-The layout (bar a few holes I'll discuss later) is brilliant. Fantastic mix of distance, placement, shot shaping and gap hitting.
-Elevation is used fantastically. You are challenged to throw up and downhill as well as on heavily inclined lies.
-Wide fair fairways
-High quality baskets (Mach Xs)
-Visually it's a very nice course
-Good use of the water hazards. Hole 5 asks for an 80m water carry, but there is a drop zone you can proceed to if you would rather not lose a disc. Used fairly as OB on a couple of other holes.

-Completely lacking course equipment other than baskets. No signage and very few tee pads. Alot of tee areas are uneven/change gradient
-Some holes definitely require a revamp. Tree growth/changes forced by the university have completely destroyed the lines on a few holes, especially 6 and 12.
-Spotters are definitely required, and the plurality there is intended. Many of the holes are blind or have incredibly thick rough, so they are essential for safety and speed of play/disc retention.
-This course would not be playable during university term time. So many of the holes play by buildings/busy roads/pedestrian thoroughfares it just wouldn't be feasible. However outside of term time it seemed to work fantastically for events.

It feels odd that for such a historic and prestigeous course in the UK it feels so disengaged from the community. There is no student club presence on campus and seemingly limited local club presence (likely due to constraints from the university). With an active club taking care of it a bit more this course could easily be a 4.5, but right now it really wouldn't play that well outside of a tournament to justify a higher rating.

The University of Essex campus offers a scenic setting in Wivenhoe Park for 27 holes of disc golf. The main 18-hole course winds through the campus going up and down hills as well as over valleys. There's a solid balance of lefty vs. righty holes. The online website is very well done featuring hole-by-hole descriptions. The targets are multi-chain baskets of some brand that I wasn't familiar. There's water in play on a couple holes, which is always a nice challenge.

Tee boxes are natural and utilize various different marking techniques. Some boxes are marked by 12"x12" paver stones at the front, a couple boxes attempt to make the entire box out of the paver stones. However, most boxes are marked with a simple wood board at the front of the box.

The toughest tee shot on the course ("The Lake") has probably the worst condition tee box, it's a mud pit after any bit of rain. No tee signs or distances. Duck/geese poop almost completely covering a few fairways. "The Lake" hole is an impressive challenge requiring a drive of 230+' to clear it through either of two small gaps, which is too much to ask of some lower level players.

I played this course several times for the 2011 British Open. The Open's layout skipped a couple of the normal holes, added a couple new holes, and tweaked the teebox locations of many others. In spite of this I still got a good idea of how the normal course plays. Each hole has a cute British name, which I heard was somewhat common for British courses. Collect your birdies on the short holes because the longer holes will test your ability to avoid carding 4's and 5's.

The golf that this course offers is good, however the overall course is hampered by the poor tee boxes and lack of any signage. With some basic improvements this could be a really nice course.