Pros:
Engler Park is a well kept, beautiful park that features 2 lakes. (Giessing Lake & Thomas Lake)
*Park Features
When you enter, the first parking lot leads to the soccer fields, and there is plenty of room to use it as a driving range to warm up, so long as no one is using it.
There is fishing in Giessing Lake with Black Bass, Crappe, and Channel Catfish, though there are daily limits on how much you can catch.
There are some wonderful nature trails that I thought was going to be used for the course. There are a lot of walkers on these trails, so always look before throwing.
Also, there are 2 playgrounds that are well kept and maintained.
*Utilities
There is a massive amount of trash cans scattered around the park, but on the Disc Golf portion, only #9 has some trash cans near the lake.
There are 2 permanent bathrooms, 1 in the building center of the soccer field, and one in the pavilion by the tee of #4. I also saw a temporary bathroom in the first parking lot.
There are a large amount of tables in the pavilion by #4, but there is also some individual picnic tables with small bbq grills by Giessing Lake that really looks inviting.
*Disc Golf Course
**UPDATE - signs are now up across the course.
The course is open, with slight elevation changes. The front 9 is much shorter and less challenging than the back 9.
1 - a straight away tee to a basket in a open field.
2 - a straight away tee to a basket placed into the edge of the woods.
3 - the only hole on the course that is completely in the woods. A shorter hole with difficulty getting to the basket from the tee because of the great pin placement. I did not see a Post like the other holes had, but there is a smaller wood stake and paint on the ground indicating the tee area.
4 - a beautiful hole, and probably most challenging of the front 9. A straight away from an open tee into the woods. Beautiful view of the stream from the basket.
*Leaving the basket, go down towards the trail, turn left, and follow until you see a post painted blue on top, and "3K" painted on a tree, there go left to arrive at the #5 tee.
5 - left to right hole from an open tee to a pin on the edge of the woods. Another beautiful look at the stream from the basket.
*WARNING - between 5 and 6 there is a lot of standing water.
6 - straight away hole with the pin placed behind some shrubs. Standing water effects most of this hole, so be sure to wear mud shoes on wet days.
*From here go up the hill and right to #7
7 - beautiful look to the lake behind you, nice downhill straightaway hole with vegetation that can effect your shot below. Basket is at the edge of the woods.
*WARNING - standing water between 7 and 8 as well.
8 - straight away open tee to open basket in field.
9 - the longest hole of the course, and uphill. A open tee, stay right of the lake, you will not see it from the tee. Basket tucked into the woods.
10 - tees from the edge of the woods with trees in the way of the tee shot. A long hole compared to the front, with the basket tucked back into the woods.
11 - straight away open tee to open basket in field.
12 - the tee is not by the post here, but back by a stake with orange paint on top. A dog leg left hole with a opening to the far right, and the basket back in the far left. A challenging shorter hole.
13 - a great tee placement in a set of trees to keep your tee shot accurate for this longer hole resembling #10 only in reverse.
*Walk across the trail and into the other field to find the #14 tee.
14 - the only place I can see danger of losing a disc, with the lake on the left, and a left to right shot required because of a large tree with long hanging limbs. Not very long, but there is danger in the tee shot. Another challenging short hole.
*Walk around Thomas Lake (and enjoy the scenery) to find #15 tee.
15 - a hole that can be played straight away, but is much safer coming in left to right because of the trees. Standing water a problem for this hole as well.
16 - a hole that makes you decide to drive over the creek, or stay on the short side. Part of the punishment of laying up is having to walk back to the bridge to get across. A long hole that is a bit downhill, with the only real danger being the creek.
17 - Signature Hole of the course. Another long hole where fence is 300' out from the tee to disrupt your drive. The pin is near the edge of the lake. During tournaments, the "island" will come into play.
*Walk along Thomas Lake to the bridge section of the island green, then go towards the woods. You will see a narrow open section in the woods, inside you will find the #18 tee.
18 - a challenging finishing hole, you have to get your drive through a small opening, and the basket deep into the woods. Great finishing hole.
Cons:
*STANDING WATER - As pointed out in the course description, there is 3 places where standing water becomes an issue. I do not think anything can really be done about this, just be sure to wear mud shoes if it has been wet out.
*GRASS TEE'S - This is a brand new course, so keep in mind the grass tees are not worn in, very easy to slide on, and I almost fell a couple of times teeing off from the soft, wet ground.
*DISTANCES BETWEEN HOLES AND PARKING LOT - Between 4 an 5 there is a bit of a walk, but it is not too long, and it is a beautiful view. The walk around the lake from 14 to 15, another beautiful view. Ending on 18, you have a nice, scenic trail to walk back to the parking lot. This makes this long course seem a lot longer, nice views, just some long distance.
**UPDATE - The signs are not uniform in their placement. Sometimes they are facing right of the fairway, sometimes left, sometimes the signs face the fairway, and sometimes they face the opposite direction. I do not understand why the signs were placed like this, I had a playing partner today that was looking for the basket and could not locate it because of the various sign placements. Doesn't really make sense why they did this. (scratches head)
Other Thoughts:
"I have waited a long time for this course to be done, and I almost teared up when I saw the baskets." - OP
If you have played West City in Festus, MO, then you would notice some similarities in the courses.
This is a fun course. You get to pull out your driver and throw hard a lot, and sometimes you have to do it while threading a needle at the same time. The course designer had mentioned some upgrades in the future years, as they will be needed with the number of wide open holes on this course. Still, the course as is, is great to play, there are some seriously challenging holes on the back 9, and I am sure there are ideas to make the front 9 much more challenging as well.
Hats off to the city of Farmington and Gateway for this wonderful course.