-- This course offers some features that I haven't seen on the other courses I've played nearby. It has some holes that are truly wooded, which you don't see a lot in the area (I'm from Michigan, so wooded courses are something I'm very used to). This is a nice change of pace from other courses in the area which tend to have open fairways with either little rough or intensely thick rough. Hole 11 is the epitome of this and feels just like a hole I'd see back home up north.
-- The other feature this course has that I don't think is normal for the area is elevation. There aren't any huge downhill bombers or anything, but there is enough elevation, especially on upshots, to keep you on your toes. On the non-water holes, this elevation adds a great element of risk/reward as you try to avoid rollaways.
-- The variety here is pretty good. It starts up with a few holes that are mostly open but with some dog-leg, then goes to a wooded tunnel then another fairly open shot. Then you get to hole 5 which is completely blind with no visible fairway. Behind a wall of trees and bushes, you have an open landing area to give you a put to the basket. This leaves you with a huge, blind, LHFH or RHBH hyzer up over the trees. A nerve-wracking but fun shot. The rest of the course has a few open fairways but some protected baskets and a lot more wooded shots.
-- Risk/reward is a huge factor on the back 9. There is a ton of water that is made very hazardous by tons of trees, elevation and steep banks that look designed to give you a bad roll into the water. You'll hear more about the water in the cons below, but many of these holes really force you to think about how badly you want a birdie vs how badly you want to keep your plastic at the end of the day. Smart, somewhat boring, conservative play is almost necessary on many holes.
-- Tees and baskets were fine. There were trash cans in many places. Signs could be better but they showed a rough hole layout and distance which was helpful.

-- The mix of water and elevation on the back 9 just eats discs for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. There are holes where a very good shot can hit a root or get a bad bounce and roll away to never be seen again. This is made a lot worse by the fact the water is a very gross swamp of algae. Your disc could be right off the bank in only 3 inches of water and you will never see it again. Given the high probability of putter roll-ins to the water, this is frustrating. Usually, if my putter rolls into the water, I can easily get it back. Not here. A few holes are nearly unplayable without a VERY high risk of losing a disc. I lost 3 discs on 2 holes. I also saw another group lose 2 discs on the same hole I lost 2 on, and on the next hole there were 2 other discs visible on an island about 12 feet out in the water that were completely unreachable and left abandoned by some other group. One of mine lost wasn't lost to water, but I played what I thought was a safe shot on a water hole and ended up in some very thick ferns and undergrowth that made finding it again nearly impossible.
-- Other park traffic can be a problem. There are a ton of pavilions and some campgrounds bordering the course. When I went, there were hundreds of non-disc golfers at this park. While the course doesn't directly interfere with any other park activities, there was a family with small kids who had literally set up a picnic in the middle of hole 10's fairway. I had to wait several minutes and finally ended up warning them that they were in a bad spot and there were groups behind me as well. There were people hiking around the fairway of a lot of holes in the back 9 and lots of kids playing on the hills near 9's baskets. Even with a lot of waiting for non-disc crowds to clear holes, there was a lot more than normal risk of hitting a pedestrian bystander.

This was a fun course for the most part, but a few holes on the back 9 are just too demanding with too high of a risk to lose discs. I fully admit that I might be a bit tainted by losing 3 discs in 2 holes (one bad shot, one OK shot, and one that just missed an ace by inches but skipped deep into the abyss). But I saw other groups lose a lot as well. I've never played another course where the chances of getting very unlucky to lose a disc are higher in more places. If this was just one hole like this, it would be OK, but there are really 4 holes in a row where this risk can be very high.

Outside of the 4 danger holes, I do think this course has a lot to offer. There are a lot of interesting shots to play and the elevation makes a nice touch. But between the water holes and the crowds, it was enough for me to take this course from a solid 3.5/possible 4 to a 3.

- Course is located inside of Edward Medard Park; a very large park in central Florida.
- Brand new, concrete Tee-Pads.
- Tee-signs are very nice, hand carved wooden posts with a hole profile and distance.
- Front 9 is one of the nicest, and most challenging 9 holes in Florida.
- Park offers an entire outdoor Florida type experience.
- Course utilizes the space about as well as it could.

