Pros:
What I personally like and how this course stacks up in my list of 18 hole courses:
1) Holes with good risk/reward. Fair, but harsh punishment for bad decisions or execution. == A-
(The front 9 are an A+ and the back 9 are a B-. It is a Jekyl & Hyde experience with accuracy needed on the tightly wooded front and big(ger) D needed on the much more open back. You earn your score on this course.)
2) Holes that have rewarding birdie opportunities for me. I'm a Blue level player (950ish skill) who throws 300' accurately, 360' max. == A
(This course is almost perfect for people of my D. One hole is too short (6) and one is too long (9) to be rewarding. With the fairway shapes and terrain along with the raw length, scoring birdies is exhilarating! You earn your score on this course.)
3) More wooded than open - lots of variety of shots required caused by hole shape and topography == A-
(Holes 2-8 are the absolute perfect stretch/loop of holes I have ever played! If I lived nearby, I would play that loop continuously and skip the others. Hole 4 is a par 4 that is superb - a two shot hole that tempts you to get as far as possible down a R-L bending fairway that tails away downhill, followed by an approach over a valley dotted with trees that are spaced just far enough apart to be superbly challenging yet fair. The back makes decent use of terrain as several holes play along the side of a hill and allow errant shots to sail far away from their intended landing area. But, the back (and holes 1 & 9) is too open for my preference....hence me marking this category down.)
4) Natural beauty (Appalachian beauty preferred) and seclusion. == A-
(Sounding like a stuck record here, but the front 9 is an A+++, with beautiful Appalachian woods, a lake, terrain, and wildlife (I saw 7 deer). The back nine plays through picnic areas and is in view of parking lots the whole time - a B- sort of experience. Also, the park is right off the Taconic State Parkway and highway noise disrupts the serenity at times.)
5) Bonus points for multi-throw holes with defined landing zones, good risk/reward and multiple options to play them. == C-
(As stated above, hole 4 is a superb par 4 hole. Holes 10, 14 & 18 are pretty routine par 4's achieving the extra throws solely by added D. It is great to see a legitimate par 58 course, but I think more intrigue could have been included in the design.)
Other Thoughts:
It's all about feeding the addiction, so I ranked this course subjectively based on my own "personal addiction factor". The grades above tell how well this course will draw me back to itself again and again and again. See my profile for specifics on my rating philosophy.
I fancy myself as a connoisseur of good course design and I am a competitive Blue level (950-ish rated) with mid-level power (accurate to 300' with max D of 360'). Since I have played a decent number of courses (150+ 18-hole, 90+ 9-hole as of late 2009), my hope is that players/explorers who have similar addiction tastes will find my ratings list helpful as they choose courses to play and explore.
I fully expect others with different tastes/philosophies to disagree with me.....and that's the fun of things here.