Pros:
An absolutely beautiful course in a unique and magnificent park.
• Variety: Very good (but could've been excellent). Ridiculously well-wooded for the distances of these holes, but has enough holes where you can let loose. Fairways of varying shapes and complexities, where you need to hit landing zones. Needs to shorten some holes to provide some semblance of reality and balance.
• Challenge: Somewhere between, "You want me to do WHAT?!" and "May the good lord have mercy on your soul."
• Elevation: Dripping with it; used in every way you can think of.
• Aesthetics: One of the very prettiest courses to ever hand my ass to me.
• Memorable Holes: #1 is a punch in the face from the opening bell. #2 is just a great golf hole. #5 would be the sig hole if not for... #11 = monster bomber from an elevated tee over an open field waaayyy down' below, that plays to a guarded basket. There are several others that would be notable if these weren't so firmly cemented in my mind.
• Navigation: Print the map. This course is so massive, and the holes kind of skip around in seemingly random fashion that you really need the map or you'll be hunting all day. That said, course actually kinda flows OK if you know where to head next.
• Equipment: Excellent. Nice concrete tees. Wonderful baskets. Great signage.
• Fun/Wow Factor: More wow than fun, but certainly some holes that are lot of fun.
Cons:
• Insanely difficult: You shouldn't design a course while dropping acid. It's not that the wooded holes are entirely too tight, entirely too long, or too hilly. It's the way they've combined all these elements that borders on delusional. The pins simply aren't accessible in 3 or 4 shots given how long, tight, and twisted these fairways are. I simply did my best to play from point to point and avoid losing a disc
Factor in how thick the growth is just off the fairways, how steep the drop offs can be, and the distance you need to get down the fairway to set up a chance at a par... you absolutely must have a spotter if you're playing aggressive off the tee, or you ARE losing discS... plural.
• Several places where walking paths can come into play.
• Walking long, hilly fairways gets tiresome. Regardless how well the tee signs portray the hole, you'll still be walking the fairways looking for pins because you can see right from the tee how unforgiving the wooded fairways are. Given how obviously tight things are, you can't help but take a look to see if maybe things open up a bit further down, and try to figure out what your best play is given your skill set. No tee sign can help you with that.
• Cart friendly: Only if you're as crazy as the course designer... but probably not impossible.
• Beginner UNfriendly
Other Thoughts:
Leila is anomaly wrapped in an enigma, and one of the most unique courses I've ever played. This course comes at you in an unrelenting manner. Its combination of beauty, challenge, and shock & awe, might best be described as diabolical. It's not that it's a beat down that keeps me from rating it higher. It's that it's a beat down you can't possibly win.
I'm struggling with a rating on this one because it's anything but typical. It's one of those things that has to be seen to be believed. I can't fault anyone for saying it's excellent, nor can I fault anyone for saying it sucks. I'll just say it's more a curiosity than a destination course.
If you're looking for an enjoyable round, keep driving. But if you're feeling adventurous, and don't mind getting bullied by a beauty, bring a few friends to Battle Creek.
I mean it about bringing friends:
1) You'll want to see the looks on their faces when they see where these baskets are, or when you get to #5, and # 11.
2) You'll want as many eyes as possible looking for discs.