Pros:
It's amazing while playing Bois D'arc, the amount of misplaced optimism I felt about my upcoming shots. Telling my self on the tee "I have a good chance to make this shot." Or maybe, "It's not even 200 feet". I was wrong all too often.
The converging nines have a shorter holes on the front nine, and a few longer holes on the back loop. Despite being on the short end for average hole distance, the technical nature of each hole pushes this one high on the list of most difficult courses I have visited.
The many types of trees are tightly clustered in many densely concentrated areas across much of this part of the park. Numerous narrow gaps, low canopy, sharp bends, and difficult approaches. The pins are difficult to access from most angles for several of the holes, due to the amount of trees, brush and undergrowth.
There are concrete pads at each hole, and the standard yellow rimmed Innova Discatchers at the opposite end. The tee signs are pretty nice. Course layout is efficient and makes good use of the grounds.
I didn't fair well at all on the scorecard, but I really liked a lot of the holes. Hole 1 is a decent starter and gives you a good taste of the course's flavor. A mid range toss with a arc cutting to the right, into a landing zone with thick rough on both sides.
Hole 4 is cool because the basket is sprouting from the center of a very cool tree that branches outward in a few directions. 5 has the lake shore at the end, but the water isn't ominously close to the pin. 9 was my only birdie.
Hole 13 is an arrow straight tunnel shot towards the water's edge. The only par four on the course is hole 14, and it's a beauty. Hole 18 is also not easy, but a fun hole until it goes wrong. 5 of the final 9 holes are over 300'.
I liked the variety of hole shapes, and way no two holes are too much alike. Extremely challenging, true test of aim. It isn't always fair, but I didn't feel cheated.
Cons:
Such heavily wooded courses lead to bad bounces, and difficult recovery attempts. Also bugs and itchy, thorny plants. It was 97 degrees when I played there, so the shade was nice.
Finding the next tee was not always easy. More signs to guide the transitions could help. A copy of the map definitely helps a lot.
I was way over par in the opening holes. The ricochets off branches and ensuing, and often nasty recovery shots left me frustrated. Mistakes pile up quickly, and even experienced players will be hard pressed to play par disc golf. Not beginner friendly.
Other Thoughts:
After playing Bois D'arc disc golf at Lake Ponca, bogies don't sting so much anymore. Any deviance from the line can put you in danger and leave you in some bad places.
24 over par. One lonsome birdie and only three pars. A course under 5000' has never treated me so poorly. It's hard to see the upside of taking such a thrashing, but I will say the course was pretty cool.
I enjoyed seeing the local habitat, and the trails winding through it. The weird cage hiding in the woods was interesting. It appeared to be empty, but looks like it is meant for some kind of bird possibly.
Would like to have another chance at this one, I don't think it could go any worse. Not one of my favorites, but worth checking out. There is also another 18 hole course on site, that I did not play. Chances of return: not totally unlikely.