Pros:
-The hardest and the greatest of the three courses on site. WR Jackson offers a consistent challenge the whole way with very little variety in hole challenge. Every hole at WR Jackson, whether you play the golds or blues is difficult to say at the least. Fire is a symbol of divinity. To put this informally, WR Jackson is divine! Divine just like John Houck's other courses! WR Jackson a fire that displays inspiration. The walk through the forest is mesmerizing down some of the clean and polished trails. Every hole has a special appearance, part because of the different shot requirements (#3, #6, #14), because of some unique elevation change (#7, #8, #15, and #18), because of precision (#4, #16, #17), and all because of challenge. It's very safe to say that WR Jackson is most likely the "Augusta National" to disc golf courses. Every hole is an adventure in some sort of way because each and every hole means something and has its own little background.
-WR Jackson softens up on accurate shots, but still remains challenging when you hit the line properly. There are only seven par threes. There are eight par fours from the blues and nine par fours from the golds. There are three par fives from the golds and two from the shorts. There are seven short pads that play as the blues, but they are still very difficult. Difficult, without being expecting too much out of advanced players. You have to go for it every time to birdie and be very accurate. There isn't much room for throws that are less than 90% accurate. If you miss the designated fairway on any hole here, your birdie opportunity is gone with the exception of maybe one or two holes. However, safe play could give you pars and would be a reliable option on days where it's harder to throw long and straight. That's one of the many reasons why I think John Houck is such an awesome course designer. He designs championship level courses that give many different options to score well on and he makes the quality of them as high as he possibly can.
-Has many necessities like benches that allow you to sit and catch your breath. You'll be trying to throw as far as you can on several holes here. Ease of navigation, such as next tee arrows. Has its own kiosk and entrance archway and several practice baskets of different brands in the field next to the starting hole.
-Hole quality is superior. Starts off grand and it ends grand! The first hole is a perfectly laid out pro par four. Lots of room to throw a big drive with some spaced out trees in the middle. The trees are tough to avoid, but the distances spread from them are wide enough to create several optional lanes for you to try to hit off of the tee pad. If you throw a 350'+ successfully, a birdie is in range. #2 is 390' par three that still offers plenty of room. Fairway is probably more than 40' wide and it fades slightly left. Offers room for a slightly overstable driver to turn a little bit left in the end. I could go on to the next hole as it is excellent and unique too with it's own specialities but I'm just going to move on to a few of the holes that REALLY stood out to me.
-#7 and #8 both stood out as holes. #7 is a 744' par four from the gold and 645' par four from the short pad. It's a long dogleg left with a quite a bit of room to throw a power backhand drive. You want to go long and far left into the woods. The second half of it is wooded with tons of trees in line with the basket. #8 takes the available elevation into account very well. It's down a large hill in the woods. There's a landing zone to the right side that is pretty tough to see from the pad. This is one of those par fours where it's not comfortable throwing a driver off of the tee. You want to throw something slow and not too far. The second half of this hole is straight ahead, uphill and with a little more room to throw a driver.
-Low risk in going out of bounds on most holes. All but maybe one, and the one hole with OB stakes is designed brilliantly. #16. It's a 300' uphill par three just begging you to go for it. It's definitely the most attackable hole; you just HAVE to avoid the drop off on the right side where the OB stakes are located. None of the other holes have a lot of hazards in regards to penalty strokes. The rough here is not the toughest that I've personally seen. I was able to save par after landing in the rough on some holes here, but I had to get very strategic. Even if you land in the fairway, you still have to be analytical and meticulous.
-Nothing comes easy at WR Jackson, but it does end on a more softer note. #16 played as the easiest hole in the last tournament here, averaging 2.71 in the pro division. So, the OB is very preventable. #18 is a 726' par five. There are par fours at WR Jackson longer than this hole. The drive is significantly uphill and pretty tight. Think about how far you are accurately throw. Throw your straightest and most reliable driver or mid and you'll see a softer side to this championship level course. A birdie is very doable. I parred this hole and was pretty disappointed with par, but I also had a bad drive off the tee and was able to get a little bit of distance out of the rough from where I threw. This is probably the most forgiving hole. Pros have eagled it before and as hard as it is to eagle, it can be done.
-The disc catcher baskets are in great shape and the concrete pads are well kept. The tee signs are spectacular and have such original design with well descriptive hole mappings.
-The pro shop beside WR Jackson has a ton of discs of every brand. I mean, you'd expect that at the International Disc Golf Center but not all that with the supply shortage occurring. They have their own special scorecards and it's only $3 to play all day for the Military and PDGA members. It's a little more if you aren't a member, but not by much.
