Pros:
• Lush park with lots of other amenities including drinking fountains and bathrooms
• Subtle Elevation change on a number holes
• Good mix of moderately wooded and wide open hoels
• Water! The pond comes into play on a few holes including one hole (Hole 5 I think) that goes almost directly across one of the ponds.
• Nice, clean Discatchers with (correct) numbering on them, I wish the tees were the same way
• Doesn't ever seem to get crowded with Disc Golfers, and the non-Golfers are aware that there is a DG Course here and largely stay off of it with their picnicking.
Cons:
• No marked tees or tee signs anywhere. I played for the first time and had to be a guide for a 5 person group using only the map from DGCR. Needless to say, I felt like I was geocaching at times trying to match up terrain with an aerial view of the park.
• Occasional picnickers and fisherman can get in the way of your tee shots, especially on weekends. Not the worst I've seen, but I did have recalibrate my tee off position on 2 holes. Since there are no tees anyway this really didn't matter much
Other Thoughts:
I went to a recent family gathering at Ford Park in Redlands, and after finding out the location I was determined to play the DG Course while I was there. It was a large family birthday party, and I was fairly confident that no one played Disc Golf. I brought 5 extra drivers and putters to see if anyone would like to join in the fun. I got 4 of my relatives (who were all first timers) to go out and throw the course with me. Teeing off on Hole 2 my cousin shanked one of my loaner discs right into the pond! I had a good laugh on that one. Then another one of my cousins ended up a foot from the water which is on the left side of holes 3 and 4. Lots of good laughs, and a good opportunity to give a quick lesson on anhyzers before I ran out of discs.
I was pleasantly surprised by both the beauty and variety at this course, especially with the elevation change and the water mixed in - This is rare in Socal for 9 hole courses. I would almost say the course exceeded my expectations, but the lack of any tees or tee markers really puts a dent in the rating here. With proper tees and signs, this course could easily be a 3.5 in my opinion. I wasn't as lucky as the previous reviewers; I didn't see a single other disc golfer out there and thus had no frame of reference as to where to tee off. I had to approximate where the tees were located based on the course map/aerial shot found here on the course page. My family were good sports about the whole thing, but it was especially annoying when I came to what I consider the signature hole which is over about 150 feet of pond, then down an embankment to the basket which is at a slight hyzer angle. My noob companions decided not to throw it (they felt bad about losing discs earlier in the round), But I ripped my Archon over the body of water to within 20 feet of the basket, then clanged the putt for a birdie. The way I threw the hole, it was about 290 feet.
Safari is definitely a possibility here, but really not my style - I like Safari golf about as much as I like Pole Holes. Teepads/Markers are an integral piece of course design, and the rating on this course takes a big hit because that element is missing. If I was in the area and had some time, I'd definitely go back and play again - but I think I'd hang out near the first tee for a while and attempt to procure some locals who are familiar with the layout. That might make it a bit more worthwhile.