You drive into the park and there is an expansive parking lot available for this course. Whether recreational day or a tourney, you'll never find yourself parking at the other end of the course. There is no running water here, but there is a portable toilet available year round. There are plenty of benches and garbage cans along the way, so if amenities are your thing, those are here as well.

The course plays, literally, on the college's old ski lodge so you can pretty much understand what you're getting into before you even show up. This course is one of my favorites in the local area in terms of the beauty of the course. There is a pond with ducks right beside the 1st Tee. You play through a nice creek area that leads out to your first experience where you play a couple holes running up one of the old slopes. By the time you get to the top and turn around you see a vast, gorgeous horizon view that looks like it goes on forever. This comes into play multiple other times as you tee from the tops of these slopes twice. Up on top of the course is beautiful nature. It's a good mix of pine and leaf trees, with plenty of fungus and Ghost Pipes and other natural fauna to check out. I have seen deer here almost every round and there is plenty of bear evidence as well, though I've yet to see one here.

I love the variety of shot that this course brings. 1 is a challenging hole that makes you keep it between woods and an OB road. 4 is very similar to NoBo 3 with a hard drive straight up a ski slope. You get three chances at a downhill run, with 18 being the most fun. This is a real stand on top of the mountain and hurl it kind of moment that makes you want to unload your bag trying it. The 14th Hole is one of my favorites anywhere. This must be an old logging road, or something similar, but you play down a trail that then leads back uphill. There are woods on both sides with severe elevation that can take your disc soaring off the fairway. It's good a great mix. There are open holes and tight holes. There is distance and there are must make birds. Every hole feels unique.

There are three sets of tees here so any skill level should be able to find a configuration that fits them. The upkeep is also very nicely done here. The grass is always mowed and the tees are kept in the best shape they can given the natural tees.

The equipment here is old school. There are no concrete pads and most don't have any turf or anything. For the most part, you're driving off dirt. I will give them credit that at least most of them are level. Nothing I despise more than running uphill sideways on a dirt tee. The baskets are older style and could use an upgrade. Probably the biggest upgrade needed is in the tee signs. These things are straight out of 2000, with the handmade sticker-style tee signs that don't actually tell you much. I would just defer to your app for best information there.

This course has a great deal of nostalgia for me. I have been avid since the late 90s. Back then we had two 18 hole courses available - Knob and Schenley. IUP Lodge was the first new 18 anywhere within an hour of town. It was mind blowing then and still holds up today.

There is a no drugs or alcohol policy that they take serious. Saw a dude get booted from a tourney once upon a time for cracking a beer in the parking lot. Don't push your luck.

+ The lodge itself. It's called "College Lodge" and it's situated in a park space that is maintained by IUP. The lodge has electricity and plumbing, tables, chairs, nice deck, and a view of 4, 9, and 18
+ Parking. Lots of parking in a paved lot
+ Right outside the parking lot is a nice sign that shows you the pin locations of each hole, along with a little bin of scorecards.
+ Distance and elevation change. I averaged 7000ish steps each round, which takes you up and down the ski "mountain" twice. Granted, it's not a ski hill like Seven Springs, but still, the terrain is well utilized
+ Short holes are wickedly tricky. The three shortest holes (3, 10, 15) are all only 160ish, but 3 is rollaway city, 10 is a very tight tree pinball-fest with OB right behind the pin if you manage to sneak one through all the way, and 15... well... think about a plinko game. Now imagine you're starting at the bottom of the game and going straight up the plinko board. That's 15. Both rounds, my whole card drilled a tree off the teepad of 15.
+Bombs away! Hole 18 is your chance to rip your favorite driver, and oh is it glorious. But even if you screw it up, the underbrush in the woods on each side are mostly ferns. We even found a medium green disc that was pretty much the same color as the ferns it was hidden amongst.
+Requires good thought and preparation. You are rewarded on your good decisions (and executions) and you are punished mightily for your bad choices.
+Benches throughout the course
+The view from 18 and 9 are very nice, where you are atop the ski hill looking down.
+Fairways are fairways and very well maintained grass

- The only thing missing that would make this course a 5 for me is a concrete tee pad. It's not that the rubber pad on the whites is bad, it's just that this course is so close to perfect that I don't know what else could be done to improve it besides the concrete pads...

I couldn't have been more impressed by this course. I wish it were closer to my home because I'd love to play it more often. Some people might complain that the lack of a true water hazard detracts from it, or that Mach III is an outdated basket but I disagree on both accounts. I love that this course tests both RH and LH players, BH and FH players, power throwers and control masters. Laser straight throws, big hyzers, thumbers, ground hugging hyzerflips, intentional skip shots, cut rollers, thumbers... this course throws so many things at you that you are going to call on everything you got to make it through, and then you finish with that sick bomb on 18 and you can go relax on the deck of the lodge and relive all of your glorious shots you forgot you had at your disposal.

awsome tee locations, lots of different shot looks, mostly woods but a very good course to play, if you haven't played it is a must if you live in or visiting the area

nothing to complain about

grip it and rip it

I have played this course more than any other course, so I guess I'm probably biased, but I think it is a very underrated course. There are a variety of hole types with many uphill, downhill, wooded, open, and narrow fairways requiring a variety of different shots. The tee signs and other signs do a good job of directing you through the course and two different basket positions allow the course's character to change. The course is built on and around an old ski slope, so drainage is pretty good and the course is generally quite playable even after massive amounts of rain. Hole 18 is gorgeous.

Personally, I like natural tees, but I know lots of people prefer concrete, so I guess the natural tees are a con. They take the baskets out in the winter due to sledding that takes place on the old ski slopes. Check with a local from mid-November through early April to see if the baskets are in.

I've played around 60 courses and this is definitely on the short list of my favorites. The two basket positions allow for variety, but the course is owned by the college and most of the baskets stay in the easier positions most of the time because students tend to complain about some of the harder B-pins. Do not bring alcohol on this course. It has been temporarily removed in the past due to drinking.