-It's rewarding. The challenge doesn't change much. There are a few holes that aren't quite as difficult to birdie, and there are a few that are very difficult to reach, but nothing outlandishly hard for players over 970 rated. Few tight fairways (#5 especially) that give a pretty rigorous accuracy test, but playing safe is an option here. It's over 10,000 in length but you don't have to be a distance thrower to have a solid round. Honestly, attempting to throw as far or as hard as you can will be detrimental.
Cons:
-I know it's specifically designed for top level players, but it's such a gorgeous setting with its own perks that differ from Steady Ed and Jim Warner and it makes you wish there were a third set of pads so that it could appeal to a wider audience. If you've played Hobbs Farm (another masterpiece designed by Houck), you'll see superior hole quality like there is here at WR Jackson but Hobbs also offers second pin positions and short pads for less experienced players. I think WR Jackson could use some short pads so that it can play as the 10000+ long beast it was designed to be and also offer a shorter layout that gives newer players their own excitement at WR Jackson.
Other Thoughts:
-John Houck doesn't fail to disappoint. This course is a real masterpiece. It's extremely challenging yet very fair with clear and obvious lines that offer more than enough room to hit. It's one of the hardest courses that I've played because of different shot shaping requirements, but it's manageable. You have to work for a good score on every hole. There are plenty of par fours and fives that I have played where a big accurate drive will allow you to throw an easy upshot for birdie. It's not that way here. Any birdie made at WR is well earned. You could have an excellent drive and it will be rewarded, but you still have to throw the following shot very precisely. As difficult as they are, none of the par fours or fives have that "insane" challenge like some do on the disc golf pro tour. #12 is the longest hole at 990'. It's a hard hole that enters a wide opening in the woods after about 400'. The fairway stays wide and very fair. It's all about placement on this hole. You'll want some distance, but it isn't the hardest hole on the course. My opinion, the hardest hole at WR Jackson is a par three. That is #5.
-#5 is a par three that is over 400' in length. It's dead straight in front of you and it is narrow the entire way. It is incredibly hard to throw a driver 400' accurately, but it's hard to throw a straight shot about 250' and expect to be able to throw a great upshot from a near 200' to a basket and make an easy par. Distance can really be beneficial on this hole, but many players get fives and sixes on this hole because they tried to reach it and they nailed a tree. The option to go soft remains. If you can par this hole, then you can par any hole here.
-Distance can be rewarded here and so can precision. If you can throw 500', you won't need all of that distance necessarily. Throw as far as you can comfortably. It's incredibly hard to throw your max distance without that fearful feeling. You have to optimize the two. I mentioned holes #5 and #12 as prime examples of that. Another example of that would be #15 from the long. It's very tough. 714' downhill par four down a fairway that splits before the halfway point of this hole. I threw an anhyzer on about 70% power and was rewarded with a nice outcome. My culverin flipped right and hyzered out left in the end. Alternatively, you could take the left route on the split fairway on a right hand sidearm. The downhill elevation on this hole make it easier to throw a further distance without too much power. I really love this hole.
-It's designed for pros, but it's so well designed with the challenge maintaining its persistency. It does allow players who aren't on the pro level different options and ways to play it well, but it certainly isn't anyone's game here. Pros will have that competitive advantage and be able to showcase their skills a lot since it's a long championship level course with a lot of fairway. Most of the hardest holes on the golds are the ones that offer short tee pads that are still very tough, but a little less intense.
-Many holes could be signature holes. There are so many that stood out. I never mentioned #14. It was a real blast too off the elevated pad in the open field. This is the hole that distinguishes the par difference between the blues and golds since it's a five from the long and a four from the short. The first half of this hole is dead straight. You want your drive to go as straight as you can make it so that you have an easy second shot in the fairway that enters the clear. The second half of this open is primarily open aside from the upshot in the woods. You'll want to look and see the pin location for yourself so that you know exactly what spot you want to land in once you reach the opening. You want to be left with a less than 300' approach with a line to the basket that you are comfortable hitting. The approach shot is tucked a good ways right into the woods. This par five should be played as if you are playing two holes. A par four that starts in the open and enters the woods and then ends in a different open spot, and then as a par three that's a mostly open until the last 100' or so. Anhyzer or right hand flick is the best play.
-I can't really describe the holes as well as they present themselves. It's an awesome experience at WR Jackson, as well as Jim Warner and Steady Ed. Enjoy yourself and have fun!