- The entire back 9; two things to note on the back 9. 1.) There are very little fairways, most of the holes are jammed into a small section of woods and play either from tee-pad to basket or down a glorified pathway. 2.) John E. McCray is a crazy man. The entire course is extremely difficult, and could only be created by one of the greatest players in disc golf history.
- The bugs on this course are insane; I had a mosquito the size of my thumb bite me through my shirt.
- No true signature hole, and definitely no true signature finishing hole.

- This is a nice course for the space that it is built on; really good use of space.
- Definitely one of the harder courses in the area, each hole is a totally new experience and challenge.

- If you enjoy a challenge then this is a destination course for sure, if not, then don't take a day trip for this one.

Back 9 is really cool, lots of elevation changes, cool trees set in eroding clay create some dramatic (for Florida) holes. Set in a really nice park that I'm happy to pay $2 to.

Mosquitos are on steroids and the front 9 was rather boring. Some drainage issues (mud, standing water). Undergrowth is super thick in spots, so much so that I lost my tie-died JLS (if you find it I'll drive out to you and give you $5 for it, that disc ruled).

I want to play it again in the winter. Honestly it's quite a hike to play this course (both on foot while you're there and by car to get there) and it's too damn hot in the summer.

Use spotters. Some holes you can't see where you're throwing to at all...

The layout was spacious on the front nine, with quite a few grip 'n rip opportunities (#1, #2, and #9 especially).
Hole 5 is gnarly. You have to either tomahawk over the trees on the left to a totally blind basket (despite what the tee sign says, you can't drive long and double back) or drive short and wide right to set up your second, and the saw palmetto is thick.
All the baskets and tees are brand new and in good shape.
Once you throw your drive on Hole 9, you leave Florida. The hills in this park were utilized on the back nine... uphill shots, wooded shots, poke 'n hope shots, downhill shots, and blind shots. I'd think even seasoned players might find the back nine rough.
The lines on some of the holes are very tricky and really present risk vs. reward opportunities.
#10 through #15 might be the toughest stretch of holes in the Tampa Bay area. The sheer drops on these holes really make you stop and think. I would make sure you have a drop and stop putter for all of these holes.
The disc golf course is mostly segregated from the rest of the park, so the only pedestrians are occasional hikers.
Like other reviewers, I consider the $2 entry fee a plus for various reasons. This is a beautiful park and is extremely well maintained. I didn't see a single piece of trash in the entire park.
We went on a weekday and there was one other group on the entire course. Very nature-y and nice and quiet.
Large playground and very clean restrooms close to the first tee (but go before you throw, because a round here takes a while).

Some of the lower lying areas of the park seem susceptible to flooding. The tee for #2 was very wet and the fairways for #7 and #8 were wet and muddy. This isn't really the parks fault and not a fault in the design, but it does stink when you can't play a hole due to course conditions.
Bugs are a big issue, especially on the back nine. Bring some strong Off with you.
Some of the underbrush on the back nine is also extremely thick, so long pants might not be a bad idea, despite the heat. There are also lots of spiders in the undergrowth, so be careful when retrieving discs.
One big issue I had on the back nine was hanging twigs and limbs. The ceilings are low on some shots and you just can't see every single little twig hanging down from up there. I got pwned on a couple of short shots by tiny little limbs.
The course doesn't come back to the parking lot at all until you finish.

Spotters here are extremely helpful, especially on the back nine. If you have time and a friend with you, go out and spot each others throws. I'm sure my buddy and I would have lost discs if we didn't do this.

Bug spray, bug spray, bug spray... And a lot of water; a round here takes a while.

If you're not into climbing and hiking, this course may not be for you. I'm 26 and in great shape and this course really took it out of me.
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Update - Played for the second time on 2/15/20, and I'm dropping my rating from a 4.0 to a 3.0. I considered going even lower but I want to be fair. Three-fourths of the course is still good, but there are a few serious problems that I noticed on my newest play-through. I'll list them in order of significance to me.

