Eagles Landing plays on a picturesque stretch of land alongside a lake. The course starts with some shorter holes through a stretch of woods, then moves out into the open playing on a hill alongside the lake. It plays up into a stretch of land with sporadic tree cover, and then back alongside the lake with various levels of woodedness in play. Which is all to say, there's a great mix of terrain and woodedness to contend with, as well as much to admire visually. You're often not fully isolated from the rest of park-goers, but the course is sprawling enough and the park sleepy enough that there's still a strong sense of being in nature.

Elevation is in play throughout in a variety of ways and sometimes features very dramatic changes. There are some great downhill shots and a couple holes where elevation creates a natural, intimidating border. Coming from New Orleans I'm always pining for a reprieve from flatness and I certainly got it here; it's some of the best elevation this far south in the area.

Water hazards often enhance the holes by providing OB along fairways or behind pins. Risk versus reward assessment is often engaged to good effect.

There's an additional 9 holer that was in the process of going up when I visited in November 2016. It may very well be fully in and signed at this point.

Grooming seems very well kept up.

For all the richness of terrain that's on offer the design doesn't fully utilize it. As always it's hard to know what is due to the limits of what land is available for course usage and what is the result of design choices. But the course covers such a large amount of land that it feels as though the former was less of a limiting factor.

The most thickly wooded holes seem to be formed by walking or riding paths. Their design is thus awkward from a disc flight's perspective and they're often quite short. These less test technicality and more often force very conservative or awkward throws. They don't flow well from one to the next, all sharing a rather stunted character, and fail to really take advantage of this thick stretch of woods which is capable of offering some nice challenges distinct from the more open areas the course runs through.

Holes are very singular in nature, often built around a single challenge or natural feature. The holes that depart from this the most are often so open as to hardly force any strong engagement beyond a basic concern for where your disc lands. There's a real vanilla par 3 feel to many holes, and when this is deviated from it's often due to sheer distance rather than design that forces chaining together shots in thoughtful ways for true par 4-5 play.

It's always good to see another course pop up in the area. Eagle's Landing disappointed me somewhat in comparison to the promising pictures I saw of it and the few, strong reviews it had at the time of my visit. It's not quite the regional destination course I had hoped it would be and the area sorely needs. Ashe Lake remains my favorite course in this part of Mississippi, and I'd probably also return to Paul B. Johnson before coming back here. But if you have the time to accommodate a visit here, or are looking to play something new and have already tried those other courses, Eagles Landing is definitely worth playing.