First I must profess that my excitement for the opening of this course is particularly high. As a native of Rhode Island (now living in South Carolina) I have been anxious to see some signs of local disc golf growth in the state. Ninigret Park remains a worthy course, but an addition is warmly welcomed.

Here are my overall comments:
- While there is only one Par 4 of the ten holes installed, many of the Par 3s are long and tough. Plus the course is mostly wooded, so accuracy off the tee is critical for good scoring. It is a course that requires ~950 rating level play to break even par from my first impression. Easiest holes from recollection were 1, 4, 5 and 10. I also thought the course was a good balance between being an honest challenge to skilled players while not being overly brutal to newbies.
- I really liked the elevation profile of the course. Only 1 moderately steep uphill (hole 2). Otherwise the course has some nice ups and downs with some really good pin placements.
- There is a network of old stonewalls that frame many fairways adding some great overall character to the course. I believe many of the walls play as OB boundaries as well. Reminds me of Borderland State Park, One of my favorite courses in MA.
- The tee signs/pads and baskets are all nicely done. They were actually working on the teepads while I was there which was exciting to see.
- From reading different articles in the local paper, they have done an outstanding job securing course sponsors. I was really impressed and glad to see the local business community support this.

- It is a relatively big park, so at first I had a difficult time finding the course. Once I got my bearings the parking lot was central to several tee pads and the hole sequence itself was easy to navigate.
- There was some poison ivy on 4-5 holes so watch out for that. It appeared that they were trying to remove it (not a fun course maintenance task).
- There is a walking path that cuts through the course in 2-3 different places. The course designers did a good job with tee and basket placements where this should not be a big issue. Watch out throwing long on hole 1, and way left on Hole 5 otherwise you are fine. However, the path was busy so do be careful.
- I am glad it is in a busy park, because I think it can provide a lot of exposure to disc golf to Rhode Islanders(disc golf is still very foreign at this point). However, I did get mixed feedback from people I came across while playing the course. Most were very friendly and intrigued, however I did come across a few who were very negative. Not sure what their specific issues were, but I did my best to give them my disc golf sales pitch. I just hope there is no us against the disc golfers mentality develop here.

- I am incredibly curious about the layout of the remaining 8 holes. It looks like there is some areas in the park with more open space where they could hopefully add 1 or 2 more par 4s or even a par 5. It would be awesome if they were able to fit in a legit Par 58 course. Either way, I have a lot of confidence that the remaining holes will be well designed based on the installation of the first 10.
- Maybe I am missing it, but I would love to see them develop a stronger social media facebook presence. It would be great to join some locals on a league round whenever I am back home and really build a club presence at this course.
- I guess my ultimate hope is that this becomes a model course Rhode Island can point to and inspire the development of a few more courses in the state. Time will tell, but this course is a huge addition to the area.
- As it stands, my rating is a firm 4 and honestly could go up to 4.5 when the remaining 8 holes are finished. Definitely check this one out and spread the word that Disc Golf is finally here in Rhode Island (thought I would never say that)