Pros:
As I have been looking to open my eyes this year and try several new courses rather than continue to just play one, this was a course that was on my radar. I have heard many great things about it from players in my area, so when I was headed into St. Paul this weekend I felt it was time to get over there. Unfortunately it was not the best conditions, as it was hot and damp, but I will try not to let things out of my control create a bias on my review.
As the title says this course is little. I was expecting an open 9 hole course with some trees in the way or the basket just tucked in the tree lines. I was very wrong and glad to be! This course is very technical, it makes you hit your lines right off the tee or you could be in trouble and scrambling for par. I rarely have played a course where you knew you had a good/bad shot the moment you released the disc, but this is one. If you hit your line you will be rewarded, but if you do not then... have fun in the surrounding woods.
Leave the drivers at home and come to work on your placement shots with putter/mids. I enjoy technical courses since I feel they improve your game very rapidly by forcing you to be accurate,
The holes themselves are not very long, but have great elevation changes. Hole 1, 3 go straight uphill with 7 and 9 playing downhill. Even the in between holes have you throwing over hills or on the side of one.
The design of the course was great, maybe this is a LHBH bias shining through, but the basket placements were perfect for me to try to hit a lot of ace runs since they are mostly tucked to the right. However they are all slightly guarded and with the trees right off the tee pad adding to the challenge of hitting the perfect line.
Hole 4 was an amazing shot. The longest hole I believe, being just over 300ft, but you throw into an open field with trees surrounding the tee pad, but you have to hit a 20ft gap between 2 wooded areas roughly 240ft away and have the disc fade or turn over to the right through it just to have a look.
The tee pads themselves where in great shape, felt a bit awkward since they didn't seem as wide as other places, but these pads work just fine.
The course design also makes it flow every well. It is very easy to find the next tee, as long as you go down the hill to the right after 3's basket and not follow the patch to the left which takes you right to #7.
Cons:
Either study the map at the beginning or take a picture. Not to find the tee pads, but so you know where you are aiming for. There are several blind shots including holes 4,5,8 and I guess 9. You can easily make an educated guess, but it really helps your shot selection if you know exactly where the baskets are.
There was a sign asking for people not to litter, but there was a lot of cans and bottle in the surrounding wooded areas. Some trash cans would do away with a lot of the litter and make the course look a lot more appealing.
I would have to bring some of my RHBH friends here to see what kind of lines they can come up with, but as a lefty it really did feel like all I had to do was put the disc on the right hyzer angle and line, then watch for the ace run.
You will not need a driver on this course as the course is perfect for placement shots and working on mid range/putter driving
Other Thoughts:
This was a surprisingly fun course. I came thinking it would be a stereotypical 9 hole course, but was pleasantly surprised with the challenges that the course design gives you.
I hope for some man made trash cans, not tree stumps, to help clean up the course a little, but overall it is still an inviting course right next to a middle school I believe.
If you want to improve your accuracy then you have to hit up this course. It was very technical in places and will punish you if you miss the line. But enjoy the ace runs! There are several, even for a RHBH and even more for a lefty. Don't go out expecting a champ level course because this is not designed to be one. This course is great for beginners and intermediate players looking to improve, while experienced players will still get joy running shots to pad their ace totals.