Overall, the course provides a lot of balance to accommodate both the newer or recreational player and the more advanced player. The layouts offer something for everyone. For example, when I played (from the red tees), the pin location was largely in the IDGC super layout barring holes 4 and 17. That layout has the pin in the long position on many holes, but this layout is also peppered with shorter ones that cut you a break.

For example, you start with 498 ft at no. 1 and then just 150 feet at no. 2. No. 3 is 366 feet and drops off the same shelf as no. 1. Then an uphill 225 for no. 4. Five and 6 are doable before getting into the harder nos. 7 and 8 and the super-long 573-foot dogleg-right no. 9. Which is followed by the get-able and short no. 10 before another monster at 11 (516 feet). That may sound rather Jekyll/Hyde, but the breaks are much appreciated as the tract itself has alot of elevation change. Indeed, you're pretty tired after all the walking alone!

The course is lakeside and thus very scenic. Besides the lake itself, there are ravines and creeks to deal with and perhaps as many uphills as downhills.

The tees are solid concrete, long enough, and tapered from rear to front.

The course doesn't seem to get busy on weekdays, so you can play with some degree of peace.

There is a good variety in the design of the holes with few that repeat themselves. Some fairways are really tight while others are wide enough for you to get your disc cleanly down the lane with some good distance.

There is a lot of elevation in the tract, so just be prepared to do a lot of walking and to give yourself extra time to get through the entire course. That's not really a con but just a heads-up.

The red tee signage is incomplete. You only get the distance but not the par. Is it always the same as the long tee? I believe yes except for no. 13. No picture of the hole to know where you are going either. So consult the blue tee sign before walking up to the red tee.

Some fairways along water's edge wind up underwater on occasion when the lake level rises. That makes the approach much more challenging, particularly if you are not a long thrower!

You pay $3 to enter the park and then another $3 to play the disc golf courses. If you have the time/energy and start early, you can play all three courses in one day for just $3 or maybe two for $3 or one and a half for $3. I think all of that is a good deal. You can make this be as economical as you wish.

And if you want your $3 for the park entrance fee to pay for itself better, then also plan to fish, camp, boat, picnic, hike, or bike as well (smile).

Be sure to visit the small museum room in the HQ building.

There are practice putting baskets on the large green field behind the building and other putting baskets in the woods below the picnic pavilion and between Headrick hole 1 and Warner hole 10.

Steady Ed may not have the length of WR Jackson but it has much better use of elevation and several holes in which water is seriously in play. It starts out slow and the first few holes had me wishing the long pins were installed that day, but on 4 it picks up and I was very satisfied with the layout on the last 2/3 of the course. 4 is unique little water hole that features a short carry where the bend in the fair way is directly over the water. Toss one out that can fade to the left and land on the slope. From there its an upshot that is very much an "up" shot to the green. It'd different. It's fun.

The fifth hole should be the signature hole here. Even to the short tee it's a solid carry from high above the water, down a long slope and then over the inlet and through a narrow gap on the other bank. Very rewarding. I'm also really fond of the hole design of the second set of water holes. 12-14 all allow a shot to hang over the water and fade right onto nicely located target zone for birdie opportunities. Between the hills and the water there is a a lot of variation and a huge fun factor here. With the two pin locations, there is solid replayability. With the additional short tees, it is the course at the IDGC for an inexperience discer to play.

It also boasts the amenities characteristic of the IDGC. Perfect, trapezoid-shaped teepads. Nice, no-frills signs that tell you what you need to know. Color-coded baskets that let you know if you are on the wrong course. Next tee signs at just about every juncture keep you on the right track. And as a final note, that water here is very retriever-friendly. Most of the places where you will go in, you will be able to fish it out.

After playing WR Jackson, some of the fairways here feel a bit cluttered.(especially the first few) They aren't as well shaped, or awe-inspiring. There's not a ton of brilliance here. It's a good solid, 4-star course but it suffers from comparison to its IDGC brethren. I think perhaps the long pins here would live up to the family name, but the short pins that were in place were a bit underwhelming. Steady Ed has more water than those two and more elevation than Jackson, but most holes just aren't that memorable.

And of course, I can only review the course that I played, and on that day, the water level had risen to a point that three holes were unplayable. At least one tee were under water. Baskets were poking up from
below the lake. And areas the looked to be target landing zones on the map were completely submerged. I don't think it's seasonal and it looks more like a recent development that will cause the course to have to be adjusted. Trees were dying dozens of yards from the shoreline and I would guess that the water had to have been higher than in years. The real shame is these looked like some of the best holes on the menu. On the same note, many of the bridges were out on the course, requiring some unintended lengthy walks.

If all eighteen were playable, and the long pins played as well as the map made them look, then I think this could be on par with the other two courses in the facility. But the fifteen holes that I played didn't quite live up to Warner and Jackson.

