Pros:
-JR is a challenging, technical course that uses every square inch of a multi-use park in creative ways. A classic DGC!
-There's something for everyone on this course. Beginners will enjoy the reachable distances while Pros can still thread the needle on the tough technical shots.
-Short distances to the pin. But JR will force you to use every shot in your bag. S-out between some mando trees on one hole, then hyzer over the creek next hole.
-A multi-use park. So there's friendly green grass and a well-maintained creek. Quite pretty and shady.
-Pin placement is varied and squeezes every interesting nook out of the park. The course winds back and forth over Ralston Creek and almost every hole uses the mature cottonwoods and elms as obstacles.
Cons:
-Very, Very, Very high traffic. Frequented by large groups of amateur players with many, many bottlenecks at the T-pads. So busy the weekends are sometimes unplayable.
-Multi-use park DOES NOT mesh well with Disc Golf. Dog-walkers, Kids, Bicyclists, a SkatePark and a Basketball Court (the occasional volleyball game) all are caught up in your shots. This is a very dangerous course that requires you to be aware of your surroundings.
-Pin placements, while interesting and varied, require you to drive across pedestrians and sidewalks. Plus quite a few drives cross back on previous holes requiring you to drive across other greens or walk through other fairways. Again, very dangerous for the high level of traffic.
-The Arvada police walk the park on foot and are rather hostile to disc golfers. Leash your dog or you'll get a ticket! And never throw near a pedestrian... or you'll get a ticket.
-In late Spring the creek swallows discs like a fat kid swallows McDonalds.
-Hole #8 has been removed for safety reasons.
- The queues are ridiculous and frustrating. Between waiting for large groups of amateur players and the pedestrians, I usually waste a good half hour.
Other Thoughts:
-JRs is a disc golf course pulled in too many directions at once. Holes #1, #4, #5, #7, #11, #14 and #17 all drive across heavily used sidewalks. A few holes overlap each other. Too much has been pressed into a very small space. And the large traffic of disc golfers detracts from the experience.
-The course focuses on mid-range control and recently (June 2012) the pin placements have been shortened even further on #6 and #7 to avoid pedestrian/golfer problems.
-This is a park first and a disc golf course second. Way too many things going on in this park. Safety is always an issue here.
-Still JR does a lot of things right, incorporating almost every interesting feature of the park into a varied and technical game.
-An old classic that's slowly being nerfed, occluded with too many people and a dangerous mix of traffic and discs. Once extraordinary, now neglected in its old age. JRs is quickly becoming just another park: a place to walk your dog or have a barbeque, not throw discs.