Pros:
Nice to have a course in this part of Raleigh.
Good mix of left and right holes, only 1 open hole, the 9th.
Most days, plenty of parking, the course starts at the end of the parking lot, down the sidewalk.
Brand new DISCatcher portables were added last year (the course is only open a few months at a time), a great improvement over the mix of portables that were used originally.
Also added last year were crushed gravel tees and front toe boards, the toe boards have the Hole #, Par and Distance.
Cons:
Only a Temp course, to judge usage in the area.
A couple of the newer holes are very tight, tree clearing was minimized.
Hole #8 uses a gravel road for most of the fairway, not my favorite.
#7- a 425' Par 3 plays to a narrowing fairway, then turns left, still in the woods, toward the basket. Its a good hole, but Par 4 seems more appropriate.
Other Thoughts:
This temporary course was set up in the first phase of a new park in Raleigh. Eventually, Forest Ridge Park will be 586 acres right on Falls Lake with tons of things to do. Picnic areas, playgrounds, Mountain Bike trails, walking trails and paths, Ropes course, overnight lodge, kayak and canoe rentals, a real destination adventure park.
The DG course in the Master Plan is not in this area of the park, but I understand they wanted to judge interest at this time. This is the 3rd "season" for this course and seems to be pretty popular. The brand new, portable DISCatchers were a nice addition last year.
There are some good holes here, #1 - ample fairway that turns left to a large green, #4 - another wide fairway that turns left and drops down to the green, you have to clear a large, 4-5' wide tree in the fairway, #5 - a valley shot, wooded hole among several downed trees, #9 - a 235' Par 3, tee from a paved walking path, over 75' of high weeds to the basket on short grass, protected by low hanging branches. Fun to finish on a short, open hole.
The Park moved two holes from the initial layout away from the playground areas and added two more in the woods. So this is a short, tight wooded layout, but a pretty quick play.
I really hope a permanent course does get built in this park, it really will be a great destination park. I know CADL has been out for a site visit, so that's a good sign. Since this will be programmed as an adventure park, a DG course will be a nice amenity to those facilities.