Pros:
When you see the big Army Corps of Engineers course sign in the parking lot, you know this is going to be a great ride. 1-9 and 10-18 loop right back to the parking lot so a mid-round break is an option.
Everything is in great condition. Tee signs are quality, tees are plenty big and most have benches, and the baskets are in excellent shape. Shame they chose green since... you know, grass and trees and such.
The setting of this course is nice. A nice lake to look over from a few holes, and plenty of elevation jumps. Campers and boaters will be your only company... that and whatever the weird radio tower cult is by hole 16.
Getting into the holes themselves, most combine two or three challenges but the heavily wooded holes are the highlights. Hole 2 is a long tunnel to a tricky green; 3 is blind around a long corner; 4 is a low ceiling for the first 150ft, comes out into the open, and then the elevation goes up 10 ft at about a 60° angle and has some of the pins up there (tee shot placement is huge for those two longer pins) and 5 plays back down the elevation drop and is a very thin fairway for the next 450' to the far pin. These holes stand out over the rest of the round as some of the best designed.
But that's not to say the rest of the holes are boring! Most of them combine two or three challenges in a great way. 7 has a low ceiling off the tee before having a tree to beat in the middle of the fairway, 13 is a decently long hill with OB threatening the forehand player, 15 is long and then hides a deceptively good tunnel green (although I am going to complain about that hole in a minute) and 17 has some sneakily good pin spots.
A few other well-designed holes: 6 is a nice, long downhill with tricky pin spots for only having 8ish trees on the fairway. 8 is a long hole that tempts you to really air it out, but the wind off the lake might change your plans.
Cons:
Getting this out of the way early, I've heard the course has gone uncared for to the point that it's unplayable. I didn't have this problem on my trip, but it may be something to ask the locals about before making the drive out there.
My bigger complaint is that some of the holes that used to be more open no longer are due to some trees growing up. Hole 11 seems like it was a nice, challenging tunnel which is now overgrown and the only line is over the top. The same goes for hole 18 which is just 11 in reverse, 7's mid-fairway tree has gotten a bit out of control, and 12 seems like it used to have more space to work with than it does now. This isn't a prevailing issue, but it takes away from what would be some great holes. With more aged trees comes more need of trimming!
Holes 10, and 14-17. They are all long, open, board flat fairways with decent greens (apart from 16), but the issue of them being so long and so wide open off the tee makes it seem like they're only here to inflate the course distance. 10 has a nice standard wooded green, while 15 you have to get to the mouth of the tree tunnel (475ft away) to make whichever green it's on, 14 is behind a wall of trees 400ft down, and 17 has several varied spots. Hole 16 is really the worst one, with just a 25' wide, 350' long mowed strip between you and the green. It really is the worst hole on the course. The similarities and blandness of these holes take away from the overall course.
When some if not all pin spots are blind on most holes, there really needs to be a marker for which pin position each hole is set in.
A little bit of the navigation is a pain. From 6 to 7 you have to walk down the road you're about to play right back past, and 7 to 8 is the same way. 10 has you come a decent way back up the fairway to tee off on 11. There's not that many of these issues, but they were so big that they were worth noting.
Each hole has 4 pin spots, but some of them had 3ft high grass around them. It just shows a bit of laziness on the part of the maintenance crew which might made me start noticing some of the other issues I mentioned in the second paragraph.
Other Thoughts:
With all the complaints you just read, you might think I hate this course. I don't, but it has the potential to be far, far better than it currently is. The distance bombers, that's fine if it must be kept, just clean out the head-high prairie grass bordering the fairways. Most of the other issues (lines being overgrown, pin spot markers) could be solved with a couple days devoted to cleaning up the course. If I lived closer I'd be dying to help since there is the potential for an incredible course here.
Definitely plan to visit Bloomington Lake if you're in the Lawrence area. It's a nice, secluded getaway, and it offers some great disc golf. Just make sure you won't be swimming in grass fairways before you drive out there.