1) Holes 11 through 15 are in much worse shape than the first time I played and 14 is not what I consider playable. All these holes are lined with disgusting, mold and fungus infested swamp water. Most of the slopes have eroded to the point of being dangerous to step on, and the overgrowth is starting to take over these fairways. These holes no longer have lines. #13 still has no tee pad and in the summer I can see #12, #13, and even #14 being completely inundated by water. I played in the peak of dry season and this water was flat out gross. The mosquitoes in summer have to be horrific.The tee pad for #14 is also completely voided underneath by erosion and this tee will collapse very soon, hopefully without someone standing on it.

2) The erosion has become dangerous. Some of the slopes you have to climb have gotten so steep you can easily slip and fall. Tree roots are exposed and you could easily trip and injure yourself or roll an ankle on a root. And the slopes are all soft sand and not solid ground; a mound of dirt gave out from under my friend's foot on #9 and he almost fell...not okay at all.

3) We came on a pretty busy weekend day and there were at least fifty people wandering on the back nine holes. Kids playing with baskets and climbing trees and people just walking around, oblivious to the disc golf course. There is no signage telling people there is even a course back there despite there being a picnic area and parking lot lining #9's fairway.With the back nine being so overgrown, the risk of someone getting hit by a ricocheting shot is extremely high.

4) Hole #5 is so badly overgrown there is no line to the basket anymore. The pin should be moved or clearing should be done.

It doesn't seem to me that the course is being kept up as well as it could be, and with Picnic Island being much more up-kept and being more of a fair challenge, this isn't someplace I'll be coming back to unless changes are made.

I feel a fair design change would be to place a second basket with a colored band on it at the base of the hill on #9 and allow for play of the front nine, allowing players to ignore the elevation completely, and back nine, and play a simpler nine-hole layout.

This course is a nice change of pace from the other Bay Area DGC's. Mainly the elevation, albiet mild, on some of the holes. A good variety of shots are required on most holes. Really liked the back-9. Mostly woods. It was pretty tough first time around. 16 was brutal, one of the several elevated baskets, but also rewarding with some birdie ops @12,13,15, 17 & 18 . The front 9 is just as nice, but a spotter might be a wise choice on hole 5 (palmetto clusters). Had the luck of playing my 2 rounds with some locals. They were very informative. The course is relatively easy to follow, but without their course insight, I surely would of lost a disc or two. Thanks guys! Park is clean. Signage good. Restrooms nearby. Very low background noise. Almost serene-like the morning I played.

The tee-pads are rubber-type mats, and can be a little slippery w/the early morning dew.
The course is fairly new, so I'm not going to pick at things that will eventually be resolved over time. ie: Metto's, skewel, etc...

Overall I had fun at this course. It's both challenging and rewarding. I will surely be back. Thanks again, Dusty, Todd, and Jason.

The course provides a very solid blue-level challenge with a good variety of distances and shot shapes. I'd guess that an even par (54) round will be rated around 930-950. Some of the holes are quite unique in their shapes and several of the baskets are perched near drop-off's making for dynamic putting situations. The course combines a good balance of power and finesse.

About half the course has a nice tree canopy for sun relief and the hilly area has very pretty, unique terrain. The course is situated in a very nice, large county park with other amenities.

For a brand new course, the schule is pretty light and it won't take very long to get the course completely broken in. The course is not too difficult for beginners, yet still offers sufficient challenge for advanced players as well. The fun factor is high and the course should become quite popular.

The course does not loop back to the parking lot after the front nine.

Hole 5 provides a very unique required flight that's either a monster spike-hyzer or a high lefty turnover-stall shot. The downside is that the shot is thrown blind over tall trees and a large area of thick palmettos, making for difficulty finding discs.

Hole 11 is a quirky 350 footer with a 90 degree bend halfway down. The ideal tee shot is to dump a little hyzer that finishes close to hole 12's tee pad and then make the turn. I think a shift of that tee box, coupled with a minor bit of clearing could produce a more direct route that was less quirky and provided a better buffer on hole 12.

Hole 14's tee pad is a bit close to hole 13 and the hole is a major poke-n-pray.

Hole 16 requires a long shot straight down a park road that comes back in bounds around the 320 foot mark.

At present, there are no tee signs, benches, trash cans and the pads are slick rubber. I did not take points off for this as I believe that work is continuing and will be completed soon.

The course is easy to navigate IF you have a map. Make sure to ask for one at the park entrance.

Don't be a dirty discer, leave the course cleaner than the way you found it.