Pros:
- free to play, free to park
- public restrooms
- easy to follow layout
- highly visible pins, baskets in good condition
- beginner friendly, but not needlessly wide open
- most fairways featured both RHBH & LHBH routes to the pin
- high canopy created lots of shade from the sun and height for putter/mid drives
- informative signs with distances and suggested fairways routes....when found
- no undergrowth, easy to find errant throws
Cons:
- not all pads were concrete, some were natural and rutted
- some tee signs were missing, most were vandalized
- neighborhood fences boarder some fairways
- flat course
- area kind of bummy
Other Thoughts:
This is my ideal beginners course. The fairways featured many large high limbed pines that suggested multiple lines to the pin , but don't necessarily force a single line. The forgivability of the Hitzman's fairways invites players to try their non bread and butter shots without too much punishment. Errant throws are not overly punitive here. There's a decent enough mix of distances for a 9 holer, nothing too long, mostly average fairway driver distances from tee to pin. Not only do these high ceilinged fairways help keep the sun off your face, they also allow enough clearance to practice putter or mid drives for the longer holes.
Overall, I thought this was the model of RHBH/LHBH neutrality. Hitzman is the ideal course to take baby steps outside your comfort zone, whether it be discing up/down, working hyzer/anhyzer shot shaping, or simply throwing straight. I'd eagerly bump my rating from a 1.5 to a 2.0, assuming the tee sign situation gets fixed and course upgrades to a full set of concrete tees.