The park you enter is beautiful, and the course starts and ends from the lakeside, so I imagine summer and fall rounds are especially lovely.

It has decent rubber mats with layout and distance noted. I imagine they get slippery during the rain, but in my case, being about 2 days after a rain/snow melt, they were fine.

A decent mix of open and wooded holes, Holes 1-4 see you play across the fields where the wind is a factor, Holes 5-7 play through a small forested area, and then back out into the open for Holes 8-9. Hole 7 has a nice variation between short and long tees, with short being a stock 275ish foot forehand, and long being a pro-level 375ft low ceiling forehand or difficult downhill turnover shot.

You can play basically every hole but hole 7 with the same disc. Each shot from the short pads requires a very straight or shot with a little finish fade, or a slight turning shot to finish straight. The difference between the short and long tees on almost every hole is about 30 feet back and 5 feet to the side (with Hole 7 being the exception), so 16 of the potential 18 holes play as a very similar shot.

The transition between holes was extremely muddy; particularly between Hole 5->6 and Hole 7->8...and the number of logs/sticks on the trail buried in the mud suggests this is a problem in all but the driest summer days.

I played this the same day as a few other 9-hole courses in the area, and certainly this has the most potential of the courses. The park is large and could easily hold an 18-hole course or more...feels like there is more woods towards the boat ramp to spruce up the variety of holes as well. But i actually had more fun at Highland Park, which despite a few wonky holes and being in a small park, had more variety and elevation change.

Two tee locations per hole, each with its own basic sign. When combined with the map, the course is easy to navigate. Great baskets. Bathroom and concessions on site. Jump in the creek to cool off!

Natural tees. Single basket. Quite flat. Non-players may come into play! :-(

Course plays in the open spaces and through some batches of trees of a very nice public park. The first three holes are very much straight and on the open side. Holes 5-7 challenge you with small trees and brush to force some turns. #8 has you throw through a window formed by a treeline early and miss one large tree late, and #9 is a right-turner, quite pretty with the creek in the background.

Favourite hole: #4. About 350', basket only approachable from the right side. Too short and you'll have large white pines between you and the basket, too long or too far right, and you'll have brush and/or additional trees to deal with - need a well placed initial shot for a simple approach/putt on your second shot.

Very fun course with options for non-golfers. Would be a challenge for beginners, quite good for intermediates, and fun for advanced.

I'd like to start by saying that this course is brand new. And I mean BRAND NEW. The baskets were just installed a few weeks ago. Pros to this course include:

1.) Close proximity to Altoona
2.) first tee right by parking lot
3.) information kiosk with map/scorecards
4.) nice DISCatcher baskets
5.) some tree hazards make the course more interesting/challenging
6.) bathrooms and picnic tables abundant
7.) pro and am tees
8.) the lake partially comes into play on hole #9 -- if you really shank it, that is.

While I'm sure more adjustments will be made to this new course, some things should be considered:

1.) The tees have posts, but they are not numbered of labeled. Signs that designate the hole, par, length, and other facts would be useful in the future

2.) The tees are merely grass with a wooden strip. Concrete, rubber, wood chips -- anything would be better than what's there now

Other cons:

3.) course is a little too flat and open. While there are several wooded holes, I wish there were some more trees and variety with terrain. A dogleg or two would be nice as well.

4.) Not the most challenging course, but that may be a good thing for beginners.

Despite the 2.5 rating, I was really impressed with how the DCNR utilized the space of the park to make the course. What was empty, uninhabited state park space is now a nice disc golf course for the public good.

It's nice to have a third course in the greater Altoona area. Check out Prince Gallitzin State Park and Valley View Park for other local disc golfing, too.

As I mentioned, this course is still in its infancy; I'm not even sure if the course had a "grand opening" yet. With that being said, be patient while they add tees/signs to the course and take a map to navigate more easily. With some improvement and an additional 9 holes, this could be a great park in the future!