There are a lot of courses that feel similar around Pittsburgh. That's no surprise as most are designed, excellently, by the same guy. Most often these courses play through tight woods and demand precision. Nothing wrong with all that, but this course does present a very nice change of pace from that style. It really looks and feels, to me, like a DGPT course. The kind that plays well on television.

There are multiple water carries on this course, which is fun to me. You don't get that just anywhere. #1 is a nice cattail pond. #4 is a terrifying water carry from the Gold tee and #18 at the long pin actually plays water twice.

I enjoy the mixture of hole styles. The first subset of 6 holes has a few true campus holes, where you are playing right in the middle of the action. It feels like "park golf". The second set is very wide open, tour style golf and the final six are more wooded and precise. The course never feels repetitive. You really do get to see a lot of the Slippery Rock campus along the way.

You could argue that it's a bit too wide open. There is very little trouble to get into on the entire stretch from 7-14. Most holes are defined more by their length than by real trouble that could lead to damage on the scorecard.

It is right in the middle of campus at times. #2 plays along a sidewalk. #3 Gold feels like you're blocking the way to the gym. The campus cops look at me strange every time I make the walk from 4 to 5. I have seen multiple people lose discs to the football field on 7. The walk from 17 to 18 takes you past people's bedroom windows in an apartment complex.

There is a bathroom in the gym and commonly a portable in the parking lot during football season. They say you need a parking pass to come here during school year. I can tell you I have come multiple times without a pass without issue, but I'm probably rolling dice more than telling you it's safe to do so.

After the round stop and have a sandwich at Bob's Sub Shop in town. It's been a tradition for a long time and you'll get a great sandwich.

This review refers to the 2015 Worlds Gold layout. Beautiful setting with plenty of wide open crushes mixed in with some OB (strings and water) to keep you on your toes. Most of the holes are relatively open and favor the biggest arms, but a few touch shot holes are included for variety. Holes 1-5 can be tricky, especially with the water OB on 1 and 4. Hole 4 made me wish I was young again, as those of us with average arms are forced to throw across the short part of the pond and then play a scary left-right shot around trees with thirsty OB water near the pin. The big armed youngsters throw a crush straight across the pond...much more fun! Holes 16-18 provide a great finishing stretch with a variety of tee shots ranging from easy putter (16) to crush roller or air shot (17) to a finesse mid-rangy tee shot to set you up for a scary pond shot onto a small peninsula (18). Great fun (and sphincterizer).

Can be very hard to follow with some very long walks between holes. Hard to judge distances...markers would be great on this course!

I did not appreciate Slipper Rock fully until I walked it during the Worlds 2015 Finals. This course is made for spectating, with beautiful views that combine aesthetics with technical appreciation. The view from behind the pin on 4 with the pond and trees was breathtaking, as were the rolling hills and sculpted landscape from the tee of hole 12 (the finishing hole of the Finals). This ranks among the top of the most beautiful venues for watching Disc Golf that I have ever experienced.