Cedar Sentinels is a tight, technical course. Playing this one immediately after Idlewild was a complete 180. Who knew a layout less than half as long could offer so many challenges?
- Accuracy. If you don't have it, the course will eat you up. How many stupid 4s can I get on holes less than 300 feet? Let me look back at my scorecard and start counting.
- All about throwing mid-range shots straight. If all you can do is throw a disc 200 - 225 feet dead straight, this course is a piece of cake. On many holes - #5, 9, 12, 13, etc. - if you miss your line by only a couple feet, you're in trouble. By the time I got to the end of my round, even a relatively wide fairway such as #17 & 18 seems as wide as a narrow walking trail.
- The course will challenge you mentally. It's easy to put one hit tree behind you. After seemingly hitting a tree (or trees) on every single hole, you start overthinking and/or overcompensating. And when that happens, you start aiming too far left or right, and then end up in even worse shape than if you'd just hit a tree.
- #3 is when the course starts flexing its muscle - dogleg left that's flat the first half before a downhill approach to the basket. At 352 feet, it's the first choice you make in the round: throw short & play for 3 vs throw driver and try to end up with a birdie putt. Me? Approach shot sailed into the rough and had to settle for a 4.
- There's a home course advantage here for regulars. A lot of blind tee shots, which is almost unheard of for a mid-length course. Local DGer Tony suggested to walk & scout holes prior to throwing. After doing that a couple times, I opted to throw blind, aim for the middle of the fairway and hope for the best. If I had played a second round immediately after, I feel I'd have scored half a dozen strokes better simply by knowing where to locate my tee shots.
- #12 & 13 is the best stretch of holes on the course. #12 is a relatively straight, 328-foot wooded hole. There's a big, downhill slope running just off the right side of the fairway. You're probably at more risk of landing down there by aiming too far left and having a disc kick back across the fairway.
- #13 is a solid, fun layout. 300-footer over a valley, that keeps going up back into the trees, to a basket tucked away to the right. A straight throw across the valley will leave you a long birdie putt. If you can sweep your shot around the trees towards the basket, this hole can yield plenty of 2s. A solid risk/reward layout.

Where is the line between a fairway being tight vs overgrown? If everything were cut back, this course would be a birdie fest. The challenge is the tight fairways. The issue0 is make sure the growth doesn't get out of control.
- The course seems limited in what parts of your game it challenges. Hole length is 281 feet, with all 18 ranging between 202 - 388 feet. I threw the same two mid-range discs off the tee on just about every single hole. Yes, there's variance in angle, directions, and a little elevation. That said if you throw a 225-foot dead straight shot, you're on the fairway on every single hole and probably looking an excellent chance for an up-and-down par 3.
- Man, one 600-foot par 4 or a gauntlet, 175-foot ace-run would have really spruced up the round. Just to break up the monotony and appreciate the rest of the course even more. There are a couple stretches of holes where it feels you're playing the same hole over and over.
- Being heavily wooded and overgrown, there are going to be some challenges finding and/or retrieving discs that leave the fairway. I'm glad I wore long pants otherwise my legs would have been scraped up.

Cedar Sentinels seems like the type of course that gets more enjoyable the more you play. The more familiar you are, the better you know your routes and landing zones. This also seems like a course that plays a ton easier once all the leaves are down, making each fairway considerably more open.
- I was impressed that the Cincinnati disc golf club takes ownership and offers support and resources to the course and its upkeep. Other big city disc golf clubs could do more by embracing courses outside their jurisdictions (cough, cough Charlotte). Without the support of Cincinnati's disc golf club, this course would be neglected.
- A major shout-out to Tony of the Cincinnati disc golf club for his work on the course. I show up at noon on a Saturday to play and see one car in the lot. I meet Tony, who's there by himself with a bunch of power equipment working on the course. Enjoyed talking with him, learning more about the course and the local DG scene. Tony is a THEY (DGCR forums reference).
- How did this obscure piece of land become a disc golf course? You really are in the middle of nowhere. There's not a park attached to this. There is a field on one side, woods on the other. One tiny parking lot and then a disc-golf only course. You find a way to run water out here, and this is a place to host campers in town for a tourney.
- Being in the middle of nowhere, I loved my drive to the course, driving by rolling hills. The air felt just a little fresher out here. Being an out-of-state player, I also liked that when you get onto 275, your options are either Ohio or Kentucky, being that close to the tri-state meeting point.
- This is a solid course. It's excellent for what it is. The area has its elite course, it's big arm, challenging layouts. This gives you something simpler. It's fitting that out here, surrounded by farmlands, the course forces you to play a little slower. You play slow and smart, you'll do well. And you'll appreciate the nature that's surrounding the course.

