+ Brand new install in a large hilly and wooded park. White DisCatchers, good signage, and large, level asphalt tees. Practice basket, porta-potty. Although it's a multi-use park, there isn't much else around. No pavilions or visible hiking trails. There's an unmarked asphalt area the size of a basketball court (more on that later), but no evidence that disc golf will interfere with other park patrons


+ It's a mostly solid layout with a handful of really good holes taking advantage of the natural features. Hole #7 is open, but plays up through a gap of mature trees guarding the green. Hole #9 starts open, but goes into a narrow alley the width of an old road. Hole #17 is an absolutely gorgeous downhill featuring narrow lanes through deep woods and over an old rock wall.


+ With few exceptions noted in "Cons," the rest of the holes are good, typical park holes: mostly open, baskets tucked to one side or the other, and often including significant change in elevation. A few left-to-right shapes.

- One bad hole: #3 is a right angle dogleg to the left, coming out of a wooded chute onto an open field. There's a Mando to prevent cutting the corner. It's only 216' total, but the distance is almost evenly split between the two legs. A birdie would require a 90 - 100 degree turn, and traveling seventy feet or so just to make C2. Otherwise, the only possible birdie would be a fairway throw-in.


- Unfortunately, Hole #3 just brings you to a wide open field and Hole #4 is just 250' across that field, with no features or obstructions. Want to see this hole? Look for a picture in the dictionary under "filler hole."


- One "unique local" hole: #16 is a downhill 364' par 3, but it features a huge OB area (the unmarked basketball court) straddling the entire fairway between 250' and 300' off the tee. You can lay up, you can go for it, you can skip off the pavement down into oblivion. Your choice. Not a "bad" hole inasmuch as one with a very unusual challenge.

~ One of the first features you'll notice about Skywood is how much the layout crosses over itself. There are a few longish walks, and a beautiful winding path through the woods from #12 to #13 to protect players from incoming throws. There might be some danger on crowded days (for example, the tee for #15 is hidden and just to the right of the line on #14 - a long uphill throw, and a little griplock could bomb players on the next tee.


~ The layout may seem a bit confusing, but there's excellent directional signage in the spots where you need to cross other fairways or pass other tees. But the benefit is that every hole makes the most of what the park's natural features provide.


~ The hills and foliage create an unusual number of blind teeshots (for example, the first three holes require walking ahead to locate the baskets). This is only a problem your first time through. Don't depend on the teesigns: the drawings are accurate in a general sense, but not detailed enough to give you an exact sense while standing at the tee.


~ Wooded parts of the course appear to be recovered areas that were used for dumping. Be on the lookout for broken glass.


~ Overall, this is a solid three, maybe some will give it a 3.5, and I almost could on the strength of the best holes. But the entire picture has to consider the not-so-great ones too. It's a fun play, it's a very good example of a park course that makes the most of what it has to work with. Lots of work has gone into it, and it's a great addition to the area (nearby courses are Yetter and Pinebrook).