Pros:
+ The whole course takes place within an expansive and breezy park.
+ Two tee pads per every hole are uniformly made from a singular slab of level and sturdy concrete. Each pad has its own sign, too.
+ All baskets have bright yellow numbered arrows suspended from the bottom to tell players which way to go next!
+ Quite a few elevation changes: both uphill and downhill.
+ It is a mostly open course to encourage big power throws with some devious wooded holes interspersed.
Cons:
- Despite how clean and well-built the tee pads are, they are too narrow and not long enough. Perhaps I am just too tall with freakishly long legs, but I had to start completely off the pad each time I wanted to do a wind up.
- No lost disc box. I could be wrong about this. I did not look everywhere.
- Quite a few tee signs ought to be replaced or updated. Some are still displaying some kind of older layout when there were two baskets on each hole like holes 1, 7 and 9. Other tee signs do not have the OB or water features marked on them when it would be really handy to know about ahead of time like holes 4 through 6.
- A few of the yellow arrows pointing to the next hole are pointing in the absolute wrong direction. Holes 9 and 12 come to mind.
Other Thoughts:
My favorite hole to play here was hole 6 because not only is it a glorious downhill glide, but the landscape changes from wide open to tree-dodging partway through with a stream to avoid as a bonus. To my mind, it was the liveliest hole.
My favorite hole to look at was hole 10. Atop a hill with the parking lot at your back, the player is treated to a grand view of the mountains in the distance.
My least favorite hole here is hole 4 because I didn't realize until much later that I played it incorrectly. Plus, I saw it as being the ugliest part of the course.
But as for the course as a whole, Bud and Carol Billiard DGC is a nice place to play our sport. (I feel as though it is important to say the course's full name: Bud and Carol Billiard-- not just Bud Billiard) I would say that the hills are the most noticeable feature. Whether out in the open or in the woods, there are hills and valleys to contend with. The steepest of which is probably hole 15's uphill battle.
The woods themselves don't offer too much of an obstacle, if I can be honest. They are a welcomed contrast to the wide open holes, though. Hole 13 is as dense as the trees get here, and the rest are wide tunnels or tree-dodging hybrid holes. So even though all golfers can enjoy playing here with the elevation challenges, it feels designed for the power players with all these open fields. Yes, it may feel that way, but the two tees at every hole make sure that newer players also have a chance to enjoy Billiard's terrain- even if that terrain gets samey after awhile.
The tee signs are a real drawback, though. At hole 4, I had no idea that there was any OB, so I threw wide to the right because that seemed the easiest way to get to the pin. One throw later, I found myself stepping over one of those vertical white stakes in the ground which usually signify OB. The sign didn't say it. Neither did hole 5's. And there wasn't anything particularly treacherous or foreboding about those areas to cause my to think that they might be OB areas. Update the signage, please.
All in all, Billiard is a competently structured course with lots of satisfying hills in a wide-open area. The golf isn't so tough except for distance and the occasional tree tunnel, but it is still a nice time in a quiet place. It won't do much to dazzle, but you should still check it out if you're in the mood for a relaxed session with breezy vistas and a cleanly manicured course.