Pros:
Welcome to Cane Ridge Advanced aka Big Cane one of Nashville's best.
Challenge - Distance, OB, islands, tiny gaps, treacherous greens, elevation, blind shots, everything you can think of, this course has. The first 3 holes are, in my opinion, the most difficult (and fun) opening gauntlet around. Hole one features the low ceiling, thin tunnel shot. Hole 2 a huge RHBH bomber turnover w/left side OB and a burly upshot from with a uphill runup. Hole 3 is placement, placement, placement. Big elevation change. With 6 par 4s (holes 2, 3, 6, 11, 14, 18) on the course you're going to get to throw some full sends as well as placement shots. With treacherous greens (holes 4, 5, 15) you're going to work on soft landing and nose angle. Uphill (holes 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 14) and downhill (holes 2, 7, 13) elevation changes will give you plenty to work on. Flat, arrow straight shots throw narrow gaps and low ceilings (holes 1, 10, 17) will provide opportunities to fine tune your game. This course has so much for you to progress and elevate your game. No matter how many times you play it, this course keeps you humble. This course is demanding and an excellent stop for all those looking to play local championship level rounds.
Baskets and tee pads - Your classic heavy three chain level Prodigy baskets. They catch as they should. Blue bands make them easy to spot down the wooded fairways. Tee pads are all turf and in reasonably good condition.
Course flow - Good flow. Hole 6, 9, and 18 all end up back at the parking/practice area. Only a longer walk to get from hole 1 to 2 and 9 to 10. Signage is intuitive and holes are easy to find for first timers. A regular could get a solo round in an hour or perhaps a hair under, bigger groups may take 2-3 hours. On week days rare is it to experience any back up. Many times I've been the only person on the course. Weekends are much more crowded as expected.
Maintenance - While this course deals with a lot of erosion and has the capacity to become overgrown, the parks department and many Nashville disc golf volunteers do a great job of maintaining clean fairways, cutting back overgrowth, and mowing grass in grassy areas. Work parties happen from time to time where people volunteer to work on teepads, bridges, etc. I may think of some of the erosion issues as a con, but it does not negate how good of a condition this course is generally in.
Warm-up area - A DD Veteran and Prodigy basket sit on opposite ends of a smaller warm up area. Good to practice approach shots from the parking lots.
Parking - Ample parking both next to practice area and 1st tee pad as well as down near tennis courts and hole 7 tee pad.
Toilet access - Actual toilet facilities and Port-o-John are next to the parking lot. Relieve yourself responsibly.
Cons:
Footing - Anyone who has played here knows how bad the footing can be sometimes. After hole 2, upon entering the woods, the fairways will feature some tough footing, probably most noticeable on holes 3, 5, 13, 14, 15, 18. This gets worse after rain/snow, which brings me to my next point.
Erosion/Wetness - Aside from the creeks that run through the course, when it rains, this course becomes wet and muddy, and possibly dangerously so at times. Due to the lack of grasses in the wooded fairways and the general removal of trees to make the fairways, soil will erode, the leaf coverage will trap moisture. Slipping on a runup is a real risk to be aware off if not on the tee box.
Fall leaf coverage - Doesn't matter if you have the brightest disc of all time or camouflage disc, from about mid-September to around mid-March you could have a heck of a time finding your discs on a number of holes because of the blind shot element. Holes 4, 5, 6, 13, 14, 15, 18 all have some aspect of blindness that could give you a fit and result in a lost disc. Just throw one off the tee to save yourself some headaches. Bring a spotter friend if you can.
A soft end to the front 9 - Don't get me wrong, I enjoy this course end to end and these holes are fun. However, I find that holes 7, 8, and 9 feel more at home on the beginner course. Just out of place.
Hole 15 - Where to begin with this hole? Blind, sloped holes are never the most fun, but add in the creek on the back, the huge downed tree in the middle of the fairway and the punishing rough. I love challenges, but this is a bit overboard. You could pure the line and end up in the creek. You could fade left or right and have no prayer at getting up and down. You could hit the downed tree and roll 45 feet away. You could lay up and suffer the same fate. Not to mention you could throw it perfectly and still be looking for your disc for 10 minutes because again...blind. The gimmicky 15 foot elevated basket is no longer there because it broke, but that was just icing on the cake. So yeah, hole 15. Frustrating, but still fun, would benefit from some kind of backstop.
Lack of safe space to warm up drives - The warmup area has the baskets, but really only space for 200-250' from the parking lots. I've started throwing warm up drives on the soccer fields adjacent to the park, but it's just one of those things I wish was possible at the warm up area.
Safety - On hole 12 there is a very real possibility that as you throw your drive a motorist could arrive at the roundabout and get lit up. Motorists also sometimes camp at the roundabout making for a disruption to one's round.
No water sources - Bring your own beverages/water because there is nowhere to fill up on the course that I have found.
Spring/Summer insects - You cannot escape this at any courses in Nashville in spring/summer. There are chiggers, mosquitos, ticks etc. Be responsible and DEET up, wear pants, and tuck in your socks. Or don't, it's your choice, be warned.
Other Thoughts:
This course is awesome. While I rate Cedar Hill higher, I find Cane Ridge is always a good time and a great challenge. If you are passing through the Nashville area, I would highly recommend this as one of your stops for a challenging round. More recreational rounds are better spent at Two Rivers and the like. I rank personally rank Cane in the top 3 of Nashville (along with Cedar Hill and The Chain Links at Nashboro).
Nashville has so much to offer its disc golf community, we are truly lucky to have a course like Cane.