Pros:
- has been expanded to a full 18 holes
- decent use of the elevation change that is available
- well mown and manicured campus
- 2 water hazards are well incorporated
- floating Dragon discs to borrow on Hole 10 (would be nice to add the same on 17)
- some seating in vicinity due to being on a college campus
- a few holes have multiple pin locations
Cons:
- a lot of flat and wide open shots
- navigation is quite confusing, finding tee 1 is a challenge
- no numbers on baskets add to confusion
- Mach 3 baskets are just ok
- tee signs are extremely basic
- natural tees aren't even worn in ground
- course map is not up to date, and there isn't one at the course
- pretty limited on amenities
- some notable safety hazards with walking paths
Other Thoughts:
Even living in the area all my life I never knew "North Chicago" was a separate city. This course was just ok. While the baskets are serviceable and the full 18 holes this course now has are nice enough, the navigation and repetitive openness really detracted from this being a better course.
First, what they got right: I think the course designers made good use of the space available and incorporated the limited elevation change they could. There is lots of parking and the 2 ponds incorporated as water hazards are great. The Dragon discs you can borrow for Hole 10 is a cool touch - I've never seen that on a course before. I guess I should have taken the offer since I threw my disc in the pond right after that.
The natural tees aren't great, and show no signs of extended use, but that meant they at least weren't muddy or anything. The course is a little pedestrian, lacking major challenge besides the water holes, but there are plenty of courses like that. The real issues here are the navigation and to a lesser extent the safety hazards. I saw almost nobody on campus, but it was a Sunday. During the week, multiple holes interfering with roads and walking paths might be a major issue (1, 2, 3, 15, 18 in particular).
Navigation was very confusing for this course. The map on DGCR is out of date and there are now 18 holes. Hole 10 is the end of the "front" of the course by the pond. From the tee for 10, you need to keep taking the road to the left back until you start getting closer to Green Bay Rd. to find Hole 1. Between 10 and 11, there is. a huge distance across the large main parking lots. Hole 11 is again closer to being out by Green Bay Rd. on the far corner of the main parking lot. When you get to 15, you will throw across the road towards the concessions building. After 15, go past the concessions building to the other side of the pond for 16. After 16, cross the pond on the bridge to get to hole 17. No numbers on baskets added to this confusion.
As a final note, hole 3 backtracks a bit and has some interference with the hole 2 fairway. All in all, I would not go out of my way to play this course again. It's definitely a nice perk if you attend this school already, and it's a fun enough casual round once you know how to navigate. However, if you are driving up this far north there are way better courses you could seek out if you head a bit west towards the Schaumburg/Elgin area.