-peaceful park
-the back 4 or 5 holes require some decent distance (not always the case with 9 hole courses)
-not busy
-baskets are in good shape and there are even a couple practices baskets by the parking lot

-very soggy during rainy season
-rubber tee pads are missing on a couple holes and are in poor shape on the others
-most holes are wide open
-no signage whatsoever, first timers will need to use the online map to navigate
-the hole 5 tee area is a little walk from hole 4's basket

I really should have listened to previous reviewers. This park gets wet in the winter! There was so much standing water by hole 6 that a large flock of ducks was swimming in it. I thought it must be the pond on the map, but nope, this was an additional body of water.
But despite all the wetness, I made it through the course and deem it as reasonable.
For me, VanderYacht falls in the category of 'any course is a good course'. There wasn't anything I particularly liked about it, but hey, it provided a nice place to toss my discs and get some walking in.. it's just a bit too open and dull. The highlight for me was how hole 1 plays parallel with the Nooksack River- it was a good start, but it went downhill from there.
If I lived in Ferndale I'd play it often, but I probably won't be making any more trips here just for disc golf.

A couple long fairways (500-700ft) are great for practicing your long drives.

No crowd compared to the usually busy Cornwall in Bellingham.

2 Practice baskets in the picnic area were a great idea. Good for warm-up/practice/goofing around.

Not much variety, mostly just hucking across the field.

Lack of signage makes the first several holes a bit confusing.

Nearby river and a pond put your discs at risk if you're a novice like me. I skipped a couple for fear of losing a disc.

This is a nice quiet park. When I was there it was just me and some folks going for a jog or walking their dogs. It's a great place to practice putts and long drives but as a course it's pretty plain. I'm still not sure the exact order of the first few holes that kind of go back and forth across the smaller field.

Bellinghamsters should check it out if only for the opportunity to play at a more leisured pace and get more throws in compared to a day at Cornwall.

Great new Discatcher baskets with the yellow band on top. Two rubber Flypad teepads on each hole for longs and shorts. They didn't change the difficulty of the hole all that much, usually just made it longer. I agree with previous reviewers who commented that the designers couldn't decide whether they wanted a family/beginner or a longer course for the more advanced player. Instead, they have a course which is too long for beginners/families to enjoy and too open and simple for more advanced players to really find to their liking. Only the two holes near the parking lot have any trees to contend with. There is not one, but two, practice baskets. Personally, I would pull one of these and make another hole somehow shortening # 8 and # 9. # 8 is altogether too difficult of a hole for this course and # 9 is just long and boring. On the other hand, I really liked # 7 where from the long tee, you're throwing across the pond. It's short enough that most every recreational player or better can clear it with no worries but still provides that little rush for some of us wienie armed old men. Probably just for me and the 10 year old girls. # 8 is a monster hole for anyone. It plays to a very narrow fairway with a thick brush OB on the left and the length of the pond on the right. Even from the shorts, I decided the risk/reward was not worth risking losing my driver. # 1 is another scary throw with the Nooksack river on your right side the entire fairway.

There are no signs anywhere. I debated a while whether to start south or north of the parking lot. Finally, I went the right way and played north. The course was easy enough to follow. I saw no numbers on the rubber pads. That would have helped me. Spring for some stick on numbers or at the very least, how about a club member with a sharpie writes the number on the basket somewhere. The day I played, some of the course was standing water. # 2, 3 and 4 had much standing water as well as # 9. I don't know how much rain they've had up there. I was thinking about calling this a three seasons course but maybe I was there after much rainfall.

I found for me, many of these holes very easy to par, but too long for me to birdie (I'm only throwing about 275'). I think for this reason and the openness of it, I would quickly tire of playing here.

Update to my review after multiple rounds over multiple years:
Currently longest holes in greater Bellingham area, NSRA likely has a few longer holes. No wait times or crowds at all, rarely is one waiting for dogs or fellow park users walking on trails - which only comes into play on half of the course on the well maintained trail which link holes 5-9. I sometimes have as much fun playing putting games on the two Discatcher Pro practice baskets that are semi protected from the wind by a semicircle of trees. Views of the grain plant and great sun exposure provide some unique feel to this course.

#1 is Dog Poop. Close #2 is flooding and Close #3 is the teepads. The T-pads that are made of rubber are now dangerous due to the incredible moisture around this course, and I no longer use them, The thick grass stays marshy after a flood, and there is a seasonal pond that develops near the permanent pond which is a hazard for hole 7 (optional) and 8 (very possible to go in that pond off either tee). I have yet to get a call back on any of my multiple disc's I have sacrificed to the pond, and have observed fellows swimming in this "no swimming pond" retrieving discs. It is often difficult to locate discs in the times when the fields are not mowed, which is typically whenever the pond is present. VanDerYacht lacks seclusion of any kind and the fact that there are a few homes lining portions of the course always makes me feel like I'm being observed like a stranger in someone's neighborhood, and not left alone or welcomed like an Oregon neighborhood course like Rockwell or Westmoreland.

I vote we ask to pull the rubber mats that are used as T-pads and replace it with Gravel. Hole 8 plays quite punishing with brambles on the left and pond on the right. Some of these holes feel like throwing in an open field to a randomly placed basket. You many have to sacrifice a disc to the fenced in yard of a homeowner off right side of hole 2 if you go too wide. I enjoy the straight shot of hole 1 . Throwing around the tree on hole 4 gives this course some character. You will notice the houses built on cement columns nearest the course when arriving, testament to the mighty Nooksack river which is accessible at this course and floods this course yearly. This course has little in the way of elevation, similar to Cornwall park. One of the saving graces of this course may be it's close proximity to Riverside Disc golf course on the opposite side of the same river.