Pros:
-This course is absolutely breath taking everywhere you look with stunning views of the vista all around.
-You get the option to rent carts, and disc golf with carts is a surreal experience.
-The baskets catch very well, with the course designer not cutting any corners you have great Dynamic Disc Patriot baskets.
-There is a good mixture of hole distances from real, difficult par fours (1,3,5,6) to medium mid range distances (2,8) and even a putter shot (9).
-As the title of this review suggests, this is a great mixture of a typical Ball golf / Disc golf course and the mountainous courses you often find in this area, where you have to really be able to pick and hit your lines. The pattern I noticed on most of the par fours (3,5,6,7) was a long opener tee shots that will put you in possession to get to the more guarded baskets.
-The trees really added the extra element that most ball golf / Disc golf courses lack.
-Hole 9. It is the most different type of shot imaginable from the rest of the course. It is super tight through the woods with a grueling double mando (maybe a 10-15 foot gap) with a sharp dogleg left (Almost all other holes are dogleg right see con's). It is a great hole to finish on both because it is so different and because it provides a chance for large stroke swings in score at the end of the round.
-They didn't add outrageous amounts of OB like some other courses of this nature. OB is in water on two holes and other then that there is not really any greens or sand traps anywhere the pins.
-You get to tee from actual golf tees, so there is a decent area for run ups on each tee as well as great grip on the manicured tees.
-There is a shop (ball golf pro shop) where you can get good food both for before and after round as well as snacks and drinks for on the course.
-There is a practice "basket" (a cheep thing from Cosco) located next to the putting green for ball golf and although is doesn't catch most things that fly into it, its still a place to get warmed up before tackling the monster that is hole one.
-This place is super laid back, with happy, smiling employees that are very knowledgeable and helpful. A+ in costumer service.
-There are bathrooms both at the clubhouse at hole 1 and 9, but there is also a porta-potty spotted of the tee on hole 5 (Were not sure if it was open).
Cons:
-The only major flaw on this course was that is was hard to navigate. Although there were directions both on the scorecard and on this website, it was complicated and we got lost multiple times. If the owner simply placed little arrows directing the disc golfers from the basket to the next tee then this course wound not have any major problems.
-There are no way of telling distances. A good example of this is hole two where you don't know how far it is (deceivingly short) with the result probably ending with a drive landing in the pond behind the basket.
-Very left hand friendly, however this doesn't come into play so much as the drive is more a placement shot so you can navigate your was to the pin on your second.
-You have to share with the golfers, and the golfers have the ride away, however this is the case on all ball golf disc golf arrangements.
Other Thoughts:
This is a wonderful place to come throw a round with your buddies. I came all the way from Conifer to play here and I would do it again in a heartbeat. It was a wonderful experience because the golf was splendid, the views were simply the best, and the employees are very friendly. This course was designed well, however it has potential to become one of the best courses in the world. It was challenging golf, but not impossible. The carts are always a nice feature and these ones were clean and ran smoothly. If the navigation issues were solved and a basket or two moved to the left side of the fairway ( I suggest hole 4) then there would not be any issues here. I STRONGLY recommend you take the trip to come out here as it is a once in a lifetime experience that you don't want to miss. I can't wait for the next time I get a chance to come back up to Leadville and play here again!