Pros:
Lincoln Park North tends to play second fiddle to the South course, but it's a solid layout in its own right. It's in a pretty setting featuring an elevated view of the lagoon and fountain. The design makes excellent use of the terrain in areas of the park that were previously under utilized . The loop layout leaves a bit of a walk back to the parking lot after the last hole. There are two concrete tee pads on each hole, with numbers visible on both tee signs and baskets. The signs are basic, wooden posts and the baskets have directional arrows at ground level to point out the next tee. The course maintenance is great, but, alas, there are no benches. No water or woods come into play, but use of elevation is excellent toward the beginning and end of the course.
The first two holes are two of the best. #1 is located east of the practice baskets. The two tees and two basket locations make this hole play like four, quite different, holes. In either basket position, there is a tree filled ditch to contend with and giant oak trees serving as sentinels on the fairways. #2 tee affords the lagoon view I mentioned earlier. The narrow fairway slopes away right and you have to take care or you'll end up OB in the road at the bottom of the steep hill. In the long position, the basket is situated on the edge of the hill, making for some risky putting.
Holes 3-7 work northward along the eastern boundary of the park. This section of the course seemed a little boring to me the first few times, but then I began to appreciate the subtle appeal of these shorter holes. The holes tend to be well guarded on their right sides, so I find myself using sidearm approach shots here much more often than I do on most courses. #8 turns back to the south, with the road on the right side menacing your drive.
Holes 9 and 10 have tee pads right next to each other. If there's no one behind you, it saves some steps to tee off on both holes. After you finish up #9 it shouldn't be far to your drive on #10. The basket on #10 sits behind several large conifers, making for a really fun upshot. To play the long tee on #11, you need to walk toward the swimming pool building to your northeast. The short tee is beside the road behind the softball backstop to the west. The road is a risk again from the shorter tee. #13 is is a fun, downhill ace run.
Holes 14-18 loop around an elevated part of the park. It's a challenge to get a 3 on #14. The basket for #15 is well guarded, with trees in front and the road right behind. #15 is one of my favorites. I'd recommend using the long tee, where a narrow fairway slopes downhill and back up again. The basket position makes for dangerous approach shots, with a steep drop off behind the basket and the road below just waiting to give you a circle on your card. #16 is another dandy, a downhill funnel that calls for left to right action on your drive. Holes 17 and 18 swing back toward the south. After you finish, take the road south to reach the parking lot.
In my opinion, there are 4 wonder holes at Lincoln North - #1, #2, #15 and #16. The course is well balanced as far as shot shaping, and there is a fair amount of risk/reward with the roads and elevation.
Cons:
My only complaints are that some benches would be nice and the signs could be a whole lot better.
Other Thoughts:
Lincoln Park has two 18 hole courses. With multiple tee pads, there are at least 5 distinct configurations you can play. The lack of directional help might be frustrating for first time players, but the layout on North is fairly intuitive and shouldn't be too much of a problem. The course comes out to 3.75 in my rating system, which will translate into 3 and a half stars on DGCR.