Pros:
- Granger DGC is located to the left of the large Granger Church property as you enter. Park in the lot near the bird sanctuary's benches and feeders. Tee #1 is located just past the sanctuary, slightly toward the Church building. The course plays along the edges and through the middle of a park style open area. Mostly grassy with scattered trees, although the edges of the property do contain more heavily wooded spots (e.g., behind the pins for hole #'s 3 and 7). A small seam of elevation runs through the middle area (hole #'s 2 and 9).
- A decent mix of length. Short holes around 100' (hole #3) are balanced with longer 400'+ holes (hole #8) and everything in between.
- Good use of trees to provide some obstacles without becoming too punishing for newer players. Likewise, water is there to punish only the worst shots on #'s 8 and 9. Available hazards could've been used to make the course more difficult but this was definitely geared towards beginners so I can respect the decision not to, say, include a hole throwing over the lake.
- Enough open spots to keep the difficultly level pretty light and easy, without resorting to cliched 9-er hole design. Each hole felt pretty decent here; the exception being hole #'s 7 and to a lesser degree 6, which are pretty much entirely open.
- Signage is sufficient, although #9 was missing it's sign. Worn natural tees with brick markers to denote front of the pad.
- Apparently you can borrow discs from the Church...I didn't look into this, but might be nice for disc-curious families.
- The gardening and landscaping give this course almost a ball golf look and feel.
Cons:
- Holey moley are the next tees and baskets close together! Like, "blast #4's tee sign while putting on #3" type close. This is an issue on several holes: #'s 4/5 and 6/7 have tees directly in the killzone of the previous hole's basket.
- Holey moley why on earth are they throwing over a roadway?! Hole #'s 3 and 5 commit this deadly sin.
- A couple of the tee signs are kind of in the way of a proper follow through. At least enough to make me a bit nervous.
- The fairways for hole #'s 7 and 8, and #'s 2 and 9 almost certainly interfere with the safe flow of discers when more than one group is on the course.
Other Thoughts:
- Completely secluded and empty during my time there, I didn't see a soul over the course of several rounds, with the exception of passing cars. The course is fine for a beginner 9er. The safety issues are moderately bad, but I've definitely seen worse, and the level of golf here is slightly better than many beginner 9ers offer.