I've played this course a few times now. I think the designers did a great job using the elevation and vegetation to create fun holes. There's a good balance of up, down, across little valleys and sideslope holes. Didn't 'blow' the elevation in one or two big bomber holes. I love the hilly CA oak woodland like Stafford, Napa... The branching of old oaks makes for some super fun tee shots and upshots and putts. Great views. Pads are well maintained and do the job and the Mach Vs are fine, although I prefer baskets with bright bands (less industrial)...

Signage and navigation need improvement! Sucks to come first time and be confused where next tee is when you really just want to soak in and enjoy that first experience. And there's some awkward hole transitions, like going up and down the same hill on consecutive holes. I've got bad feet so the rocky terrain off trail can beat you up. But like most courses, especially oak woodlands, you have tons of hardpan soils and some sketchy trails that have been walked-in. The most annoying thing is the repeated potential for blind roll aways which can get lost in tall grass or roll into brush where you have no idea where to look! Too many baskets on steep slopes. Could use more benches.

I might consider rated Taylor a 4 if it weren't for the blind roll-away potential. It's a fun killer! But once you know the course you can make educated decisions and enjoy a quick fun round with elevation and views.

When I rate courses I will typically give something a 4 if it had a good layout, some good elevation, some scenery, and challenging for more advanced players, but still playable with enjoyment for less advanced players like myself. I'll start with the pros of Taylor Mountain.

First off, it is in a well-maintained space in a park in the hills of Santa Rosa. On a dry day the course is very pretty and uses it's space well. There is a fence surrounding the whole course that separates it from the rest of the park and I think that makes it contained in a good way. There were brooms at just about every tee-pad and there were 18 baskets and tees. If you've played disc golf enough you'd know this isn't always the case as advertised.

I think the course is very fair, and uses its elevation well. Nice mixture of dog legs and straighter shots. Lastly, I think it is a solid place to have as your home course. It is a course that will likely only take 90 minutes tops to play and offers enough for all types of players.

There are a few cons that couldn't push me to make this a 4-disc course. The first few holes had great signage next to the rubber tee-pads, but the rest of the course was not consistent in that regard. The first time I played here I had to keep asking people where to go because there wasn't really a lot of direction or tee signs. Along with that, there are a few spots where you throw up the same hill two holes in a row which is not the greatest design.

It also will get very wet after a rain. (Yes, it does rain in California) I made the mistake of going a few days after heavy rains. Lastly, I think many of the holes are similar distances and shots. There isn't a whole lot of diversity in the course design, but sometimes that's the plot of land you're given.

I would definitely recommend this course. The elevation changes, natural beauty of the park, and rolling hills make it fun. There are nice little patches of rocks surrounding areas of the course which is really cool in this setting. If you're passing through Santa Rosa and the North Bay I'd recommend giving Taylor Mountain a go!

Has practice basket

Has rubber tee pads

Has tee signs

More open than wooded fairways with most holes having changes in elevations - which will be fun to the casual player

Nice scenery

Porta potty

Tee pads are slippery when wet

Course design and flow could use improvement there are awkward transitions between holes 3&4, 7&8, 10&11 and holes 12&18 have intersecting fairways

Needs more next tee signs - recommend a course map for the first-timer

No variety in pars - par 54

Many opportunities to lose discs here via OB barbed wire fencing - recommend backup discs

