Easily recognizable
Great use of terrain to make even short holes challenging
Good mix of elevation and natural obstacles to keep the course fun and exciting throughout

Treacherous O.B. at times
Unforgiving ground and skips if not calibrated properly
Ravines will punish weaker arms on some of the long holes

It was great to finally play this course after seeing it so many times online. The videos do not do this course justice. It is even more intimidating in person -- but also much longer and varied than I had realized.

If you have a wide mix of shots in your arsenal you will not be disappointed in how much creativity you can unleash. I was able to intentionally skip a hard-plastic approach disc several times to great effect.

This course is easily recognizable and very iconic and yet playing here felt fun and new because I do not have something comparable near me. I came here as a destination event and it was certainly worth the trip. I assure you I will be back to play it again. I played pretty conservatively my first time here but I think I will gradually learn to be more aggressive as I figure out which shots are safe enough to throw without losing a disc and risky enough to improve my score.

29 holes that will really test every aspect of your game. Some holes are more exciting to par than many other holes are to birdie. Maps and concrete tee pads on every hole. Multiple pin positions on most of the baskets, with some than can turn the easiest hole of the course to an absolute nightmare (I'm looking at you, "The Kitchen"). Lots of elevation changes and a wide variety of shots. The final shot, hole 29, is the (in)famous "top of the world" shot and will probably be one of your most memorable disc golf experiences. There is a van that parks in the lot that sells nearly every disc on the market for a good price. You can also trade in used discs for cash.

The popularity of this course is the source of most of its problems. Expect to get stuck behind other groups multiple times if you play during peak hours. Most players there are experienced and courteous, but on occasion you will find yourself stuck behind huge bunch of idiots who won't wait up to let you play through while they trash the course. The first 6 holes cross over each other a lot, so keep your head up and your ears open for other golfers calling FORE! (Make sure you call it yourself too!) A lot of the course is well worn & packed down, so discs tend to keep on rolling. This poses a problem for the numerous holes that drop off on all sides to a steep ravine. Expect to spend extra time looking for lost discs while avoiding poison oak. Also, this isn't the course's fault, but many people who play here seem to ignore the trash cans so there are often cans and cigarette butts everywhere. When you play here, please please PLEASE pick up your trash!

Parking is $2. Bring cash!

beautiful setting. very challenging. grand daddy type course.

too too many blind holes with a steep drop off behind basket. after the 5th or 6th time playing, have finally come to conclusion that i dont care for DeLa.

if i played with a bunch of locals, that would probably help. in the more difficult set ups, there are just too many tight fairways up hill that are 350 feet. which is fine, they are very parable. and i can throw 400+ feet in an open field. but realistically, 350 foot uphill tight holes are just a bunch of boring pars.

What I like and how this course stacks up:
1) Holes with good risk/reward -- B
2) Holes that have rewarding birdie opportunities -- B-
3) More wooded than open - lots of variety of shots required caused by hole shape and topography -- B
4) Natural beauty (Appalachian beauty preferred) and seclusion -- A+
5) Multi-shot holes with defined landing zones, good risk/reward and multiple options to play them -- C

I ranked this course subjectively based on my own personal enjoyment factor...more accurately my "personal addiction factor". Since I have played a decent number of courses (115 18-hole, 50 9-hole as of early 2009), my hope is that players/explorers who have similar tastes will find my ratings list helpful as they chose courses to play and explore.

Over time, I expect to fill some of my reviews in with more descriptive verbiage...if what I say adds anything to what has already been written. For now, my list is more important to me than the verbiage of my reviews.

I fully expect others with different tastes/philosophies to disagree with me. See my profile for my rating philosophy.

Plenty of challenge here, good variety of the types of shots required. From a purely technical standpoint, this is an excellent course.

Not beginner friendly.
Signage is poor at best or was when I was there last - hopefully it has improved.
Several crossing fairways make it dangerous in places considering how frequently you have to throw hard.

The "beauty" espoused by so many in reference to this course is a misnomer. Unless you find hard packed dirt beautiful I suppose. Couple that with uncontrolled erosion, and I think the DeLa club is lucky the course hasn't been pulled - as I have seen such conditions be the cause for other courses to be yanked.

DeLA was one of the early true distance courses, and as such - earned a reputation for its challenge. There really were very few or no other courses that matched its difficulty back in the 80's. Disc technology has caught up to it though, and it has been surpassed on many levels (beauty, technical challenge, variety, you name it) by a number of other courses.
Don't let the CONS keep you from paying a visit if you are in the San Fran/NorCal area - it is definitely a must play. But if MECCA is what you want, try Leister, MA, Charlotte, NC, or Paw Paw, WV

Amazing variation of shots, with a number of challenging holes utilizing length, and pin placement. Some good fairways and very nice elevation change.

Locals seem quite helpful as well.

Very challenging

Not quite what I had expected. There were way to many holes that just seemed like gamble shots with very little to absolutely NO fairway. I personally don't see PRISON pin locations as golf holes. There were are 4 rather short holes that had basically no possible line to hit basket no matter how amazing a shot you had, and thus seems like poor holes to me. Even with a stunning shot, it still feels like pulling on a slot machine hoping you don't hit a tree. There is a couple of blind holes with VERY VERY poor tee signs... they would be completely impossible to find and play without a local guide or some extensive searching. Maybe after playing the course a few times this would be seen differently.

There are also a couple of crossing fairways, and on big crush holes too. There is lots of traffic and many blind holes, had to send out spotters and many holes and had people playing into us on about 5 holes because they didn't send out spotters.

Again, not exactly what I had expected, but after played a few times I'm sure it is an awesome place to play.