Pros:
The Woods Course at Bill Frederick Park is the newest of the three and is located right at the entrance of the park. The other two courses are at the other end of the large park. It is the shortest, easiest, and most wooded of the three courses. But it's really not to be skipped. I think the ratings for all three courses are about right. I have the Woods Course at 2.5, the Original Course at 3.5, and "T2" at 4.0. But that has more to do with challenge than anything else. All three are well-designed and very fun. The Woods Course just caters more to Rec to Intermediate-level players, whereas "T1" is more Intermediate to Advanced and T2 has something for everyone, up to and including Pro.
+ I'm discovering that this is a personal pet peeve of mine: I hate it when courses label their layouts with color schemes that contradict the PDGA guidelines for Novice, Rec, Intermediate, Advanced, and Pro. Bill Frederick nails it with proper labeling for layouts on all three courses. There is a White (Intermediate) layout on each of the three courses. That's the layout I played. While the Woods Course was the easiest of those three, T2 was the hardest, and T1 was in between, each one was appropriately labeled White/Intermediate and fell into the 880-930 rating range for a par round. To me, this is very helpful in comparing courses across the country and finding the best tracks to challenge you.
Here are the layouts for each of the Bill Frederick courses:
> Woods Course: Red/Rec, White/Intermediate
> T1: Original Course: White/Intermediate, Blue/Advanced
> T2: The Turkeynator: Green/Novice, Red/Rec, White/Intermediate, Blue/Advanced, Gold/Pro
+ The Woods Course was mostly wooded, but there is still a good bit of variety. There are open holes; one nice downhill hole; some left to right, right to left, and straight fairways. The fairway widths are appropriate for the hole length. The shortest holes are also the most technical ones.
+ In terms of Fun Factor alone, I put the Woods Course right up there with the other two more established and higher rated courses. In fact, I may have enjoyed myself more here than on the brutal T2. (I probably had the most fun playing T1.) If you like woods golf, shaping shots and hitting technical lines, you'll enjoy the Woods Course.
+ Several good ace runs on this course. I hit the pole on one hole and my son went right over the band on another.
+ I picked up maps to all three courses at the front gate. They are helpful for navigating the courses. Without maps, there are places you can get lost.
+ The tee pads and baskets were fine. No issues.
Cons:
There's nothing flashy about the Woods Course. It's not the standout of the three tracks at Bill Frederick, but it's not a bad course at all. I think it's a pretty typical 18-hole course. If it was a standalone course at a free public park, I'd have no issues playing it on the regular. Would I pay $5 just to play this course? Meh. Probably not if there are other options. But the beauty of this park is that you get three tracks for $5. And if you pay to play here, you should definitely make time to play all three.
- Of the three tracks, it's the easiest and the least scenic. (It's still pretty, just not above average aesthetically like the other two.)
- While a woods course, there are still several grassy fairways. When I played, the grass was pretty long. Otherwise, the park is very well maintained. I didn't see any trash.
- A few too many sub-200 foot holes for my taste, especially for an Intermediate level course. Ace runs are fun and all, but I thought it was on the easier end of the spectrum compared to its two big brothers.
- Hole 13 is kind of a plinko hole. I couldn't tell if it was an impossible par 3 or an ultra short par 4. UDisc has it as a par 4. Signage and DGCR says par 3. Anyway, it's a poke and hope hole as currently constituted.
- I wouldn't say there's a real stand-out, signature hole here. There are a lot of decent and fun ones, but nothing as memorable as the other two courses on the property. The big downhill hole, #2, was probably my favorite and most memorable.
Other Thoughts:
Don't skip the Woods Course if you're planning a day at Bill Frederick. It's a good change of pace from the other two more open, longer, more difficult tracks. If you're an intermediate player (like me), you're in luck as White/Intermediate is the only layout on all three courses. Check them all out!