Great rural setting
Good Baskets and Tee Pads
Many of the holes have a unique layout (only hole 1 is bit boring which is fine because you soon forget about it)
Technical shot shaping required on most holes (no real grip and rip holes)
Course makes you really earn birdies with at least 1 great shot (outside of hole 1 which as mentioned above is relatively easy)

Not beginner friendly (you really need to be able to control the disc if you don't want to spend all day in the very thick rough looking for you disc.
A couple of really long walks between holes (11 to 12 and 13 to 14) they could have easily added a few holes in between.
Could use better signage (the signs are OK but they are small and look like they are just laminated sheets on a short stick)

Overall a fun course that will test you control off the tee. I used mostly putters and mids off the tees to keep it the fairways and not kick too hard off any trees. As other reviews have mentioned the course could use some tree trimming/removal to open the lines up a bit more for less experienced players. If you play this course by yourself (which I did) I recommend walking down the fairway on most holes to get a better idea of where to go as there are several holes with blind tee shots (I saw my drive land on about 10-12 of the 18 holes).

Very good baskets.
I was a big fan of the teepads (squares that are more like stepping stones all placed together.) There's probably more texture to them than regular concrete and I think it would also make for easier repairs to simply replace the damaged square than to have to fix an entire solid concrete pad.
If you don't want to deal with people you are probably in the right place. Somewhere around #11 or #12 I heard a car door shut, but other than that the only evidence I heard of another person was my playing partner.
Several picnic tables at teepads (although there seemed to be less on the last few holes where you're more tired and more in need....and someone put the one on one of the holes IN the fairway--hoping that wasn't a player, but rather someone wandering through who didn't know any better moved it.)
Good change in elevation (not so good if you're in less-than-adequate condition like me, though.) If you've played Patoka Lake I think you might consider this Patoka's Little Brother, as the terrain and woods are very similar.

Seems to be a lot of holes close together (parallel fairways,) that could become a problem if there are tournaments.
An overabundance of the nastiest thorn trees on the planet.
There is a grassy area I assume can be used for parking but if it's wet at all I don't think you'd want to chance it. Otherwise, you have to park down the road a bit.
While the signs were generally helpful (and having distances marked for landmarks in the fairway is a nice touch,) I felt like a few didn't accurately represent the true angle of doglegs or have the basket marked in the correct spot.)
While I mentioned not having to deal with people, you also are in the middle of nowhere. You don't just turn off the main road to get there, you turn off the road that turned off the main road. Bring what you need because not only is it not there, neither are any stores that might have it.

#1-200' Fairly easy start. While there is a bit of a hyzer route for righties (or my lefty sidearm,) most people should be able to just go straight at it. A simple flick should give you an ace run.
#2 287' There's a few thin trees blocking a direct shot so hang it to the right and let it come back left.
#3 343'. Interesting hole. You might need to just lay up about halfway there, as the fairway turns a left dogleg and goes downhill.
#4 207' Uphill with about 3 trees in a line from the bottom right of the fairway to pretty much right in front of the basket to keep a righty from throwing a hyzer (unless maybe he goes really high with it.) Big dogs could probably throw a tomahawk or thumber.
#5 235' Downhill from the tee, then a dogleg right.
#6 205' Short hole, pretty much a straight-on shot, but uphill enough that the basket is not visible.
#7 262' Down & up, turns to the right.
#8 220' Narrow line through tall, thin trees. Basket is a bit uphill and you'll need your throw to break off to the left at the end.
#9 332' Plays like an "S". Fairway is on an incline from the right side up to the left. About 140 or 150 off the tee you'll need to turn left, with the opposite action needed at the top of the hill.
#10 323' Downhill through a narrow gap, then back uphill after it opens back up a bit more. You'll need to go slightly right at the bottom of the hill and then bring it back left on the incline.
#11 290' Felt like one of the more open holes since maybe the first couple as far as the fairway is concerned but there are trees on either side if you miss. Turns left.
#12 343' Narrow fairway, slopes from the left down to the right. If you've played at Iroquois in Louisville and are familiar with the "Tiger Woods" hole, this is very similar with the incline going the opposite direction.
#13 300' Sort of a sweeping turn going downhill then back uphill to the right
# 14 254' Fairly flat, open dogleg left. This could be an ace run. Hopefully when you play it there won't be a picnic table sitting in the middle of the fairway about 100' from the teepad.
#15 242' Pretty flat & fairly open, but you'll need to avoid trying much of a hyzer due to trees on the right side of the fairway not too far off the pad.
#16 338' A bit uphill, turns to the left. Fairway is not overly wide, but there is a decent landing area.
#17 402' Plays longer than listed distance because most people will need to lay up off the tee. A bit uphill and probably no more than 130 or 140' off the pad the fairway turns right. Don't cut it short because there is a fence that's OB (and runs the length of the right side of the fairway.)
#18 244' Pretty straight shot but you'll have to work it a bit to the right toward the end. I was hoping for a skip, which seems like the best way to work it.