Pros:
Prides Creek DGC is a standard park style 18 hole course in a multiuse park that plays alongside the lake for the majority of the round. The grounds are well maintained and the course steers clear away from other activities for the most part. The course features some rolling grassy hills and enough trees to force you shape a shot on many of the holes.
The baskets are Gateway Titans. Not my personal favorite baskets but they get the job done. These catch fine and are certainly durable enough. There appeared to be two baskets a hole on some of the holes.
Concrete tee pads on every hole. These are average sized but poured nice and level and had good grip to them. There's a single pad on every hole with the exception of holes 8 and 9 which had two each. This was a bonus to have two pads on these two specific holes as they both require a water carry and are two of the harder holes on the course. Good call to offer a shorter option on these holes.
The design is pretty well done out here. Good flow and the course sticks to the edges of the lake which does maximize the views throughout the round for sure and maximizes the best quality of the land the course is installed on. The lake.
The course stays away from most other activities the best that it can. Nobody can stop people from picnicking by the lake or fishing, but besides things like that it's basically disc golf exclusive.
Nice tee signs. Basic map that shows any OB and mandos as well as other nearby landmarks which gives you a good sense of the hole. Additionally there's the hole #, par and distance. Solid.
Cons:
There's plenty of chances to lose a disc out here with the lake being right there on many of the holes. Which should be a given.
Goose shit everywhere. One of the reasons I don't care for courses next to lakes or even ponds. All over the fairways, all over the tee pads, all over your shoes and usually your discs. Everywhere.
The holes all feel pretty similar. There's a couple unique ones, I guess, out of the 18 here. But it's miss a tree or two and don't throw it in the water. Repeat. It's not even that pretty of a lake tbh.
The last few holes have you walking an unnecessary distance to get to the next tee for no added benefit other than a little bit more distance. There's not even any water involved on these either.
You'll need to pay to enter the park. $5 a car as of this review. Pretty steep for the quality of golf you get in my mind.
Other:
This was course 1000 for me and while it was a fine round of golf it wasn't anything like I was expecting based on the rating on here. I've played courses that bordered lakes before. Quite a few actually. This was one of the least impressive on that front. In fact I played a better course along a prettier lake later this day. The fact that this course is the highest rated on DGCR in IN is hilarious. This course is the definition of average but with a view of a glorified pond. Worth a play I suppose but it was a letdown for me.
