FAIL!
Went and played the new layout last night. I don't want to offend anyone but (being more inclined towards honesty) the new layout sucks pretty bad.
All but one of the signature holes from the original two layouts has been cut or deformed beyond recognition. The layout on the first 18 holes is far shorter than before and the new 18 was 65% back to back 150' right hand hyzer flick shots and 20% brutalizing over the water shots where there was no fairway, just a teepad, water and then basket (where you either made it all the way to the basket or you lost your disc in the underground lake).
The first 18 holes did not suffer from as much repetition, but it still had five short, RHFH hyzer shots. I saw opportunities to add an extra 100' to 150' on 6 of the first 18 holes and probably close to the same on the second 18. I couldn't find any justification for the new layout choices at all. Having nothing left of several great "signature" holes was also a huge disappointment.
There was also a terrible job done of defining which direction many of the tees were supposed to throw and, to make that even harder, you could often see between two and four baskets at once when you went out to go figure out where the basket was. There were lighted barrels that were supposed to point you to the basket or the next tee... but they were really vague and poorly placed. They could have easily put number signs on the brand new titan baskets, but instead chose to tie tiny little balloons with the number in magic marker to the bottom of the baskets... it was stupid and you couldn't see them unless you walked all the way up and picked up the balloon to turn it around.
I did find out that neither Mark Dudenhoffer nor Joe McKee, the original designers had anything at all to do with the new layout. The owner of Crystal City Underground said that he asked that the course be designed to allow for each 18 hole course to pass the concession stand/bar three times. I don't get it because the original course already started at the concession and portapotty, passed them between 9 and 10 and ended in the same place. I don't see how the new layout changes or improves on that at all. If they aren't getting enough business at the bar and want more frequent use of the portapotty, they could put in 1 more toilet and make use of the 4 golf carts they have to drive around the course selling beer and snacks.
On a positive note, the lighting is better than ever and the new Gateway Titan baskets were a welcome change from the variety of portables from before. There were also plenty of trashcans.
As bad as the course is right now, I, a person who has visited the cave about 20 times previously because of how much I liked it, will not play it again until I hear that the course has been drastically redesigned or returned to its original layout. Oh well, enough whining for now...
