A fantastic, well-rounded course that i'm sure will see some b or c-tiers as the grooming progresses, and assuming us casuals keep the place looking nice.
As the course is on Lindenwood property, no alcohol is allowed.
Be careful of that lake! Of the dozen or so who were playing while I was there, no less than 7 discs were sacrificed, and the ice was too thin to retrieve them. The irony is that with the lake being frozen right now, it creates the opportunity for some wicked hyzer skip shots for 1 and 18.
As facilities are added and traffic grows, this course will mold into a solid 4, if not 4.5.
Hole-By-Hole: (Shot strategies given for a RH thrower)
1. Straight and relatively short, but the lone obstacle is a small tree directly in front of you that forces either a big hyzer around and over the lake just off the fairway, or an anhyzer that must land softly to avoid skipping into said lake. Added treachery with the green falling off into the lake behind the pin. Plays MUCH harder than it looks, and a fantastic hole to start off with.
2. Slightly uphill, way to the right, and the same overall distance as hole 1 from the A pin (the only pins installed so far), but a much tougher shot. Your options are either: toss a giant anyhzer (not the best way to go in my experience), fire a roller up the hill and get lucky, or throw a whooping forehand and hope you fight through the giant trees (oaks?) that obstruct your path. Between the trees that obstruct the ideal line and the fact that the ground is very rough due to campus construction, a deuce is VERY tough to manage here.
3.Not installed yet as of Jan. 1 due to campus construction, so your guess is as good as mine. See cons section for an option to create a safari hole to complete your card.
4. The shortest hole on the course, but no easy shot. A slight uphill anhyzer with enough trees to effectively nix any chance at an overhand, but a well-placed anhyzer or forehand can still leave you a chance for a deuce. Another green that falls away behind the pin.
(TIP: If you are following the scorecard map (and don't care to add a safari hole as mentioned above to fill out an entire 18), walk westward from 2's tee almost to 5's pin, then look to the right for the path that has been cleared through the brush to get to 4's tee.)
5. Only 16 feet longer than 4, and another anhyzer/forehand, but slightly downhill and a very slow green. Another gnarly hole and an even narrower gap just off the tee pad than 4's fairway, so a quick release is required unless you're brave enough to try an overhand (which doesn't look likely to be successful as everything grows in). Another tough deuce.
6. A short-ish, narrow uphill tunnel that opens up at the end with the pin to the left. Park it with a straight shot that fades HARD, or be severely punished if you shank it into the brush on either side.
7. Same premise as hole 6 (tunnel with a hard fade at the end), but a wider avenue to shoot through, downhill, and a faster green. Ace-able, but gunning for it will leave you a long comebacker.
8. Downhill and straight in front of you, but the already narrow fairway tightens about 1/3 of the way down, again at 2/3, and has dangerous brush and OB to the left, brush to the right. Off-angle forehands risk falling into the muck of the old (now mostly filled in with soil) lake to the right. (WARNING: Big, mis-fired hyzers on this hole will likely go through the trees and into the civilian yards that are OB to the left. Be careful or bust windows.)
9. Open and downhill (until the approach), so the first chance to really let er rip. A few trees obstruct an easy approach, and the lake is right behind, so bombers be careful. Hole plays 384 feet according to the scorecard, with another fast green behind the pin if you go long.
10. Uphill and straight in front of you with no obstructions (except the crest of the hill), but the pin rests on top of a berm that falls away at the back. At 301 feet, choose your shot carefully. The pin is not visible from the tee unless you walk up. Lay up short, or go for it and risk falling off the backside.
11. Another chance to air it out at 455 feet and no obstructions, but yet another fast and sloping green, with an OB road behind the pin if you go long, and a gully to the left if you hook too hard at the end.
12. Completely open but uphill. Aceable at only 235 feet, but the pin rests on the same berm as 10's pin. Go long and you risk a bitchin comebacker if you miss your putt. Same if you drive short and your putt clangs the basket.
13. By far the longest hole on the course (and as such the only par 4), and again nothing to obstruct. Shoots over a valley 2/5 of the way up, but slopes slightly uphill afterwards. An easy approach as the only trouble lies past the pin with moderate brush.
14. 350 feet and a deep downhill with the pin to the left, obstructed by a few bushes. Think hole 6, but downhill and longer. Aceable if you can get past said brush, but missed runs at the pin will be punished by the surrounding shrubbery.
(Note: The property to the left of 14's fairway is owned by a church. While there is no fence to mark off the church's property vs. the course fairway, excessive tosses (ace run attempts) are strongly discouraged (unless you can make it past the brush at approx. 315 feet past the bushes) as children may be playing in that area.
15. (Snake your way through the brush behind 14's pin, then walk across the field to get to 15's tee by the tree. (The longest, and most awkward, hole transition on the course, but easily navigable if you follow the scorecard map/trails behind the pin/have a guide)).
The pin is straight ahead (approx. 300 feet of the 340 as marked), but tucked in behind some trees/brush at the remaining 40 feet you have to navigate from the left towards the right, with a sloping hill opposite the pin. Backhanders like myself can either throw a touch to the left and anhyzer the putt/approach, or throw a big hyzer and hope for a fortunate roll off of the hill towards the pin (a la hole 7 at JB for you St. Louis locals). Forehanders just need to throw far enough out to the left to have a clear approach to the pin.
16. Uphill and straight in front of you, again with no obstruction until the approach, but the pin is set inside a cluster of trees at the end of the berm on which 10 and 12's pins reside. Not aceable by any means, but whooping (at 376 feet) and accurate backhand hyzers/forehands can park it for an easy deuce. The signature pin, if not the signature hole, for this course.
17. Just like hole 9, a downhill bomb with no obstruction, but disc down for this one. 265 feet with the lake and a fast green behind. Hardly aceable with the lone tree obstructing the pin, but an easy deuce for those with accurate drives and a soft landing.
18. Basically the same shot as hole 1. Risky anhyzer with a fast green that falls towards the lake, slightly safer hyzer over the lake, no option straight with the obstructions.