A fun park course mixing genuine challenge with quirky personality

+ Great use of elevation: there aren't very many flat holes. Four of the holes on the front 9 throw across the same valley, but basket positions, hill placements and use of the creek really help them from feeling too similar to one another

+ Dramatic uphill throws on #4, #6, #15. Dramatic downhill throws on #5, #9, #11, #18

+ A couple of very tight windows for your teeshots on #4 and #12

+ Hole #10 is great: Wide open 300' par 3 across a raging stream with landing area that's maybe 40' short of the basket. But there's a big overhanging branch that's gonna knock a high throw down. Perfect risk/reward conditions on the tee: throw a controlled low and long shot for a birdie run, or lay up as close as you dare, and shoot for par?

+ Hole #16 is another standout hole: a tricky par 3 that's level with the tee, but the entire hole is a dramatic sidehill sloping down to the left into thick woods. It helps so much if you can focus solely on the landing area and block out all the slant in front of you. If you can do that (and land your disc softly), it's a birdie hole


+ The course gets quirky when it comes to the baskets. It starts innocently enough, with a few metal structures holding the baskets on #3 and #4. Hole #8 features a very cool arch that's wrapped in evergreen laurel with a small artificial Christmas tree up top. But it's on the back 9 where things get weird: #13 is elevated and in a small covered structure that looks like a throne? And #14 is hanging above a small pond with a clawed hand reaching up holding a disc. They're pretty funny - and at the moment they're not too distracting. They add character without going overboard or becoming the main feature of the course - like Flying Armadillo in Texas. But it's a balance

- Some rubber and mat teepads; some temporary signage

- It's clear that a lot of the course can get muddy, because a lot of it plays along the valley surrounding the stream that cuts through much of the course

- There's a long walk between #8 basket and #9 tee (you're walking along the main road entering the park) - but I guess that's the price of tying the old 9 into the new 18 hole course

- Hole #7 is short and feels sort of "stuck in" to the design. Maybe there's some way to reconfigure #7 and #8, with the bonus of getting them closer to #9…

- Hole #9 is a pretty compromised design and it's the only "bad" hole. It's an elevated tee, and the straight and RH hyzer lines throw almost entirely over a cornfield. You're gonna have to deal with the field (tall corn!) for anything that isn't pretty much perfect. The basket itself is placed within 10 feet or a baseball backstop (so you'll not be throwing discs when the field is in use!). You can certainly use the backstop to stop your tee or approach, but the combination of the cornfield and the backstop makes the hole something to just get through (and get to #10, the terrific risk/reward over water)

- As others have noted, a few of the tees are very close to the baskets, and a few of the holes come very close to crossing one another. You have to be especially careful when teeing off #18: it's a very elevated tee, and you can easily find your disc bombing down on players approaching #9 or teeing #10

~ Camp Olympic is a very good course - the old carved wood signs on the front 9 show its history as a summer camp recreation spot. The course is evolving and improving, and I'm sure that's due to a lot of hard work by volunteers

~ The true test for me that indicates a very good or excellent course is whether I want to play it again, and I finished my round wishing I had the daylight to get right back out there and play every hole again