Has rocky terrain - recommend discs with good durability

Pay to park

This a nice, fun 18 hole course in Santa Rosa that I enjoyed playing while vacationing out here. I probably would have had more fun if it hadn't just rained earlier on the day I played. The rubber tee pads here are slippery when it rains and they also get caked on with mud. Thankfully the local disc golf club has provided the tee pads with brooms. For the most part, the course flows well but there are some awkward transitions between holes. After I finished hole #2, I headed to hole #4 and almost skipped hole #3. I had to consult the course map to get my bearing on where hole #3 is. Fortunately the course has been worn in some where there are walking paths that can be followed throughout most of the course. By the way, the new course map that was uploaded is much better than the previous one that I used. Transitions between holes 7&8 and 10&11 requires backtracking toward the previous hole and can have potential safety issues if the course is crowded. Of course, holes 12 and 18 have intersecting fairways which could have been avoided in my opinion. Given the limited amount of space, I think the designer utilized the terrain as best as possible to create the variety of required drives shooting uphill, downhill, and across valleys and slopes. While the OB barbed wire fencing can be intimidating to some, the threat of losing discs in OB becomes even greater when the winds start kicking up. Some of this course has a rocky terrain so one might want to use discs that have better durability than a typical starter set. It's a fun course to play and I recommend it if you're in the area.

- great use of the land, lots of elevation change
- many shots that utilize the trees to make for some fun shots
- great flat rubber tee pads
- bathrooms at the parking lot
- good variety of distances with some shorter 200 foot shots to some 400 foot shots.

- tee signs have not handled the weather well, and are fading and delaminating
- they have some navigation signs but could really use some more
- the course has a odd flow to it, many trails kind of cross back across fairways to get to the next few pads and there are some chances for injury

Could be a real good course with some added signage and maybe a few basket placements changed.

• A number of interesting and varied shots that are very par friendly
• Good park for beginners/intermediate types
• Very good tee boxes (rubber mat type), although when these mats get wet you can slip quite easily. Also has multiple brooms on each hole as well as poles for disc-in-tree retrieval.
• Beautiful park with nice views of the surrounding area
• Decent signage, although I would orient them differently as they're currently not in a way I'd call 'immediately obvious' which way the hole flows. These look temp to me anyway.

• 1 port-a-potty restroom with no water
• In spots it's a bit tricky to navigate due to the terrain but if you follow the map and the nicely established paths, you'll be ok.
• One crisscross hole and a couple holes that are close together so a bit of head swiveling is required.
• Pay to park ($7. Minor quibble. No quibble at all if the money goes to the course.)

Tips:
• Do use the map. One is at the entrance to the course.
• There are a couple holes where a spotter is a good idea (5 and 8 for sure due to the blind basket and hill shape, and maybe 9 and 18 depending on your shot choice).

Random Thoughts:
Reading the early reviews on this course, my expectations were a little low but I must say, I (and my fellow discers) really enjoyed this course. To set the scene, we played it on a Sunday morning with very little wind. The course overall was probably about half full and there was a fairly steady stream of folks coming in over the course of our round, which took about two hours (although some of the folks are headed for the trails nearby). But even though there were a good amount of people around, we never once waited or were waited on, which was great, of course. As for the course design, I really enjoyed the variety of shot shapes that are available, although like most courses, it does favor the RHBH juuuuust a little too much. I have an LHBH that plays with me and I always feel bad when I see a few holes in a row that clearly favor one style over another. I know, tell them to learn a forehand/flip shot/blah blah blah...you know what I mean. Having said that, I found the course to be very fair actually. Pars and birdies are all over the course and I left the day +1, only due to an errant OB shot on 2. It's only really 13, 16, and 18 that stretch your arm due to either being severely uphill (13, 16) or just long (18). All other shots, I would say are well within range of the average player which means......the advanced player/pros will eat this course alive (or dead). Is that a bad thing? For me, no. But I could see others saying the course is too easy (without the wind anyway). As I said, I really enjoyed my round. Even almost aced 17. I don't feel it's necessary to give a hole by hole breakdown as the map does a fine job showing you the layout. The only other thing you need to know is the baskets on 13 and 8 are on the top of the two hills which are probably 40'ish off the valley floor. That should give you the full sense of what each hole represents. Overall, a nice mixture of up and down with a few 'let it fly' and 'touchy technical' mixed in.

Bottom Line:
Yea, there's still a little bit of fine-tuning to be done and it doesn't have the amenities of other courses, but this is a very impressive use of this space. What the course designers have done here is to be commended. There's also a lot of potential for mixing in additional tee/basket positions. While the Pros might yawn and move on, I'm very much looking forward to my next visit (and getting an under-par round gawldangit!). Great job folks!

