Pros:
- Plenty of parking at both nines. Decent restrooms with running water, soap and hand dryers. Water fountains very near to both 9's.
- Awesome signs, multiple pin locations listed, not entirely sure of the accuracy of the distances but still. Holes are listed as two separate nines instead of 1-9 and 10-18 on UDisc which can be confusing for first timers.
- Concrete tee pads that are facing the correct direction.
- Front 9 (original 9 I'm guessing?) is an awesome novice/beginner course and a great way to introduce people to the sport. Great way to sharpen your short game and a great challenge if you play them as par 2's. You can also just tee off 50-100 ft behind the tee boxes for an added challenge.
- Back 9 has some character, the fence on 10, 17 and 18 adds a nice element of OB and discourages errant shots. 10, 12, 13, 16 and 18 were nice long bomber holes that really force players without max distance to place tee shots well and nail their approaches. 12 and 18 feel like they're right on the line of soft par 4/long par 3.
- 14 and 15 were probably my favorite holes, excellent use of the terrain to tuck away pins and force players to throw a disciplined forehand. Really no chance of birdie unless you're inside the circle and on the correct side of the pin.
- Baskets on the back 9 were in decent shape, maybe a little rusted but I had no issues with spit outs.
- With UDisc navigation was fairly straightforward, without it I imagine it would be pretty tough.
Cons:
- Without the addition of OB, Mandatories or making up your own long tee pads, the front 9 is a bit too straightforward to challenge anyone 880 or above.
- No grass at all on the front 9 and lots of rocks and pebbles which can take a toll on your disc.
- A couple baskets in ROUGH shape on the front 9. Hole #2's basket looks like someone drove a car into it. The entire cage is tacoed in.
- With the exception of Hole #1 all the other ones on the front 9 are just gimmies.
- The distance between the two nines is a bit challenging to navigate. It's either a long walk or a short drive which can really disrupt the flow of a round.
- Holes 11, 13 and 16 on the back 9 were all pretty boring. Wide open holes that if you just bomb it out there you should be fine. Felt like fillers, they didn't really use the terrain at all.
- The huge difference in difficulty on the two 9's makes it a little hard to figure out the intended audience for this course. I think novice players would get frustrated on the back and good players will be bored on the front.
Other Thoughts:
I played this course for the first time a week ago--did a couple of practice rounds before the Smash Down, the first PDGA sanctioned tourney here. The tournament did an excellent job (shout out to Bamba Rico and Legacy Discs!) making the front 9 a bit more interesting. There were island greens, OB lines, longer tee pads, etc. It still played very easy but there was at least some element of danger. It might be a lot to ask for first time players at the course to improvise a more challenging layout on a super easy front 9. That said the back was more of a challenge and welcome change.
It's a course that I could see locals loving and making their own fun little ways to play. But the navigation, distance between the 9's and Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde nature of the course makes it less welcoming to first timers. If you're in the area Sylmar or Mission Hills seems like a better option. Or better yet head up to Lake Casitas!