Pros:
-Amazing overall park
-New DGA Baskets
-Flags on top of basket
-Woodchipped under basket
-Practice Basket
-Good signage and overall map at hole 1
This course was put into a multi-use park that sits just off Milwaukee Ave and I-294. The park is loaded with a playground, basketball hoops, skate park, walking paths, dog park, soccer and baseball fields. There are brand new DGA baskets that play on play on a small hill and around the soccer fields. There is decent exposure for this course because you can actually see people playing for I-294.
There is a practice basket near hole one with putting bricks with distance so you can work on your distances or play a putting game. The first two holes offer some fun challenges with trees and a rolling hills which make it fun without be punishing for newer players because there is still plenty of opportunity to still get a 3 with an errant shot. Hole 3, when the trees grow in will make the tunnel shot a lot more difficult. I like the woodchips under the basket. It will help with erosion in the high traffic area of the putting circle. The little bit of elevation that is there is brought into play.
Cons:
-Long walks between a couple holes
-Too much pedestrian things can come into play
-Wood chip tees are horrible
This course was stretched out to maximize the land. This is a good thing generally, however, this bring a lot of other things into play. On Hole 3, an errant throw could go onto the parking lot or along the walking path. Hole 4, a bad shot could actually end up on the expressway (or walking path). This continues with the ability to hit the soccer fields, walking paths, and throwing into the dog park throughout most of the remaining holes. I understand that the were trying to maximize the course potentially, but there are definitely people with different levels of abilities and there are going some mishaps at this course. I am only a REC level player, and I choose to throw a forehand roller on 4 just to make sure I did not end up hitting a car on the tollway.
For Hole 5-10, the only real challenge that is there is distance for some weaker armed players (like myself). There are not really any real obstacle that get in the way. However there are many reachable holes where if I bogeyed, there were opportunities to still deuce and get my stroke back. Future planting could help with some of this problem. There is also currently some planting that has occurred that will help a few years down the road.
The wood tees are horrible. They are uneven and unsettled. Hopefully the winter will help pack them down. It was unsafe to do a x-step on mostly of them. I played from either next too, in front of, or in back of the tees the second round to protect my ankles.
Other Thoughts:
This course is a decent place to come and work on your drives (with the exception of the teepads). There is some distance on the open holes that give you potential to work with you mids and drivers to hone your skill without punishing you for an errant shot. Holes 1 and 2 are fun holes, although short. Hole 3 is decent and will be stronger once the saplings grow bigger. Holes 4 through 10 leave something to be desired. This land was stretched to maximize distance and get some longer holes (275-375) for you typical Chicagoland course. This course will challenge beginners to some REC player. For an Pro/Advanced it will no offer much challenge at all. You will need to be able to hit a couple of lines, but overall it's fairly beginner friendly. My only concern with beginners is the risk of hitting others, cars, or dogs with a bad throw.
I will play this course again, but it is not worth going out of the way to play. It is nice to have an addition to the I-294 corridor. There is definitely a slight void of course in that generally area. This course will become nicer and it grows and the absolutely finishing touches are added. However, the challenge does not have a lot of opportunity to change. It would be a good place to bring the family (and the dog) for an afternoon of disc golf and fooling around outside.
I wanted to rate this course higher, but I couldn't give it more than a 1.5 (Passable). The effort was there, it's just not an exception place for disc golf. Possibly when I revisited and the teepads settle and some of the "new construction" elements of the course go away I will bump it up. But it's current conditions, wide open holes, and amount of safety issues, I have to give it a 1.5 (Passable). It's not horrible by any stretch of the imagination, it just don't have that "wow" factor ability.