-Excellent use of terrain, including point to point shots, shots up and around rocky hills, down steep ledges, and over water (if you're brave enough)
-Course upkeep is also excellent, with grass well mowed and areas outside of fairways under control
-Well defined fairways but fair punishment if they are missed
-Long and short tees for each hole
-Some holes have multiple basket positions
-Rubber mats for tees in good repair
-Discatcher baskets in good repair
-Seemingly accurate tee signs with maps pulled from GPS for tee and pin positions

-Did not see bathrooms or water, but I'm not a local
-Parking lot was a little hard to find, as well as having limited parking
-Maps could be cleaned up with bigger icons, but I really appreciate it's GPS so you get true comparisons in distance and relative positioning

I can't believe this quality of a course is tucked inside Marquette. The quality of play is well worth the $3 entry fee. As stated earlier, the use of rocky and rugged terrain was fantastic, creating the options for epic lines with a fair amount of risk, but unlikely to actually be lost unless you end up in the river or pond. This is the type of play that helps me understand why pay-to-play courses may be the future of the sport.

I absolutely love this course. The scenery and the elevation changes are perfect. The differences between the short and long tees, on some holes, make it seem like you are playing a completely different course. I recommend this course very highly.

The only beef I have with this course is that there are not concrete tee boxes. It is not a huge deal, but it would make this course a 5 out of 5 instead of the 4.5 I gave it.

After playing this course a handful of times it will become a definite favorite. Powder Mill offers a wide variety of options:

Hole Distance - One aspect I am always very critical of is variety of hole distance and also total distance. Of course this is a function of land availability. Powder Mill offers a great variety of distances with a couple nice Ace Run holes, as well as a few 400'+ holes for big arms.

Hole/Fairway Structure - LOTS of challenging shots from the Long Tees, but also from some of the short tees. Trees are by far the biggest obstacles. The course does seem to favor RHBH throwers, but some Dog-Leg rights are offered for left handers/anhyzers/forehand throwers. Most fairways are wide enough to where I would NOT classify them as tight corridors, but beware of overhanging trees and the fescue that runs along the fairways.

Basket placement - It is quite evident that basket placement was well though out. None of the baskets seem to have awkward placement, and some are even neatly placed atop a pile of rocks. Yes, sure, some baskets may be placed behind some small trees, or tucked away in a corner, but this makes for a little more challenging putt or Ace opportunity. Personally, I think this is a perk as it offers more of a challenge even though some may interpret this as a frustrating aspect. Keep in mind, the Short Tee placements are geared moreso for beginners, and your "look" on the basket is much easier and a bit less of a challenge - so every player should be happy.

Long/Shorts - The course not only offers long and short tees for every hole, but additional baskets are offered on several holes -- not all; which makes for more than 18 combinations.

Environment - The land use is wonderful. The local community was able to donate a nice plot of land, so the course has not been cut short by any means. The course is located on the edge of town but is easily accessible via a quick walk or bikeride. Powder mill is mostly heavily wooded, but does cross a dirt road into a more open area for a few holes that play along the Dead River.
The course is somewhat flat, but offers some decent elevation changes on a few (5-8) holes making for a nice little day hike. It should be mentioned that there are a great numbers of trees as well as heavy foliage, so newer players beware of frustrating shots and lost discs.. Be patient, use look outs, try the short tees with easier approaches. The hole listing here mentions 4 water hazard holes -- albeit this is technically true, the holes and fairways are placed along a river (beautiful scenery) and less of a water hazard. A blatant 80 foot throw to the right instead of the left may leave your disc in the water, but the river is shallow and has clear (but tannin brown) water which is also very warm in the summer.

Play time - 1.5 - 2 hours for Long tees. If you're on fire and hustle, a 45-60 min game should be possible.

I would like to mention that the following are subject to change as the course has not had its grand opening --

Tee markings course travel - Again, the course has not had an official grand opening, so this section should be revised shortly. Until then, tees are properly marked with large wooden posts and house-number style tags. Hole structure printouts for each hole are only on laminated paper but will soon change. There is only one map available at the beginning of the course, so take a picture of it with your camera or phone your first time out on the course. Travel between holes can be slightly confusing even with small red signs nailed to trees directing you to the next tee. I think there could be better placement of the red signs, or more of them.

Tees - I would like to commend all the volunteers who helped with setting tees -- It is very obvious how much work was put into digging holes for tee placement. Each tee is filled with a nifty grey-gravel type of material and I assume a lot of work was put into filling each tee box, as well as LEVELING. However, after only a week of play, the gravel has become a bit uneven with several softball size divots and I'm afraid this will only progress. I have been informed that there may be plans to put in rubber Fly Pads, which would be helpful to the leveled gravel. I would recommend concrete tees for all courses, but I understand this is also no light task, and some courses may want to change basket locations through the years.

Foliage etc - I am a bit concerned about the amount of heavy foliage that will continue to grow. Now, this is by all means no one's fault, but it will require frequent trimming and volunteers to keep the course looking sharp. My only true complaint are the brush piles. The brush piles have indeed been placed off course, but are still within 20 feet of the fairways and are a bit of an eye sore.

Waste - This section is more so a reminder than a review. Every course I've ever played at has this issue. I don't mean to generalize or pick on students, but on average college town courses are terrible with being laden with litter. Pick up your garbage. Better yet, if you don't toss your garbage, you won't have to pick it up. Have complaints of garbage on the course? Pick it up. Make it look beautiful. Don't think it's your job to pick up litter? Be the bigger person and help out for the greater good.

This course has a lot to offer and I recceomend the trip to anywone, whether you're in town from California, considering a 100 mile drive to visit, or just in town and debating on what you should do for the day.

Get out and play. Post some records!