biased since I was able to toss my drive within 15 feet of the basket for a crazy 2.
Cons:
Now for the bad..... the navigation for the course is just awful. Plain and simple awful. You exit your car in the parking lot right next to a basket, which it #1, so you have to walk along #1's fairway to get to the tee box FORE! Then throw back the way you came. Once you putt out you see the tee box 35ft away, oh so simple! Then you realize it is actually #5's tee box, wtf? I hear it is because it used to be a 12 hole course and 3 wooded holes were added, however there is not 1 sign that tells you this or points you to the woods. In fact we had skipped these holes and didn't realize there were holes in the woods until we walked back to our car after #15 and saw a basket through the trees. Well once you get through the wooded holes and back to #5 it gets a little easier you would think. Well once finishing putting out you have to walk around the lake, about 1 city block or more to # 6's tee. Again there is no sign at all to direct you. So after having to talk to walkers passing by who said they thought they saw baskets on the other side of the lake, we finally ran into #6. At least from here it became easy to navigate as all the remaining holes are easy to find. There is a small wooden post with both new and old numbers on them, so it gets very confusing which hole you are on.
This is why I wanted to go back after now knowing what to expect. I was so frustrated at the lack of directions that I didn't get into the flow until around hole # 8. I was too worried that I wouldn't find the next tee pad. I want to see if we just missed every sign or if was just as bad as I had experienced. If there were signs and we were just blind to them, then shame on us. But if that is the case, they may not be as visible or clear as designers thought.
Other Thoughts:
This course needs signs badly. It was tough to navigate and even locals didn't know where 2-4 where. But once you get to #6 it becomes easy and frustration levels decrease. Each hole individually is designed great, using the elevation to create memorable holes and shots. Baskets and tee pads were in good shape, but sign posts need to be reworked so that only one hole number is showing, not the old and new.
This course has potential to be an easy 4. It has technical holes, it has grip and rip holes, it has elevation, both up and down. It has an amazing view of the lake that the course wraps around. But it looses a lot from being difficult to navigate and not flowing well at all. I will make it back out there next year and see if there have been any major changes and update this rant. I hope I was just there in the middle of the rework that will be a gem once finished.