Pros:
1) Dual asphalt tees framed by 2x lumber. Generally in good shape. Although somewhat lumpy they still work just fine. There are no confidence issues in the footing, just a little lumpiness.
2) Benches are scattered throughout the course which is always nice.
3) Signs are nice and tall, and colored blue and white posts/stakes. On the holes where tees are in the same location the white post has a blue band around it to show they share the same tee. They help in navigation and the list the hole #, the distance and whether or not it is the pro or am tee. Shared tees say Pro/Am to help avoid any confusion.
4) Challenge is present on many of the holes starting out with the second hole throwing to an island green. Shot shaping is required to get around trees and obstacles and avoiding the water is also a factor on your shot selection and shape.
5) Overall this is an awesome property for disc golf, it has some areas that are very unique. It also has the nice mature trees that help to create a classic style disc golf course. Sure it isn't tightly wooded like many of todays holes, but it has enough trees to force you to throw certain shots and directions.
6) Water is present and creates some challenge on a few holes. #2 is an island green with a decent length of approach to help you avoid the water. #4 basket is tucked within about 25-35' short of the water. #5 throws back onto an island again and #6 the entire hole is on the island. I threw what I thought to eb a parfect shot on #6 and apparently it skimmed off a palmettos and flew into the moat (for lack of a better word) surrounding the island.
7) The location of this course is awesome. It is so close to the beaches of Gulf Breeze and is in a quaint little area. The park is nice and has all sorts of other things going on from tennis, to skateboarding, baseball and I think i saw a basketball court on our way out.
8) Great design taking all of the best areas on this property and utilizing them as best they could. The use of the island and the water was excellent in my opinion. The wooded area of 1, 11-18 was also very well used, natural lanes were clear and baskets were placed very well into spots to make you thread the needle on ocassion, but open enough on many of the holes that a simple hyzer shot would work.
9) Am tees seem appropriate in shortening the holes up and making the water holes less difficult for the beginner (although I still wouldn't call this course
"beginner friendly").
Cons:
1) Damn palmettos shrubs. I can't stand this shrub for disc golf courses because of never really knowing where you may have finished up. You may lose some discs just because of the vegetation. It seems like there isnt much that can be done about the shrubs as I am sure they will keep spreading and sprout up all over I just wish the holes could be more defined than they are and not have the palmettos right in the middle of what I would call a fairway.
2) There are a few areas of the course that are slightly unsafe. Some tees are too close to past baskets, and fairways run too close together. This mainly happens on the back 9, but the area between 5 and 6 isn't real large and an errant drive could easily end up back in the other fairway.
3) The hyzer and straight shot are simply overused here. There are not enough holes that might require an anhyzer shot.
4) The possibility of lost discs here is too great for the three holes in my opinion. Sure I like a challenge but I hate to think about how easy it would be to lose a disc, not only in the water, but in the palmettos too. It is a negative but I would still rather try and execute the shot.
5) Overall not truly forgiving to the beginner. The water may still be in play, and the course has enough trees they better be ready to handle some plinko shots.
6) Parking lot could only handle about 6-10 cars. The walk to the disc golf course from the other parking lot over by the baseball diamond would be a long way, but still manageable.
Other Thoughts:
We left the course at about 5:00 and headed out to the end of the beach in Gulf Breeze. We watched the sunset come down over the gulf and took plenty of pictures. We also drove out the towards the National Seashore and had to drive through a stretch of road that had sand windblown all over it. It felt like I had returned to Wisconsin and it looked the same with the old sand piled up along the road and the new soft sand had blown over the top. It looked exactly like a snow drift.
In terms of the course it truly is 2 different 9's. Holes 2-9 are the tighter more difficult holes and includes the only water on the course. Then you go into the back 9 that is a little monotonous through the tall mature pines and other trees. Someone before me mentioned the family golf is holes 1, 11-18 and the advanced crowd would do better on Holes 2-10. This may be by design because they very easily could have routed the course differently, but either way this course has some holes for everyone and the short tees do help make the tougher front 9 more manageable for the beginners.
It was wonderful to see a family of four out together playing with normal frisbees. I really wanted to tell them they were all "good frolfers" since they were playing disc golf with frisbees, but I had to come back to this site and I would have been feeling guilty. I had a good time and so will you if you keep your mind open. It is a decent course in a great location and for that I have to give it a 3.5. It would draw me to the course if I was in the area and if I ever go through again I will make sure to start dging about an hour and a half before sunset so I have time to get to the beach!