Pros:
There's a lot to like about this course. The park sits in a long, narrow piece of land squeezed into between the Kern River walking/jogging/bicycle path and a busy street (Truxtan) and then the course is split by another busy street (Mohawk). This unique setting definitely created problems for the designers.
The park itself, is a nicely manicured area which sits in a kind of a natural bowl. There is ample parking by # 1, plenty of garbage cans available, concrete tee pads and nice new tee signs. The new signs are colored ones with the sponsor's name, OB, Par, distance, hole # and the clubs name, Kern River DGC, all clearly written on them. The baskets are older Liberty models. I found them hard to spot in the trees and shrubs.
Navigation was more than a little confusing for me. I backtracked several times trying to make sense of the layout. I initially missed whatever sign pointed the way that crossed Mohawk to get to the second part of the course. And I don't think I ever fully figured out which basket was 4 and where # 5 was. I believe I played them both to the same basket.
Cons:
Beside having some navigation issues, this course has a couple of real safety problems.
IMO, # 7 is just a poor design. With trees on the left and a fairly narrow fairway, many players are going to end up throwing right into the incoming traffic on Truxtan.
# 8 is a blind throw throwing up a walking path.
And then # 10 is another problem hole. You're throwing around the corner blind, again into walking/biking path.
#11. I liked throwing on the hole here but with the basket so close to the corner, How many discs have landed on either Mohawk or Truxtan?
The walk around after # 5 is very long and I'm sure many players will take the short cut and just cross Mohawk.
Other Thoughts:
I want to like this course. The course is long enough to play as an intermediate course. Unfortunately, I think 2-3 holes should be shortened (7 & 10 especially) to lessen the safety risks involved.
Bakersfield has this nice range of courses stair stepping up in nice increments, from the very easy Pitch & Putt beginner course at San Laurel to the brutally hard physical challenge of Shark Tooth Mountain.
From Easy to Hard:
San Laurel Park
City In The Hills
Kern River Park
Silver Creek Park
Riverview Park
Suicide Flats
Shark Tooth Mountain
Bakersfield disc golfers have a nice variety of courses to choose from, with two easy beginner courses, one slightly harder beginner type, two intermediate courses and then two courses that will challenge anyone.