Pros:
+ The course exists at all.
+ The very many oaks provide quite a few chances to practice your tree dodging skills from afar and up close.
+ No overgrowth or undergrowth of any kind, so losing a disc is almost impossible.
Cons:
- There are no tee pads: just vaguely defined areas in some spots marked by slats of wood if you're lucky to spot them.
- Navigation is a nightmare. There is barely any signage to begin with. With a few exceptions, there is no way to know what hole you are at, where to throw or where to go to reach the next tee from the basket.
- The baskets are rusted through and/or damaged. There are numbers on top of them, but most are so badly faded that you need to use light glare to identify which basket you're at. That user-provided image for hole 15 is not a deception, either. The bottom cage really does rest on the ground now because the retaining joint has corroded away!
- There is an information board right next to hole one, but there is nothing on it at all. The front and back are completely devoid of any and all information. It may as well not be there for how useless it is.
- Trash is visible everywhere. Discarded beer cans, umbrellas, fast food wrappers, you name it. During my visit, basket six had an entire pile of bottles and cans on top of it.
- A few holes play uncomfortably close to a busy street, to my mind.
Other Thoughts:
I can't pick a favorite hole here. They all play identically. I can't pick a least favorite hole, either. They all underwhelm identically.
That could be because the whole course is implanted within a uniformly level city block park. That isn't a, strictly speaking, bad thing, but there is little else on the course to make it worthwhile, which accentuates the monotonous quality of the course. Each and every hole at Landis is a park-style hybrid hole with plenty of impressive oak trees around and just enough space between those trees to encourage throwing with more power than you would at a conventional forested course. Ignoring the course's (many) faults for the moment, the repetitive nature of it all doesn't make for an engaging round.
To make matters worse, the course infrastructure has deteriorated over time. I can tell by looking that this used to be a competently-planned place to play, but while the grounds are well-kept, the course has suffered from immense neglect. Except for holes 3, 5 and 18, the tee sign posts have no signs to guide players. The baskets are aged and rusted. The layout becomes confusing with no navigation cues of any kind. The tee areas are scuffs of land sometimes marked with blocks of wood and sometimes not. Simply put: this course is a mess.
Here is where I would normally say that it could still be an entry point for beginners still picking up the game or a spot for experienced players who are just looking for an easy round without elevation or hazards. And I still do say that, but it's a shame the state of disrepair the course is in. I am glad it exists, at least. Things can always improve, and I would love to see it get better. But Landis as it is right now does not faithfully represent what our sport can be. Not even close.
So in terms of a bottom line, I can't recommend this course to too many people unless you just want a flat and straight-forward round and aren't too bothered by aged equipment, a vague layout and bland features. For those of you seeking a proper 18-hole experience, I suggest you give this one a miss.