Pros:
Excellent skill-level appropriate design, multiple types of shots needed, accurate tee signs, kiosk with a map, portable restroom on site, lots of elevation (more down than up!), and woods mixed with open areas.
Cons:
Wood chip or natural tees, some fairways are on cross-country trails (safely, but you need to be aware), not open until 5:30 on school days. Some big arms will miss the chance to throw huge and wild, and those whose putting style is over-reliant on having the chains do all the speed control for them will say the Mach New II's don't have enough chains.
Other Thoughts:
If you were already familiar with Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Night, then the first time you saw Sunflowers you would recognize right away that it was done by the same artist - even thought the subject matter, composition, mood, and colors are all different.
In a similar way, this course will be both very familiar to Twin Cities players, and at the same time, totally different from anything else. I've played all the courses in the Twin Cities, and there aren't any holes here that make you think "Oh, this is just like X hole at Y course." Yet, it is instantly recognizable as a Chuck Kennedy design (even though it has only two or three holes that might be called "lefty").
Full disclosure: I assisted, but my part was limited to applying the base coat on a couple of corners of the canvas, and holding the blow dryer to make the paint dry faster.
The course will build up your game without beating you down. Experienced players will want to bring first-timers here, because everyone will have fun.
Beyond the design, Lakeville Parks put a huge effort into making the course the best it could possibly be. And, they plan to continue to improve it. But, those plans don't belong in a review. Until they happen.
Acres of overgrown woods were cleared of buckthorn, grapevines, prickly ash and dead, weak and trash trees. Everything from big noisy machines to hand tools were employed to get it just right. Chuck and the Parks department walked the course several times, selecting individual trees (even individual limbs) to open up desired flight paths, or force interesting choices. Plenty of discs will hit trees, but only because they didn't do what the thrower wanted them to.
Every step of the way, the Parks department kept asking: What do we need to do to make it the best it can be?
If this course had been in the ground for years and years, players around here might have become jaded to it, thinking it is only about as good as most of the very good courses that are around here. Easily a three-disc rating, but I'm giving it a half disc more for two reasons: One, there is some synergy to a course where no pieces of the package are missing. You can forget about the course and just play the game. Two, the way this course came about should serve as a model for other parks.