Pros:
Pleasant, private course set on a scenic piece of property makes for a wonderfully quiet and secluded round... just what the doctor ordered if you're looking to forget about the world for a while.
• Disc Play: Decent variety with a bit of this and that. Front nine starts with a few pretty short, well-wooded, technical holes, progressing to some holes that are open off the tee playing to tucked/guarded pins, followed by a few slightly longer shots through a meadow with some reasonably well placed trees, ending with a nice, twisty, technical hole with a creek in play. Things get more interesting on holes 10 - 19, where elevation, distance and guarded pins become a more significant. Mix of distances is fair at best. Balance of fairway shapes and elevation changes is pretty good. Elevation, woods and water are used pretty well to create challenge and ambience. Holes 16 and 17 bring a pond and a pasture (both OB) into play, along with pins on rollaway slopes... throw in some wind (as these holes are pretty exposed) and you've got several risky elements in play at the same time, which can really make for a wide range of scores on these holes.
• Equipment: Concrete tees for shorts were fine (didn't really pay attention to the long/natural tees). Red Gateway Titans may be one of the best baskets I've ever played on, in terms of both disc catching and visibility. Simple wooden tee signs show distance and get the job done.
• Routing/Nav: The addition of concrete tees and signs seems to have helped significantly from previous reviewers' experiences - and I can imagine how I'd have felt looking for unmarked natural tees here. That said, while flow wasn't actually too bad overall, it wasn't always intuitive getting to the next tee, and I definitely needed the map to find about 1/3 of the holes. Loops back to parking after 9, with a long walk to 10.
• Aesthetics: Very secluded, very serene. The walkway of large rocks crossing the creek to 1st tee adds a rustic charm and sets the tone. You'll want to catch your breath after the long walk from 9 to 10 (the latter part of it uphill), but the view from 10's tee is worth stopping for; look downhill along the fairway to the backdrop of evergreens dotting the hillside rising up in the distance behind the basket. Nice stonework enhances 16's tee to add appeal while retaining the soil as you look out over water to find your landing area.
• Memorable holes: Island green on # 1, gorgeous view on #10, 16 over the water followed by 17 parallel to the pond, then 18 over a gulley to a pin placement on the far, uphill side of the gulley create a strong finish.
Cons:
Not a lot wrong here, but that doesn't mean it was close to perfect. While there are certainly some fun holes, I simply don't think there was ever enough here to seriously vie for 5.0. Regardless what else is done here, I just don't see holding that conversation with anyone.
• I'd have preferred more length and even creativity on the open holes like 6-8, which seemed like real yawners. Even 10 could have been longer with the downhill it has.
• Even though I like tight and technical, there was something about 1-5 that felt a bit like they were simply going through the motions. No way I'd rate 18 holes worth of 1-9 as a 3.5, and found holes 10 -19 to be the more interesting holes on the course.
Other Thoughts:
Decent balance on the over all, and great place to get away from it all - definitely off the beaten path.
I usually like tight and technical, but there was something about holes 1-5 that were less than great for me. They seem like easy 3's if you wanted them to be, but pretty tough to get 2's, and likely to be 4's if you tried for 2. Even as I write this, I'm not so sure that's really a con. Maybe it's because it was my 3rd course of the day, and I was getting tired and sloppy, but I thought a few of them were a bit too tight to go for two and ended up taking very unsatisfying 3's on most of them. That said, I can't completely knock'em because I can see reasonable scoring separation for them.
Solid addition to the area, even if it won't get a ton of traffic.