The course is beautiful. The view is stunning and the course grounds are just fantastic. The money for the Golf Cart is money well spent these are long holes and not every hole is set up is basket to start. There can be a fair distance between holes. Very well marked and a very good course map is provided at the pro shop. You do not need a reservation just know you can't start before 3pm. The fun factor is a solid 10. A nice balance between technical and long bombs. Nothing is just out in the open every hole has a challenge but never impossible. Only one hole was a cause for concern in loosing a disc. If you play the course smart you will end up with a good score and no lost discs. We got to the area a 1:30 had a nice lunch, then headed to the course. Dogs are allowed but you must keep them on a leash and pick up after them. The cart is a bonus and for the money is worth it. Total cost at the time I played was $15 this is with the cart a bargain.

Don't be afraid of this course if you don't have a monster arm. I throw about 300 to 350 and on this course was throwing at 270 to 300. I ended up with only a +5. As always solid up shots and good putting was the key. Hole 15 is 1000+ feet and looks worse than it is. That is a part 5 so with 3 300 foot shots and a good up I stilled made par.

The only con I found was yielding to Golfers, they have the right of way. There was never any problems at all, everyone was nice about it. They where more curious about what I was doing than anything. They are there for the same reason, having fun so it was all good. I found it funny when one guy sliced two golf balls into the out of bounds rough, he cussed and blamed his poor play on the course.

This is only 1.5 hours out of Denver so is a great destination drive out of Denver. Going home can be rough with traffic so going through the town of Deckers provided a more scenic view and a fun drive. It is worth it for a close up view of the Mountains. If your here visiting Colorado this is a perfect place to go. Challenging but not mind numbing as some Mountain courses are.

-This course is SUPER long and also very challenging. It definitely helps to have a big arm out here, but course par is also fair for those players that can't throw it quite as far.
-There are no throw away holes here. Every single basket placement is surround by obstacles in one way or another, whether it be trees, water, OB, etc... Baskets that are out in the open are usually set right near an OB line which makes shot selection and disc placement key.
-There's a good variety of shots here (although the back 9 gets a little long) your approach shot to the basket is different on almost every hole.
-Good use of elevation here, both uphill and downhill shots come into play.
-The course itself is very easy to follow. Each basket has an arrow hanging from the cage, pointing you to the next tee. There are also tee signs at every hole too.
-There are no cement tees pads here, but most of the holes start from the ball golf's tee box, so footing was not an issue (even in March when there was snow and standing water in areas).
-All of the paths, sand traps, and greens play as OB, which adds to the challenge on this course and also protects the ball golf course.
-Although a lot of times you'll be throwing a max distance type of shot, this course will also make you throw just about every other shot in your bag. The variety of basket placements coupled with the OB really makes each hole unique.
-It's really nice to have a new, true gold level course in Colorado that caters to Advanced/Open players.
-The golf carts are a major pro as well to save those legs from having to walk this massive course.

-EDIT: My only con in the original review was about the Gateway Titan baskets with the tiny little cage. These have been updated with Dynamic Discs Veterans that catch extremely well, no more cons, a true 5 star course.

This course is $10 pay to play, and worth every penny. Shining Mountain will challenge even the best of players. This course is very long and challenging, but is a must play for any disc golf enthusiast!