The IDGC is a disc golf exclusive facility. There is a well stocked on-site pro shop, disc golf museum and an awesome practice area. I would give the entire facility a solid 5. This course makes awesome use of the lake, elevation and woods to create an overall great experience.

There are textured concrete teepads for the long tees. There is evidence of hundreds of hours of work. There are numerous footbridges and well marked trails. All the long tees have well made signs. Although some of the distances were incorrect, the scorecards available in Pro Shop were accurate. There is sufficient signage guiding players to the next tee and even new "next tee" markers at the base of the targets. It really is a great experience.

Again, I give the facility a 5.0, but I have to rate this course a 3.5. I can't quite give it a 4.0, as I think it requires too much luck to score well. I played it with mostly short pin placements as well as all short placements. Like most wooded courses, this course does favor a player with accuracy. With the exception of the guardian trees around the pins and the random fairway trees, most of the holes were well designed and can challenge players of all skill levels. There are plenty of "risk and reward" opportunities for players with more than a traditional backhand throw.

As the course is heavily wooded, players really need an accurate, straight shot to score well. There are not a lot of different types of shots required. Since this course really rewards placement, drivers are not necessary and can really only be used on a couple of holes. I only throw about 275 to 300 feet max and was mostly throwing mid range discs and putters off the tee with good success.

Unfortunately, no matter how accurately one can throw, or how thoughtful one is with shot selection, this design left something to be desired: a chainsaw! I am not a fan of random trees left in the fairway nor of "guardian" trees around targets. On several of the holes, even the safer routes required too much luck for my liking.

The blue targets were extremely difficult to see from the tees. A course in the shade should have bright, highly visible baskets, not ones that blend into the shadows and trees. They should put wider day glow stickers on the baskets like those on the J. Warner course.

This course is one large 18 hole loop so be prepared to carry enough water and supplies to last the entire round. There were no portable restrooms on the course, but since it is heavily wooded, it was not an issue for me. The other two courses have two nine hole loops back to the main parking area and "clubhouse", which I prefer.

I do not care for the trapezoid tee pads (as found on all tees at IDGC). They are six feet wide at the rear and taper down to only four feet wide on the front. It seems counterintuitive to shorten the width of the front of the tee when there is plenty of room to make traditional 6 x 12 tees. I hope players don't leave this facility thinking these tee pads are what they should put on their home courses.

I have played many CK designed courses over the years (as evidenced in my play list). I even rank Chuck's Blueberry Hill course as one of my all time favorite courses. I understand his designs like to reward placement and offer multiple routes to the pin. Hopefully, more trees will be allowed to be taken out of this design and serious players will have a much fairer course to play in the future.

First pro, of course, is that it's at the IDGC, with all the amenities of the IDGC HQ (museum, shop, restrooms, air conditioning), 3 courses at one location, multiple practice baskets. It's on beautiful property, hilly and overlooking a lovely lake, with tall trees for shade, and exclusively Disc Golf.

I'm a little disappointed with the actual course design. Which is not to say it's bad....just it seemed it could be better. Despite my "cons", half the holes are very fine, with a variety of shots and some fairway management required, and a few rather unique shots (#18---uphill through the woods, across a clearing with one troublesome tree, over a mound back into the woods to the basket).

One design feature not seen often is that the course does a figure-8, so that the lake is on the left for some holes, on the right on others, so it doesn't favor either righties or lefties as water hazards on some courses do.

It's a wooded course and, when you hit trees and kick off the fairways, much of the area is justed wooded enough that you find yourself trying to execute unusual and exciting "escape" shots. But seldom is it so thick that you don't have an option, and there's not much underbrush. It's a great course for great recovery shots.

And thought not a gold course, it's plenty challenging.

It's a wooded course, but more than a few holes have more trees in the fairway, or tighter fairways, than I care for. Not quite "poke-&-pray", but close to it.

The lake levels have varied tremendously when I've been there. At high water, the lakefront holes are fun and exciting and give you the choice of playing it safe, or risking your disc. Other times, the water is far, far away from the fairways.

I seem to be the exception that, despite my weenie arm, I like the much longer Jackson course more than the Headrick.

My "cons" are mostly that I play the course and enjoy it, but have the nagging feeling it's missing its potential.

the course is the easiest of all the courses at the IDGC the fairways are fair and if you dont go to far off the fairways they are easy to get back onto but you will need to bring every disc un your bag because each hole is different

some of the fairways where you need bomb of a drive could be widened

the pin positions can be change around and the course can be made longer with just a few changes so before going out to play ask at the idge club house what the pin positions are in

Lots of variety, concrete tees, very well marked, different hole locations, having the headquarters at the end is an added bonus.

It's a new course so it's not quite broken in, it's a long walk through the course, it costs to play.

Having to pay to get into the park and then having to pay to play was disapointing. The trees are everywhere, which makes a round fun and/or aggrivating.