Fun course! I found the elevation changes to be one of the best challenges of this course. Many of the teepads are on top of hills with a sharp drop off in at the beginning, giving you a chance to really power it. The course designers have made great use of the land contours. Challenging up/over hill shots. The rocks around the baskets made for challenging footing on medium/long range putts. Nice oaks make for good obstacles. Great location, with a nice view of the valley. Teepads are done well. Course design is great.

Playing this course shortly after heavy rains made for muddy/slippery footing and some isolated quagmires. With the steep hills this may lead to erosion. I think there may be a natural spring in one location that should probably be OB. Stairs are needed in some places to prevent erosion. Perhaps some marked/maintained trails would be good too. Crossing fairways are not ideal, but manageable.

The barbed wire fence surrounding the course is a bit of a pain, but actually adds a bit of real risk/reward. Overall: great job by the UFOs! Thanks for the hard work and dedication to the sport.

They've done well with the space available. This course has quite a bit of elevation and some fun shots. The efforts of the UFOS have been impressive to date, and I think there is some more room for growth, too (new pins, etc.).

Some overlap of fairways, and some pin locations are rather close to other pins.

Can be pretty muddy after it rains but ... this drought might render that point moot.

Watch out for ticks. Don't trespass onto private property (the parks dept. is serious about this).

- fun shots abound on this intermediate level course. Ups, Downs, Left, Right. Nothing too crazy all par 3s but will challenge good players and provide an excellent basis for beginners to get better

- great use of the limited land by the designers. As with any piece of public park, the area allotted to the designers was pretty tight. They made great use of the land and somehow squeezed a full 18 out of it.

- enough baskets on slopes to be an equalizer. Some good roll away potential here. I saw it numerous times for people trying that 40ft putt. Made me want to lay up when I had that sort of distance on my putt.

- Awesome tees. Great job by the UFOs on getting these in.

- minutes from downtown Santa Rosa ensures that this course will see a good deal of use. It's the kind of course you could play every day. Weeklies and Dubs are already happening. A great gift for the people of the area!

- possible to move some basket locations to a more challenging alt pin

-awesome views of the larger park area, santa rosa, Mt St Helena, and geyser Peak

- maybe a little tight for my liking, but hardly a true con.

- could get crowded. But grow the sport right?

- some shots are seemingly too easy. But again, in this location, with the amount of people that will use it, the shots are appropriately designed

When I played, it was really windy. I'd expect those conditions much of the time especially on summer afternoons. This is a plus not a con for me. Wind is definitely a great way to make those death putts even more difficult, and I saw crazy carnage all over the place here. Without the wind it will still be tough to not think about that 60ft rollaway on many putts.

Overall a really fun course, a great addition to the UFOs course portfolio. I could easily see a day spent split between here and stafford, or in the summer at Lake Sonoma, Taylor, and Stafford to cap off a great day of disc golf.

Great to see/play a new Bay Area 18 hole course!
Beautiful views and scenic terrain.
Lots of variety of downhill, uphill, etc.
A signature hole - very tight window (maybe 6 feet wide?) to throw through a bunch of oak trees across a valley.
Difficult/technical basket placement
Great vibe with everyone I ran into playing out there.
Good teepads and temporary hole signs.

I felt like most of the shots were just forcing me to throw straight/accurately. The design seemed to miss any demanding hyzer or anhyzer shots.
Only one basket position per hole - I'm sure this will change as the course gets worked on.
A few holes close to one another, but no major problem.
Since it was former cattle grazing land, it stunk of cow dung and there were cow patties everywhere. Shoes were a mess when I got back to the car. As the rains come and the course gets worked in, I'm sure this will improve.

Overall, I thought it was a fun round, but when my first round is -2 on a course I've never played before and throwing an OK round, it needs some tougher/more technical holes. A great beginning to what should be a great course in the future.